Abstract：

Dictionaries play an indispensable role in learning English. In recent years, dictionary use research has become a hot issue in lexicography and received much concern from many scholars and researchers. At present, many studies have pointed out the importance of English dictionary use in the vocabulary learning but most focus on non-English majors, and the range of vocabulary. This thesis analyzes the correlation between English dictionary use in college English majors and their English vocabulary proficiency with its focus on the depth of vocabulary, making explorations for the relationship between dictionary use and English proficiency, hoping to draw some inspirations related to English language teaching and learning to guide students to use the dictionary effectively so that they can improve their English learning efficiency. English major sophomore, junior and senior students are chosen to complete a questionnaire and a test to show that the students’ English dictionary use benefit their English proficiency that finds its most explicit expression in their vocabulary proficiency.

Key words: English majors; English dictionary use; language proficiency; vocabulary proficiency

摘要：

词典在英语学习中起着不可或缺的重要作用。近年来，词典使用研究已经成为词典学研究的热点问题，并受到越来越多学者和研究人员的关注。目前有很多研究都指出英语词典在词汇学习中的重要性，但大都集中于非英语专业的学生和词汇广度。本论文分析了大学英语专业生英语词典使用和词汇水平之间的联系，主要侧重于词汇深度研究，探索词典使用和英语能力之间的关系，希望得出一些与英语教学和英语学习相关的启示，最终引导学生有效利用词典来提高英语学习效率。本文选取英语专业大二、大三、大四学生来完成问卷调查和词汇测试，表明英语词典的使用能帮助提高学生英语水平，而英语水平的提高主要通过英语词汇能力的进步来体现。

关键词：英语专业生；英语词典使用；语言能力；词汇能力

1. Introduction
Dictionaries have been playing one of the most significant roles as references or tools in college EFL (English as a foreign language) learning and teaching. For EFL learners, dictionary use is viewed as an effective strategy of vocabulary acquisition. Besides spelling, pronunciation, and definition of a target word, a dictionary can offer various other lexical information, including usage, collocation, synonym, antonym, practical sentence examples, etc. to learners. Moreover, with the fast development of modern technology, dictionaries are now taking on far more diverse forms, and students have access to various reference sources which may facilitate language learning: traditional paper dictionary and glossary, electronic dictionary and online dictionary; general-purpose dictionary and special-field dictionary, monolingual and bilingual dictionary, encyclopedic and language dictionary, foreign learners’ and native speakers’ dictionary etc.