Application of E-dictionary in Middle-school English Learning and Teaching 英语专业毕业论文.doc

Application of E-dictionaryin Middle-school English Learning and TeachingA Thesis presented toIn Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement ForThe Degree of Bachelor of ArtsMay 2011Application of E-dictionary in Middle-school English Learning and TeachingOutlineThesis statement: The use of E-dictionary has both advantages and disadvantages in English Learning. Students should form good habits and use E-dictionary in correct way. Teachers should give students advices. Then E-dictionary can be a useful learning tool.1. Introduction1.1 Background information 1.2 Literature review1.3 Purpose of the study2. The research about the use of E-dictionary among Middle-school students and teachers2.1 Methods of the research2.1.1 A questionnaire sample for students2.1.2 A questionnaire sample for teachers2.1.3 Process of doing the research2.2 Result of the research2.2.1 Analysis of the research result2.2.2 Conclusion of the research2.3 The impacts of E-dictionary usage2.3.1 Positive effect2.3.2 Negative effect3. Suggestions 3.1Suggestions given to students3.2 Suggestions given to teachers4. ConclusionApplication of E-dictionaryin Middle-school English Learning and Teaching Abstract: E-dictionary becomes especially common learning tool in Middle-school English learning and teaching. However, is it good for us to use in English learning and teaching? This paper will analyze it through a survey among students and teachers in my practice school. Key Words: E-dictionary, Middle-school learning and teaching1. Introduction1.1 Background information With the development of modern technology, Mobile Education has blossomed. Among them, E-dictionary becomes a common learning tool in Middle-school English learning and teaching. More and more students bring it into the classroom. They use E-dictionary to look up new words, play games, memorize words, and read fictions. To its functions, different people hold different ideas. Most of the students like it very much since it can save time for their learning. However, Parents and teachers are worried about it because they believe it is just an excuse for them to be lazy. Well then, is it good to use E-dictionary in English learning? If it is good, how can it be used effectively by students? And what could teachers do to mesh it with routine teaching? What advices should teachers give to their students? They have become problems that students and English teachers have to face together.1.2 Literature reviewAt present, many educators or researchers at home and abroad have studied the application of E-dictionary in English learning such as Chen Qianlan(陈倩蓝,2005.7), Liao Haihong(廖海宏,2004.3,138-142), Yao Ximing, Liu Senlin(姚喜明 刘森林,2003). Most of them are viewpoint treatise. However, there is little empirical research on it. And there is less research on the application of E-dictionary in genuine classroom especially, in Middle-school. There is also a problem that is exigent to be solved how students can achieve the learning objectives with E-dictionary in daily English learning. And teachers have to clear the effect that E-dictionary brings.1.3 Purpose of the studyTherefore, this research mainly focuses on what are the influences that the application of E-dictionary in Middle-School learning and teaching brings. And it points out that the application of E-dictionary has both advantages and disadvantages. It also gives suggestions for Middle-school students and teachers on how to make full use of E-dictionary during the process of English learning and teaching. This paper suggests that students should form good habits in their daily using of E-dictionary. It also presents some useful information to English teachers that they can use to mesh E-dictionary with routine teaching. In this way, teachers can save time in the preparation of teaching and students can learn easier than before.2. The research about the use of E-dictionary among Middle-school students and teachers2.1 Methods of the research2.1.1 A questionnaire sample for studentsSeldom Several times a weekEveryday Use frequency of E-dictionaryThe effect after the application of E-dictionaryA waste of time Increase efficiencyNo influence What aspects of English do you think E-dictionary is helpful?ListeningSpeakingReadingWritingVocabularyTranslatingGrammarNothingWhat function of your E-dictionary do you use frequently?English-Chinese dictionaryMP3Chinese-English dictionaryGames English-English dictionaryFiction 2.1.2 A questionnaire sample for teachersFor teachers, I designed a questionnaire as below.1. If your students use E-dictionary in class, what do you think of the influence?2. Do you think its necessary for students to use E-dictionary?3. Will you allow you students use E-dictionary?4. Do you usually use E-dictionary in your lesson planning or your daily reading?5. What kind of dictionary do you use most?6. What advices will you give to your students on E-dictionary using?2.1.3 Process of doing the researchI chose my practice class to do the research with the help of my adviser. First of all, I had an opening class about English. It is required that every student should bring their E-dictionary. Second, on the basis of my curriculum design, the students did some exercises in listening, speaking, reading and writing with the help of E-dictionary. The materials are chosen from their text-books. After class, with the participation of 62 students, the research got the data by using self-edit questionnaire. And I also interviewed 5 English teachers at random selection. At last, on the basis of a survey, the data collected by the questionnaire was analyzed. 2.2 Result of the research2.2.1Analysis of the research result Directing at the questionnaire, I analyzed the data and made the tables below to show the result of my research clearly. The first table is about the use frequency of E-dictionary.From the first table, we can see that almost every student has their own E-dictionary. 45 students use E-dictionary every day. It seems that the rate of utilization is very high. However, is it a good phenomenon for them? Many researchers have found that students have relied on E-dictionary excessively. Then, the second diagram shows us clearly that more than 50 students think E-dictionary can increase efficiency when they use it in English learning, especially in reading and writing. However, there are still ten students think it wastes their time or has no influence. Among them, some have their own methods when they do exercises. Nevertheless, others seldom do exercises. The third diagram shows that 47 students think E-dictionary is helpful for their reading. E-dictionary helps 26 of them memorize vocabulary. 17 students improve their translating skills with the help of E-dictionary. We can learn that students havent made full use of E-dictionary; they just see the most basic functions of it. However, E-dictionary can help us a lot with our English learning in many other aspects, such as pronunciation, writing, and grammar (张淑玲, 2005). For example, students can imitate the pronunciation in the dictionary to correct their own oral English. Also, when they look up a word in E-dictionary, it is better for them to read the sample sentences or the synonyms and antonyms carefully so as to grasp the word skillfully. This diagram shows that all students use E-C dictionary and more than 20 use C-E dictionary. However, less than 5 use E-E dictionary. On the other hand, more than 40 students use their E-dictionary to read fictions, listen to music, and play games. As is known to all, there are many kinds of dictionaries in E-dictionary. Most of the students like to use E-C and C-E dictionary, but ignore the function of E-E dictionary. In fact, E-E dictionary is most useful for Chinese students because it can help them to think in English (冯灵林，2007.11， 5759). As we all know, Chinese students always use their mother tongue thoughts while learning English. It is bad for them understand words correctly. Middle-school teachers should pay much attention on it. At last, from the result of questionnaire, we can see that teachers dont like students to use E-dictionary in classroom. They think it a waste of time and it is bad for them to control the classroom atmosphere. One teacher told me that if teacher want to let the students guess the meaning of a word according to the context, but the students just look up the E-dictionary which may influence the positivity of other students and break the plan of teacher. Another teacher said that when he prepares for his lesson, he likes to use E-dictionary because nowadays E-dictionary contains almost all the words of traditional dictionary and it has fully interpretations of words（邓琳， 2006.1，172-181）. But he also pointed out that the screen of E-dictionary is very small which cant show all the interpretations once. All teachers gave some useful advices to their students. For example, students should use E-dictionary for preview but not in class. 2.2.2Conclusion of the research With the help of my adviser and students, I finished the research successfully. But it still exists some short cuts. For example, the research is limited by the condition. And some of the ideas are one-sides. The research object is also limited. It cant stand for all the students and teachers, but it can give us some useful data for us to do research deeply.2.3The impacts of E-dictionary usage2.3.1Positive effectBecause of convenience and easy to use, E-dictionary develops rapidly. No matter in English learning and teaching, E-dictionary has its positive effect.（源可乐，2009， P47） First of all, the palm-size E-dictionary contains thousands of English words, but it weights only about one hundred gram. It is easy to be carried. (Kobayashi, 2006) And that it has high efficiency which can save lots of time. We have to admit that there is more information in E-dictionary than the traditional dictionary. The latest E-dictionary contains not only the interpretations, use and sample sentences of the words but also some further information, such as, synonyms, autonomies, etc.（甄倩，2006.9，P312 ） Some E-dictionary even underlines some important words which are frequently used in the examinations to catch the attention of students. This function gives students a clear understanding of the important words and its usages. The most important thing is to help students find these useful functions.Second, compare with traditional dictionary, E-dictionary can not only offer the meaning of words, but also set examples of the correct pronunciations of the words. It can make sounds to help students memorize vocabulary. Dictionary was called the silent teacher once, but E-dictionary changed it. Now E-dictionary can not only pronounce words accurately but also read the whole sentence, which can provide a facility for students to study of phonetics. Therefore, students can imitate the pronunciations to improve their own oral English and memorize the words easily according to the pronunciation.Third, the self-test system in E-dictionary can help students know their learning pace and make changes with it. In E-dictionary, there is a test system which can give students a whole English test or a vocabulary test. It can help students know themselves better on their English levels. Many E-dictionaries even put forward a reward system which means that after the test, students can play games for a while, and if you get higher scores, you could have more time to play. The reward system make students be more interested in learning English and memorizing words.Fourth, using E-dictionary in class can motivate students initiative and make the class more active for teachers. Some students in my research tell me that E-dictionary make them feel ease in class. Because to the students whose English is not good enough to answer the questions given by teachers, they can use E-dictionary to help them answer the question. Thus, they will not feel embarrassed or nervous if they cant answer the questions. On the other hand, if they answer the questions correctly, they will be more confident and active in class which can burn their passion in learning English.Last but not least, E-dictionary also brings various benefits to teachers. In the process of lesson planning, teachers should prepare a lot of sample sentences for students. Many teachers find it difficult to make sentences with all the use of the words. However, with the help of E-dictionary, teachers can find a lot of sample sentences which can save a lot of time for them. （Chon, Y.V.，2008，P23-54）To learn a language well, we should know more about this language, like weather, culture, etc. Teachers should combine language points with these information, thus students can grasp the language better. However, many teachers have no time or no condition to surf them on Internet. How can they get the information? Dont worry. E-dictionary can solve the problem by offering encyclopedia of knowledge on almost all the aspects in our life which can help a teacher prepare a more successful lesson such as: history, culture, laws, tourism, etc. So, E-dictionary is also an important tool for teachers in their teaching.2.3.2Negative effectHowever, some other functions also bring students some negative influences, like games and e-reader on which we can read fictions. To some degree, it can divert students attention from their study. Some students even cheat their parents to buy E-dictionary for them, not for study but for play. The next negative influence is that it may cause students excessive dependence. At first, they just look up a few words while reading, however, gradually, they dont belief themselves and have to use E-dictionary to look up every word in dictionary. It wastes them lots of time and makes them lose imagination when they read English texts.3. Suggestions 3.1Suggestions given to studentsFor all we know from the above analysis, E-dictionary has both advantages and disadvantages. Though the paper, we find that most of students use E-dictionary not only to look up new words, but also to play games and listen to music. It is convenience for students to learn English. But students should form good habits, or the useful thing can do the opposite. First of all, students should choose a suitable E-dictionary. If the E-dictionary is not authoritative, it wont contain enough words. What is worse, the interpretation is not accuracy. Then its bad for students to learn English. (袁辉, 2005. 3)Secondly, students should clear the main function of E-dictionary. It is a useful study tool, not a Game-boy. Then students should use