Dictionary Skills and Local Reading Comprehension Test A and B

Dictionary skills and local reading comprehension test A (pre-test) and B (post-test) were done before and after the dictionary skills instruction (Appendix G and Appendix L).

Before each test, the participants were told that the result of these tests would not affect their school grades. Instructions on the way of carrying out the tests were given in Chinese to ensure that participants of the two groups were explicitly informed about the goals of their tasks.

In the current study, procedures proposed by Scholfield (1982) were adopted as the basic stages to go through when using dictionaries for comprehension. Among Scholfield’s seven procedures, the current study focuses on ten f the numerous skills required in Procedure 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, but not Procedure 1 and 7. As mentioned above, this is because the research time is limited and the reading comprehension task types in the current study are of a ‘local’

level. The ten dictionary skills investigated in the current study were as follows. We can examine the skills with reference to the above mentioned procedures proposed by Scholfield.

(1) Understanding short forms, labels, and grammar codes of the dictionary, (Scholfied’s Procedure 6)

(2) Getting familiarized with the distribution of letters, (Scholfied’s Procedure 3)

(3) Making use of guide words on the right and left tops of the dictionary, (Scholfied’s Procedure 3)

(4) Removing its regular inflection first, (Scholfied’s Procedure 2) (5) Scanning a dictionary page, (Scholfied’s Procedure 4)

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(6) Distinguishing a homograph, that is, a word spelled the same as another word but has a different part of speech, and therefore explained in a separate entry, (Scholfied’s Procedure 5)

(7) Trying to scan nearby entries for it may be a spelling variant or to seek in the addendum for it may be a geographical names or a new word, (Scholfied’s Procedure 4)

(8) Trying to remove its affixes, (Scholfied’s Procedure 4)

(9) Considering its possibility of being compounds or idioms, and try looking up each element (Scholfied’s Procedure 4)

(10) Practicing working with the menus or other short definitions to find the right meaning of long entries when deal with a polysemous. (Scholfied’s Procedure 5)

Both the pre-test and the post-test consisted ten major questions designed to evaluate the ten dictionary skills. In both tests, the participants were asked to answer the first three questions without using the dictionary. In question 9 and 10, they were asked to translate the sentences into Chinese as precisely as possible, so they were encouraged to always use dictionary unless they feel absolutely sure about the accuracy of the translation of a word or a phrase. Besides, in question 9 and 10, they have to mark the target words which they decided to look up in the dictionary and write down the numbers of the pages on which the target words appear. If they encounter any problems in the consultation process, they can take notes on the answer sheets as well. In each test, every participant was given a timer and was allowed no more than three minutes per lookup.

The first four questions were designed to test the participants’ dictionary skills 1-4, and the following six questions (question 5-10), in which the participants were asked to do L2-L1 translation of words or sentences, tests not only dictionary skills 5-10 respectively but also local reading comprehension as a whole.

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The full score on local reading comprehension is 100 in total, and each dictionary skill was given 100 points respectively. Therefore, from both test A and test B, the participants get 11 sets of scores (10 sets for dictionary skill 1 to 10 respectively, and one set for local reading comprehension as a whole).

The scoring standard of test A (as below, or in Appendix G) and test B (Appendix L) are the same. The containing dictionary skills and the proportion of scores are listed beside each question as the following.

英語字典大挑戰 Test A 1. 請寫出下列字典中常用的代號或縮寫所代表的意思。

例: etc u

(5% * 20 of Dictionary Skill 1)

1. adj _____ 2. adv _____ 3. n _____ 4. pron _____ 5. v_____

6. AmE _____ 7. BrE _____ 8. formal _____ 9. informal ____ 10. [C] _____

11. [U] _____ 12. [I] _____ 13. [T] _____ 14. [singular] ___ 15. [plural] ____

16. 1 _____ 17. 1 _____ 18. 2 _____ 19. sth _____ 20. sb ____

(a) 口語常用 1000 字 (b) 某事 (c) 非正式 (d) 形容詞 (e) 代名詞 (f) 口語常用 2000 字 (g) 正式 (h) 某人 (i) 可數名詞 (j) 及物動詞

(k) 副詞 (l) 名詞 (m) 書面常用 1000 字 (n) 複數名詞 (o) 動詞 (p) 美國英語 (q) 單數名詞 (r) 不及物動詞 (s) 英國英語 (t) 不可數名詞 (u) 等等 Note. This question is designed to test participants’ ability to understand short forms, labels, and grammar codes of the dictionary.

2. 請將下列英文字按照它們在字典中出現的先後順序排列。

例：banana, apple, orange, watermelon, pineapple, grapes, tangerine, mango, pear

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apple > banana > grapes > mango > orange > pear > pineapple >

tangerine > watermelon (3.7% * 27 of Dictionary Skill 2)

1. bill, meaning, carport, soil, unmask, mask, garden, lump, world

> > > > > >

> >

2. early, enemy, equator, eggplant, empty, escape, extend, edit, effect

> > > > > >

> >

3. limit, liable, light, lie, library, lid, like, life, license

> > > > > >

> >

Note. This question is designed to test participants’ familiarity with the distribution of letters (alphabetical order).

3. 翻開英文字典內文至任何一頁，你會發現左上角與右上角都各有一個英文字，舉例 來 說 ， 本 字 典 第 1000 頁 左 上 角 與 第 1001 頁 右 上 角 分 別 是 “induction” 與

“inexpedient”，如下圖所示。

(1) 你知道左右上角的這兩個字有什麼用處嗎?

(50% of Dictionary Skill 3)

_________________________________________________________________

induction 1000 1001 inexpedient

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(2) 下列的英文字中，你認為同樣也是出現在第 1000 頁及第 1001 頁的，請打「○」，

不是的請打「×」。

(10% * 5 of Dictionary Skill 3)

1. indulge____ 2. interest____ 3. inedible____ 4. inevitable____ 5. infant ____

Note. This question is designed to test participants’ ability to make use of guide words on the right and left tops of the dictionary.

4. 翻開字典至第 565 頁，請寫出有下列含意的英文單字：

例: 草稿、草案 draft (16.7% *6 of Dictionary Skill 4)

1. 昏昏欲睡的 _________________ 2. 在地面上拖 _______________

3. 現代希臘貨幣單位 ___________ 4. 暗淡、單調的 _____________

5. 資深者、前輩 _______________ 6. 一打 _____________________

Note. This question is designed to test participants’ ability to recognize headwords and scan a dictionary page in a short time.

The above 4 questions tests dictionary skills 1-4, and the following questions 5-10 test not only dictionary skills 5-10 respectively but also local reading comprehension as a whole.

5. 請查出畫線部分單字的詞性、意義、並寫出該字出現在第幾頁。

例: Will you please water the plants while I’m away?

...water ( 動詞 ) ( 澆水 ) ( p.2243 ) (10% * 5 of DS-5) (2% * 5 of Reading)(10%*5 of DS-5) (To get the 20% of DS-5 in each sub-question, the parts of speech and the page number should be both correct.)

1. We’ll try to phone you when we get there.

...phone ( 詞) ( ) ( )

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2. Does two plus two equal four?

...equal ( 詞) ( ) ( ) 3. They have a flat in New York.

...flat ( 詞) ( ) ( ) 4. How can I reward your kindness?

...reward ( 詞) ( ) ( ) 5. Could you please photocopy this for me?

...photocopy ( 詞) ( ) ( )

Note. This question is designed to test participants’ ability to distinguish a homograph, that is, a word spelled the same as another word but has a different part of speech, and therefore explained in a separate entry.

6. 請查出畫線部分單字的意思，並寫出該字在第幾頁。

(2% * 7 of Reading) (14.3% * 7 of DS-6) 意思 頁數

1. Where are our seats? ………( ) ( ) 2. The river has three main branches... ( ) ( ) 3. The frog hops along the shore of the pond………( ) ( ) 4. He polishes the floor on Sundays…………...……( ) ( ) 5. The police kicked the door down………( ) ( ) 6. She decided to live in London, not Paris……….…( ) ( ) 7. Those children are playing and laughing. ………...( ) ( )

Note. This question is designed to test participants’ ability to remove the regular inflections first (plural, third person singular, past tense, present participle).

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7. 請查出畫線部分單字的意思，並寫出該字在第幾頁。

(2% * 3 of Reading) (33.3% * 3 of DS-7) 意思 頁數

1. The wetness of the city makes me uncomfortable. …( ) ( ) 2. The parents neglected the child cruelly. ………....…( ) ( ) 3. He is such a grumbler that no one likes to. …..….…( ) ( )

Note. This question is designed to test participants’ ability to remove the affixes first when dealing with derivatives.

8. 請查出畫線部分單字的意思，並寫出該字在第幾頁。

(2% * 5 of Reading) (20% * 5 of DS-8) 意思 頁數 1. There is a table in the center of the room. …….…( ) ( ) 2. She has great ardor for art. ………( ) ( ) 3. Teenagers use various emoticons in their e-mails..( ) ( ) 4. Jenny was sipping a hot latte. ………( ) ( ) 5. The businessman runs a factory in Vietnam. ……( ) ( )

Note. This question is designed to test participants’ ability to scan the nearby entries for when dealing with spelling variants and to seek in the addendum when dealing with geographical names or new words.

9. 將下列句中你所查閱的字詞畫底線，寫出頁碼，並將句子完整翻譯成中文。

例: She wore a plain pencil skirt. (將查閱的字詞畫底線) 頁碼： p.1488 p.1448

(33.3% * 3 of DS-9)

整句翻譯：她穿一件簡單樸素的直筒裙。

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(10% * 3 of Reading)

1. The restaurant provides soft drinks for free. (將查閱的字詞畫底線) 頁碼：

整句翻譯：____________________________________________________________

2. My grandparents are enjoying their Indian summers now. (將查閱的單字畫底線) 頁碼：

整句翻譯：____________________________________________________________

3. Cross your fingers that I get the job. (將查閱的單字畫底線) 頁碼：

整句翻譯：____________________________________________________________

Note. This question is designed to test participants’ ability to consider the possibility of compounds or idioms, and try looking up each element.

10. 查出下列句中畫線部分單字的意思、寫出頁碼，並將句子完整翻譯成中文。

例： He is a lover of music.

單字意思： 愛好者 頁碼： p.1169

(33.3% * 3 of DS-10) (To get the 33.3% of DS-10 in each sub-question, the meaning and the page number should be both correct.)

整句翻譯：他是個音樂愛好者。

(10% * 3 of Reading) 1. The snake made a strike at my foot.

單字意思： 頁碼：

整句翻譯：

2. There was a line of people waiting for the bus.

單字意思： 頁碼：

整句翻譯：

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3. The bread without fine sugar is healthy.

單字意思： 頁碼：

整句翻譯：

Note. This question is designed to test participants’ ability to work with the menus or other short definitions to find the right meaning of long entries when dealing with a polysemous.