Prescriptivism and descriptivism are two guiding principles in compiling English dictionaries.

The author has,through the means of questionnaire and face-to-face conversation,surveyed and compared the use of English dictionary between college English majors and non-majors,studied the main problems and the causes,and pointed out the importance of teachers guidance to effectively use English dictionary in teaching with some practical suggestions.

In order to know the use of English dictionary by students and improve teaching standard,some non-English students were investigated about the use of English dictionary by means of questionnaire.

A Brief Review of A New English-Chinese Dictionary;