Abstract
Considering total syllabus (novice to advanced level) on writing, it is important to note the differences between the novice and the intermediate level. The differences mainly regard a different grasp of vocabulary and functional words. So the study was carried out to discover the extent to which intermediate-level learners Japanese used dictionaries. The purpose of this research was to investigate what foreign students have troubles in use of dictionaries to write essay related to short passage. It shows that foreign students have difficulty to identify the meaning of nouns, verbs, and adjectives. On the contrary, they could choose appropriate meaning concerning Kanji.
