Abstract
Exemplification in learners’ dictionaries is affected by such variables as the word frequency, part-of-speech and markedness of vocabulary. This article statistically examines the practice of the ‘Big Five’ in allocation of examples to different types of words. The results indicate that high-frequency words are generally exemplified, that prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions and adjectives are usually illustrated with more examples than other parts-of-speech, and that words marked for a particular style or attitude are sometimes provided with an example to show their pragmatic aspects. After a critical evaluation of the practice of the ‘Big Five’, the article proposes that exemplification in learners’ dictionaries should vary according to the word's frequency of usage, the word's collocational and syntactic complexities, and the user's needs and look-up preference.
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