Abstract
This article proposes ways of improving dictionary skills amongst the Ndebele. One way of accomplishing this is incorporating the teaching of dictionary skills into teacher trainingsyllabi. Teachers can impart their knowledge to students and a dictionary culture can develop for enhancing effective use of current dictionaries and helping in the compilation of future ones. In general lexicographers are aiming at producing dictionaries that are 'user-friendly', that is, accessible to their users. Current and future Ndebele dictionaries are likely to remain underutilised unless users develop requisite skills for dictionary use. This article outlines some aspects of dictionary studies that could be incorporated in the training syllabi for potential Ndebele language teachers. Anticipated problems of implementation and possible solutions to these problems are also discussed. Keywords: dictionary, dictionary culture, dictionary skills, reference needs, reference skills, users, user-friendly, ndebele, lexicography, change of attitude
Highlights
This article deals with the teaching of dictionary-using skills with the long-term aim of developing a dictionary culture amongst the Ndebele1 of Zimbabwe
90 Samukele Hadebe critical awareness of the value and limitations of dictionaries and other reference works in a particular community.' The focus is on user perspective which investigates the reference skills and reference needs of dictionary users (Hartmann 2000: 11, 2001: 81, Béjoint 2000: 140, Svensén 1993: 13)
No research on Ndebele lexicography had been done until the establishment of the African Languages Lexical Project (ALLEX2), the African Languages Research Institute (ALRI), at the University of Zimbabwe
Summary
This article deals with the teaching of dictionary-using skills with the long-term aim of developing a dictionary culture amongst the Ndebele of Zimbabwe. After the community has a certain level of competence in dictionary use, can there be talk of user-friendliness and user needs. It is important, to establish user needs and user perspectives in Ndebele if the production of dictionaries were going to be of use. To establish user needs and user perspectives in Ndebele if the production of dictionaries were going to be of use Such skills cannot be developed fully through informal learning and individual experience. Writing on the significance of teaching dictionary skills in pedagogical lexicography, Dolezal and McCreary (1999: IX) state: 'As we look to the future development of this area, the mutual concerns of the teacher, the lexicographer and the learner/dictionary user could be the focus of pedagogical lexicography.'. By training teachers to be good users themselves, it is envisaged that they could pass these skills on to students and eventually to society in general
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