Internet Dictionaries for Teaching and Learning Business English in Spanish Universities

Abstract

This paper introduces the function theory of lexicography, and reviews the social situation associated with teaching-learning Business English and its lexicographical implications. The basic difference between Wiegand’s general theory and the function theory of lexicography is that the latter shifts the focus from actual dictionary users and dictionary usage situations to potential users and the social situations in which they participate. These potential users – for example Spanish students of Business English – need both cognitive dictionaries for understanding the basics of the subject field and communicative dictionaries for text reception, text production and text translation. Within this framework this paper defends that existing free Internet specialised dictionaries can be used for pedagogical purposes providing that they satisfy three basic requirements of pedagogical specialised lexicography: they take into consideration the changing nature of the concept business/economics; they are all-inclusive specialised dictionaries; they reconcile what users usually do with what they say they would like to do. The proposals are illustrated with extracts taken from free Internet dictionaries, for instance pop-up dictionaries that offer vocabulary support for independent online reading.