Abstract
Monolingual dictionaries are lexicographic references greatly used by students of English. New updated editions frequently appear on the market. One of the main reasons for the dictionary's use is the search for word meanings during decoding and encoding activities. Employing the criteria of comprehensibility devised by Bogaards (1996), which involves the defining vocabulary, the type and the precision of definitions, current research compares the definitions of the adjective 'surprising' and its synonyms among three monolingual English dictionaries for advanced learners of English: Collins COBUILD Advanced Dictionary of American English, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, and Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. The above lexical item was selected for comparison because it appeared in a dictionary usage activity within the classroom. In such activity, the prospective teachers were invited to approach the use of the adjective and its synonyms, in specific contexts of use. Results show that, due to the particular style of each dictionary concerning the presentation of information in the microstructure, more studies on other aspects of these books might be undertaken to obtain a clearer understanding of how they deal with definitions in their microstructure.
Highlights
Monolingual dictionaries are lexicographic references greatly used by students of English
A primeira edição do Collins COBUILD Advanced Dictionary of American English afirma usar as 2.500 palavras mais frequentemente utilizadas na língua inglesa para definir suas entradas
Papers read at the EURALEX International Congress, Tübingen: University of Zürich, 1988
Summary
O dicionário monolíngue é uma obra lexicográfica muito utilizada por aprendizes de inglês. Um dos principais motivos da consulta de um dicionário é a busca de significados de palavras tanto na decodificação quanto na codificação da língua estrangeira. Utilizando o critério de compreensibilidade desenvolvido por Bogaards (1996), que engloba o uso de palavras familiares na definição, o tipo e a precisão das definições, este trabalho objetiva realizar uma comparação das definições do adjetivo surprising e seus sinônimos entre três dicionários monolíngues para aprendizes avançados de inglês: Collins COBUILD Advanced Dictionary of American English, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English e Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. A escolha desse verbete partiu de uma atividade de decodificação realizada em sala de aula, na qual os alunos-professores deveriam abordar o seu uso (e seus possíveis sinônimos) em contextos específicos. Palavras-chave: dicionários, aprendizes, microestrutura do verbete, definições. Monolingual dictionaries for advanced learners of English: an analysis of the definitions of the adjective surprising and its synonyms
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