Dictionaries For Learners Of English Research Articles

Encoding Near-Synonym Relations in Monolingual English Learner's Dictionaries: The Case of Germanic and Latinate "Equivalents"

ABSTRACT: This article examines the semantic relations between pairs of Germanic and Latinate near-synonyms in contemporary English, such as hug/embrace, isle/island , and brave/courageous , which dictionaries traditionally treat as equivalent in meaning, regardless of context-independent differences between them. These word pairs are challenging for learners of English as a Foreign Language, especially when their L1 is a Romance language. Monolingual English learner's dictionaries (MELDs) do not, in general, clearly or systematically disambiguate near-synonyms of different origin. An improvement in dictionary treatment of near-synonyms is thus called for. After outlining the main types and subtypes of meaning relations identified through the analysis of a sample of Germanic and Latinate word pairs, synonymy in the "Big Five" MELDs is examined. Proposals are then made to better encode synonym similarities and differences with cross-reference information in the form of tags, labels, and usage notes.

"Young people are calling for more action on what they say is a climate emergency": English learner's dictionaries and the global environmental issue

"Young people are calling for more action on what they say is a climate emergency": English learner's dictionaries and the global environmental issue

On the Inclusion of Neologisms in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (10th edition)

Adding neologisms to a dictionary in its revision helps keep it abreast of time, which applies to a learner's one like Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (10th edition) (henceforth OALD 10), its latest edition. English Learner's dictionaries like OALD 10 get revised regularly. In this arti­cle, the neologisms included in OALD 10 have been approached from different perspectives. In terms of the part of speech, 71.1% of the neologisms are nouns, which could speak for the nouny nature of English. Content words like nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs make up almost 96% of the neolo­gisms. Judging by the word-formation, the top three ways to form the neologisms are compound­ing, derivation and blending in decreasing order. According to the form the com­pounds take, which are mostly nouns, the open, hyphenated and tight ones come in decreasing order. 623 com­pounds make up more than half of the neologisms, which provides strong evidence for com­pounding to be the most frequently used way of creating neologisms. For neologisms formed by derivation, most of them are also nouns. However, 170 out of 300 neologisms formed by derivation have already appeared as derivatives of headwords in OALD 9. For 34 blends, 75% of them are partial in nature, which means at least one word in making a blend is in its full form. When it comes to the new words with regional labels, nearly 80% are labeled as belonging to British and North American usages, a sign of the hidden Anglo-centrism. The status of some words counted as neologisms is questionable, as they have been in use for a very long time. The impact of science and technology on the inclusion of neologisms in OALD 10 is quite visible. There are still many opportunities for further exploration concerning OALD 10. Keywords: neologism, OALD 10, part-of-speech, word-formation, regional label, Anglo-centrism, dictionary revision, sci-tech influence

Evaluating the Usefulness of the Learning Tools in Monolingual Online Dictionaries for Learners of English: Gauging the Preferences of Polish Students of English

The aim of the report is twofold. First, the learning tools available in monolingual online dictionaries for learners of English are described. Second, an evaluation of the usefulness of the learning tools in online dictionaries is provided. To meet the aims of the present contribution, a survey was administered on 318 Polish students of English. The respondents, who participated in a lecture devoted to the topic of learning tools in online dictionaries, were instructed to complete a questionnaire. A mixed-question format was adopted. In the first part of the questionnaire, the participants had to rate the usefulness of the features of the Macmillan Dictionary on a semantic differential scale of 1–7. In the second part, there were two open-ended questions. The students were asked to name the most and least useful learning tools of the Macmillan Dictionary and explain their choices. The results suggest that English majors studying at a Polish university accord high priority to consulting online learning tools which give them valuable information on collocations, synonyms and semantically related words. Keywords: lexicography, dictionary use, online dictionary, mono­lingual learners' dictionary, online learning tools, survey

Learners’ dictionaries and an English cultural keyword

Among culture-bound vocabulary items, we typically find names of realia, but also lexemes not immediately identifiable as such, but which are perhaps even more important as indications of culture specificity: words that reflect the ways of thinking and acting deemed appropriate in a given cultural milieu. This paper deals with one such item, which, according to Anna Wierzbicka (2006, 2014), is an essential component of Anglo values: the adjective fair in its moral sense. The analysis is meant to establish how successful dictionaries for learners of English are in rendering its nuances of meaning.

English–Georgian Parallel Corpus and Its Application in Georgian Lexicography

The Georgian language, the official language of Georgia, is the only written member of the Kartvelian language family, the indigenous language family of the Caucasus region. Georgian philology and lexicography have long-standing tradition, English–Georgian lexicography being no exception. Given the increasing use of ample electronic text corpora for lexicographical purposes, the team of Georgian lexicographers, working on the Comprehensive English–Georgian Dictionary (CEGD), subsequently the Comprehensive English–Georgian Online Dictionary (CEGOD), decided to compile an English–Georgian Parallel Corpus (EGPC). The aim of the project was to develop the methodology of building a parallel corpus of Georgian and assess its efficiency for Georgian bilingual lexi­cog­raphy. The work on the corpus is going on for over a decade. The ultimate aim is to create a standard for Georgian bilingual corpora that will be compiled in future. The article describes the content and composition of the EGPC, its structure, functionalities, search engines and so on. The article also deals with various studies conducted over years in order to assess and enhance the value, applicability and efficiency of the EGPC for the automatic or semi-auto­matic recognition, tagging and extraction of terminology, the compilation of terminological entries, as well as the entries for the English–Georgian Dictionary and those for the Georgian–English Learner's Dictionary, etc. Particular emphasis is laid upon the actual or potential applicability of the corpus for the lexi­cographical activities and for the machine translation projects. The findings of the study may be interesting for other under-resourced languages like Georgian. Keywords: parallel corpus, terminological entries, English–Georgian dictionary, Georgian–English dictionary

Improving the Compilation of English–Chinese Children's Dictionaries: A Children's Cognitive Perspective

Children's dictionaries have existed for more than one thousand years in China, and play an important role in children's learning. However, many of those produced in China are deficient in the selection of the wordlist, in exemplification, and in definition. This paper aims at improving the compilation of English–Chinese children's dictionaries (ECCDs) from a children's cognitive perspective. Children's dictionaries should not only be an abridgement or simplification of dictionaries for adults, because their target user group is immature, uninformed and untrained children. Informed by some innovations in current English learner's dictionaries, this paper proposes that the making of ECCDs needs to be improved in the following aspects. Firstly, instead of lexicographers' intuition, the selection of headwords should be based on an English corpus for Chinese children. Secondly, the words used in examples should be congruent with children's limited cognitive and learning abilities. Thirdly, a multifaceted method of explanation should be provided in order to assist children in understanding the meaning of headwords.

Monolingual Online Dictionaries for Learners of English and the Opportunities of the Electronic Medium: A Critical Survey

Abstract Online dictionaries provide unique possibilities to both dictionary makers and users, in particular in the following areas (cf. Granger 2012: 4ff): Accessibility of data, multimedia functions, customization, hybridization, user-input and storage space. This article investigates the extent to which these opportunities have been exhausted in current online learner’s dictionaries. It demonstrates that the vast technological opportunities of the internet are only beginning to be fully exploited. While storage space, for example, is already being used effectively to provide additional example sentences and collocations, the dictionaries under investigation offer partly unsatisfactory functionality in terms of data accessibility and several other areas.

New-line and Run-on Guiding Devices in Print Monolingual Dictionaries for Learners of English

The paper focuses on guiding devices in print monolingual dictionaries for learners of English. It aims to find answers to six research questions. The main aim is to investigate how the location of guiding devices within entries — starting from a new line versus run-on — affects consultation time and sense selection accuracy of dictionary users in entry navigation. In addition, the paper looks at the effect that part of speech (noun versus verb entries) has on consultation time and sense selection accuracy; further, the relationship between entry length and consultation time is investigated, as well as that between consultation time and sense selection accuracy.

Vocabulary Journaling To Improve Reading Comprehension

Although the importance of vocabulary in language input (listening and reading) and output (speaking and writing) has long been established, time constraints and exam-oriented instruction in the Malaysian secondary school classrooms force teachers to prioritize content breadth rather than depth. In 2017, the Malaysian Ministry of Education implemented nationwide the new Standard Based Curriculum for Secondary Schools (KSSM). The integration of the Vocabulary Journal in the new textbook demonstrates the importance of vocabulary in language learning. This paper aims to present and share the findings of an action research study with a selected class of Form One students (13 year olds) engaged in vocabulary journaling to determine its effectiveness in enhancing vocabulary knowledge as well as reading comprehension. Vocabulary journals are also known as personalised dictionaries for learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) which allows them the freedom to include any information they deem relevant to the target words. To ease the process of deciding which information to be included, the vocabulary journaling used Frayer’s (1969) Vocabulary Four Square Model. This paper will share the findings from the study on enlisting the vocabulary journal approach to enhance the learners’ vocabulary range, thereby leading to improved reading comprehension.

Macmillan Collocations Dictionary for Learners of English

Reviewed by Pedro A. Fuertes-OliveraUniversidad de Valladolid, Spain
 
 1. INTRODUCTION
 The Macmillan Collocations Dictionary for Learners of English (MCD) is a monolingual print dictionary aimed primarily at helping upper-intermediate to advanced students in productive use situations, such as taking English exams (especially the IELTS exams) and working in academic or professional environments. It has over 121,000 collocational phrases, a figure that leads Coffey to claim that the MCD attaches more collocates to each headword than competing dictionaries, for example, the Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English (OCD) (Coffey 2011: 329).

Koalas, Kiwis and Kangaroos: The Challenges of Creating an Online Australian Cultural Dictionary for Learners of English as an Additional Language

This article reports on an online cultural dictionary for learners of English as an Additional Language (EAL) in Australia. Potential users studying English for academic purposes in an Australian university pre-entry program informed each stage of the dictionary's creation. Consideration was given to the need for such a dictionary; terms to be included; information necessary for each entry (including audio and visual material); use of a limited defining vocabulary; example sentences; notes on each term's usage; and evaluation of user feedback once the dictionary had been launched online. Survey data indicate that users particularly value the dictionary's ease of use, example sentences, and specifically Australian content (including pronunciation given in an Australian accent). It is suggested that more entries be added, and that cultural dictionaries be created for other varieties of English, as well as for other languages.

Representing the Cultural Dimension of Meaning in Learner's Dictionaries — From the Perspective of Chinese EFL Learners in L2 Reception

Meaning in dictionaries ranks as the most frequent data type consulted by language learners. An extensive range of devices have been developed to represent the meaning of lexical items in learner's dictionaries. Starting from interpreting foreign language learners' lexicographic needs in specific user situations, this paper aims to examine the implications of customizing definitions from the cultural perspective with specific reference to Chinese learners of English. The purpose of this paper is three-fold: i) to understand the status quo of the lexicographic practice of English learner's dictionaries in terms of representing the cultural dimension of a lexical item; ii) to interpret the impacts of foreign language learners' language and cultural background on their lexicographic needs in terms of cultural aspects in L2 reception; iii) to address the identified problems with present lexicographic practices through model articles. It is expected that the findings in this paper can shed some light on interpreting other ethnic groups of learners' lexicographic needs in different situations and contribute to improving the services of learner's dictionaries in the future as well.

English

This contribution is aimed at studying multiple labelling in the Oxford Idioms Dictionary for Learners of English (OIDLE2). We sought to establish whether labels belonging to one and the same category combine with one another or whether multiple labelling consists of labels from different categories of labels, the latter providing different types of information. The database used for the analysis was compiled by searching manually through the dictionary and keying in all the idioms with multiple labelling into our database. Altogether, 392 idioms or their senses with two or more labels were found in OIDLE2. The findings of the study are: labels expressing different types of diasystematic information are included; the three most frequent labels appearing in combination with other labels are informal, humorous and old-fashioned; the combination of four labels is used only once, ten idioms were identified with three labels, while the majority of label combinations consist of two labels. The significance of the findings lies in the issues related to multiple labels, combinations of labels expressing different types of diasystematic information and other issues related to labelling in general. The inclusion of diasystematic information largely depends on the type of dictionary and its intended users. This is especially true of dictionaries intended for non-native speakers of a language, where one of the main functions is to promote the active use of a foreign language, and where every single piece of information included in the dictionary counts. Keywords: phraseological dictionary; diasystematic information; labels; connotation; dictionary users

Dictionaries for learners of English

The Department of Lexicography and Lexicology at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań has done extensive research on dictionary use in the context of language teaching and learning. The department forms part of the Faculty of English, which is the largest institution in continental Europe educating teachers of English at the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. levels. Therefore, it is only natural that the language-teaching potential of dictionaries is the main focus of the studies undertaken in the Department.

EURALEX Newsletter

This quarterly Newsletter is intended to include not only official announcements but also news about EURALEX members, their publications, projects, and (it is hoped) their opinions, and news about other lexicographical organizations. Please try to support this by sending newsletter contributions to Anne Dykstra at the email address above. The deadlines for spring (March), summer (June), autumn (September), and winter (December) issues are respectively 15 January, 15 April, 15 July, and 15 October annually. The URL of the EURALEX web site is www.euralex.org EURALEX is also on Facebook. Lexicon No. 44 The Iwasaki Linguistic Circle published their Lexicon No. 44, 2014. This issue contains one article that is of interest to lexicographers: ‘An analysis of Three Collocations Dictionaries for Learners of English, by Yasutake Ishii et al. For information about Lexicon, e-mail iwaken.info@gmail.com. The first workshop of the European Network of e-Lexicography was held in hotel Kompas in Bled, Slovenia on 29 and 30 September 2014. The workshop was funded by COST and was organized by Trojina, Institute for Applied Slovene Studies.

<i>Birds of a Feather</i> Don't Always <i>Flock Together</i>: User Problems in Identifying Headwords in Online English Learner's Dictionaries

Idioms, sayings and proverbs (referred to here as 'phrasemes'), are a central part of the English language. However, it is often difficult for learners of English as an Additional Lan­guage (EAL) to choose the correct headword when looking for such expressions in a dictionary. Learn­ers may not recognise a word as belonging to a phraseme, and so may not look under a single, 'important' word. Moreover, their choice of a salient word may not accord with the lexicog­rapher's. Thirdly, they may not recognise phraseme variants, such as carry / take coals to New­castle . They may therefore often fail to find the phraseme altogether. A study of 84 phrasemes in five online English learner's dictionaries ( Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary , Collins COBUILD Advanced Dictionary , Longman Dictionary of Contem­porary English , Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners and Oxford Advanced Learner's Dic­tion­ary ) revealed a lack of uniformity across and often within dictionaries. This paper is based on 14 of these phrasemes, which appear in one or more of these dic­tionaries and include proper nouns and/ or variable words. To make learner's dictionaries more user friendly (Zgusta 1971), it is argued that they need greater consistency in their choice of phraseme headwords, both within and between dictionaries, and that greater cross-referencing is necessary within a single dictionary. Five strategies are pre­sented to help learners with their dictionary searches.

Dictionary use by English language learners

Research into dictionary use does not have a long history. Although publishers recognised in the 1960s that ‘dictionaries should be designed with a special set of users in mind’ (Householder 1967: 279) there were extremely few empirical user studies before the 1980s – Welker's most recent survey (2010) lists only six. The subsequent surge of interest in this field was fuelled by big changes to dictionary content and design in the 1980s and 1990s, changes that were particularly evident in dictionaries for learners of English as a foreign language, conventionally known as ‘learners’ dictionaries’. In the space of a few years the Oxford advanced learner's dictionary, generally considered to be the earliest advanced learners’ dictionary (first published under a different title in 1942, with subsequent editions in 1948, 1963, 1974 and 1989) was joined by two new competitors: the Longman dictionary of contemporary English (first edition 1978, second edition 1987) and the COBUILD English dictionary (1987). In 1995 all three of these advanced learners’ dictionaries brought out new editions, and a fourth, the Cambridge international dictionary of English, was launched. These dictionaries, sometimes referred to as ‘the big four’ (Bogaards 1996, De Schryver 2012 and others), drew on Eastern European traditions of lexical description, the illustrative practices of American children's dictionaries, and insights from English language teaching pedagogies. Each had its own distinctive layout and defining style, prompting a spate of comparative studies intended to help users make appropriate purchasing choices, and to help publishers improve their design still further, for example by changes to the entry microstructure. A fifth such dictionary, the Macmillan English dictionary for advanced learners, appeared in 2002.

<b>Dicionários monolíngues para aprendizes avançados de inglês: uma análise das definições do adjetivo <i>surprising</i> e seus sinônimos</b> - doi: 10.4025/actascilangcult.v35i4.17857

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.

A Critique of the Controlled Defining Vocabulary in <i>Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English</i>

This article critically analyses the Longman Defining Vocabulary (LDV) in relation to its size, range and frequency, senses, parts of speech, affixes, and multiword expressions. The recent versions of the LDV contain a relatively fixed number of items. Over 85% of those items were found to be highly frequent, and for the defining purpose, genus terms, grammatical terms, etc. have also been included. The number of affixes in the LDV has been greatly reduced, and some common derivatives have been listed separately. On the other hand, the actual size of the LDV is much larger than was reported, for LDOCE did not distinguish between the LDV items with different senses or forms. It was found that the claim of using the 'most common meanings' of the LDV items is not always held true. The parts of speech of the LDV items have not been systematically indicated. Many multiword expressions, which have been used in the definitions in LDOCE, are not part of the LDV. This study sheds some light on the improvement in the practice of using a controlled defining vocabulary in an English learner's dictionary.