CHAPTER I
A. The
meaning of dictionaries
A dictionary is
a reference book that focuses on defining words and phrases, including multiple
meanings. The most frequently used type is a language dictionary that includes
the majority of frequently used words in a language. These books are made for different
types of users: scholars, office workers, schools, and second language
learners.
Adult English
language dictionaries characteristically include hyphenation information,
pronunciation guides, part of speech, alternate spellings, etymological
information, sample sentences, usage notes, and sometimes synonyms.
Cross-references may be used for less-used forms, such as British variations
along side American English, and charts and illustrations may help amplify the
definitions.
There are many
competing dictionaries put out by different companies. Not only do they have
different forms — paperback, hardbound, and online editions — but they differ
in other ways. Each company, for example, uses its own version of phonetic
respelling based on the research done by its experts. One company might use the
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), while others have proprietary
pronunciation symbols, and still others use the letters of the alphabet in a special
way to indicate pronunciation.
Other
differences show up in other features. Many dictionaries include their experts'
guidance on grammar, usage, and the history of the English language.
Definitions differ slightly, and sample sentences may be the work of the
editorial staff or taken from real-world usage, perhaps the first known written
use, when possible.
CHAPTER II
B. How to use a
dictionary effectively
Reasons for using a dictionary
A
dictionary is a very important tool for anyone who is learning a new language.
With a good dictionary you can do the following:
- look up the meaning of an English word you see or hear
- find the English translation of a word in your language
- check the spelling of a word
- check the plural of a noun or past tense of a verb
- find out other grammatical information about a word
- find the synonym or antonym of a word
- look up the collocations of a word
- check the part of speech of a word
- find out how to say a word
- find out about the register of a word
- find examples of the use of a word in natural language
To be a good dictionary user, however, it is not enough to
know what to use the dictionary for. You must also decide which is the best
dictionary for any of the purposes listed above. As well as this, you need to
be able to find what you are looking for quickly; you need to be sure that you
have found what you were looking for; and, most importantly, you need to know when
to use your dictionary.
Knowing which dictionary to use
Electronic dictionaries are the best choice for ESL
students. Most of them contain native-language equivalents and explanations, as
well as definitions and example sentences in English. They can speak the
English word to you, and they are easy to carry around. However, they are
expensive and easy to lose, so put your name on yours!
A cheaper possibility, if you are going to work at the
computer, is to use an online dictionary. A very good one for ESL students is
the Longman
Dictionary of Contemporary English. Alternatively, if you open Google and type, for example, define:
superstitious, you will get a long list of different definitions of superstitious.
A good monolingual dictionary is recommended for students
who already have a high standard of English and want to learn about word use.
Finding words quickly
This is a skill that you need to practice. Ask someone to
write down 5 words and see how long it takes you to find them. Of course, you
will need to know the English alphabet perfectly, so practice this too. Use the
guide words at the top of each dictionary page; and keep practising until you
can find any word within 10 seconds. You should also practice finding words in
your own language in your bilingual dictionary. If you use an electronic
dictionary, take some time at home to learn how it works and, again, practice
finding words quickly.
Finding the right meaning of an
English word
Very often when you look up a new English word, you find
that it has more than one meaning. If you are not sure which one is correct,
here’s what you can do:
- First, check through all the meanings and find the one that makes most sense in the context where you found the word. (Very often, many of the different meanings are similar and this should be enough to give you a good idea what the word means.)
- Second, if you really want to make sure, think what the word is in your own language and look it up in a bilingual dictionary. If one of the English translations is the original word you looked up, then you can be satisfied that you have found the right meaning.
Finding the right spelling
Another problem you may have is when you want to check your
spelling but you can’t find the word you’re looking for. What can you do?
- If you are sure of the first few letters, just look down the page until you find the right spelling. (Again, it is helpful to check the meaning is the one you expect.)
- If you are not sure of the first few letters, try some other possibilities. You know for example that some words that start with an -n sound have k as their first letter; e.g. knife, knight. So if you can't find the word under N, try looking in the K pages.
- If you still can’t find the word, think what it is in your language and look it up in your bilingual dictionary.
Finding the right English translation of a word in your
language
When you look up a word in your own language in a bilingual
dictionary, you will probably find that there is more than one English
translation. If you are not sure which to use, you could try a back
translation. This means that you look up the English translations one by
one in a monolingual dictionary. If a word has a definition that matches the
word in your language, you are safe to use it.
Knowing when to use the dictionary
If you look up every new word you see or hear, you will
spend your whole day with the dictionary in your hand. That’s no good! You have
to be clever and choose the right words to check and the right time to do it.
Try to follow the advice below and you will become a much more efficient
language learner:
- When you find a new word while reading, finish the sentence (better: the paragraph). If you haven’t guessed the meaning and it still seems important, then you can look it up. To avoid interrupting your reading for too long, you should find its meaning in your own language using a bilingual dictionary.
When you hear a new word in class
(or the teacher has written it on the board), wait and continue listening. What
the teacher says next may help you to understand the word. If you look in your
dictionary, you will not hear what comes next, and this will make understanding
the lesson more and more difficult.
If you think the word is very important, you could copy it from the board or write how you think it is spelled. Then later you could ask the teacher or another student what it means.
If you think the word is very important, you could copy it from the board or write how you think it is spelled. Then later you could ask the teacher or another student what it means.
CHAPTER III
C.
Choosing a good dictionary.
For both
teachers and students a dictionary is one of the most
important books (or apps) you can own. This article offers tips for choosing
the best possible dictionary for help in the classroom and with
preparing lessons.
If you're buying
a dictionary then the best approach is to go into the shop and spend some time
comparing the different dictionaries on offer till you find one which suits
your budget and your approach. But rather than just flick through them,
remember also to consider the following...
1. Monolingual or Bilingual?
Ask yourself
this first. Do you want a monolingual
or a bilingual
dictionary? A monolingual dictionary is in English only; a bilingual dictionary
translates into another language. So, for example, here are two dictionary entries
for the same word:
dictionary
- a book containing the words of a language arranged alphabetically with their
meanings, and sometimes also their pronunciation, grammatical labels,
inflections, etymologies, etc.
This first
entry is taken from the monolingual Chambers Dictionary. Compare it to this
entry from Collins English-Italian dictionary:
dictionary
- vocabolario, dizionario
For learners of
English, as a general rule of thumb, a bilingual dictionary is most useful but
as they become more advanced a monolingual dictionary is helpful. However, for
teachers a monolingual dictionary is perhaps most useful. You can use it to
look up unknown words when you're preparing your lessons, for example.
2. Learners or Native Speakers?
A learners
dictionary will have simpler explanations (often with cultural help). This is
useful in the classroom and means your students will be able to look up words
on their own. If you have students use a monolingual dictionary for native
speakers there's a chance they will not understand the explanation
they read. Compare these two:
English breakfast -
a cooked breakfast usually consisting of several courses.
English
breakfast - a breakfast usually consisting of cooked bacon & eggs
followed by toast and marmalade eaten in England. When fruit or fruit juice
and/or toast and marmalade are offered as well as bacon & eggs in a hotel,
the meal is sometimes advertised as a full English breakfast. Although
it is thought of as a typical English meal, few English people have English
breakfast every day.
The first comes
from Chambers Dictionary. The second comes from the Longman Dictionary of
Language & Culture and offers extra information which could be very useful
to learners of English.
3. Grammar & Phonetic Information
Does the
explanation include extra information aside from a basic definition? It will
need to have a pronunciation guide (either in the IPA
or using the dictionary's own system) and it's also useful to have some basic grammar
information as well. Do you need etymological information? Some dictionaries
have this but is it really that useful for your class?
Here you need
to ask who will be using the dictionary. If it's the students on their own then
a simple phonetic & grammar guide could prove invaluable.
4. Words, and More Words
Flick through
the dictionary and make sure it's up to date. Is it up to date and include new
words? These are all recent additions to the 2012 Oxford English Dictionary:
dance-off,
digipak, echinacea, paywall, retcon, Urbanite
Technology is advancing all the
time. Does the dictionary contain up to date definitions of words like tweet, social networking and
so on?
And then is the
dictionary British, American, Australian or Canadian or some other variant? For
teachers overseas it should really include both British
English and American
English words and spellings. And idioms. Does the dictionary have
idioms, phrasal
verbs and so on? These could be really useful if you have the
students use the dictionary on their own.
5. Compare the Words
Take a word,
any word, and look it up in several different dictionaries. Which has the best
explanation? Do you understand them all? Now ask yourself which explanation is
best for your class.
The author
Richard McKenna once said that he would buy any dictionary which explained the
word ontology so he could understand it but he never found one. Why
not make a list of words you come across but don't fully understand and then
take that list along and use it to choose a dictionary.
Other Considerations
Here are some
other considerations you might want to think about before handing over your
money.
Size
Are you going
to need to carry it about? Size can be important here and if you're expected to
take it from home to work each day make it small! Then again, perhaps a
Smartphone dictionary app is the way to go here.
And on the
subject of size, how many words does it define? A pocket dictionary may well
have just 2,000 or so entries. A large single volume dictionary could be about
300,000. If you're using it for teaching then the pocket dictionary will be too
small and the larger dictionary too big perhaps.
Sample Sentences
If the students
are going to be using the dictionary on their own, it often helps to have
definitions which also give examples of the word used in context.
Reference Materials
What's in the
back of the dictionary? Verb tables? Proper nouns? Metric conversions? Ask
yourself if this is a waste of space or whether it's actually useful!
Specialized Dictionaries
Does your class
need a specialized dictionary? Business English perhaps? Or a dictionary
containing scientific explanations?
CHAPTER IV
Conclusion
A dictionary is a book of words of a particular
language and their accepted definitions, origins, parts of speech,
pronunciation, spelling and in some cases a sample of their use. Depending on
the age and target audience, it may also contain cultural slang and/or other
non-traditional words as well.
A "language translation dictionary" lists the words of one language and their equivalent words in another language.
A "language translation dictionary" lists the words of one language and their equivalent words in another language.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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