Research into dictionary use by Polish learners of English: Some methodological considerations (original) (raw)
2002
Abstract The paper presents a selection of results from a study investigating dictionary use by 712 Polish learners of English representing a variety of FL competence levels and backgrounds. Data from Learner Survey, experiment, and Teacher Survey are brought in to test hypotheses relating to a variety of aspects of dictionary use. Here two aspects have been selected for presentation. First, frequency with which learners seek different types of information in their dictionaries is analyzed.
On Dictionary Use by Slovak and Polish Teacher Trainees
pulib.sk
A survey was conducted among English teacher trainees in selected Slovak and Polish university settings. The aim of the probe was to collect relevant data concerning dictionary reference proficiency among the two trainee populations. The investigation was executed by means of a questionnaire given to undergraduate university students to complete. In total, 22 questions covered a number of issues, from dictionary ownership to students' views on the role and use of dictionaries in learning a foreign language. The analysis of obtained information enabled us to identify areas in which improvement seems to be necessary for our respondents to become more effective dictionary users. On this basis an attempt was made to outline a set of recommendations on how to increase dictionary awareness and improve instruction in the required dictionary reference skills in higher education curricula for language learning in the two countries under focus.
International Journal Of Lexicography
This study investigates the dictionary use of graduates in English and German as well as their attitudes towards teaching and learning dictionary skills in the classroom. The first section of the paper offers a historical overview of research on dictionary use and dictionary didactics in Hungary. This is followed by the detailed description of the quantitative research, which aims to investigate the participants’ (n=197) self-reported preferences and attitudes regarding dictionary use, their dictionary consultation behaviour, and the role of dictionaries as an aid to language learning and teaching. The research results partly confirm the trends revealed in previous international studies (e.g. increased use of online tools, reluctance to pay for dictionaries, low prestige of teaching dictionary use); they also show that there is a need for dictionary use skills to be taught from an early age and for placing a special emphasis on features and search strategies in the case of digital d...
Dictionary use by English language learners
Language Teaching, 2014
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 E...
International Journal of Lexicography, 2018
The article presents the results of a survey on dictionary use in Europe, focusing on general monolingual dictionaries. The survey is the broadest survey of dictionary use to date, covering close to 10,000 dictionary users (and non-users) in nearly thirty countries. Our survey covers varied user groups, going beyond the students and translators who have tended to dominate such studies thus far. The survey was delivered via an online survey platform, in language versions specific to each target country. It was completed by 9,562 respondents, over 300 respondents per country on average. The survey consisted of the general section, which was translated and presented to all participants, as well as country-specific sections for a subset of 11 countries, which were drafted by collaborators at the national level. The present report covers the general section.
Non-standard dictionary definitions: What they cannot tell native speakers of Polish
Cadernos de Traduçao, 2006
Recently, a new defining format has been gaining in popularity in abstract noun entries of monolingual English learners' dictionaries: a single-clause when-definition. The present study attempts to investigate the role of the definition of this format, placed in a complete microstructure, in conveying information on the syntactic class of nominal headwords. To achieve this aim, tests were designed and run on several groups of Polish learners of English at the intermediate level. Balanced parallel forms were employed, where single-clause when-definitions were contrasted with their closest analytical analogs in full dictionary entries. It was found that both the new and the classical definition formats resulted in comparably frequent correct POS identification of the headword nouns. This is in stark contrast to the results yielded by Lew & Dziemianko's research (in press), which has inspired the present analysis, where the definition formats were investigated in isolation from other components of the microstructure. Analysis of the consultation behaviour suggests that the syntactic label was the only element of the entry consulted with any frequency, which suggests that the subjects may have approached the task as a metalexicographic exercise.
The Image of the Monolingual Dictionary Across Europe. Results of the European Survey of Dictionary use and Culture, 2018
The article presents the results of a survey on dictionary use in Europe, focusing on general monolingual dictionaries. The survey is the broadest survey of dictionary use to date, covering close to 10,000 dictionary users (and non-users) in nearly thirty countries. Our survey covers varied user groups, going beyond the students and translators who have tended to dominate such studies thus far. The survey was delivered via an online survey platform, in language versions specific to each target country. It was completed by 9,562 respondents, over 300 respondents per country on average. The survey consisted of the general section, which was translated and presented to all participants, as well as country-specific sections for a subset of 11 countries, which were drafted by collaborators at the national level. The present report covers the general section.
Drawing the Profile of Students of English as Dictionary Users
Fifty freshmen students of English took part in a study in order to establish their profile as dictionary users. The respondents completed a questionnaire regarding the types of dictionaries they used, the frequency of use, the main reasons for consultation, the difficulties in the lookup process, instruction in dictionary use, etc. The analysis of data revealed that the students use monolingual dictionaries (MLDs) more frequently than bilingual dictionaries (BLDs), and that the difficulties they have in the lookup process are due to deficiencies in their dictionaries. In addition, the results provide evidence that our students do not take full advantage of their monolingual dictionaries because they hardly make use of the appendices and usage guides in them. The findings also indicate that their dictionary skills are more or less weak. Therefore, this study suggests that our students should receive more training in dictionary use so that they enhance their skills and make the most of their dictionaries. .
Language Learners and Dictionary Users: Bibliographic Findings and Commentary
1998
This is a report of the findings of an exhaustive bibliographic search done on scholarly articles written over the past thirty years about learners' dictionaries. The completed annotated bibliography of over 460 academic articles on learners' dictionaries, both monolingual and bilingual, written in English, German, French, and Italian, reveals a number of truths about the field of lexicography in the 1990's. The findings revolve around the tension between two notions: lexicography as a science vs. lexicography as an art. Empirical findings, based on the compilation of all citations in a computer database, include, but are not limited to, the following: most often cited learners' dictionaries, most often cited bilingual dictionaries, and the most influential trends in learners' dictionaries over the past thirty years.