Advantages and Disadvantages of Learners’ Monolingual Dictionaries of English
Now let us see how the above principles are implemented in four most popular British learners’ dictionaries of English mentioned above.
First of all it should be mentioned that the dictionaries under analysis concentrate on the common core standard vocabulary of English. They cover from 60,000 to 80,000 basic words and phrases in American and British English. The number of entries varies from dictionary to dictionary depending on whether derivatives and some compounds are included in the same entry as the root word or are treated as separate headwords.
In contrast with general purpose dictionaries for natives the four learners’ dictionaries are characterized by clear definitions written in simple language. More than that, the OALD, the LDCE and the CIDE have special defining vocabularies consisting of a limited number of words by means of which all the words and phrases registered by the dictionary are defined.
As far as the COBUILD is concerned the definitions are written in full sentences, in «natural straightforward English so that they are comprehen‑sible to every user». For example, this is how the verb to indicate is defined in the dictionaries under discussion:
OALD
indicate /ґIndIkeIt/ v 1(a) ~ sth (to sb) to show sth
LDCE
Indicate
3 > YOUR WISHES/INTENTIONS (T) to say or do something to make your wishes, intentions, etc clear
CIDE
in‑di‑cate (obj)| show | /ґIn‑dI‑keIt/ v to show, point or make clear in another way
COBUILD
Indicate
2. If youindicate an opinion, an intention, or a fact, you mention it in an indirect way.
It should also be mentioned that in the LDCE and the CIDE there is a special system of ‘signposts’ which guides the user to the meaning he/she is looking for.
As is well known, extensive grammatical information is a must in a learners’ dictionary because in contrast with natives foreigners cannot be satisfied with a mere ‘address’ of the word‑class membership, they require much more information to be able to use the word properly in speech of their own. This is the reason why the four dictionaries put special emphasis on the description of grammar. To illustrate the different policies used by the dictionaries under discussion, to clarify grammatical information let us consider the way the verb to indicate is treated in the four dictionaries.
The OALD and the LDCE have elaborate systems of grammar codes (underlined in the entries below) which help the user to gain a deeper insight into grammatical functioning typical of the word, for example:
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OALD
indicate /ґIndIkeIt/ v 1(a) ~ sth (to sb) to show sth: (Vn) a sign indicating a crossroads ahead(Vpr. wh) With a wave of his hand he indicated to me where I should sit.(V. that) She indicated that I should wait a moment. (also V. wh,Vnpr,Vpr. that). (b) to be a sign of sth; to suggest that sth is possible or likely: (Vn) A red sky at night often indicates fine weather the following day.(V. that). Was there any evidence to indicate that he planned to return? (c) to give the specified reading or measurement on a scale: (Vn) The speedometer was indicating 95 mph.
LDCE
indicate1 FACTS (T) to show that a particular situation exists or that something is likely to be true: The survey results seem to indicate a connection between poor housing conditions and bad health. |indicate that This indicates that rape is more widespread than people believe.
In the latest editions of these dictionaries grammar codes were simplified and became more explanatory. Still, in order to use grammar codes more or less automatically the user has to memorize them.
In the COBUILD grammatical notes are moved to the extra column in the margin. The terms used to describe syntactic patterns are explained in the dictionary and the user can find them following alphabetical order. It should be noted, however, that they are fairly transparent and can be easily understood, for example:
indicate VERB
V that
V n
V wh
The CIDE approaches the problem of grammar presentation in a different way. This dictionary tries to combine the etic and emic aspects of grammar, that is the entry comprises both, a number of sentences and the abstract pattern which can be derived by the user from the above sentences, for example:
in‑di‑cate (obj) | show | /ґIn‑dI‑keIt/ v to show, point or make clear in another way · The label on the packet 65 indicated all the ingredients in the biscuits. · Data obtained from exploratory investigations indicate large amounts of oil below the sea‑bed in this area.· Please indicate which free gift you would like to receive. (+ wh‑word) · Initial results indicate (that) the election result is 70 going to be very close. (+ (that) clause) · She indicated to me (that) she didn’t want me to say anything. (+ (that)clause)
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Thus, it is evident that progress has certainly been made since the time grammatical information was first introduced into learners’ dictionaries. Still, very much remains to be done to make the presentation of this kind of data consistent and easily accessible for the user.
Even if you know a typical colligation it is not enough to be able to use the word correctly. The dictionary user should be also informed about its typical collocations. All learners’ dictionaries pay due attention to the idiomatic character of language and try to provide users with ready‑made contexts, which can become part of their vocabulary. The user can learn about the collocational peculiarities of the word either from definitions, like in the COBUILD, for example:
6. When driversindicate, they make lights flash on one side of their vehicle to show that they are going to turn in that direction or from example sentences and word‑combinations that illustrate its possible contexts in speech. This is how the verb to indicatein the meaning ‘to signal that one’s vehicle is going to change direction’ is illustrated in the dictionaries under analysis:
OALD
Why didn’t you indicate? He indicated (that) he was turning right.
LDCE
Don’t forget to indicate before you pull out.
COBUILD
He told us when to indicate and when to change gear.
CIDE
He was indicating left but he turned right.· Slow down as you approach the junction and indicate which way you’re going to turn.
It should be emphasized in this connection that the OALD frequently prefers series of word‑combinations and thus provides the user with a wide range of standard collocations, for example:
facility– a piece of equipment, a building, a service, etc. that is provided for a particular purpose:sports facilities, washing/postal/shopping/banking facilities, facilities for study (eg libraries)
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The CIDE and especially the COBUILD adduce full sentences, which make the word usage explicit. The LDCE combines both ways of indicating the special character of collocations.
In this connection the old controversy about the respective merits of authentic examples and examples made up by lexicographers should be touched upon. Examples provide both, an opportunity and a challenge to a lexicographer. On the one hand, given that there are clear and distinct meanings, which can be singled out within the word, it is theoretically possible to find authentic contexts or to make up artificial ones illustrating semantic, grammatical, pragmatic and socio‑cultural features of the word in question. However, it should be emphasized in this connection that in learners’ dictionaries examples serve two functions: they prove that the word is actually part of the word‑stock of the given language and they are viewed as models to be imitated by users in speech of their own. So, the lexicographer’s task is no easy one: the example has to be polyfunctional.
Thus, the opportunities are well known to the lexicographer and the challenge consists not in the theory but in the actual implementation of the theory in the dictionary. One important aspect of this activity involves an analysis of criteria to be adopted when selecting authentic contexts from a corpus. Scholars from the COBUILD project state that the examples should be typical, natural and authentic. But the trouble is that examples may be typical of British English and at the same time contain a vast amount of irrelevant for a foreign learner socio‑cultural information. Or they may sound natural to native speakers of English who may be so deeply imbued with their own culture that they have difficulty in knowing what information is culture specific.Thus, for instance:
Foundation stone
The Princess of Wales laid the foundation stone for the extension of the Cathedral.(COBUILD)
Sometimes examples contain socio‑cultural information which is ideologically relevant, for instance:
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Persecute
The Communists began by brutally persecuting the Catholic Church.(COBUILD)
It does not require a close examination to see that the example does not clarify the meaning of persecute especially if we take into account that this is the second illustrative phrase in the entry after the sentence: Mr. Weaver and his family have been persecuted by the authorities for their beliefs.
Of course, one should always bear in mind that there are many words which are inherently charged with socio‑cultiral connotation. In this case if illustrative examples are properly chosen they make the socio‑cultural connotation explicit and enrich the user’s encyclopaedic knowledge, for example:
pagan – belonging to a religion which worshipped many gods and which existed before the main world religions: The pagan festival of Easter was converted into the Christian festival of Easter, celebrating Christ’s Resurrection. (CIDE)
It follows that not all examples adduced in the dictionary entry may be useful and help the learner of English to make his/her speech more stylistically correct and idiomatic.
Another common feature of all the dictionaries under analysis is the system of style labels and usage notes, which help the user to match the word and context of situation.
It is well known that unlike the native speaker of the language who intuitively knows when to use a more formal or a more colloquial word, how to switch from written to spoken English, which register is appropriate in this or that case the foreign learner is often at a loss because he may be unaware of all the pragmatic subtleties involved. If the learner cannot use the language in such a way as to maintain and appropriately change his/her position in various communicative situations the result is that of a cultural lag. Modern dictionaries, however, have tried to solve this problem and with the help of style labels which provide the user with necessary information. The OALD, for example, treats the word histrionic in the following way:
histrionic –(usu derog) (of behaviour) very dramatic and intended to attract attention.
In the COBUILD the user will see the label ‘pragmatics’ in the Extra Column pointing to the explanations of how words express the speaker’s intentions and attitudes. For example, the word passive is described in the following way. The label ‘pragmatics’ draws the user’s attention to the following definition:
passive – If you describe someone as passive, you mean that they do not take action but instead let things happen to them: used showing disapproval.
It should be emphasized in this connection that the label ‘pragmatics’ is also important because it helps the user to choose a proper prosodic contour which matches the connotation expressed.
In addition to style labels in the OALD and the LDCE one can find special reference devices indicating the difference between oral and written English. This is how it is done in the LDCE:
Side by side with syntagmatic patterning the four dictionaries provide the user with paradigmatic information. To this end the OALD, the LDCE and the CIDE introduced ‘usage notes’, whereas COBUILD makes use of extra column, for example, in the entry of old‑fashioned next to the meaning ‘believing in old days, ideas, customs’ there is its synonym traditional introduced by the sign =. Whereas next to the meaning ‘out of date’ we find its antonym modern introduced by the crossed sign .
Learners’ dictionaries contain some encyclopaedic information, which can be either linguistic or non‑linguistic. The latter comprises various data concerning geography, flora and fauna, on the one hand, and institutions, customs, systems and people of English speaking countries, on the other. The former is part and parcel of the inner side of the word.
Non‑linguistic encyclopaedic information is traditionally presented in the form of tables, charts, pictures and maps. In the OALD, for example, there are special encyclopaedic pages in the middle of the dictionary. It was done deliberately: many teachers of EFL noticed that students hardly ever look at the back of the dictionary for encyclopaedic information. Now, colourful pages containing very useful socio‑cultural data attract the user’s attention immediately.
One should also mention tables of weights and measures (OALD, LDCE, CIDE), lists of geographical names (OALD, LDCE), common forenames (OALD), military ranks (OALD, LDCE), maps (OALD) and illustrations of trees, flowers, wild animals, etc., at the end or in the main part of the dictionary. They give the user a fuller picture of the cultural background of the English language.
It should be pointed out in this connection that both the OALD and the LDCE have parallel encyclopaedic editions («Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary». Encyclopaedic Edition; the «Longman Dictionary of Language and Culture»), which combine detailed linguistic information on the English language with explanations of the cultural allusions and connotations needed by advanced foreign learners to achieve fluency in this language.
An important lexicographic innovation contributing to the user’s encyclopaedic knowledge was made by the compilers of the CIDE: many entries in this dictionary comprise well‑known quotations from popular songs, books, films and television programmes. They are closely connected with headwords and, together with idioms, they form part of the frame of corresponding words (see above Part 1, Chapter 5. Phraseology).
For example, the frame of the verb to buy is created not only by all the components of business transactions reflected in its definition but also by the title of a famous song by the Beatles «Can’t buy me love» which is firmly rooted in the mind of the native speaker of English. The entry of peacein the meaning ‘no violence’ includes the title of the song by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band «Give Peace a Chance» and a quotation from Neville Chamberlain’s speech after the Munich Agreement with Hitler: «I believe it is peace for our time… peace with honour.»
To finish our analysis of the four dictionaries we should mention a few extra features, which keep them apart. It is but natural that each dictionary contains something that makes it different from its ‘rivals’. Thus, for instance as far as the CIDE is concerned we should point to its ‘false friends pages’. The dictionary tries to be as international as possible and to this end it provides false friends information for 14 European and Oriental languages. Here is a passage of the page where English and Russian are contrasted:
Another innovative extra feature of the CIDE is a phrase index intended to make it easier for the user to find the headword under which a phraseological unit or idiom is dealt with.
The CIDE, the LDCE and the OALD attempt at incorporating some linguistic information into the body of the dictionary in the form of study pages or linguistic portrait entries. The OALD does it in the most rational way because here important linguistic information (for example, «What is collo‑cation?») is combined with some didactic explanations («Colloca‑tions in this dictionary»).
It follows from what has been expounded above that monolingual learners’ dictionaries give clear and simple information on the meaning and use of essential English vocabulary items, help students to breakthrough from a basic survival vocabulary to greater spoken fluency and confidence in the written word and benefit students by teaching them English culture.
Chapter 3.
Bilingual Dictionaries
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