Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Language dictionary'

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1992.
Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Clifford Hill. Dissertation Committee: JoAnne Kleifgen. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-135).

Of all the components of the bilingual dictionary microstructure, examples usually take up more space than all others combined. This means that there is a de facto consensus that examples are essential. However, despite this consensus, existing bilingual dictionaries are inconsistent in their exemplification of lexical items and the current literature in the field does not provide any explanation of this inconsistency. In fact there is no exhaustive or systematic study of examples in bilingual or unilingual lexicography. This thesis attempts to fill this gap. It analyzes several aspects of examples, with special attention to the role they perform in bilingual dictionaries and the importance of their presentation to highlight their functions.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The lemmatisation of nouns in African and Non-African language dictionaries is investigated with a view to account for the development of a theoretical framework of how nouns could be lemmatised in a Tshivenda monolingual dictionary. Within the African language dictionaries two traditions exist for lemmatisation of nouns: the stem or root system and the word system. Dictionaries belonging to the Nguni languages enter nouns according to the letter of the root or stem and this has been followed because of the presence of a preprefix in these langauges. Languages like Venda, Tsonga and Sotho usually enter nouns in the dictionary under the first letter of the prefix if present. In African languages the morphological and syntactic category noun is exactly the same. With syntax and morphology the category noun is presented by the root or stem of the noun with prefixes added as inherent semantic and grammatical features of such nouns. So, the exact entry in a dictionary has to be considered form the view point of the syntactic and morphological category only. Taking these considerations into account a case can be made for the treatment of nouns in dictionaries. In a Tshivenda monolingual dictionary nouns are entered as head of the noun phrases (NPs); thus indicating the syntactic operation of the noun outside the context of a sentence. In other instances the syntactic operations are indicated within the context of a sentence and this information is indicated within a dictionary implicitly or covertly by means of illustrative examples. Nouns in these dictionaries may appear with two and or more than two arguments. Semantically, the noun Halwa in a Tshivenda monolingual dictionary may have two arguments: firstly it may mean "an intoxicating drink" and secondly it may refer to "a container for holding beer". Thus the noun in African language dictionaries, Tshivenda in particular, could be represented syntactically morphologically and semantically.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die lemmatisering van naamwoorde in Afrika- en nie-Afrikatale woordeboeke is ondersoek om 'n teoretiese raamwerk te ontwikkel vir die lemmatisering van naamwoorde in 'n Tshivenda eentalige woordeboek. Binne die Afrikatale woordeboek bestaan twee tradisies vir die lemmatisering van naamwoorde: die stamsisteem en die woordsisteem. Woordeboek vir die Ngunitale skryf naamwoorde in volgens die eerste letter van die stam: Dié stelsel is toegepas weens die teenwoordigheid van 'n voorprefiks in hierdie tale. Tale soos Venda, Tsonga en Sotho neem gewoonlik naamwoorde in die woordeboek op onder die eerste letter van die prefiks, as daar een is. In die Afrikatale is die morfologiese en sintaktiese kategorie naamwoord presies dieselfde. Die naamwoord word deur die stam of wortel verteenwoordig en van prefikse vergesel ter aanduiding van bepaalde semantiese en grammatikale kenmerke. Die presiese inskrywing in 'n woordeboek word bepaal deur die sintaksiese en morfologiese kategorie. Baie aandag moet dus gegee word aan die aard van die behandeling van naamwoorde in woordeboeke. In 'n Tshivenda eentalige woordeboek, word naamworde opgeneem as kern van die naamwoordstukke ter aanduiding van die sintaksiese optrede van die naamwoord buite die konteks van 'n sin. In ander gevalle word die sintaksiese optrede aangedui binne die konteks van 'n sin en hierdie inligting word in 'n woordeboek implisiet aangedui deur middel van voorbeeldmateriaal. Naamwoorde in hierdie woordeboek kan met twee en of meer as twee argumente voorkom. Semanties kan die naamwoord [ Halwa] in 'n Tshivenda eentalige woordeboek twee argumente hê : eerstens kan dit beteken" 'n dronkmakende bier" en tweedens 'n blik wat bier hou". Dus kan die naamwoorde in Afrikataalwoordeboeke, veral Tshivenda, sintakties, morfologies en semanties voorgestel word.

Tese (Doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão
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Esta tese é um trabalho de pesquisa lexicográfica voltado para o ensino de uma língua estrangeira. Propõe-se aqui um novo modelo de dicionário, melhor adaptado às necessidades dos usuários modernos. Segundo o autor, estas necessiadades são hoje muito mais de produção e não mais unicamente de compreensão. O fato dessas novas necessidades seram insuficientemente pesquisadas deve-se a uma metodologia de pesquisa inadequada. Sugere-se que um tipo de pesquisa qualitativa, no lugar de uma quantitativa, levaria a melhores resultados. Um exemplo deste tipo de pesquisa qualitativa e aplicada a exemplos, mostra que os dicionários ganhariam em eficiência se as funções lexicográficas de produção e compreensão fossem consideradas separadamente. Alguns pesquisadores já defenderam esta posição no passado a um nível teórico, mas suas conseqüências práticas nunca foram consideradas. É precisamente o que se tenta fazer aqui. Algumas recomendações são formuladas para a compilação de dicionários de língua estrangeira no futuro, mais do que nada para produção. A informática, em parte responsável para a maior necessidade de dicionários de produção, é considerada uma ferramenta essencial. A relevância deste trabalho está também nas eventuais conseqüências práticas do que se propõe aqui.

This thesis reports on an empirical study of dictionary use in translation from a foreign into a native language (version). The purpose of the study was to gather information on how student translators use dictionaries in version, particularly when translating specialized texts, and to see what effects certain aspects of dictionaries have on them. The study consists of two tests conducted on translation students (Francophone and Anglophone) at the University of Ottawa. The first test was designed to gather general information about students' use of dictionaries in version. The main issues explored in this test are the following: (1) Integration of dictionary use into the version task; (2) Most common reasons for consulting dictionaries; (3) Types of dictionaries most frequently consulted; (4) Elements of entries most frequently used; (5) Most common and most satisfactory dictionary-use strategies; (6) Major causes of dissatisfaction; (7) Choice of definitional metalanguage. The second test was designed to further explore some of the findings of test 1 on the issue of definitional metalanguage. Specifically, it was conceived to measure the ability of translation students to cope with L1 and L2 definitional metalanguage.

Although Canada is an officially bilingual country, in which French is stated to be the mother tongue of almost 6.8 million people and English of 17.5 million people (2001 Canadian census), there is not a single general bilingual French-English dictionary on the market of Canadian origin. This means that Canadians are forced to use European-produced bilingual dictionaries of English and French such as the Collins-Robert and the Oxford-Hachette, which, since they are intended principally for the European and U.S. markets, do not include many elements of English and French that are used in Canada. When these elements---these "Canadianisms"---are included in European dictionaries, their treatment is often unsatisfactory as they may be presented in an unsystematic, sometimes incomplete and even confusing manner. The Bilingual Canadian Dictionary Project aims to remedy this situation by providing Canadians and more particularly Canadian writers, editors, translators and interpreters, as well as advanced second-language learners with a linguistic tool specially designed to meet their particular needs. This thesis describes the Bilingual Canadian Dictionary Project and its methodology, as well as the Dictionary itself, its source materials, especially its electronic corpora, and the computer tools used in its compilation. The thesis then discusses the particular features that distinguish Canadian French and Canadian English and summarizes the significant events in the evolution of Canadian unilingual and bilingual lexicography. Finally, examples of regional usage from Canada, North America, France and Britain are presented and their entries in two European dictionaries analyzed and compared with their entries in the Bilingual Canadian Dictionary.

Dissertation (DLitt)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The dictionaries available in the Gabonese languages are all translation dictionaries biased towards French and compiled by missionaries and colonial administrators. No proper monolingual dictionaries exist in the Gabonese languages. There is therefore a need for monolingual dictionaries in the Gabonese languages, particularly in Yipunu, one of the Bantu languages (B 43) spoken in the South of Gabon. Yipunu is a regional vehicular language or a major or majority language. Yipunu is a domestic language i.e spoken inside Bapunu communities or a mother tongue or first language and Yipunu is also taught as subject in the national educational system. As a response to this need, this dissertation proposes metalexicographic criteria for the compilation of a standard descriptive monolingual dictionary with special reference to Yipunu. The proposed model focuses primarily on the inclusion and the treatment of the standard variety of Yipunu and to a lesser degree on the other varieties. Such a model is directed at a dictionary primarily dealing with the needs of the average, educated members of the Yipunu speech community, the mother-tongue speakers, and also designed for experienced and advanced learners of Yipunu and their teachers. This study aims to point out how important standard descriptive monolingual dictionaries are in general and specifically in the case of African Bantu languages. This study also aims to highlight the importance for Gabonese lexicographers to adopt modern lexicographical principles in dictionary compilation such as the user-driven dictionary and the corpus-based dictionary. This model, although devised for Yipunu, will eventually serve as model for the design of standard descriptive dictionaries in all Gabonese languages. This study provides information about the content and the structures of such a dictionary and is structured as follows: Chapter 1 focuses on introducing and contextualising the research. It presents the linguistic situation in Gabon with reference to the status of Yipunu. It also shows the importance and the relevance of the research and gives the theoretical basis, methodology, hypotheses and objectives underlying the study. Chapter 2 criticises the lexicographic works in Yipunu in order to improve the quality of future Yipunu dictionaries and examines the major needs of Yipunu lexicography. Chapter 3 envisages some aspects of the standardisation of Yipunu. It targets the discussion at the level of the language analysis namely the phonology, the grammar, the dictionary and the orthography of Yipunu. Chapter 4 discusses the user perspective, which guides the dictionary compilation. It focuses on the user profile, user typologies and dictionary functions. The intended dictionary has a multifunctional character. Special attention is given to a pioneering survey of dictionary use among Gabonese students and to the discussion of the teaching of dictionary use in Gabon. Chapter 5 deals with the dictionary plan. Different aspects such as the style guide, the genuine purpose, the dictionary basis, data collection, the data collection policy, data collection methods and the corpus of the proposed dictionary are discussed Chapter 6 elaborates on the macrostructure of the proposed dictionary. The dictionary gives priority to a strict alphabetical macrostructure. Macrostructural elements, lemmatisation strategies, and types of lemmas and articles to be included in the proposed dictionary are discussed. Chapter 7 focuses on the microstructure of the proposed dictionary. The model suggests an obligatory microstructure and an extended obligatory microstructure and discusses the variety of data to be included in the articles of the proposed dictionary. Chapter 8 deals with the outer text section and the guide structures of the proposed dictionary, which includes front and back matter texts. Polyaccessibility, a system of cross-referencing, and lemmatic and non-lemmatic addressings are characteristics of the proposed dictionary. Chapter 9 makes some concluding remarks by highlighting the focus point of each chapter of the dissertation. It gives also some recommendations for the research.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die woordeboeke beskikbaar in die Gaboenese tale is almal vertalende woordeboeke gerig op Frans en saamgestel deur sendelinge en koloniale administrateurs. Geen werklike eentalige woordeboeke bestaan in die Gaboenese tale nie. Daar is gevolglik 'n behoefte aan eentalige woordeboeke in die Gaboenese tale, veral in Jipoenoe, een van die Bantoetale (B 43) wat in die Suide van Gaboen gepraat word. Jipoenoe is 'n streeksvoertaal of 'n hoof- of meerderheidstaal. Jipoenoe is 'n huistaal d.w.s. wat binne Bapoenoegemeenskappe gepraat word of 'n moedertaal of eerste taal en Jipoenoe word ook as vak in die nasionale opvoedingstelsel onderrig. In reaksie op hierdie behoefte stel hierdie proefskrif metaleksikografiese kriteria voor vir die samestelling van 'n standaard beskrywende eentalige woordeboek met spesiale verwysing na Jipoenoe. Die voorgestelde model fokus primêr op die insluiting en behandeling van die standaardvariëteit van Jipoenoe en in 'n mindere mate op die ander variëteite. Die model is gerig op 'n woordeboek wat primêr aandag gee aan die behoeftes van die deursnee- opgevoede lede van die Jipoenoespraakgemeenskap, die moedertaalsprekers, en wat ook ontwerp is vir kundige en gevorderde leerders van Jipoenoe en hul onderwysers. Die doel van hierdie studie is om aan te toon hoe belangrik standaard beskrywende eentalige woordeboeke in die algemeen en spesifiek in die geval van die Bantoetale van Afrika is. Die doel van hierdie studie is ook om die belangrikheid vir Gaboenese leksikograwe te belig om moderne leksikografiese beginsels toe te pas in die samestelling van woordeboeke soos die gebruikersgedrewe woordeboek en die korpusgebaseerde woordeboek. Hierdie model, alhoewel ontwerp vir Jipoenoe, sal uiteindelik dien as model vir die opstel van standaard beskrywende woordeboeke vir al die Gaboenese tale. Die studie verskaf inligting oor die inhoud en strukture van so 'n woordeboek en is soos volg gestruktureer: Hoofstuk 1 fokus op 'n inleiding tot en 'n kontekstualisering van die navorsing. Dit beskryf die taalkundige toestand in Gaboen met betrekking tot die status van Jipoenoe. Dit toon ook die belangrikheid en relevansie van die navorsing en gee die teoretiese basis, metodologie, hipoteses en doelstellings onderliggend aan die studie. Hoofstuk 2 kritiseer die leksikografiese werk in Jipoenoe met die doel om die gehalte van die Jipoenoewoordeboeke te verbeter en die behoeftes van die Jipoenoeleksikografie te ondersoek. Hoofstuk 3 beskou 'n aantal aspekte van die standaardisering van Jipoenoe. Dit is gemik op 'n bespreking op die vlak van taalontleding, naamlik die fonologie, die grammatika, die woordeboek en die ortografie van Jipoenoe. Hoofstuk 4 bespreek die gebruikersperspektief wat die woordeboeksamestelling rig. Dit fokus op die gebruikersprofiel, gebruikerstipologieë en woordeboekfunksies. Die beplande woordeboek het 'n multifunksionele karakter. Spesiale aandag word gegee aan 'n baanbrekende ondersoek na woordeboekgebruik onder Gaboenese studente en aan 'n bespreking van die onderrig van woordeboekgebruik in Gaboen. Hoofstuk 5 handel oor die woordeboekplan. Verskillende aspekte soos die stylgids, die werklike doel, die woordeboekbasis, dataversameling, die dataversamelingsbeleid, dataversamelingsmetodes en die korpus van die voorgestelde woordeboek word bespreek. Hoofstuk 6 wei uit oor die makrostruktuur van die voorgestelde woordeboek. Die woordeboek gee voorkeur aan 'n streng alfabetiese makrostruktuur. Makrostrukturele elemente, lemmatiseringstrategieë, en soorte lemmas en artikels vir insluiting in die beplande woordeboek word bespreek. Hoofstuk 7 fokus op die mikrostruktuur van die voorgestelde woordeboek. Die model stel 'n verpligte mikrostruktuur en 'n uitgebreide verpligte mikrostruktuur voor en bespreek die verskeidenheid data wat in die artikels van die voorgestelde woordeboek ingesluit behoort te word. Hoofstuk 8 handel oor die buiteteksgedeelte en die gidsstrukture van die voorgestelde woordeboek wat voor- en agtervoor- en agtertekste insluit. Politoeganklikheid, 'n stelsel van kruisverwysings, en lemmatiese en nielemmatiese adresserings is kenmerke van die voorgestelde woordeboek. Hoofstuk 9 maak 'n aantal slotopmerkings deur die fokuspunt van elke hoofstuk van die proefskrif te belig. Dit verskaf ook 'n aantal aanbevelings vir navorsing.

Dissertation (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation offers metalexicographical criteria for the compilation of standard translation dictionaries in non-standardized languages. It particularly focuses on the role that the proposed dictionary model can play in the language standardization, with special reference to Fang. These criteria are based on different theoretical frameworks. Criteria for the dictionary structure are particularly based on Hausmann & Wiegand's General Theory of Lexicography, while a discussion of the role that dictionaries can play in the standardization process of languages is particularly based on criteria introduced by Zgusta. This dissertation is structured as follows: • Chapter 1, Introduction and problem statement, presents the motivation for the choice of the present topic, as well as the theoretical frameworks that I use to build my metalexicographical criteria. • Chapter 2, Fang and its dialects, focuses on the concerned language and its dialects. Apart from a historical overview of the Fang people, a wide inventory of works that have been implemented in Fang, as well as the choice and the motivation of the standard dialect are presented. • Chapter 3, Dictionaries and corpora, highlights the strong relationship between the compilation of modern dictionaries and electronic corpora. More precisely this chapter intends to demonstrate the importance of electronic corpora in the lexicographic practice. In this regard, the importance of some software and new corpus methods are also demonstrated. • Chapter 4, Aspects of the dictionary structure, mainly focuses on different structures of the dictionary and how data should be spread and organized in each dictionary component. A detailed account is given of the structure of each dictionary component. • Chapter 5, Dictionaries and standardization, focuses on the main purpose of the dissertation and demonstrates why and how the dictionary can be an instrument in the standardization process of languages, with specific reference to Fang. • Chapter 6, Concluding remarks, reviews all chapters by highlighting the focal points of each of them. Some perspectives or potential new developments are foreseen in order to pave the way for the elaboration of new theoretical frameworks and the improvement of the proposed dictionary model.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie proefskrif bied metaleksikografiese kriteria vir die samestelling van standaard vertalende woordeboeke vir nie-gestandaardiseerde tale. Die fokus is veralop die rol wat die voorgestelde woordeboekmodel kan speel in taalstandaardisering, met spesifieke verwysing van Fang. Hierdie kriteria is gebaseer op verskillende teoretiese raamwerke. Kriteria vir die woordeboekstruktuur is veral gebaseer op Hausmann en Wiegand se algemene leksikografieteorie, terwyl 'n bespreking van die rol van woordeboeke in die standaardiseringsproses van tale veral gebaseer is op kriteria wat deur Zgusta voorgestel is. Die proefskrif is soos volg saamgestel: • Hoofstuk 1 bied 'n motivering vir die keuse van die betrokke onderwerp asook vir die teoretiese raamwerke waarvolgens die metaleksikografiese kriteria geformuleer is. • Hoofstuk 2 fokus op die betrokke taal, Fang, en sy dialekte. Naas 'n historiese oorsig van die Fang sprekers word 'n wye keuse uit die Fang literatuur asook die keuse van 'n standaarddialek aan die orde gestel. • Hoofstuk 3 wys op die sterk verhouding tussen die samestelling van 'n moderne woordeboek en elektroniese korpora. Hierdie hoofstuk benadruk die belang van elektroniese korpora vir die leksikografiese praktyk. In hierdie verband word daar ook verwys na die belang van sekere sagtewareprodukte asook nuwe korpusmetodes. • Hoofstuk 4 is veral gerig op die verskillende woordeboekstrukture en op hoe data versprei en in die verskillende woordeboekkomponente aangebied moet word. Die struktuur van elke woordeboekkomponent word in besonderhede bespreek. • Hoofstuk 5 fokus op die hoofdoel van die proefskrif en wys hoe en waarom In woordeboek, met spesifieke verwysing na die situasie van Fang, In instrument kan wees in die taa Istandaardiseri ngsproses. • Hoofstuk 6 gee In oorsig oor die voorafgaande hoofstukke en wys op sekere belangrike aspekte wat bespreek is. Nuwe ontwikkelinge wat voorsien word om die weg te baan vir die ontwerp van nuwe teoretiese raamwerke ter verbetering van die voorgestelde model word beklemtoon.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2000.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Bilingual dictionaries should have a decoding as well as an encoding function. Decoding dictionaries want to assist the user in interpreting the language, while encoding dictionaries want to help the user with the usage of the language. The present role of a bilingual or translation dictionary has to change from that of supplying only translation equivalents to one of supplying a more comprehensive data presentation. This should also include additional semantic and pragmatic information. The main aim of a bilingual dictionary should not only be the establishment of a relation of semantic equivalence between source and target language, but also reaching communicative equivalence in the process. This means that the user must be able to find the applicable equivalent of the source language item in the target language. One of the best ways for a lexicographer to test the communicative aptness of a given translation equivalent, is by means of the reversibility principle. It means that lexical item A, included as translation equivalent of lemma B in the X-section of a bidirectional translation dictionary, has to be included as a lemma in the Y-section ofthe dictionary with at least the lexical item B, the relevant lemma from the X-section, as one of its translation equivalents. Each lexical item included as a translation equivalent in the Y-section has to be included as the lemma in the X-section of the dictionary with at least the respective lemma from the Ysection as a translation equivalent. This thesis tries to show how, if not adhered to the above principles, an inferior product can be the result of many hours of painstaking work. The main problematic areas are inter alia those of labels, spelling inconsistencies and an absence of translation equivalents. However, some of the less obvious problematic areas are also touched upon.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Tweetalige woordeboeke behoort 'n dekoderende sowel as 'n enkoderende funksie te hê. Dekoderende woordeboeke moet die gebruiker help om die taal te interpreteer, terwyl enkoderende woordeboeke die gebruiker moet help met die gebruik van 'n woodeboek. Die huidige rol van 'n tweetalige ofvertalende woordeboek moet verander van een wat slegs vertalingsekwivalente verskaf, na een met meer omvattende data. 'n Tweetalige woordeboek behoort nie slegs die gebruiker van vertalingsekwivalente te voorsien nie, maar behoort ook addisionele semantiese en pragmatiese inligting in te sluit. Een van die beste maniere vir 'n leksikograaf om die kommunikatiewe geskiktheid van 'n gegewe vertalingsekwivalent te toets, is deur middel van die omkeerbaarheidsbeginsel. Hiermee word bedoel dat leksikale item A, wat ingesluit is as 'n vertalingsekwivalent van lemma B in the X-seksie van 'n tweerigtingwoordeboek, ook ingesluit moet word as 'n lemma in die Y-seksie van die woordeboek met ten minste the leksikale item B, die relevante lemma van die X-seksie, as een van sy vertalingsekwivalente. Hierdie tesis gaan aandui hoe, wanneer daar nie aan hierdie vereistes voldoen word nie, 'n minderwaardige produk die resultaat is van baie ure se harde werk. Die hoofareas onder bespreking is onder meer etikette, Spellingonreëlmatighede en die afwesigheid van vertalingsekwivalente. Daar word egter ook aandag geskenk aan probleme wat nie op so 'n groot skaal voor kom nie.

CITE/Language Arts
Ph.D.
This microanalytic study focuses on the mutimodal word look-up practices of Japanese foreign language learners of English at the novice level using electronic dictionaries (e-dictionaries) in pair conversations. Not yet investigated with a Conversation Analysis (CA) approach, this analysis examines reoccurring interactional and collaborative repair practices (Schegloff, Jefferson, & Sacks, 1977; Schegloff, 2000) of the learners' look-ups, and explicates from the sequential turn-taking procedures (Sacks, Schegloff, & Jefferson, 1974), the underlying social organization of the e-dictionary look-up sequence. Recent research has found that not-yet-fluent learners are capable of relatively smooth turn-taking (Carroll, 2000, 2004), and they employ various embodied actions (Olsher, 2004) to complete their turns. Nonvocal resources such as gaze movement (Goodwin, 1981) and gestures were also investigated in order to better understand how learners collaboratively utilize vocal and nonvocal resources in hybrid actions, to co-construct the meaning of look-up words, and maintain intersubjectivity. While enrolled in a university intensive English program, thirteen native speakers of Japanese video-recorded thirty-minute conversations; and during these conversations, they completed look-up sequences as interactional achievements. The results indicated that EFL novice learners display sophisticated competencies when using e-dictionaries for communication. While collaboratively completing look-up sequences, they display multimodal competencies by noticing trouble with words, initiating look-ups, making candidate proposals of word translations, correcting themselves, mutually acknowledging their understanding, and maintaining intersubjectivity and sequential relevance. In terms of language learning, learners' collaborative learning of words demonstrates instances of learning-as-interaction (Brouwer & Wagner, 2004; Firth & Wagner, 2007), making public the participants' socially situated cognition. Indications of a change in the participants' cognitive state can emerge in the look-up sequential organization. A lack of knowledge is displayed publically in before-look-up actions, encouraging collaboration in the look-up. Multiple proposals and acknowledgement sequences, often displayed in embodied expansions, provide multimodal indications of a possible change in cognitive state and possible gain in knowledge. Thus, the look-up sequence organization is proposed as an interactional organization for the learning of vocabulary. Finally, the understanding of sequential structures and practices that interactants use in looking up words can inform teachers concerning the efficacy of e-dictionary use in the classroom.
Temple University--Theses

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary has long been regarded as an epoch-making book, as great a scholarly achievement as the dictionaries of the Italian, French and Spanish academies, yet more enlightened in its pretensions and its politics. For Johnson does not claim to have fixed the language; his authority is not backed by the state; his decisions as to currency, propriety, meaning, and spelling are based on a jumble of general custom, literary precedent, and reason.
I argue that the intellectual origins of Johnsonian standard English lie in Sir Edward Coke's early seventeenth-century restatement of common law doctrine and terms. Salient issues are common law's need to give an account of its antiquated, medieval vocabulary and its place in the constitutional conflict of the seventeenth century. I give an account of other possible influences on Johnson--Latin and English grammars, pedagogy, philosophical speculation on the nature of language, English prose styles, and proposals for an English academy or similar reform--but cannot find in any of them a sufficiently close conceptual parallel.

On the journey of learning a language we are exposed to countless words that are easily forgotten and subsequently difficult to find again. This study investigates how to design a personal data management system that enables its users to efficiently organize, find and input the words and phrases that they encounter on their journey. Using DSRM, an artifact was iteratively developed and tested in usability tests and interviews by a total of 10 participants. The feedback from the respondents indicates a strong demand for this type of app and also uncovered design knowledge in this new context. The contribution of this study is a set of 14 design principles for making data management in language learning apps more user-friendly and efficient.

It has long been recognised that everyday dictionaries are a potential source of lexical and world knowledge of the type required by many Natural Language Processing (NLP) systems. This research presents a semi-automated approach to the extraction of rich semantic relationships from dictionary definitions. The definitions are taken from the recently published "Cambridge International Dictionary of English" (CIDE). The thesis illustrates how many of the innovative features of CIDE can be exploited during the knowledge acquisition process. The approach introduced in this thesis uses the LOLITA NLP system to extract and represent semantic relationships, along with a human operator to resolve the different forms of ambiguity which exist within dictionary definitions. Such a strategy combines the strengths of both participants in the acquisition process: automated procedures provide consistency in the construction of complex and inter-related semantic relationships, while the human participant can use his or her knowledge to determine the correct interpretation of a definition. This semi-automated strategy eliminates the weakness of many existing approaches because it guarantees feasibility and correctness: feasibility is ensured by exploiting LOLITA's existing NLP capabilities so that humans with minimal linguistic training can resolve the ambiguities within dictionary definitions; and correctness is ensured because incorrectly interpreted definitions can be manually eliminated. The feasibility and correctness of the solution is supported by the results of an evaluation which is presented in detail in the thesis.

To learn a language successfully, one needs to incorporate terms which are used commonly by native speakers but cannot be found in dictionaries. Words like uh-huh, oops, ouch, and brrr, are some examples of these terms. These expressions, commonly categorized under such linguistic labels as interjections (Ameka, 1992), alternants (Poyatos, 2002), and response cries (Goffman,1981), are what Dr. Lynn Henrichsen (1993) and Rebecca Oyer (1999) termed Unorthodox Oral Expressions (UOEs). These utterances are considered unorthodox because many of them are not formal or standard English words. Because of that, “we do not consider them part of the productive system of English,” so English dictionaries and textbooks rarely include these words (Luthy, 1983, p.19). Also, they are used mostly in informal speech rather than in formal written English. Hence, non-native English learners usually don’t have the opportunity to learn these informal utterances in English classes (Chittaladakorn, 2011; Oyer, 1999).Though unorthodox, these expressions are important for English language learners (ELL) to learn so that they will be able to carry out more natural and native-like conversations and understand what these utterances mean when native speakers use them. Because UOEs are so under-taught and there are so few teaching UOEs, there is a great need for a UOE dictionary that includes not only pronunciation and meaning, but also the syntactic features and semantic and pragmatic functions of these expressions. This project includes the creation of an online UOE dictionary to fill that need in English language acquisition.

Thesis (DLitt (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation is an attempt to design a theoretical model for an encyclopaedic dictionary for Gabonese languages. It makes specific reference to Yilumbu, a developing language of the Bantu phylum (B44, according to Guthrie’s classification) spoken in Gabon and in Congo. All existing metalexicographic studies on Gabonese languages (including Yilumbu) pursue the compilation of comprehensive language dictionaries. Most of them are bilingual languages. On the other hand, a number of encyclopaedic dictionaries exist for Gabonese languages. Most of them were compiled by Catholic and Protestant missionaries and colonial administrators. However, none of these reference works was compiled on the basis of a prior metalexicographic orientation. Ultimately, the present study is the first of its kind to propose an encyclopaedic dictionary for Gabonese languages on the basis of a comprehensive metalexicographic analysis. This dissertation also shows that the planned encyclopaedic dictionary reflects the language planning needs of Gabon. Developing and documenting the Gabonese languages on all levels of communication in order to address all the roles and user characteristics are a great challenge. As far as encyclopaedic dictionary compilation is concerned, acquaintance with state-of-the-art developments in the theory and practice of lexicography is necessary. This dissertation comprises nine chapters. Chapter 1 mainly focuses on the specific aims, the purpose and the motivation of the study. The research problem is also demarcated in this chapter. Furthermore, the chapter presents the theoretical model that provides the framework for this research as well as the methodological approach adopted. The potential impact of the study, the reasons for and the position of the source and target languages as well as the sociolinguistic situation of Yilumbu are also introduced in the first chapter. Chapter 2 is a review of the dictionary typology with reference to the proposed model. It aims to present a typological framework for the planned encyclopaedic dictionary. It also introduces various dictionary typologies and contrasts encyclopaedic lexicography and general lexicography. The chapter concludes with a typological profile of the planned encyclopaedic dictionary for Yilumbu before outlining specific principles of the proposed model for an encyclopaedic dictionary. Chapter 3 is a review of encyclopaedic lexicography in Gabon. It introduces the concept of encyclopaedic lexicography. Then it provides a literature review of lexicographic surveys in the Gabonese languages by presenting existing encyclopaedic works in Gabon. The chapter also outlines recent trends in Gabonese lexicography in order to explain the situation of encyclopaedic lexicography in Gabonese lexicographic studies. Finally, the need for research in encyclopaedic lexicography in the Gabonese languages is underlined and specific advantages of encyclopaedic research for Yilumbu lexicography are introduced. Chapter 4 focuses on the target users of the planned encyclopaedic dictionary and its lexicographic functions. The chapter starts with a broad outline of target users and the activity of dictionary compilation. It also reviews what is known as target users and outlines user characteristics. The lexicographic functions of the planned encyclopaedic dictionary are also outlined in this chapter. Chapter 5 gives a comprehensive presentation of the frame structure of the planned encyclopaedic dictionary of Yilumbu. More specifically, the chapter provides a definition of the concept of frame structure and schematises the frame structure, highlighting its components. It outlines the accessory texts and the outer texts of the planned dictionary. This chapter also contains an outline of the front matter and the back matter strategies used for the Yilumbu encyclopaedic dictionary project. The central word list is also dealt with in this chapter. Finally, the chapter reports on the proposed frame structure functions. Chapter 6 focuses on the macrostructure of the planned dictionary. In this chapter, a general overview of the concept of macrostructure is first given. Then the chapter presents the dictionary basis and the selection of the lemma candidate list. Further macrostructural issues are also described. In Chapter 7, different aspects of the microstructure are discussed, focusing on a number of contributions. The chapter presents the concept of microstructure according to Hausmann and Wiegand (1989) and enumerates the different types of article to be included in the microstructure. Data to be included in the microstructure are also presented. Chapter 8 discusses the notion of access structure and its related concepts, namely outer access structure, inner access structure and search zones. The effectiveness and success of any dictionary is measured, among other things, by the accessibility and retrievability of the desired information. The chapter contains an overview of the concept of access structure and also deals with the outer access structure. Moreover, the chapter presents the inner access structure and the rapid access structure. The mediostructure is finally dealt with as a way of gaining access to data. Chapter 9 provides a comprehensive conclusion of the dissertation. This chapter also outlines the contribution of the research findings to lexicographic research, to the emerging Gabonese lexicography and to the fuller promotion of the Yilumbu language. It provides conclusions and formulates suggestions for further research.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie proefskrif is 'n poging om 'n teoretiese model te ontwerp vir 'n ensiklopediese woordeboek vir Gaboenese tale. Spesifieke verwysing word gemaak na Yilumbu, 'n ontwikkelende taal van die Bantoefilum (B44 volgens Guthrie se klassifikasie) wat in Gaboen en die Kongo gepraat word.Alle bestaande metaleksikografiese studie oor die Gaboenese tale (insluitende Yilumbu) is gerig op die samestelling van omvattende taalwoordeboeke; meestal tweetalige woordeboeke. Daar bestaan wel 'n aantal ensiklopediese woordeboeke vir Gaboenese tale. Die meeste daarvan is deur Katolieke en Protestantse sendelinge en koloniale administrateurs saamgestel. Geeneen van hierdie woordeboeke is op 'n voorafbeplande metaleksikografiese basis saamgestel nie. Die huidige studie is die eerste van sy soort om 'n ensiklopediese woordeboek vir die Gaboenese tale voor te stel op die basis van 'n omvattende metaleksikografiese analise. Hierdie proefskrif wil aantoon dat die voorgestelde ensiklopediese woordeboek die taalbeplanningsbehoeftes van Gaboen reflekteer. Ontwikkeling en dokumentering van die Gaboenese tale op alle vlakke van kommunikasie, ten einde aan al die rolle en gebruikerseienskappe aandag te gee, is ʼn groot uitdaging. So ver dit die samestelling van ’n ensiklopediese woordeboek aangaan, is bekendheid met die allerjongste ontwikkelings in die teorie en praktyk van leksikografie nodig. Die proefskrif bevat nege hoofstukke. Hoofstuk 1 bied die besondere oogmerke, die doel en die motivering van die studie. Die navorsingsprobleem word in hierdie hoofstuk afgebaken. Die hoofstuk bevat ook ʼn uiteensetting van die teoretiese model wat die raamwerk vir hierdie navorsing asook die metodologiese benadering wat ingeneem is, verskaf. Daarbenewens word die potensiële trefkrag van die studie, die redes vir en die posisie van die bron- en doeltale asook die sosiolinguistiese situasie van Yilumbu aangebied. Hoofstuk 2 bied 'n oorsig van woordeboektipologie met verwysing na die voorgestelde model. Dit beoog om ʼn tipologiese raamwerk vir die beplande ensiklopediese woordeboek te bied. Dit stel ook verskeie woordeboektipologieë bekend en kontrasteer ensiklopediese leksikografie en algemene leksikografie. Die hoofstuk skets die tipologiese profiel van die beplande ensiklopediese woordeboek vir Yilumbu voordat dit spesifieke beginsels van die voorgestelde model vir ʼn ensiklopediese woordeboek skets. Hoofstuk 3 bied 'n oorsig oor die ensiklopediese leksikografie in Gaboen. Dit stel die begrip ensiklopediese leksikografie aan die orde. Daarna verskaf dit ʼn literatuuroorsig van leksikografiese opnames in die Gaboenese tale deur die aanbieding van bestaande ensiklopediese werke in Gaboen. Die hoofstuk beskryf ook onlangse tendense in Gaboenese leksikografie ten einde die situasie van ensiklopediese leksikografie in Gaboenese leksikografiese studies te verduidelik. Laastens word die behoefte aan navorsing in ensiklopediese leksikografie in die Gaboenese tale onderstreep en spesifieke voordele van ensiklopediese navorsing vir Yilumbu leksikografie word bekend gestel. Hoofstuk 4 fokus op die teikengebruikers van die beplande ensiklopediese woordeboek en die leksikografiese funksies daarvan. Die hoofstuk begin met ʼn algemene oorsig van teikengebruikers en die aktiwiteit van woordeboeksamestelling. Dit kyk ook na wat bekend is as teikengebruikers en skets eienskappe van gebruikers. Die leksikografiese funksies van die beplande ensiklopediese woordeboek word ook in hierdie hoofstuk beskryf. Hoofstuk 5 verskaf ʼn omvattende aanbieding van die raamstruktuur van die beplande ensiklopediese woordeboek van Yilumbu. Meer spesifiek, die hoofstuk verskaf ʼn definisie van die begrip raamstruktuur en bied die raamstruktuur skematies aan, en belig die komponente daarvan. Dit skets die hulptekste en die buitetekste van die beplande woordeboek. Hierdie hoofstuk bevat ook ʼn skets van die voor- en die agtertekstestrategieë wat vir die Yilumbu- ensiklopediese woordeboekprojek gebruik word. Die sentrale woordelys kom ook in hierdie hoofstuk aan bod. Laastens doen die hoofstuk verslag oor die voorgestelde raamstruktuurfunksies. Hoofstuk 6 fokus op die makrostruktuur van die beplande woordeboek. In hierdie hoofstuk word eerstens ʼn algemene oorsig van die begrip makrostruktuur gegee. Daarna bied die hoofstuk die woordeboekbasis en die keuse van die lemmakandidaatlys aan. Verdere makrostrukturele kwessies word ook beskryf. In Hoofstuk 7 word verskillende aspekte van die mikrostruktuur bespreek, met die fokus op ʼn aantal bydraes. Die hoofstuk bied die begrip mikrostruktuur aan soos in Hausmann en Wiegand (1989), en noem die verskillende soorte artikels wat in die mikrostruktuur ingesluit moet word. Data wat by die mikrostruktuur ingesluit moet word, word ook aangebied. Hoofstuk 8 bespreek die gedagte van toegangstruktuur en begrippe wat daarmee verband hou, naamlik eksterne toegangstruktuur, interne toegangstruktuur en soeksones. Die doeltreffendheid en sukses van enige woordeboek word onder andere gemeet deur die toeganklikheid en herwinbaarheid van die gewenste inligting. Die hoofstuk bevat ʼn oorsig van die begrip toegangstruktuur en betrek ook die eksterne toegangstruktuur. Verder bied die hoofstuk die interne toegangstruktuur en die kitstoegangstruktuur. Die mediostruktuur kom uiteindelik aan bod as ʼn wyse om toegang tot data te verkry. Hoofstuk 9 verskaf ʼn omvattende samevatting van die proefskrif. Hierdie hoofstuk skets ook die bydrae van die navorsingsbevindings tot leksikografiese navorsing, tot die opkomende Gaboenese leksikografie en tot die groter bevordering van die Yilumbu-taal. Dit verskaf gevolgtrekkings en formuleer voorstelle vir verdere navorsing.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
O objetivo deste estudo é apresentar os resultados de uma pesquisa etnográfica na área de Lingüística Aplicada, onde propomos investigar, com o apoio da Prática Exploratória (Allwright & Bailey, 1991) questões relacionadas ao uso do dicionário bilíngüe e à atividade de pré-leitura no aprendizado do léxico desconhecido em aulas de língua estrangeira. A análise buscou embasamento nos pressupostos de Grabe & Stoller, 2002; Coracini, 1995; Carter & McCarthy, 1988; Kleiman, 1989 e Kato, 1985. O corpus é composto por aulas de inglês numa turma de sete alunos adultos de nível básico, de uma grande empresa. Foram gravadas e transcritas quatro aulas com diferentes atividades de leitura, propostas pela professora- pesquisadora. Questionários e entrevistas foram respondidos pelos alunos. Os resultados da pesquisa mostram que o dicionário bilíngüe é considerado, pelos alunos, de forma diferenciada, sendo representado e usado de maneiras diversas no contexto analisado; a atividade de pré-leitura é vista como complemento importante na sala de aula, ativando o conhecimento lingüístico e de mundo dos alunos, durante o processo de leitura. A reflexão da professorapesquisadora sobre a sua prática pedagógica e discursiva em sala de aula levou-a a confirmar e reformular algumas de suas crenças sobre atividades de leitura, bem como identificar outros fatores que interferem nas aulas, tais como concepções e experiências anteriores dos alunos sobre seu processo de aprendizagem de uma língua estrangeira.
The purpose of this study is to present the results of an etnographic research in the area of Applied Linguistics, which investigates, with the support of Exploratory Practice (Allwright & Bailey, 1991), issues related to the use of bilingual dictionaries and pre-reading activities in the acquisition of unknown vocabulary in a foreign language. The theoretical background for the analysis was based on Grabe & Stoller, 2002; Coracini, 1995; Carter & McCarthy, 1988; Kleiman, 1989 and Kato, 1985. The corpus includes English as a foreign language lessons in a class of seven basic level adult students from a big company in Rio de Janeiro. Four lessons with different reading activities and proposed by the teacherresearcher were recorded and trascribed. Questionnaires and interviews were answered by the students. The results of this research show that the bilingual dictionary is used and considered, by the students, in different ways in this context; the pre- reading activity is considered as an important complement in the language classroom, activating students´ linguistic and world knowledge, during the reading process. The teacher-researcher´s reflection about her pedagogic and discursive practice in the classroom led her to confirm and to reformulate some of her beliefs towards reading activities, as well as to identify other factors that influence her classes, such as students´ individual conceptions and their previous experiences in relation to the foreign language learning process.

The aim of this Magister Degree Project has been to investigate if can corpora be used to investigate patterns of lexical distribution and/or borrowing from one variety to another. Another aim has been to investigate how well classification of lexical items as either “British” or “American” supported by evidence from corpora of English.

In order to accomplish these aims sets of lexical items have been examined in two ways: first through dictionary research and “dictionary dating”, and second through the use of such English corpora as the British National Corpus (BNC), the United Kingdom Web Archiving Consortium (ukWaC), and the TIME Corpus of American English. The results of this research suggest that the simplistic labelling of certain items as “American” versus “British” is sometimes misleading, and that corpus investigations on their own, though useful, may not be entirely sufficient in this context.

ANALYSE DIACHRONIQUE DU TRÉSOR DE LA LANGUE FRANÇAISEET DE L’OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY :LE TRAITEMENT DES EMPRUNTSRÉSUMÉIl n’est pas de langue dont le lexique ne s’enrichisse au gré des emprunts, qui permettent d’accroître et de renouveler le fonds lexical au fur et à mesure que se développent les relations entre les pays et entre leurs cultures. Les langues anglaise et française, en raison de leur rayonnement sur tous les continents, ont acquis un contingent très important de mots venus d’ailleurs, qu’elles se sont en outre souvent partagé. En effet, du fait de leur proximité géographique et d’une histoire commune d’une grande richesse, l’anglais et le français ont été amenés à s’interpénétrer pendant plus de dix siècles. Nous avons voulu, dans cette étude, montrer l’impact des emprunts sur les deux langues, et analyser la façon dont ils sont traités dans les dictionnaires les plus extensifs qui soient de part et d’autre de la Manche : le Trésor de la Langue Française et l’Oxford English Dictionary.Dans une première partie, nous étudions la constitution des lexiques anglais et français au fil du temps en fonction des apports étrangers, avant de définir la notion même d’emprunt et d’en montrer la complexité. Enfin, nous présentons le corpus sur lequel repose ce travail.La seconde partie est consacrée à la présentation du Trésor de la Langue Française et de l’Oxford English Dictionary. Après avoir retracé l’histoire des dictionnaires de langue et la genèse de ces deux dictionnaires, leurs caractéristiques sont mises en évidence et leur constitution finement analysée, tant sur le plan macrostructurel que sur le plan microstructurel. Nous avons également montré les atouts que représente leur informatisation.La dernière partie s’arrête plus précisément sur le traitement des emprunts en fonction de leur type dans ces ouvrages et sur les indications données à leur sujet, avant de faire porter l’accent sur les particularités propres au traitement des emprunts et sur les difficultés inhérentes à la description lexicographique des mots venus d’ailleurs
THE TRÉSOR DE LA LANGUE FRANÇAISE ANDTHE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY :A DIACHRONICAL ANALYSIS OF LOAN-WORDSABSTRACTThere is no language that does not expand thanks to loan-words : they permit the lexical stock to get richer and refreshed as are developed the relationships between cultures and countries. English and French languages, since they have been spreading over all continents, have acquired a lot of words from other horizons, that, moreover, they often shared. Actually, we can but notice that their geographic proximity and the richness of their history have aroused an important interpenetration during more than ten centuries. That is why we wanted to show, in this study, the impact of loan-words on both languages, and to analyse the way the most extensive dictionaries on either side of the Channel — the Trésor de la Langue Française and the Oxford English Dictionary — dealt with them.In the first part of this work, we study how French and English lexicons were built up over the course of time according to foreign contributions, and we define the very notion of loan-word in order to show how complex it is. Afterwards, we present the corpus on which rests this study.The second part is dedicated to an exhaustive presentation of the Trésor de la Langue Française and of the Oxford English Dictionary. After a recounting of language dictionaries and of the creation of those two dictionaries, their main features are highlighted and their constitution accurately examined, as well macrostructurally as microstructurally. We also point out the advantages of their informatisation.In the last part, we observe more precisely how the different types of loan-words are reported and what kind of indications are given about them. Then, we point out the distinctive characteristics of the way loan-words are dealt with and the lexicographical difficulties in describing words from elsewhere

As I was involved as a voluntary, part-time teacher in a local, semi-rural school in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, I became increasingly aware of the learners' lack of English literacy. I therefore decided to do a practical research on vocabulary development, focusing on dictionary skills. In this thesis I describe how I implemented a vocabulary development programme as an Action Research project. My research group was a grade 7 class of English First Additional Language learners who had minimal exposure to English at school and in their communities. The class was a mixture of Afrikaans and isiXhosa home language speakers and the medium of instruction was Afrikaans. The school served a low-income community and was poorly resourced. As dictionary skills is a requirement of the national curriculum, I used 10 time-tabled lessons over a 5 week period to introduce the learners to dictionaries. My data sources were a journal detailing my reflections on each lesson; a video-recording of the lessons; small group interviews after each lesson which were audio-recorded; tasksheets on the work covered in class and questionnaires asking the learners for written responses to the lessons. The class teacher who filmed the lessons was also asked for feedback during and after the programme. My goals were to assess my teaching approach in these circumstances and to what extent the outcomes were positive for the learners. As I had come from a background of English Home Language teaching in good, well-resourced schools I found I had to question many of my assumptions. Although I was an experienced, qualified and confident teacher, I was continually having to reassess my teaching methods which were being challenged by very different classroom conditions. The outcomes of the research show why I was not able to achieve what I had thought I could in the time given.

The general aim of this study is to better understand aspects of using reference tools for writing and to identify technologies that can assist foreign language writers. The specific purpose of this study is to look closely at how English as a Second Language (ESL) students from Korea use a corpus as a reference tool in conjunction with dictionaries when paraphrasing English newspaper articles. The participants were Korean graduate students with advanced English proficiency (N=10). Their task was to paraphrase an English newspaper article. The results show that purposes for using a concordancing program include collocations, definitions, context, and parts of speech. The subjects looked for a variety of information in a concordancing program, including prepositions, authentic samples, and the context in which the search terms were used. Reasons for using dictionaries include definitions, parts of speech, and sample sentences. The most common strategy was to combine reference tools, while the second most common was to use a specific search word. Subjects who used more than one tool for a search or performed multiple searches were more successful in finding what they were looking for. A concordancing program enabled users to see multiple examples of everyday language use. By using the concordancing program, learners were able to see words that were used most frequently, their patterns, and collocations. Learners took more responsibility for their language learning, as they became researchers in their own right. They gained confidence as L2 writers as they had inside access to linguistic resources. The subjects became more independent and were able to solve their own writing and linguistic problems as they became more aware through the use of authentic texts. In this study, the subjects found the corpora to be useful for sentence-level composition and revision. Overall, the use of reference tools led to an improvement in the accuracy of writing. A concordancing program played an important role in defining the structure and context of English phrases and sentences.

Teaching & Learning
Ed.D.
Two studies were conducted to explore the feasibility of adapting reading passages by means of a computer thesaurus and an on-line dictionary. In Study 1, the Computer Thesaurus Study, three word replacement conditions to replace the marked mid- and low-frequency words of a reading passage were compared. Each condition’s performance for the proportion of marked words that could be replaced, the word frequency levels of the submitted synonyms that replaced the marked words, and the time duration needed to replace the marked words was examined. The participants were 12 English-language instructors who were native English speakers. The findings from Study 1 were determined by averaging the proportion of marked words replaced, averaging the word frequency level of submitted synonyms to replace the marked words, and averaging the time duration needed to replace the marked words. In Study 2, the On-line Dictionary Study, three look-up conditions for language learners to learn mid- and low-frequency target words and comprehend a reading passage when they are transferred away to an on-line dictionary were compared. The research questions were focused on how each look-up condition affected the recall and recognition of word forms, word meanings, and passage comprehension. The participants were 84 first-year Japanese medical university students. The data were analyzed with the Rasch model with regard to the recall and recognition of word forms and word meanings, and passage comprehension. Overall, the results suggest three findings in order to adapt the lexis of reading passages for learners in a timely manner. First, the results from the Computer Thesaurus Study suggest in terms of proportion of synonyms offered, the frequency level of synonyms offered, and the amount of time to provide synonyms, it might be best for instructors to replace the unknown words in passage without the use of a computer thesaurus. This study showed that the dynamic involved in choosing synonyms listed from a computer thesaurus increases word frequency level and the time to replace target words in a reading passage. Second, with regard to the On-line Dictionary Study, if the results that were both statistically significant and measurably different are considered, the spell, click and control conditions might promote the learning the forms of words, the meanings of words, and passage comprehension, respectively. However, the click condition might promote both the learning of word meanings and passage comprehension because its effects were higher and measurably different to the spell condition on these measures. Third, if only the results that were statistically significant from the On-line Dictionary Study are considered, there might be two conditions instead of three conditions to learn words and comprehend reading passages. The spell condition might be best for learning the forms and meanings of words and the control condition might be best for promoting passage comprehension. In terms of learning words, the results are consistent with the Type of Processing-Resource Allocation model in that there is a tradeoff for retaining the forms and meanings of words depending on if an activity emphasizes the spellings of words (spell) or the meanings of words (click). In terms of comprehending passages, the results are consistent with Cognitive Load Theory in that germane loads that increase the mental effort to complete a task (click or spell) diminish processing to learn information (control).
Temple University--Theses

This thesis begins with a review of research into dictionary use. A number of experimental design problems are discussed, in particular the unreliability of questionnaire responses, and the need for detailed accounts of individual dictionary consultations whilst sampling in numbers sufficient to represent specified populations. The experiments reported in subsequent chapters investigate issues raised in the review. The first two studies find that dictionary use during a reading comprehension test affected completion speed but not test scores. The apparent failure of dictionary use to improve comprehension is attributed to the test itself, the dictionaries, and the users' choice of look-up words. The ability of users to interpret dictionary entries is investigated in three further studies which use computers to gather data on large numbers of individual consultations. The findings indicate that there is little difference between three major EFL dictionaries in terms of speed of consultation and overall productive success. They also indicate that Malaysian ESL subjects, who have higher vocabulary scores, are slower in their reading and less successful in their interpretation of entries than Portuguese EFL subjects. Finally, the findings suggest that overall productive success is unaffected by the presence or absence of examples. The experimental findings lead to the conclusion that dictionary consultation is a process in which users match pre-existing beliefs about word meaning and behaviour against segments in the dictionary entry. Such segments are often selected because they are familiar-sounding and conceptually accessible, but may contain only incomplete or non-essential information. Where pre-existing beliefs and dictionary information conflict, dictionary information is sometimes overridden. Thus word knowledge acquired from a single consultation is often insufficient to ensure productive success. Although it is probably inevitable that word knowledge will be acquired slowly, through multiple encounters, modifications to the dictionary entry and the training of users might help to avoid serious misinterpretation of dictionary information.

The current study investigated the effect of viewing various types of word definitions-dictionary, glossed, and annotated definitions-on Chinese learners' vocabulary comprehension during video-based language learning. A total of 53 advanced Chinese learner participants were given access to various randomized word definitions while viewing the subtitled videos used in the experiment. Results showed that learners recalled words for which they viewed definitions significantly better after the experiment than before. The viewing of dictionary, glossed, or annotated definitions yielded comparable levels of word comprehension. In situations where learners did not view word definitions; however, word comprehension was not significantly higher on the posttest measures of recall. Attrition occurred whether participants viewed word definitions or not, but it occurred more severely for those words that learners chose not to look up definitions. The more a target word occurred, the better the word was comprehended. Survey results showed that participants preferred dictionary and annotated definitions more than glossed definitions. The results from this study suggest that word treatment is an effective way to comprehend vocabulary. If language learners and teachers lack resources to afford cost-intensive glosses and annotations, they can consider taking advantage of free, automatic online dictionaries, which are as effective as glosses and annotations.

Dictionaries and, to a lesser extent, usage guides provide writers, editors, and users of American English information on how to use the language appropriately. Dictionaries, in particular, hold authority over correct usage of words. However, historically, usage guides and dictionaries were created using the knowledge of a small group of people. Lexicographers like Noah Webster set out to prescribe a proper way of using American English. To make these judgments, they often relied on a combination of study and idiosyncratic intuitions. A similar process took place in creating usage guides. Though these manuals profess to explain how the language is used by American English speakers-or rather by the selected group of speakers deemed "standard" by usage guide editors and lexicographers-ultimately the manuals can only express the perspectives of the editors and lexicographers on this language. Historically, the views of these editors and lexicographers were the best tools available to assess language, but now computer-based corpora allow for studying larger swaths of language usage. This study examines how much dictionaries and usage guides agree with real-world usage found in corpus data. Using the Corpus of Historical American English, a set of dictionaries and usage guides published throughout the last two hundred years were analyzed to see how much agreement they had with corpus data in noting the addition of denominal verbs (i.e., verbs formed by the conversion of nouns as in 'They taped together the box.') in American English usage. It was found that the majority of the time dictionaries noted new denominal verbs before corpus data reflected accepted usage of these verbs. However, about a quarter of the time dictionaries noted new denominal verbs concurrently with the corpus data. These results suggest that dictionaries-and the subjective opinions of the lexicographers that created them-are more aligned with real-world usage than would be expected. Because of sparse listings, results for usage guide agreement was inconclusive.

Technology is changing education. Just 30 years ago, instructors were using slow, inefficient technology such as projectors and reels of film, whereas today they have instant access to video from anywhere in the world. This capability has the potential to change the way that language is being taught and learned. Instead of students relying solely on their teacher and textbook for linguistic input, they have access to the Internet which holds a seemingly endless amount of information. This study was inspired by the belief that it is possible to maximize the potential benefit from that availability by implementing the theory that people learn language best when they have access to comprehensible input (Buri, 2012; Crossley, Allen, & McNamara, 2012; Krashen, 1985; Shintani, 2012; Zarei & Rashvand 2011). It also implements the belief of some second-language acquisitions theorists that subtitled video provides language learners with more comprehensible input than non-subtitled video alone (Borrás & Lafayette, 1994; Chun & Plass, 1996; Danan, 2004; Di Carlo, 1994). Thus, this study used interactive subtitled video to investigate the effects of three word definition types on participants' vocabulary comprehension and involved the selection of 120 Russian (L2)words of equal difficulty that were randomly sorted into one of four groups -- three treatments and a control group. Each treatment group contained 30 Russian words with a different type of definition in English (L1): dictionary definitions, which provided the viewers with the definition they would find in the bilingual dictionary; glosses which provided the viewers with the exact meaning of the word only as it pertains to the given context; and annotations which provided an explanation to clarify a word's use in different contexts or its non-traditional uses. Participants totaled 53 men and women ages 18-30 from 4 countries, US, Canada, Germany, and Sweden, who were advanced L2 learners of Russian. To control for the possible effects of a pretest, some of the subjects took a vocabulary pretest, and then all subjects watched a film in Russian with Russian subtitles, which was immediately followed by a vocabulary posttest. Results showed that annotations were most conducive to vocabulary gains, followed by glosses, dictionary definitions, and no definition, respectively. Although this was not the case for all participants, this outcome did hold for the majority, and several possible reasons for this outcome are discussed.

Notre thèse relève du domaine de la lexicographie et plus précisément de la lexicographie contemporaine. Notre étude analyse les dictionnaires historiques comme objet de recherche. Quant à notre problématique de recherche, elle porte sur la constitution de la macrostructure et sur l’élaboration de la microstructure des dictionnaires historiques que sont le Dictionnaire Historique de la Langue Française (le RH), le Dictionnaire Historique de la Langue Anglaise (l’OED) et le Dictionnaire Historique de la Langue Arabe (le DHLA). Les deux premiers dictionnaires historiques sont déjà publiés, alors que le dernier est en cours de compilation.Notre étude comporte deux objectifs principaux. Tout d’abord, elle analyse les éléments de divergence et les éléments de convergence entre la macrostructure et la microstructure des deux dictionnaires historiques, que sont le RH et l’OED. Ensuite, elle examine ces éléments et détermine ceux qui sont applicables dans la constitution de la macrostructure et l’élaboration de la microstructure du DHLA. Pour ce faire, nous avons opté pour l’analyse d’un corpus issu principalement des dictionnaires - le RH et l’OED. Nous avons fait appel également à un corpus secondaire constitué à partir des dictionnaires français, anglais et arabe de langue générale.Notre étude a permis de confirmer que les trois dictionnaires historiques adoptent trois approches différentes dans la constitution de leur macrostructure. Le RH adopte une approche étymologique. Quant à l’OED, il utilise une approche lexicale. Enfin, le DHLA a opté pour une approche complexe. En revanche, ces trois approches sont mises en œuvre en appliquant trois critères, à savoir, tout d‘abord un critère diachronique, puis un critère orthographique et enfin un critère étymologique. En outre, notre étude a permis de confirmer également que la mise en ordre des entrées principales impacte directement la mise en ordre des entrées secondaires.Quant à la microstructure, les trois dictionnaires élaborent la définition de leurs entrées en adoptant relativement le même modèle. En dernière instance, il s’agit d’un modèle construit à partir de trois types d’informations : des informations d’ordre morphologique, des informations d’ordre sémantique et enfin des informations contextuelles
Our thesis is part of the field of lexicography and more precisely of contemporary lexicography. Our study analyses historical dictionaries as a research object. As for the subject of the thesis, it concerns the constitution of the macrostructure and the development of the microstructure for historical dictionaries, which are: the French Historical Dictionary (RH), the English Historical Dictionary (OED) and the Arabic Historical Dictionary (DHLA). The first two are alread published while the third is in progress.Our study has two main goals. First of all it analyses the divergent and convergent elements between macrostructure and microstructure of both RH and OED historical dictionaries. Then it examines these elements and determines those which are applicable in the constitution of macrostructure and the development of DHLA microstructure. To do this, we have chosen the analysis of a corpus mainly from RH and OED dictionaries. We have also appealed to a secondary corpus constituted from general language dictionaries.Our study has affirmed that the three historical dictionaries adopt three different approaches to constitute their macrostructure: etymological for the RH and lexical for the OED, while the DHLA has opted for a complex approach. However these three approaches are implemented by applying three criteria namely, diachronic criterion, orthographical criterion, and etymological criterion. Our study also confirmed that putting main entrances in order directly impacts on the secondary entrances order.As for the microstructure, the three dictionaries elaborate the definition of their entrances by adopting a relatively similar model, built upon three types of information: morphological information, semantic information and contextual information

In Norstedts Comprehensive English-Swedish Dictionary (2000) it is said that the numbered list of senses under each headword is frequency ordered. Thus, the aim of this study is to see whether this frequency order of senses agrees with the frequencies appearing in the British National Corpus (BNC). Five English, polysemous verbs were studied. For each verb, a simple search in the corpus was carried out, displaying 50 random occurrences. Each collocate was encoded with the most compatible sense from the numbered list of senses in the dictionary. The encoded tokens were compiled and listed in frequency order. This list was compared to the dictionary's list of senses. Only two of the verbs reached agreement between the highest ranked dictionary sense and the most frequent sense in the BNC simple search. None of the verbs' dictionary orders agreed completely with the emerged frequency order of the corpus occurrences, why complementary collocational learning is advocated.

Esta tesis es el resultado de un proyecto destinado a la creación de un diccionario activo, bilingüe (español-inglés; inglés-español) y especializado de la industria cerámica y azulejera con la Teoría Comunicativa de la Terminología como su pilar teórico principal. Debido al posicionamiento teórico adoptado, la investigación aquí presentada ha partido de un estudio de corpus (compilado ad hoc) en el que los términos han sido analizados in vivo y caracterizados de acuerdo al ¿habitat¿ en el que se hallan en el texto especializado. Así pues, la aproximación hecha al estudio de la terminología industrial cerámica hace pertinente el uso de la etiqueta ¿lexicografía especializada¿ a la hora de referirnos a un trabajo como éste en el que se ha tratado de ir más allá de la práctica terminográfica para dar lugar a un estudio en el que se prima el contexto, las asociaciones naturales de los términos (colocaciones) y la naturaleza comunicativa de la terminología. De este modo, en esta tesis se ha presentado de manera progresiva, además de un marco teórico detallado y coherente con el fin último de la investigación, la metodología utilizada para la elaboración del diccionario en curso, ampliamente basada en el uso de programas informáticos tanto para la explotación del corpus (WordSmith Tools 4.0), como para la creación de la base de datos terminológica (TermStar XV) y la generación de entradas finales (GENDIC).Así pues, esta tesis presenta de manera progresiva los resultados obtenidos en cada etapa del método de trabajo y 4,000 entradas finales (en este caso del inglés al español) correspondientes a las letras A, B, N, O, U y V del diccionario.
This PhD dissertation is the result of an ongoing process aimed at the creation of a bilingual corpus-based specialised active dictionary of the ceramic industry, with the Communicative Theory of Terminology (CTT) as its mainstay. According to the grounding principles of the CTT, this research has departed form a corpus-based approach in which terms have been analysed in vivo and characterised from the natural habitat in which they are given in specialised communication/discourse. In this light, it has been put forward how the study of terms – made possible thanks to the activity of compiling and describing them, called terminography – may be complemented by the wider projection of specialised lexicography for the compilation and elaboration of LSP, user-oriented and user-friendly quality products in the form of dictionaries. This specialised lexicographical dimension of the work has necessarily implied the need to renew the concept of speciality language dictionaries applied to the ceramic industry and has given way to the creation of a (prospective) active dictionary in this field with a marked emphasis on context. Accordingly, the importance of pragmatic aspects in a work of this sort, has made it necessary to undertake an in-depth revision and analysis of the socio-economic context for the research in order be able to establish and solve the specific terminological needs that the ceramic industrial discourse community may find. On the basis of this theoretical framework, the method of study followed for the development of the prospective dictionary has comprised 8 broad stages: the stage of work preparation and corpus compilation, the elaboration of the field diagram, the stage of documentary corpus management, term extraction, data processing, revision and normalisation and finally, the edition stage. Two main types of results have been presented: those obtained through work in progress in the different stages of the method and final ones strictly speaking, that is, 4,000 English-Spanish entries in their final format (as they will appear in the prospective dictionary) belonging to the letters A, B, N, O, U and V of a complete dictionary which will include a total of 26,000 entries.

The primary purpose of this study is to find out which approach is more effective, text-based approach or dictionary-based approach, in learners’ mastery of new words and the time duration in learners’ memory. Group A learners received a text containing ten target words with explanations. Group B learners received the material of the same target words with meanings and examples. Ten minutes later, both groups  were given the same test. Two weeks later, all of them took the same test as in the first test.  Learners in Group A showed statistically more significant gains in their vocabulary knowledge in both tests than Group B learners, and they retained the words for longer than Group B. This study thus demonstrates that the text-based approach is more effective than the dictionary-based approach in mastering and memorizing new words.