View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Stellenbosch University SUNScholar Repository A THEORETICAL MODEL FOR A FANG-FRENCH-ENGLISH SPECIALIZED MULTI-VOLUME SCHOOL DICTIONARY Edgard Maillard Ella Dissertation presented for the Degree of Doctor of Literature (Lexicography) at the University of Stellenbosch Promoter: Prof. R.H Gouws March 2007 DECLARATION I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the work contained in this dissertation is my own original work and that I have not previously in its entirely or in part submitted it at any university for a degree. Signature: ………………… Date:………………………. SUMMARY The policy to preserve and implement mother tongues as medium of education in Gabon will lead to the establishing of a bilingual education system. This system will involve mother tongues and French, the official language. In many countries people are nowadays more and more aware of making provision for a multilingual education. In education this has been regarded as the new way and key to development over the last decades. It means that the implementation of a bilingual education system must also include a trilingual vision. Different and new approaches to the role of dictionaries, also in the context in Gabon, lead to diverse areas of particular concern, which are challenging for the metalexicographical research. Accordingly, Part I of the dissertation first presents a comprehensive draft of the structural possibilities of the formulation and compilation of a new type of dictionary. This draft provides for the motivations for the formulation of a Specialized Fang-French- English multi-volume School Dictionary in Gabon, as a type of dictionary, which can fit into the current situation of the national languages and education in Gabon. This comprehensive draft is followed by a complete analysis of the intended target users, who are, among others, students, teachers, educational psychologists, experts in charge of the compilation of textbooks and other study materials, lexicographers and linguistics. This analysis includes the characteristics, the user situations and the user problems or needs of this heterogeneous intended target user group of the proposed dictionary. The lexicographic functions to be executed in the proposed model are widely examined in this dissertation. Such a dictionary must make provision for relevant communication- and knowledge-orientated functions in order to be a powerful communicative, pedagogical and knowledge tool. The typological profile of the proposed model, which is a combination of types and type aspects of different dictionaries, will be discussed in depth. This discussion draws particular attention to the fact that it will be multi-volume, as the special field language of each subject will be dealt with in a specific volume or book. The identification and the formulation of the genuine purpose of the proposed dictionary are developed in this dissertation. Due to the fact the identification and the formulation of the genuine purpose have major implications and direct impacts on the typology of a dictionary, the structure and the contents of the dictionary articles and the data distribution pattern, this development displays how the compilation process of the proposed dictionary should be steered. One of the focal points in this dissertation, Part II, will be the discussion of the structural profile of the proposed model. This discussion will scrutinize the salient components of the central list. Accordingly, the collection of the equivalents in Fang of special field data for primary education for both the macrostructure and the microstructure will be discussed meticulously. The discussion of the central list will also revolve around the role of the microstructure in ensuring communicative, pedagogical and knowledge success through innovative and more comprehensive microstructural treatment and presentation. The examination of the user’s search paths for user-friendly accessibility and retrieval of the needed information via the negotiation of the access structure, the addressing structure and the mediostructure of the proposed model will also constitute another aspect within the discussion of the central list. It is important that the lexicographer ensures that the users, more especially the young students and unskilled users reach the data they are looking for as swiftly as possible without any ambiguity and obstacles. More integrated and innovative outer texts and their role in the proposed dictionary will also be extolled in Part III of this dissertation. As part of the front matter texts, integrated and innovative role of the tables of contents and a user’ guide will be included. These texts will be regarded as relevant, useful or even compulsory due to the thematic ordering of the central list to lead the users along the search route in a friendly and prompt way. The Fang-French-English, the French-Fang-English and the English-French-Fang equivalent registers will dominate the back matter texts of this dictionary. The importance of registers in those texts will also be complete with the Fang-French- English, French-Fang-English and the English-French-Fang guide word equivalent registers. On the other hand a Fang-French-English and French-Fang-English pictorial illustration index will also be part of the inclusion of integrated and innovative back matter texts. All together, these back matter texts will support the trilingual dimension of this model as much as they will also add powerful poly-accessibility and poly- functionality features to this dictionary. Finally, in this last part of the research, the role and the importance of the pictorial illustrations to be included in the envisaged model are discussed. Originally, the initiative of the formulation of the proposed dictionary is for a specialized Fang-French-English multi-volume school dictionary for Primary education that can be used as an authoritative communicative, knowledge and pedagogical tool to assist in a bilingual education system with a trilingual vision. Ultimately, this vision is an extension to a dictionary for Secondary education. However, an adaptation of a study of existing literature, analysis of material from current dictionaries and study materials should, nonetheless, not only lead to criteria useful for dictionaries with Fang, French and English as treated languages. These criteria must also be regarded as relevant guidelines for the other Gabonese mother tongues. Furthermore, they must be considered relevant for other African countries as well as for the applicable procedures for the compilation of a monolingual dictionary. Yet, these guidelines must be regarded as appropriate for the compilation of dictionaries of the same type in other fields too like economics, law, administration, agriculture, health, etc. Lastly, the criteria given in this dissertation also provide valuable guiding principles for international specialized, pedagogical and bilingual with trilingual dimension lexicographic theories. OPSOMMING Die beleid om moedertale te beskerm en as onderrigmedium in Gaboen te gebruik, sal tot die totstandbrenging van 'n tweetalige onderwysstelsel lei. Hierdie stelsel sal moedertale en die amptelike taal, Frans, omvat. In baie lande is mense deesdae meer en meer bewus daarvan om vir meertalige opvoeding voorsiening te maak. Gedurende die laaste dekades is dit as nuwe manier en sleutel tot ontwikkeling in opvoeding beskou. Dit beteken dat die toepassing van 'n tweetalige opvoedingstelsel ook 'n drietalige visie moet insluit. Verskillende en nuwe benaderings ten opsigte van die rol van woordeboeke, ook binne die konteks van Gaboen, lei tot verskillende gebiede van besondere belang wat uitdagend is vir metaleksikografiese navorsing. Deel I van die proefskrif gee dus eerstens 'n omvattende ontwerp van die strukturele moontlikhede vir die beskrywing en samestelling van 'n nuwe soort woordeboek. Hierdie ontwerp verskaf die basis vir die uiteensetting van 'n meerdelige gespesialiseerde Fang - Frans - Engelse skoolwoordeboek vir Gaboen as 'n soort woordeboek wat binne die huidige omstandighede van die nasionale tale en onderrig in Gaboen sal pas. Dié omvattende ontwerp word gevolg deur 'n volledige ontleding van die bestemde teiken- gebruikers wat onder andere studente, onderwysers, opvoedkundige sielkundiges, des- kundiges verantwoordelik vir die samestelling van handboeke en ander studiemateriaal, leksikograwe en taalkundiges is. Hierdie ontleding sluit die eienskappe, gebruikersituasie en gebruikersprobleme of -behoeftes van hierdie heterogeen bestemde teikengebruikers- groep van die voorgestelde woordeboek in. Die leksikografiese funksies wat in die voorgestelde model toegepas moet word, word uitvoerig in hierdie proefskrif behandel. So 'n woordeboek moet voorsiening maak vir toepaslike kommunikasie- en kennisgerigte funksies om 'n kragtige kommunikatiewe, opvoedkundige en kenniswerktuig te wees. Die tipologiese profiel van die voorgestelde model wat 'n kombinasie van tipes en aspekte van tipes van verskillende woordeboeke is, sal grondig bespreek word. Hierdie bespreking vestig die aandag veral op die feit dat dit meerdelig sal wees, omdat die spesialeveldtaal van elke onderwerp in 'n spesifieke deel of boek behandel sal word. 'n Beskrywing en uiteensetting van die werklike doel van die voorgestelde woordeboek word in die proefskrif verskaf. Vanweë die feit dat die beskrywing en uiteensetting van die werklike doel belangrike implikasies vir en direkte impak