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Learner Dictionaries Jim Ranalli Iowa State University, [email protected]

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Learner Dictionaries Jim Ranalli Iowa State University, Jranalli@Iastate.Edu View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Digital Repository @ Iowa State University English Publications English 2014 Learner Dictionaries Jim Ranalli Iowa State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/engl_pubs Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, and the Educational Methods Commons The ompc lete bibliographic information for this item can be found at https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ engl_pubs/212. For information on how to cite this item, please visit http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ howtocite.html. This Book Chapter is brought to you for free and open access by the English at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Publications by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Learner Dictionaries Abstract The hrp ase learner dictionary is typically used to describe monolingual lexical reference tools designed for learners of a second or foreign language (L2). Such dictionaries have been created to support the learning of a number of European and Asian languages, but the best known and most in!uential learner dictionaries are produced in English, by major publishers in the United Kingdom and, more recently, in the United States. In contrast to bilingual dictionaries, which have been used by language learners for hundreds of years, monolingual learner dictionaries – also known as pedagogical, ELT (English-language teaching), or EFL (English as a foreign language) dictionaries – are a relatively recent development, spurred by the global demand for English instruction in the 20th century. Because of their commercial success and the ensuing competition among publishers, learner dictionaries have been a source of considerable lexicographical innovation, particularly in the way a word’s meanings and information about its usage are researched and presented. These innovations, supported by advances in computer technology and linguistic analysis, have in!uenced the compilation of other dictionary types. Learner dictionaries are promoted both for receptive uses – that is, they help connect word forms to meanings while reading or, much less commonly, while listening (a process also known as decoding) – and for productive uses – that is, for "nding appropriate forms to express one’s intended meaning while writing or, much less commonly, while speaking (a process also known as encoding). The monolingual character of such dictionaries can be seen to put natural constraints on the ful"llment of their potential in relation to both processes. To decode an unfamiliar word encountered while reading in the L2, a learner must disengage from the text to "nd and then comprehend a de"nition also written in the L2 – as opposed to a simple (though possibly inaccurate) translation in their "rst language (L1) – which increases cognitive load and disrupts the reading process. For encoding, learners must already know or else somehow "nd the word they need to use in order to locate usage information about it, as well as how to interpret and apply that information. It is no surprise, therefore, that these dictionaries are usually identi"ed as intended for use by advanced learners, although they are also offered in editions that target lower-pro"ciency students (under titles that include terms such as elementary, intermediate, or essential), employ fewer headwords, make more economical use of examples and usage information, give simpler de"nitions, and contain more illustrations. Disciplines Curriculum and Instruction | Educational Methods Comments This is the peer reviewed version of the following article:Ranalli, J., & Nurmukhadev, U. (2014). Learner dictionaries. In C. A. Chapelle (Ed.), The ncE yclopedia of Applied Linguistics. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, which has been published in final 2 form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. This book chapter is available at Iowa State University Digital Repository: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/engl_pubs/212 Carol A. Chapelle wbeal1418.tex V1 - 04/07/2014 5:20 P.M. Page 1 Learner Dictionaries JIM RANALLI AND ULUGBEK NURMUKHAMEDOV Introduction The phrase learner dictionary is typically used to describe monolingual lexical reference tools designed for learners of a second or foreign language (L2). Such dictionaries have been cre- ated to support the learning of a number of European and Asian languages, but the best known and most in!uential learner dictionaries are produced in English, by major publish- ers in the United Kingdom and, more recently, in the United States. In contrast to bilingual dictionaries, which have been used by language learners for hundreds of years, monolingual learner dictionaries – also known as pedagogical, ELT (English-language teaching), or EFL (English as a foreign language) dictionaries – are a relatively recent development, spurred by the global demand for English instruction in the 20th century. Because of their commercial success and the ensuing competition among publishers, learner dictionaries have been a source of considerable lexicographical innovation, par- ticularly in the way a word’s meanings and information about its usage are researched and presented. These innovations, supported by advances in computer technology and linguistic analysis, have in!uenced the compilation of other dictionary types. Learner dictionaries are promoted both for receptive uses – that is, they help connect word forms to meanings while reading or, much less commonly, while listening (a process also known as decoding) – and for productive uses – that is, for "nding appropriate forms to express one’s intended meaning while writing or, much less commonly, while speaking (a process also known as encoding). The monolingual character of such dictionaries can be seen to put natural constraints on the ful"llment of their potential in relation to both processes. To decode an unfamiliar word encountered while reading in the L2, a learner must disengage from the text to "nd and then comprehend a de"nition also written in the L2 – as opposed to a simple (though possibly inaccurate) translation in their "rst language (L1) – which increases cognitive load and disrupts the reading process. For encoding, learn- ers must already know or else somehow "nd the word they need to use in order to locate usage information about it, as well as how to interpret and apply that information. It is no surprise, therefore, that these dictionaries are usually identi"ed as intended for use by advanced learners, although they are also offered in editions that target lower-pro"ciency students (under titles that include terms such as elementary, intermediate, or essential), employ fewer headwords, make more economical use of examples and usage information, give sim- pler de"nitions, and contain more illustrations. The Origins of Learner Dictionaries Lexicography is a conservative activity (Hanks, 2012) that tends to adhere to established models and practices, particularly in a lineage that boasts the illustrious Oxford English Dictionary; so it makes sense that the innovations of the learner dictionary originated in a different area of endeavor – that of ELT. In the "rst half of the 20th century, linguists in The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, Edited by Carol A. Chapelle. © 2014 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2014 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. DOI: 10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal1418 Carol A. Chapelle wbeal1418.tex V1 - 04/07/2014 5:20 P.M. Page 2 2 LEARNER DICTIONARIES the UK and USA were trying to develop more practical approaches to language instruction, moving away from literary and classical models toward models based on current usage. This gave rise to a movement called vocabulary control, which sought to lighten the burden on students by identifying words that were used frequently and were thus deemed more important to learn in the early stages. In the work of Michael West and James Endicott, vocabulary control gave rise to an early attempt at a learner dictionary, the New Method English Dictionary, published in 1935, and later to West’s (1953) A General Service List of English Words, which had an enduring in!u- ence on ELT syllabi and teaching materials. An offshoot of these efforts was the notion of a controlled de"ning vocabulary – a list of common words that dictionary compilers would limit themselves to in crafting de"nitions, with the goal of helping learners more easily avail themselves of the meanings of unfamiliar words. Around the same time, two other pioneers of the vocabulary control movement, Harold Palmer and A. S. Hornby, were devising ways to help students of English with more production-oriented uses of the language, for example, by providing syntactic and col- locational information about common words through an innovative coding system. The concern with encoding is re!ected in the title of what was, by most accounts, the "rst major milestone in learner dictionary history: the Idiomatic and Syntactic Dictionary of English, written primarily by Hornby and published in Japan in 1942. It was reissued by Oxford University Press in 1948 as A Learner’s Dictionary of English, and again in 1972 as the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (OALD). While the OALD used simpli"ed de"nitions, it was the Longman Dictionary of Contempo- rary English (LDOCE)
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