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Analysing and Analysing and teaching meaning (3)teaching meaning (3)

SSIS Lazio - Lesson 3SSIS Lazio - Lesson 3

prof. Hugo Bowlesprof. Hugo Bowles

January 2007January 2007

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Lesson 3 - part 1Lesson 3 - part 1

Dictionaries and other resourcesDictionaries and other resources

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The Criteria of a Dictionary

• Formal Criteria: A list of the headwords (entries) Information about each headword

Functional Criteria A reference work (to provide information about

difficult technical words) A storeroom for a language (to find out what once

existed and what exists today) A code of law (to decide whether to accept or

reject regional, historical or social variants).

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Criteria regarding contentCriteria regarding content

SpellingSpelling Lexical meaningLexical meaning Word classWord class PronunciationPronunciation StressStress EtymologyEtymology Collocations etc.Collocations etc.

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The history of English DictionariesThe history of English Dictionaries

1604: A Table Alphabetical; Robert Cawdrey 1604: A Table Alphabetical; Robert Cawdrey (2,500 words)(2,500 words)

1616: English Expositor; John Bullokar1616: English Expositor; John Bullokar 1623: English Dictionarie; Henry Cockeram1623: English Dictionarie; Henry Cockeram 1656: New World of English Words; Edward 1656: New World of English Words; Edward

PhillipsPhillips 1702: A New English Dictionary; John Kersey 1702: A New English Dictionary; John Kersey

(28,000 words)(28,000 words) 1721: Universal Etymological English Dictionary; 1721: Universal Etymological English Dictionary;

Nathaniel Bailey (40,000 words)Nathaniel Bailey (40,000 words)

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Dictionary of the English

Language1755by Samuel JohnsonTwo volumes40,000 entries

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An American An American Dictionary of the Dictionary of the English LanguageEnglish Language

18281828 by Noah Websterby Noah Webster Two volumesTwo volumes 70,000 entries70,000 entries

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Oxford, Longman, and CollinsOxford, Longman, and Collins

1928: Oxford English Dictionary (12 1928: Oxford English Dictionary (12 volumes, 15,487 pp., 252,200 entries)volumes, 15,487 pp., 252,200 entries)

1968: Longman’s English Larousse1968: Longman’s English Larousse

1987: Collins Cobuild English 1987: Collins Cobuild English Language DictionaryLanguage Dictionary

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The Corpus Revolution:The Corpus Revolution: Word-watching Word-watching Compiling a corpus Compiling a corpus

Corpus: A collection of written or Corpus: A collection of written or spoken materials.spoken materials.

The sources: magazine articles, The sources: magazine articles, brochures, newspapers, lectures, brochures, newspapers, lectures, sermons, broadcasts, chapters on sermons, broadcasts, chapters on novels, etc.novels, etc.

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The Survey of English UsageThe Survey of English Usage The first large corpus of English-language data, The first large corpus of English-language data,

compiled in the 1960s.compiled in the 1960s. Directed by Randolph QuirkDirected by Randolph Quirk Based at University College LondonBased at University College London It consists of 1,000,000 words taken from 200 texts It consists of 1,000,000 words taken from 200 texts

of spoken and written materials.of spoken and written materials. The texts were transcribed by hand and stored on The texts were transcribed by hand and stored on

index cards.index cards. In the 1970s the spoken component was made In the 1970s the spoken component was made

electronically available by Jan Svartvik of Lund electronically available by Jan Svartvik of Lund UniversityUniversity

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Some important corporaSome important corpora

The first computerized corpus: the Brown University The first computerized corpus: the Brown University Corpus of American English, Providence, Rhode Island, Corpus of American English, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, in 1960s.USA, in 1960s.

The Lancaster–Olso/Bergen (LOB) Corpus of British The Lancaster–Olso/Bergen (LOB) Corpus of British English, in 1970s.English, in 1970s.

Collins–Birmingham University International Language Collins–Birmingham University International Language Database (COBUILD), in 1980s. The corpus reached 20 Database (COBUILD), in 1980s. The corpus reached 20 million words.million words.

Longman/Lancaster English Language Corpus, in 1980s, Longman/Lancaster English Language Corpus, in 1980s, using both American and British English, comprises 30 using both American and British English, comprises 30 million words.million words.

Bank of English (Birmingham University), started in 1991 Bank of English (Birmingham University), started in 1991 and reached 450 million words in 2002.and reached 450 million words in 2002.

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The British National Corpus The British National Corpus (BNC)(BNC)

A collaboration between Longman, Oxford A collaboration between Longman, Oxford University Press, Chambers Harrap University Press, Chambers Harrap (Oxford University Computing Service), (Oxford University Computing Service), The University of Lancaster, and the The University of Lancaster, and the British Library.British Library.

Compilation from 1991 until 1994 = 100 Compilation from 1991 until 1994 = 100 million words. Particular attention has million words. Particular attention has been paid to the internal balance of the been paid to the internal balance of the corpus.corpus.

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The International Corpus of The International Corpus of EnglishEnglish

Based at the University College LondonBased at the University College London Began in 1980sBegan in 1980s By 1991, 20 countries agreed to take part:By 1991, 20 countries agreed to take part:

Australia, Cameroon, Canada, Australia, Cameroon, Canada, Caribbean, Fiji, Ghana, Hong Kong, Caribbean, Fiji, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Kenya, Malawi, New India, Ireland, Kenya, Malawi, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Sierra Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania, UK, and USA.Tanzania, UK, and USA.

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Types of dictionary (1)Types of dictionary (1)

Standard monolingualStandard monolingual

Learners monolingual Learners monolingual (usuall with pictures (usuall with pictures andstudy guides)andstudy guides)

ThesaurusThesaurus

Oxford, Longman, Oxford, Longman, Chambers, WebsterChambers, Webster

Oxford Advanced Oxford Advanced Learners, Cambridge Learners, Cambridge International, International, Longman Dictionary Longman Dictionary of Contemporary of Contemporary EnglishEnglish

Roget, Longman Roget, Longman LexiconLexicon

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Types of dictionary (2)Types of dictionary (2)

Bilingual (with Bilingual (with translation)translation)

Concept dictionariesConcept dictionaries

Thematic dictionaries Thematic dictionaries (cuture, quotations)(cuture, quotations)

Technical dictionariesTechnical dictionaries

Zanichelli, Garzanti Zanichelli, Garzanti ecc.ecc.

Cambridge Cambridge Wordroutes, Word Wordroutes, Word ActivatorsActivators

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Dictionary formatsDictionary formats

Book form - pocket/full-sizeBook form - pocket/full-size

OnlineOnline

CD-ROMCD-ROM

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Other sources of lexical Other sources of lexical informationinformation

ConcordancesConcordances

GlossariesGlossaries

Parallel textsParallel texts

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Learners dictionary - Learners dictionary - advantagesadvantages

More informationMore information - lexical, collocational, grammatical, - lexical, collocational, grammatical,

pronunciationpronunciation Better informationBetter information

- based on language corpora of English in - based on language corpora of English in useuse Better learningBetter learning - written in English- written in English

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Learners dictionary - Learners dictionary - disadvantagesdisadvantages

No translationNo translation

Very few technical wordsVery few technical words

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Bilingual dictionary - Bilingual dictionary - advantages and disadvantagesadvantages and disadvantages

ADVANTAGESADVANTAGES

gives a quick translationgives a quick translation

can give a quickcan give a quick

understandingunderstanding

DISADVANTAGESDISADVANTAGES

can give a quick can give a quick misunderstandingmisunderstanding

doesn’t help learning doesn’t help learning processesprocesses

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Collocation dictionaries, Collocation dictionaries, concordances and glossariesconcordances and glossaries

The advantage of a collocation dictionary is to The advantage of a collocation dictionary is to find collocations which are not availablee in a find collocations which are not availablee in a dictionarydictionary

A concordance from a corpus can also be used A concordance from a corpus can also be used to find collocations or new ways of expressing a to find collocations or new ways of expressing a conceptconcept

Glossaries are compiled and used by specialists Glossaries are compiled and used by specialists and are only useful for translation students and are only useful for translation students working on advanced lexisworking on advanced lexis

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Some adviceSome advice

Choose a learners dictionary which really Choose a learners dictionary which really helps your students’ lexical problems and helps your students’ lexical problems and which you like using as a teacherwhich you like using as a teacher

A good bilingual dictionary is also A good bilingual dictionary is also extremely useful but make sure you use it extremely useful but make sure you use it for translation onlyfor translation only

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Lesson 3 - part 2Lesson 3 - part 2

Using resources and materials Using resources and materials with studentswith students

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Knowing the meaning of a wordKnowing the meaning of a word - what it implies for students - what it implies for students

Decoding and recognising the formDecoding and recognising the form Understanding the meaningUnderstanding the meaning Remembering the wordRemembering the word Producing the wordProducing the word Using the wordUsing the word

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1. Decoding and recognising the 1. Decoding and recognising the formform

Read and relate written form to spoken Read and relate written form to spoken formform

Listen to and identify a wordListen to and identify a word

Morphological understanding of roots and Morphological understanding of roots and affixes (word-formation)affixes (word-formation)

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2. Understanding the meaning2. Understanding the meaning

what the word refers towhat the word refers to

the connotation of the wordthe connotation of the word

the style and register of the wordthe style and register of the word

its discourse functionits discourse function

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3. Remembering the word3. Remembering the word

Meaning (receptive)Meaning (receptive)

Form (productive)Form (productive)

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4. Producing the word4. Producing the word

Spoken form (pronunciation)Spoken form (pronunciation)

Written form (spelling)Written form (spelling)

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5. Using the word5. Using the word

Accurately (grammar, syntax)Accurately (grammar, syntax)

Appropriately (style register, collocation)Appropriately (style register, collocation)

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Using a dictionary for readingUsing a dictionary for reading

Look at the context of the wordLook at the context of the word Use the context to decide on the grammar Use the context to decide on the grammar

of the word (is it a verb/noun?of the word (is it a verb/noun? Use the context to make a hypothesis Use the context to make a hypothesis

about the meaningabout the meaning Use the dictionary to check your Use the dictionary to check your

hypothesishypothesis

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Using a dictionary for speakingUsing a dictionary for speaking

Know the phonetic alphabet (i.e. you need Know the phonetic alphabet (i.e. you need to be able to produce the sound of the to be able to produce the sound of the symbol)symbol)

Look up the phonetic spelling of a wordLook up the phonetic spelling of a word Produce the sound of the word by reading Produce the sound of the word by reading

the phonetic spelling or by listening the phonetic spelling or by listening to/repeating the sound (CD/online to/repeating the sound (CD/online dictionaries)dictionaries)

Practice the word in isolation and in a Practice the word in isolation and in a stream of speechstream of speech

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Post-dictionary workPost-dictionary work

You need a system to help students recordYou need a system to help students recordand remember words:and remember words: Alphabetical orderAlphabetical order Word mapsWord maps Words organised by topicsWords organised by topics Different types of list (idioms, phonetic lists Different types of list (idioms, phonetic lists

of words with same sound)of words with same sound) Lists with translationsLists with translations

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DictionariesDictionaries

See the list and analysis of dictionaries See the list and analysis of dictionaries and software in the article on lexicographyand software in the article on lexicography