Using the dictionary with a lexical approach

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Using the dictionary with a lexical approach
Corso diLingua Inglese 1
M. De Meo M. Cordisco
Fisciano - SA 9 - 11 ottobre 2007
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Types of dictionary

• Bilingual and monolingual dictionaries
• Pronunciation dictionaries
• Learner dictionaries (for non-native speakers)
• Collocation dictionaries
• On-line dictionaries

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What can I find in a dictionary?

• examples
• grammatical information
• translation
• pronunciation
• idioms
• specialist vocabulary
• phrasal verbs
• American English
• cultural notes
• related words
• synonyms
• definitions
• antonyms
• illustrations
• cross references
• abbreviations
• compound nouns
• collocations

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• examples
• grammatical information
• translation
• pronunciation
• idioms
• specialist vocabulary
• phrasal verbs
• American English
• cultural notes
• related words
• synonyms
• definitions
• antonyms
• illustrations
• cross references
• abbreviations
• compound nouns
• collocations

• Monolingual dictionaries

• Bilingual dictionaries

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What makes a good learner dictionary

• example sentences for each word
• a large language database (corpus) as a source of
  information
• pronunciation using the International Phonetic
  Alphabet (IPA)
• a CD-Rom for your PC
• simple definitions
• information on the word collocation
• information on the use of the word
• British and American spelling/pronunciation
• pictures and visuals

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Some tips

• Choose a large dictionary rather than a concise
  one. You need one which is big enough to define
  words clearly.
• There are over 600,000 words in the Oxford
  English Dictionary, most of them with different
  meanings.
• Keep you dictionary at hand when you are
  studying.
• Read the introductory pages and study pages to
  become familiar with the dictionarys
  terminology.
• Improve your vocabulary by reading widely.
• If you haven't got your dictionary with you, note
  down words which you don't understand and look
  them up later.
• Remember that there are different types of
  dictionaries to suit your needs.

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• Dictionaries prove to be a very important source
  of information on collocation, if used properly.
• A good monolingual dictionary usually provides at
  least one or two expressions or sentences
  demonstrating the use of a word.
• A dictionary is an important decoding tool,
  useful to find out the meaning of unknown words
• It is also an encoding tool that will show the
  ways of combining words into meaningful chunks.