Job Discussion Forums

[slodziak]

Hi there,

Just a bit of research for my diploma. I'm interested in teacher attitudes to English to English dictionaries. In training for TEFL I find that many of the texts, tutors and teachers are quite firm in the recommendations for monolingual dictionaries but here in Japan there seems to be a lot of student resistance, even at advanced level. While we are all aware of the benefits of monolingual dictionary usage for students of intermediate level or above I wonder if in Japan there is a case for encouraging them to use their bilingual dictionaries more carefully as opposed to harping on about monolingual ones. What do you think?

Please answer this question with intermediate students and above in mind.

Any other comments would be very welcome.

[markle]

[fluffyhamster]

Slodziak, are you aware of the bilingualized editions of English learner dictionaries (printed by Japanese publishers by arrangement with OUP, CUP and Longman)? These range from the Cambridge Learner's (which only has the briefest of translations/glosses of the headword or phrase appearing in the E-E text) through the Oxford/Z-Kai E-E-J dictionary (full translation of entire E-E content - headword, definitions, examples, the lot) to the most recent Longman E-J version of its Dictionary of Contemporary English 4th edition (this if memory serves me correctly doesn't provide translations of the definitions/explanatory stuff, just a gloss of the headword and then the example sentences, but then, it is a bigger, advanced dictionary (double the number of entries etc of the aforementioned intermediate-level Wordpower)). (Edit: Collins have released an English-Japanese/bilingualized edition of their also relatively recent Collins COBUILD Advanced Dictionary of American English - see my post after my next i.e. my third in this thread, below, for further info and the distributor's link. Perhaps this can and will now compete with the Longman mentioned above).

With these bilingualized editions, you get the best of both worlds (the monolingual depth and sophistication, the bilingual ease).

BTW, I'm not aware of any electronic dictionary yet incorporating a bilingualized edition, but perhaps the manufacturers think that the "jump" function that most models offer between the various books that they contain is sufficient.

[Gypsy Rose Kim]

As a student, I do not always like to use a monolingual dictionary when I study languages. There is a time and a place for both.

I do not tell my students what kind of dictionary they have to use. They know themselves and what they respond best to.

Each learner is different. If the students are adults, they ought to be able to make their own decisions.

[Mark]

I think that there certainly is a case for encouraging students to use their bilingual dictionaries more carefully. I find that most students simply look up the word they want to say/write and then say/write the first word that pops up, regardless of whether the meaning or part of speech is correct. I find that most students have almost no dictionary skills.

As for the monolingual vs. bilingual, I encourage students to use an appropriate level learner's dictionary supported by a bilingual if they feel the need. I find that many students are willing, once they have the rationale explained to them.

[slodziak]

[markle]

[fluffyhamster]

[slodziak]

[fluffyhamster]

Click on the following link, then scroll down to the thumbnail of the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary: http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/richpub/listmania/byauthor/A3O9IJF56QGFDL/ref=cm_pdp_lm_seeAll

Now click on the link immediately above that thumbnail ("A list of popular English materials 3", dated 2008/01/03) and you'll be able to see the Cambridge and Oxford dictionaries that I mentioned, right at the top of the list. (NB: The Longman (item 5) is the monolingual English-English dictionary).

(Sorry if that seems a bit indirect, but sometimes the links on Amazon are so long that to post them would affect the right-hand margin of the threads here on Dave's (and I for one find that a wee bit irritating and try to avoid doing it!)).

As for the Longman, I found it on Amazon Japan, but any links were too long so here's the Amazon UK link instead. Bear in mind that it is only a "bilingual" (unidirectional English-Japanese/Ei-Wa) rather than a fully bilingualized (Ei-Ei-Wa) dictionary:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/English-Japanese-Dictionary-Japanese-Bilingual-Dictionaries/dp/1405872985

Collins COBUILD E-J ALD info:
http://elt.heinle.com/cgi-telt/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M2b&product_isbn_issn=1424000793&subject_code=DIC01&discipline_number=301

[slodziak]

Thanks very much for that.

[Mark]

[fluffyhamster]

Point taken, Mark. I agree that students should 'use an appropriate level learner's dictionary supported by a bilingual if they feel the need' (and they'll still want a bilingual for J-E even if they get a bilingualized, which are E-E-J only). My point was mainly that I don't think that many bilingual dictionaries are quite up to the job productively no matter how carefully we might train students to use them (some apparently use corpora, but can still have quite lame examples in them) - this was one of slodziak's first suggestions.

Summary of the main features of the best available monolingual advanced learner dictionaries:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=65876

[Mark]

I agree, hamster. Bilingual dictionaries aren't that much help productively once you reach the intermediate stage. However, you will need them from time to time and it's good to know how to use them.

However, I'd add that one of the most important dictionary skills is knowing what dictionary you should use in what situation. And, of course, knowing when you shouldn't use a dictionary at all.

[slodziak]