Choosing Learner’s Dictionaries:
What to Consider
Julia Eka Rini
CONEST 6
Petra Christian University
LTBI Atma Jaya Catholic University
Nov 30-Dec 1, 2009
What is compared
• content
• the way of presenting information
• Macmillan English Dictionary for
Advanced Learners(MED) (2002)
• Cambridge Advanced Learner's
Dictionary (CALD) (2003).
Headwords – “square”
MED
Basis: wordclass
CALD
Basis: meaning.
four headwords with
five entries of "square";
homograph numbers: noun, same wordclass can appear
adjective, verb, adverb
repeatedly
Basis: frequency
-in red
-As adjective two stars (very
common words)
- as verb one star (fairly
common words)
Basis: core meaning
-all in blue
-E" (stands for "essential") inside a
circle, the most common and useful
word
-A (stands for advanced, namely
words to make your English really
fluent and natural) inside a circle
MED
more than four lexical
units in MED, the core
meaning is written in a
separate box under the
headword.
CALD
no such numbered
summary written
separately in a box; only
the meanings of each
homograph and the title
of separate "phrasal
verbs with square" are
written in a separate box.
Definitions
• content.
– definitions should not be lengthy or
vague.
• form
– the language used for encoding its
content, and this includes grammatical
structures as well as words" ;it should
not be difficult to understand.
Atkins and Rundell (2008:431)
• MED has 2500 defining words
• No defining words. CALD uses easy
words and structure, e.g. If you….
• at least one example in both
dictionaries due to the type of users.
Since both MED and CALD are for
advanced learners, they might need
the dictionaries for both decoding
and encoding purposes.
MED
CALD
STYLE
The same, informal is written in full word
regional
labels
-square / / verb [T]
"square the circle" Br E
(British English)
-Am E
(American English),
Grammar Transitive - [T]
Countable - [C]
Pronunci Variation not given
ation
UK, US
us
given
Cross reference in CALD
• The Square Mile UK the City->See at
the City FINANCIAL CENTRE.
• This also provides some cultural
information about that particular place.
• Only CALD has domain label; it is
written "specialized" and an example is
given (see "square" with the meaning of
"shape" as adjective.
Cross reference
in MED
Square
1 a shape….
1a
1b one of the small sections that the
board is divided into in games such as
chess and draughts – picture --> SHAPE
MED and CALD have separate
blocks for fixed expression, idioms
and phrasal verbs.
CALD
MED
"square the circle" is
phrasal verbs are put
put under "square" as a under "square" as verb.
verb. The difference is
in phrasal verbs.
a separate section for
phrasal verbs because
it organizes the
headword based on
meaning.
Compounds are given headword status
Common learner error
Do not use mortal to describe an illness that can kill
someone. Mortal can be used with this meaning,
but it is a formal, literary word and you should use
the word fatal instead.
We can now cure diseases which were mortal a few
years ago
We can now cure diseases which were fatal a few
years ago
MED
Defining vocabulary (2500
words)
CALD
idiom finder
word families
-
Pragmatic information - "How should
Iknow?" expression of feelings in
words or sentences like this can
influence communication in the real
world
Language awareness Study sections
Idiom finder
Idiom finder
fight a losing battle p456
a heavy cross to bear p291
be like a bear with a sore head p97
Word families
Nouns
public,
publication,
publicist,
publicity
punishment
purification,
purist, purity,
impurity, purifier
Adjectives Verbs
Adverbs
public
publicize publicly
punishable, punish
punishing
pure,
purify
impure
punishingly
purely
Language Awareness
in MED
•
•
•
•
•
Numbers
Phrasal verbs
Academic writing
Metaphor
Computer words
Language Awareness
continued
•
•
•
•
•
•
Pragmatics
Spoken discourse
Sensitivity: avoiding offence
British and American English
Business English
Word formation