Assessing dictionary skills
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40607-015-0019-2Keywords:
Dictionary skills, Skills assessment, Language learning, CEFRL, CEFRL_JAbstract
This article discusses the role of dictionary skills in language learning as part of professional reference skills and as life-long language learning skills. It advocates for the integration of these skills in the language teaching and assessment cycle in a systematic way. Drawing on Nesi’s (Dictionaries in language learning. Recommendations, national reports, and thematic reports from the TNP sub-project 9: dictionaries, 1999) and Lew’s (Electronic lexicography in the 21st century: thinking outside the paper, 2013a) stages of dictionary use skills, it suggests that assessing dictionary skills is necessary if we want to study and analyze these skills in dictionary users under a common framework. Research on the use of dictionary skills in different countries and under several situations as well as responding to different reference needs can only be systematized if dictionary skill assessment is carried out under the same general assessment criteria. Several dimensions for assessing dictionary skills are considered.
References
Electronic dictionaries
Cambridge Dictionaries Online. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/.
Collins Dictionaries. http://www.collinsdictionary.com/.
Lexicool: Online bilingual and multilingual dictionaries. http://www.collinsdictionary.com/.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online. http://www.ldoceonline.com/.
Macmillan Dictionary. http://www.macmillandictionary.com/.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus. http://www.merriam-webster.com/.
OneLook Dictionary Search. http://www.onelook.com/.
Oxford Dictionaries. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/es/.
Other works
Atkins, B.T.S., and K. Varantola. 1998. Language learners using dictionaries: The final report on the EURALEX/AILA research project on dictionary Use. In Using dictionaries: Studies of dictionary use by language learners and translators, ed. B.T.S. Atkins, 83–123. Tu¨bingen: Max Niemeyer.
Beech, John R. 2004. Using a dictionary: Its influence on children’s reading, spelling and phonology. Reading Psychology 25: 19–36.
Bishop, Graham. 2000. Developing learner strategies in the use of dictionaries as a productive languagelearning tool. The Language Learning Journal 22(1): 58–62.
Campoy-Cubillo, Mari Carmen. 2002. General and specialised free online dictionaries. Teaching English with Technology 2(3): 42–47. http://tewtjournal.org/issues/past-issue-2002/past-issue-2002-issue-3/. Accessed 21 Dec 2014.
Campoy-Cubillo, Mari Carmen, Mercedes Querol-Julia´n. Work in progress. Assessing multimodal skills in English as a foreign language contexts.
Carduner, Jessie. 2003. Productive dictionary skills training: What do language learners find useful? The Language Learning Journal 28(1): 70–76.
Chi, Man Lai Amy. 1998. Teaching dictionary skills in the classroom. In Euralex’98 proceedings. Papers submitted to the eighth EURALEX international congress on lexicography in Lie`ge, Belgium, ed. Thierry Fontenelle, et al., 565–577. Lie`ge: Universite´ de Lie`ge, De´partements d’anglais et de ne´erlandais.
Commission of the European Communities. 2007. E-skills for the 21st Century: Fostering Competitiveness, Growth and Jobs: Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Office
for Official Publications of the European Communities.
Council of Europe. 2001. Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Crowley, Terry. 1999. The socially responsible lexicographer in Oceania. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 20(1): 1–12.
De Schryver, Gilles Maurice. 2003. Lexicographers’ dreams in the electronic-dictionary age. International Journal of Lexicography 16(2): 143–199.
East, Martin. 2008. Dictionary use in foreign language writing exams: Impact and implications, vol. 22., Language learning & language teaching Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Gallardo, A. 1980. Dictionaries and the standardisation process. In Theory and method of lexicography: Western and non-western perspectives, ed. L. Zgusta, 59–69. Columbia, South Carolina: Hornbeam.
Granger, Sylviane, and Magali Paquot. 2010. Customising a general EAP dictionary to meet learner needs. In eLexicography in the 21st century: New challenges, new applications, ed. Sylviane Granger, and Magali Paquot, 87–96. Louvain-la-Neuve: Cahiers du CENTAL.
Green, Anthony. 2014. Exploring language assessment and testing. Language in action.., Routledge introductions to applied linguistics London: Routledge.
Hadebe, Samukele. 2004. Improving dictionary skills in Ndebele. Lexikos 14(1): 89–104. http://www.ajol.info/index.php/lex/article/view/51412. Accessed 19 Jan 2015.
Hartmann, Reinhard R.K. 1987. Four perspectives on dictionary use: A critical review of research methods. In The dictionary and the language learner, ed. Anthony Cowie, 246–256., Papers from the EURALEX seminar at the University of Leeds, 1–3 April 1985 Tu¨bingen: Max Niemeyer.
Hartmann, Reinhard R.K. 2000. European dictionary culture: The Exeter case study of dictionary use among university students, against the wider context of the reports and recommendations of the Thematic Network Project in the Area of Languages (1996–1999). In Proceedings of the Ninth
EURALEX International Congress, EURALEX 2000: Stuttgart, Germany, August 8th–12th, 2000. 385–391.
Hartmann, Reinhard R.K., and Gregory James. 1998. Dictionary of lexicography. London: Routledge.
Lew, Robert. 2013a. Online dictionary skills. In Electronic lexicography in the 21st century: Thinking outside the paper, ed. I. Kosem, J. Kallas, P. Gantar, S. Krek, M. Langemets, and M. Tuulik, 16–31., Proceedings of the eLex 2013 conference, 17–19 October 2013, Tallinn, Estonia Ljubljana: Trojina, Institute for Applied Slovene Studies/Eesti Keele Instituut.
Lew, Robert. 2013b. From paper to electronic dictionaries: Evolving dictionary skills. In Lexicography and dictionaries in the information age, ed. D.A. Kwary, N. Wulan, and L. Musyahda, 79–84., Selected papers from the 8th ASIALEX international conference Surabaya: Airlangga University
Press.
Lew, Robert. 2014. User-generated content (UGC) in online English dictionaries. OPAL—Online publizierte Arbeiten zur Linguistik 2014(4): 8–26.
Lew, Robert. 2010. Multimodal lexicography: The representation of meaning in electronic dictionaries. Lexikos 20: 290–306. http://www.ajol.info/index.php/lex/article/view/62717. Accessed 12 Mar 2015.
Lew, Robert, and Gilles-Maurice de Schryver. 2014. Dictionary users in the digital revolution. International Journal of Lexicography 27(4): 331–359.
Lew, Robert, and Katarzina Galas. 2008. Can dictionary skills be taught? The effectiveness of lexicographic training for primary-school-level Polish learners of English. In Proceedings of the XIII EURALEX international congress, ed. Elisenda Bernal Galle´n, and Janet DeCesaris Ward, 1273–1285. Barcelona: Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
Negishi, M. 2012. The development of the CEFR-J: Where we are, where we are going. In New perspectives for foreign language teaching in higher education: Exploring the possibilities of application of CEFR, ed. N. Tomimori, M. Furihata, K. Haida, N. Kurosawa, and M. Negishi, 105–116. Tokyo: WOLSEC, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. http://www.tufs.ac.jp/common/fs/ilr/EU_kaken/_userdata/negishi2.pdf. Accessed 14 Apr 2015.
Nesi, Hilary. 1999. The specification of dictionary reference skills in higher education. In Dictionaries in language learning. Recommendations, national reports and thematic reports from the TNP subproject 9: Dictionaries, ed. Reinhard Hartmann, 53–66. Berlin: Free University Berlin.
Pastor, Vero´nica, and Amparo Alcina. 2010. Search techniques in electronic dictionaries: A classification for translators. International Journal of Lexicography 23(3): 307–354.
Prinsloo, D.J. 2012. Lexicography in non-European languages. In The encyclopedia of applied linguistics, ed. Carol Chapelle, 3378–3385. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
Ranalli, J. 2013. Online strategy instruction for integrating dictionary skills and language awareness. Language Learning & Technology 17(2): 75–99.
Ranalli, James M. 2012. The VVT project: A web-based platform for strategy instruction and research into self-regulated learning of L2 vocabulary. Graduate theses and dissertations. Paper 12953. http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/12953. Accessed 7 Apr 2015.
Rundell, Michael. 1999. Dictionary use in production. International Journal of Lexicography 12(1): 35–53.
Runnels, Judith. 2014. Japanese English learners’ self-assessments on the CEFR-J’s A-level can-do statements using four and five-point response scales. The Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics 1(2): 167–177.
Sa´nchez, Maria del Mar, and Carmen Pe´rez Basanta. 2004. ADELEX: Using computer-mediated dictionaries to enhance vocabulary acquisition through an online educational platform-WebCT. In Computer-mediated lexicography in the foreign language learning context, vol. 18, ed. Mari
Carmen Campoy-Cubillo, and Pilar Safont I. Jorda`, 94–114., Colleccio´ ‘‘Estudis Filolo`gics’’ Castello´n: Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume I.
Sa´nchez Ramos, Maria del Mar. 2007. El uso de los diccionarios electro´nicos y otros recursos de Internet como herramientas para la formacio´n del traductor (Ingle´s–Espan˜ol). [The use of electronic dictionaries and other Internet resources as translator training tools (English–Spanish)]. PhD
dissertation. 2004. Castello´: Universitat Jaume I. Granada: Universidad de Granada.
Schofield, P. 1999. Dictionary use in reception. International Journal of Lexicography 12(1): 13–34.
Scholfield, P. 1982. Using the English dictionary for comprehension. Tesol Quarterly 16(2): 185–194.
Tarp, Steven. 2011. Pedagogical lexicography: Towards a new and strict typology corresponding to the present state-of-the-art. Lexikos 21: 217–231.
Tono, Yukio. 1988. Assessment of the EFL learners’ dictionary using skills. JACET Bulletin 19: 103–126.
Tono, Yukio. 2000. On the effects of different types of electronic dictionary interfaces on L2 learners’ reference behaviour in productive/receptive tasks. In Proceedings of the ninth Euralex international congress, EURALEX 2000, Stuttgart, Germany, August 8th–12th, 2000, ed. U. Heid, S. Evert, E. Lehmann, and C. Rohrer, 855–861. Stuttgart: Institut fu¨r Maschinelle Sprachverarbeitung, Universita¨t Stuttgart.
Tono, Yukio. 2001. Research on dictionary use in the context of foreign language learning: Focus on reading comprehension, vol. 106., Lexicographica series Tu¨bingen: Max Niemeyer.
Tono, Yukio. 2011. Application of eye-tracking in EFL learners’ dictionary look-up process research. International Journal of Lexicography 24(1): 124–153.
Tono, Yukio, and Masashi Negishi. 2012. The CEFR-J: Adapting the CEFR for English language teaching in Japan. Framework & Language Portfolio (FLP) SIG Newsletter 8: 5–12. http://www.tufs.ac.jp/ts/personal/tonolab/cefr-j/Tono&Negishi2012forJALT_FLPSIG.pdf. Accessed 14 Jan 2015.
Walz, Joel. 1990. The dictionary as a secondary source in language learning. The French Review 64(1): 79–94.
White, Marilyn Domas, Miriam Matteson, and E.G. Abels. 2008. Beyond dictionaries. Journal of Documentation 64(4): 576–601.
Wingate, Ursula. 2004. Dictionary use—The need to teach strategies. Language Learning Journal 29(1): 5–11.
