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Prof, which dictionary is the best for me?

At the opening of every school year, students often ask teachers: "Prof, which dictionary is the best for me?" Simple question, simple answer. No, not at all. We must take into consideration several criteria before answering. Today it is not only necessary that teachers carefully assess the kinds of dictionaries available which will prove most helpful for the syllabus and for the different proficiency levels before answering, but also understand students' dictionary culture, i.e. their demands, expectations and competence and, if need be, appropriately guide and instruct students in how to use the dictionary to its utmost.

Dictionary? What is it?

It is a fact that many students have very little if any idea whatsoever about what a dictionary is and how to use it. Thus, when they ask "what dictionary should I use?", "which is better: a monolingual or a bilingual dictionary?", you should begin by analysing your students' dictionary awareness and answer their relatively simple questions by asking them a series of questions.

Firstly, ask them what THEY think a dictionary is. Then, you could ask them to fill out a "Dictionary Questionnaire" (not necessarily in English, depending on your students' competence).

Dictionary questionnaire

  • Have you got a dictionary?
  • What type of dictionaries have you got? Monolingual/Bilingual/Electronic
  • How old is/are your dictionary/dictionaries?
  • Where is/are your dictionary/dictionaries at home?
  • How often do you use it/them?
  • Why do you use the dictionary at home?
  • Where are the dictionaries at school?
  • How often do you use the dictionary at school?
  • Why do you use the dictionary at school?
  • If you have both a monolingual and a bilingual dictionary, which do you prefer to use? Why?
  • Do you use the information about pronunciation?
  • Can you understand the abbreviations and grammatical information given?
  • Do you read the entire definition?
  • Do you ever refer to the information found at the beginning/end of the dictionary?(Reference charts, guides, keys, appendices, etc.)
  • Do you look up every word that you don't know while reading?
  • Do you ever just peruse the dictionary?

    After the questionnaire, ask your students to bring different types of dictionaries to class - paper and electronic, monolingual (Italian, English, learner's) and bilingual. Ask them first to check the date of publication. Dictionaries are NOT eternal, never-changing books. Students must be aware that dictionaries change just as languages changes and users must learn to change dictionaries according to their needs, demands and competence.

    Next, have them browse, look inside and make a list of what the dictionaries offer. Let them discover and learn what a dictionary can give them, what it cannot, and what its most efficient use is for them as EFL students.

    What dictionaries can offer

    1. Entry
      • spelling
      • syllable division
      • core vocabulary words
      • new words

    2. Phonetic Information
      • pronunciation
      • stress

    3. Meaning
      • explanation (is there a restricted defining vocabulary?)
      • translation
      • synonyms
      • antonyms
      • examples (are they corpus-based?)
      • collocations
      • idioms

    4. Grammatical Information
      • part of speech
      • irregular past, past particle
      • irregular plurals
      • irregular comparatives and superlatives
      • information on use of adjectives (attributive, not attributive)
      • countable/uncountable nouns
      • transitive/intransitive verbs
      • verb patterns
      • phrasal verbs

    5. Information about Register, Geographical Restrictions and Specialist Languages
      • spoken or written language
      • formal or informal language
      • BE or AE
      • other geographical varieties

    6. Other Information
      • appendixes and tables (weights, measures etc.; grammar reference; letter writing, CV models, etc.)
      • cultural information
      • pictures

    7. Etymology

    Of course, the amount of information found varies among dictionaries because different types of dictionaries have different purposes. Through this hands-on activity students will be developing their awareness of what dictionaries can offer and what they want from them. For example, learner's dictionaries and bilingual dictionaries do not record etymology, whereas they systematically record pronunciations. Thus, we understand that what a native speaker requires from a dictionary is not what an EFL student requires.

    Monolingual or bilingual?

    The classic controversy over which dictionary is more suitable for EFL students - monolingual, monolingual learner's or bilingual - has been well recorded in literature and much debated over the decades.

    It is interesting to note that contrary to EFL students, most EFL teachers, language educators and researchers prefer their students to use the monolingual learner's dictionary.

    So, the necessity arises to focus on the characteristics of monoligual learner's and bilingual dictionaries, highlighting the advantages and drawbacks of their use in relation to EFL students' demands and skills.

    THE MONOLINGUAL LEARNER'S DICTIONARY

    Advantages

    1. simplicity of definition
    2. information on possible problem areas for learners
    3. full immersion approach

    Drawbacks

    1. reduced number of words
    2. conceived for any EFL student
    3. useful for comprehension, less for production
    4. can be difficult to use

    THE BILINGUAL DICTIONARY

    Advantages

    1. more words
    2. specifically conceived for a particular foreign user (Italian)
    3. valid support for comprehension and production
    4. more familiar to students and users

    Drawbacks

    1. does not allow a full-immersion approach
    2. often has little if any visual aid (pictures, charts, etc.)
    3. rarely corpus-based

    Now perhaps you are ready to choose which dictionary is the best for your students, while bearing their needs in mind. The best choice would be to advise them to use both monolingual learner's and bilingual dictionaries, depending on what they are doing (reading, writing, translating, etc.). If you do not want to weigh too heavily on household budgets, at least have both a good bilingual dictionary and a monolingual learner's dictionary on the class reference shelf.

    After discussing what a dictionary is used for and what it can offer, it is time to instruct learner-users in the use of dictionary skills (see our essay Teach them how to fish ).

    Conclusion

    A study in 1988 by Neubach and Cohen1 showed a link between academic ability and efficient dictionary use: highly proficient foreign language students apparently need to use the dictionary less, but when they do, they are more successful than poor learners.

    In other words, consulting dictionaries is not a shame, not something for listless students unwilling to learn by themselves. So, teachers should not be annoyed or at a loss when asked about dictionaries. Rather, they have to encourage students to start opening that "book of words" or start clicking on the dictionary icon on the tool bar of their computer and getting their eyes and fingers into the dictionary.

    Dictionaries are roadmaps to communication. The more students encounter new roads, the more they will need the roadmap. And in this fast changing world where "new roads" are being constructed every day, others being taken out of service, and the landscape changing ever so quickly, a good roadmap is essential. And thus the dictionary.

    1 Neubach, A., Cohen, A.D. "Processing strategies and problems encountered in the use of dictionaries" Dictionaries 10 - 1988