AMUR Angular :: Browsing by Author "Lew, Robert"

Browsing by Author "Lew, Robert"

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A case for bilingual learners' dictionaries
(2015) Lew, Robert; Adamska-Sałaciak, Arleta
This article makes a case for bilingual learners’ dictionaries. These dictionaries are very different from traditional bilingual dictionaries, being attuned to the productive needs of learners who are speakers of a specific L1. Although they have been around for some time now, teachers of English remain largely unaware of their benefits (or, possibly, their existence), continuing to promote the one-size-fits-all monolingual English learners’ dictionaries (MELDs) as the best choice for their students. As practising lexicographers, we cannot fail to appreciate the excellence of the leading MELDs, but, as we try to show, there are important respects in which even the best monolingual dictionary cannot assist a foreign language learner. We also explain why bilingualized dictionaries (adaptations of MELDs) are not a viable alternative to custom-designed bilingual learners’ dictionaries when it comes to helping students speak or write in English. Our arguments are illustrated by sample entries taken from dictionaries for speakers of Japanese, Polish, and Portuguese learning English; some more examples of bilingual learners’ dictionaries for speakers of different languages are given in the Appendix.
A new type of folk-inspired definition in English monolingual learners' dictionaries and its usefulness for conveying syntactic information
(Oxford University Press, 2006) Lew, Robert; Dziemianko, Anna
A new type of definition of abstract noun headwords, the single-clause when-definition, has recently found its way into major English monolingual learners' dictionaries. In line with a current broad tendency in pedagogical lexicography, the new definition format seems to be modeled after (English) folk defining, although in fact the latter has so far received little systematic study. The present contribution focuses on the usefulness of the new definition format for conveying syntactic class information to the foreign learner, who may be unfamiliar with the English folk defining tradition. The new definition is tested empirically against the traditional analytical definition.
A study in the use of bilingual and monolingual dictionaries by Polish learners of English: A preliminary report
(Center for Sprogteknologi, Copenhagen University, 2002) Lew, Robert
The paper presents a selection of results from a study investigating dictionary use by 712 Polish learners of English representing a variety of FL competence levels and backgrounds. Data from Learner Survey, experiment, and Teacher Survey are brought in to test hypotheses relating to a variety of aspects of dictionary use. Here two aspects have been selected for presentation. First, frequency with which learners seek different types of information in their dictionaries is analyzed. It is found that the need for meaning and equivalents dominates over non-semantic information at all levels but the highest. At the advanced level, interest in non-semantic information surges. Second, the relative usefulness of six dictionary types for lexical decoding is tested experimentally. Analysis reveals the influence of level, dictionary type, and interaction of level by type on test scores. Monolingual dictionary produces lowest scores, but its disadvantage is relatively smallest for advanced learners.
Ambiguity-generating devices in linguistic verbal jokes
(2010-12-11T20:29:03Z) Lew, Robert
The paper argues that ambiguity is a desirable and purposeful element of linguistic verbal jokes and explains and illustrates the mechanisms which support ambiguity.
An ambiguity-based theory of the linguistic verbal joke in English
(1996) Lew, Robert; Sobkowiak, Włodzimierz
The dissertation analyzes the role of linguistic ambiguity in canned linguistic verbal jokes in English. A typology of jokes based on the type of ambiguity underlying the joke is proposed. It is claimed that jokes based on ambiguity contain purposeful textual devices (ambiguators) enhancing the probability of both semantic interpretations being perceived by the recipient. The ambiguity-based theory of the joke offers an alternative justification for the featuring in jokes of contrasting characters representing different ethnic groups, age groups, etc, without having to make appeals to such psychosocial concepts as aggression or superiority. Other things being equal, the funniness of linguistic ambiguity-based jokes increases with the amount of ambiguity and decreases with the amount of ambiguation.
Can a dictionary help you write better? A user study of an active bilingual dictionary for Polish learners of English
(Oxford University Press, 2016) Lew, Robert
The present study probed the effectiveness for L2 writing of Longman Słownik Współczesny (Fisiak et al. 2004), a bilingual dictionary for Polish learners of English designed primarily with production tasks in mind (Adamska-Sałaciak 2005). Three groups of Polish secondary school students in their final year were asked to write an argumentative essay: one group with the help of a paper copy of Longman Słownik Współczesny, one with a PC version of the dictionary, and one control group without access to a dictionary. The essays were marked using the standard rubric for Polish secondary school final examinations, with separate marks for content, structure, language, and accuracy. Results indicate that those students writing with the help of the dictionary (whether print or PC-based) performed significantly better than the controls without access to dictionaries, with overall scores gaining by about one third. The areas that benefitted most from dictionaries were vocabulary use and general accuracy. The results demonstrate that the dictionary is an effective writing aid for Polish learners of English.
Can dictionary skills be taught? The effectiveness of lexicographic training for primary-school-level Polish learners of English
(Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2008) Lew, Robert; Galas, Katarzyna
In the present paper we examine the question of whether dictionary reference skills can be taught effectively in the classroom. To this end, we test the reference skills of a group of Polish primary-school students attending English classes twice: prior to and following a 12-session specially-designed training program. Despite the subjects high confidence in their reference skills reported in the accompanying questionnaire, they performed rather poorly on the pre-test. Following a training program, the performance improves substantially and significantly more than in a matched control group. We conclude that a dictionary skills training program may be effective in teaching language learners at this level to use dictionaries more effectively, though different skills benefit to different degrees.
Corpus-based vocabulary lists for language learners for nine languages
(2014-03-01) Kilgarriff, Adam; Charalabopoulou, Frieda; Gavrilidou, Maria; Johannessen, Janne Bondi; Khalil, Saussan; Johansson Kokkinakis, Sofie; Lew, Robert; Sharoff, Serge; Vadlapudi, Ravikiran; Volodina, Elena
We present the KELLY project and its work on developing monolingual and bilingual word lists for language learning, using corpus methods, for nine languages and thirty-six language pairs. We describe the method and discuss the many challenges encountered. We have loaded the data into an online database to make it accessible for anyone to explore and we present our own first explorations of it. The focus of the paper is thus twofold, covering pedagogical and methodological aspects of the lists’ construction, and linguistic aspects of the by-product of the project, the KELLY database.
Designing relational database structures for storing and processing language questionnaire data: Example from a study in dictionary use
(Łódź University Press, 2003) Lew, Robert
The author discusses a methodological approach to storing, structuring, and processing complex data a large-scale dictionary use study.
Dictionaries and technology
(Wiley Blackwell, 2013) Lew, Robert
Dictionaries and their users
(Springer, 2015) Lew, Robert
It is only recently that dictionary users have become a central consideration in the design of dictionaries, and this focus has both stimulated and benefited from research into dictionary use. The present contribution reviews the major issues in dictionary design from the user perspective, taking stock of the relevant findings from user research, insofar as such research can assist lexicographers in producing improved lexical tools.
Dictionaries for learners of English
(Cambridge University Press, 2016-03) Lew, Robert
Dictionary users in the digital revolution
(2014-08-30) Lew, Robert; De Schryver, Gilles-Maurice
This contribution examines the digital revolution in lexicography from the perspective of the dictionary user. We begin with an observation that in the information age the status of the dictionary is changing, and so are patterns of user behaviour, with general internet search engines encroaching on the grounds traditionally reserved for lexicographic queries. Clearly, we need to know more about user behaviour in the digital environment, and for this we need to harness user research, to find out how the increasingly flexible and adaptive lexical reference tools of the future need to behave to best accommodate user needs. We summarize the existing findings and show in what ways digital dictionaries are already able to serve users better than their paper predecessors. The challenge to produce efficient and effective dictionaries is best seen in the context of dictionary users’ reference skills, which now tend to overlap with digital literacy. We conclude with a possible vision of the future.
Differences in the scope of obstruent voicing assimilation in learners' English as a consequence of regional variation in Polish
(Peter Lang, 2002) Lew, Robert
The question of what factors, and to what extent, shape the phonetic performance of second language learners has been the subject of much debate (see for instance Ioup & Weinberger 1987 or James & Leather 1987). One factor whose importance has remained, and is likely to remain, relatively unchallenged is the influence of the sound system of learners' native language. This effect is usually referred to as L1 transfer in the ESL/EFL literature, as parameters (speech habits, features, realisations, rules, processes, etc. - specific formulations vary with different approaches) of native language (L1) pronunciation are transferred or carried over to the second (L2, learned) language. In the present study I undertake to investigate if, and how, regional differences in Polish with respect to regressive sandhi voicing assimilation may influence the corresponding aspects of learners' English pronunciation. I will also consider some practical implications of the results for pronunciation teaching.
Do menus provide added value to signposts in print monolingual dictionary entries? An application of Linear Mixed-Effects Modelling in dictionary user research
(Oxford University Press, 2014) Ptasznik, Bartosz; Lew, Robert
There is some evidence that language learners as dictionary users benefit from access to sense-guiding devices. This study is a first attempt at comparing the efficiency (entry consultation time) and effectiveness (accuracy of sense selection) of sense signposts against a combination of signposts and menus in print monolingual dictionaries for learners of English. Experimental data from 118 intermediate Polish students of English were collected, testing sense-guiding devices in noun and verb entries of varying length. A Linear Mixed-effects Model analysis with planned comparisons was carried out on the data. Based on a sample of items larger than in previous studies, this study confirms the benefits of signposts in speeding up access to target senses. However, results indicate that adding menus to signposts does not improve search speed or sense selection accuracy any further.
Electronic dictionary entries with animated pictures: Lookup preferences and word retention
(Oxford University Press, 2009) Lew, Robert; Doroszewska, Joanna
In a well-known study, Laufer and Hill (2000) used an experimental electronic dictionary to investigate the lookup patterns and preferences of Israeli and Chinese learners of English and their effect on word retention. The present study attempts to replicate and extend Laufer and Hill's experiment with Polish learners of English. Animated images are introduced in an experimental online dictionary, and are tested on lexical items denoting facial expressions and body reflexes. Lookup patterns and lookup strategies are examined with regard to their impact on vocabulary retention. A strong negative effect of viewing animated images on vocabulary retention is found.
Entry menus in bilingual electronic dictionaries
(Cahiers du CENTAL, 2010) Lew, Robert; Tokarek, Patryk
The study undertakes to assess the efficiency of entry menus in bilingual dictionaries in the electronic format. An experimental dictionary interface is tested for performance in terms of access speed and task success. The task underlying dictionary use is guided Polish-to-English translation, performed under three conditions by 90 Polish learners of English. The first version of the dictionary displays a complete polysemous entry immediately after an entry is selected. In the second version the user is presented with a menu of senses; once the user clicks on the sense of choice, the full entry is shown, scrolled to the selected sense. The third version is identical to the second, but, in addition, the target sense is highlighted. Our results indicate that a combination of menu-guided sense access and target sense highlighting is effective in terms of both speed and task success, at both user levels investigated. In contrast, the menu alone is not significantly more effective than presenting the full entry at once.
Exploitation of linguistic ambiguity in Polish and English jokes
(Adam Mickiewicz University, 1996) Lew, Robert
English & Polish jokes based on linguistic ambiguity are constrasted. Linguistic ambiguity results from a multiplicity of semantic interpretations motivated by structural pattern. The meanings can be "translated" either by variations of the corresponding minimal strings or by specifying the type & extent of modification needed between the two interpretations. C. F. Hockett's (1972) translatability notion that a joke is linguistic if it cannot readily be translated into other languages without losing its humor is used to interpret some cross-linguistic jokes. It is claimed that additional intralinguistic criteria are needed to classify jokes. By using a syntactic representation, the humor can be explained & compared cross-linguistically. Since the mapping of semantic values onto lexical units is highly language specific, translatability is much less frequent with lexical ambiguity. Similarly, phonological jokes are not usually translatable. Pragmatic ambiguity can be translated on the basis of H. P. Grice's (1975) cooperative principle of conversation that calls for discourse interpretations. If the distinction between linguistic & nonlinguistic jokes is based on translatability, pragmatic jokes must be excluded from the classification. Because of their universality, pragmatic jokes should be included into the linguistic classification by going beyond the translatability criteria & using intralinguistic features to describe them.
From paper to electronic dictionaries: Evolving dictionary skills
(Airlangga University Press, 2013) Lew, Robert
Successful dictionary use depends on two factors: (1) user-friendliness of dictionaries and (2) good dictionary reference skills of their users. As the world moves from paper to electronic dictionaries, we need to realize that the skills needed to use modern digital dictionaries are not necessarily identical to those for traditional print dictionaries. Some print dictionary skills are transferable to the context of digital products, whereas some other skills are no longer relevant, often because electronic dictionaries may now be able to do part of what used to be the user’s job (such as automatically reducing an inflected form to a citation form). On the other hand, using electronic dictionaries may require new types of reference skills, not known from paper dictionaries. The most salient group of new skills is related to searching for information, and may be subsumed under the more general concept of digital literacy. In the present contribution I consider which paper dictionary skills are still relevant for digital dictionaries, which are obso-lete, and what types of skills are new to electronic dictionaries.
How can we make electronic dictionaries more effective?
(Oxford University Press, 2012) Lew, Robert
This chapter examines some of the ways in which electronic dictionaries of today can be further improved so as to serve human users better. The focus is on two major areas: effective access to lexicographic data and novel types of data. In terms of access, I consider how electronic dictionaries can help in situations when users are unsure about the spelling of the word they want o lookup. Two further issues discussed are efficient entry navigation and access to multi-word expressions. In the second part of the chapter I discuss the degree to which the use of multimedia can benefit electronic dictionaries. This includes audio (recorded or synthesized), static pictorials, as well as animations and videos. Preliminary research indicates that not all of the above may be equally useful for dictionary users.

Browsing by Author "Lew, Robert"

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