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 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” MEDCALD Basis: wordclassBasis: meaning. four headwords with homograph numbers: noun, adjective, verb, adverb five entries of "square"; same wordclass can appear repeatedly Basis: frequencyBasis: core meaning - in red - As adjective two stars (very common words) - as verb one star (fairly common words) -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

MEDCALD more than four lexical units in MED, the core meaning is written in a separate box under the headword. 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 STYLEThe same, informal is written in full word regional labels -square / / verb [T] "square the circle" Br E (British English) -Am E (American English), UK, US GrammarTransitive - [T] Countable - [C] Pronunci ation Variation not givengiven us

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. CALDMED "square the circle" is put under "square" as a verb. The difference is in phrasal verbs. phrasal verbs are put under "square" as verb. 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 CALD - idiom finder word families Defining vocabulary (2500 words) - Pragmatic information - "How should Iknow?" expression of feelings in words or sentences like this can influence communication in the real world Language awarenessStudy sections

Idiom finder

fight a losing battle p456 a heavy cross to bear p291 be like a bear with a sore head p97

Word families NounsAdjectivesVerbsAdverbs public, publication, publicist, publicity publicpublicizepublicly punishmentpunishable, punishing punishpunishingly purification, purist, purity, impurity, purifier pure, impure purifypurely

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