Dictionary evolution: Exploiting modern referencing tools to the max

Julie Moore & Lisa Sutherland

IATEFL 2015

Dictionary evolution

• COBUILD as corpus pioneer

• Developments in ELT

• Language change

• The digital revolution

• New Collins Corpus

The start of a dictionary revolution

• The COBUILD project

• Corpus-based lexicography

• Authentic examples

• Frequency information

• Full-sentence definitions

“COBUILD’s impact has been world-wide:there is no approach to English languagedescription and use today that can ignore theprofound and seminal effects of the facility’sresearch.”

University of Birmingham Research heroes, 2014

Reflecting trends in ELT

• Lexis & collocations

Teaching Tip

Redrafting writing:Students redraft awkward or repetitive sections of their writing using Word Partnership and Thesaurus boxes to try out different possible paraphrases.

Dictionary skills * Vocab building * Collocations * Writing skills

Reflecting trends in ELT

• Lexis & collocations

• English as a Medium of Instruction

• CLIL

Reflecting trends in ELT

• Lexis & collocations

• English as a Medium of Instruction

• CLIL

• EAP

Teaching tip

Mini presentations:Allocate groups of students a topic to research and prepare a mini presentation.Students use Word Web and Word Partnership boxes to research basic information and relevant language.

Referencing skills * Vocab building * Collocations * Speaking skills

Keeping up with language change

• New words

• New senses

• New usage

bestie emoji fracking

meme onesie

feed thread wearable

Teaching Tip

Exploring etymology & word formation:Use new words as a starting point to explore etymology and word formation as a dynamic and generative process.

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The digital revolution

• Online dictionarywww.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english-cobuild-learners

The digital revolution

• Online dictionary

• Kindle version

The digital revolution

• Online dictionary

• Kindle version

• Apps for mobiles & tablets

Teaching Tip

Get out the gadgets:Encourage students to use the dictionary via their own devices. Get them to do regular look-ups in class (meaning, pronunciation, etc.) and explore digital features.Kindle: Encourage extensive reading using ebooks. Apps: Encourage students to create personalized wordlists.

Referencing skills * Personalization * Learner autonomy

Coming soon …New Collins Corpus

• User-friendly corpus search tools

• Various subscription options available

• Research language usage• Check your intuitions

• Find answers to tricky questions

• Create language activities using authentic examples

Coming soon …New Collins Corpus

• Access to the largest English language corpus in the world

• Diverse range of sources

• International coverage

• New educational corpora:• Age and culture appropriate

• Content from graded readers

• Content from secondary textbooks

• Searches based on reading level, subject, etc.

Answer tricky questions

What’s the difference between pay sth and pay for sth?

pay + fee / tax / bill / money / rate / fine / rent

pay for + service / treatment / ticket / trip / repair

Create your own collocations exercise

Search for collocations Select examples Create your activity

conduct / do / make

To write the script, the team ______ extensive research , speaking to sources and reading letters.

Dictionary evolution: coming full circle

• COBUILD: Corpus pioneer

• Keeping up with trends in ELT

• Tracking language change

• The digital revolution

• Access to the Collins Corpus: coming soon!

Collins Corpus: get involved

• Help us develop the new Collins Corpus

• Keep up to date with progress

Dictionary evolution: Exploiting modern referencing tools to the max

Lisa Sutherland

Lisa.Sutherland@harpercollins.co.uk

CollinsELT

CollinsELT

Julie Moore

ELTjuleswords

@lexicojules

lexicoblog.blogspot.com

Visit the Collins stand: Stand 11