ENTRY-INTERNAL NAVIGATION IN DICTIONARIES: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Bartosz Ptasznik
Wydział Anglistyki Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w PoznaniuAbstrakt
Selecting the correct sense in a polysemous entry may cause difficulty for language
learners. Poor dictionary reference skills of users may account for the problems that students
encounter in dictionary consultation. In addition, some dictionary users may have a tendency
to consult the first sense of an entry and not the remaining senses [Tono 1984], although
the information required for understanding the meaning of a word might be situated in the
middle or end of an entry. For these reasons, lexicographers have started introducing sense
navigation devices in dictionaries: menus and signposts. The main role of these devices is to
assist dictionary users in entry consultation by helping them find the right meaning of a word
as quickly as possible. The present paper is a review of nine empirical studies [Tono 1992, 1997, 2011; Bogaards 1998; Lew 2010; Lew et al. 2013; Lew and Pajkowska 2007; Lew and
Tokarek 2010; Nesi and Tan 2011] focusing on the effectiveness of sense navigation devices
in dictionaries. In general, the studies investigate how menus and signposts in dictionary
entries affect sense selection accuracy and entry consultation time. Furthermore, observations
are made regarding the effect of entry length and proficiency level of users on sense selection
accuracy and entry consultation time in the context of menus and signposts. Also, menu and
signpost systems are compared.
Słowa kluczowe:
dictionaries, paper dictionaries, electronic dictionaries, monolingual dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, entry-internal navigation, sense navigation devices, menus, signpostsBibliografia
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Wydział Anglistyki Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
