Bilingual thematic dictionaries

This book is concerned with bilingual thematic dictionaries (BTDs). The three chief aims of the research project are: 1) to identify the characteristic features of the bilingual thematic dictionary, 2) to gauge its usefulness, and 3) to make suggestions as to how it could be improved. Various approaches are adopted in order to reveal the nature of the BTD. The typological approach considers the lexicographic genres (bilingual, thematic, and pedagogical) which have been combined to create this hybrid reference work. Particular attention is paid to the BTD's immediate forerunner and closest lexicographic relative: the monolingual thematic learner's dictionary. Detailed textual analyses of contemporary thematic dictionaries identify the characteristic features of the macrostructure, microstructure, and other components from a structural perspective. In order to evaluate the usefulness of the BTD features identified, the textual analyses are supplemented by three pieces of user research involving a questionnaire (to elicit learners' opinions), a test (on the effectiveness of the access structure), and an experiment (to discover how a learner uses a BTD).

Front matter --; Table of Contents --; List of Figures --; Acknowledgements --; List of Abbreviations --; 1. Introduction --; 2. The Nature and Development of the Bilingual Thematic Dictionary as a Hybrid Lexicographic Genre --; 3. Bilingual Thematic Dictionaries --; 4. Approaches to Evaluating the Usefulness of Bilingual Thematic Dictionaries --; 5. The Compilation of Bilingual Thematic Dictionaries: Choices and Recommendations --; 6. Conclusions --; Bibliography --; Appendix 1) A Checklist of Monolingual Learner's Dictionary Features and Choices --; Appendix 2) A Checklist of Thematic Dictionary Features and Choices --; Appendix 3) A Checklist of Existing BTD Features and Choices --; Appendix 4) A Sample of the EFL Questionnaire Version A (for French Learners of English) --; Appendix 5) Location Guessing Experiment: List of BTD Categories --; Appendix 6) Location Guessing Experiment: List of 10 Words --; Appendix 7) Search Report Experiment: Answer/Search Report Sheet --; Appendix 8) A Cumulative Checklist of Actual and Potential BTD Features and Choices --; Appendix 9) Location Guessing Experiment: Guessed Locations for Each Word --; Appendix 10) Location Guessing Experiment: No. of Correct Guesses for each Word --; Appendix 11) Location Guessing Experiment: Correct Answers and Participants' Answers --; Abstract --; Index