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DICTIONARIES
COLLINS/COBUILD ADVANCED LEARNER'S ENGLISH DICTIONARY John Sinclair As with the Gem, the Advanced Learner's distinguishes itself from a multitude of generic and torturously difficult dictionaries. The conjugation is above the headwords, in bold, and unabbreviated. Sentence examples and additional conjugation are marked. Sentence examples are in italics and unabbreviated. The most common words in the English language are marked according to frequency. Headwords, numbers, and side notes are in blue. Special sections for phrases are lengthy. British English versus American English is highlighted. One refreshingly different and very useful feature is highlighted verb versus noun pronunciation. Usages - "can" as a verb versus "can" as a noun - are marked with boxed numbers. Usages within usages - the verb "can" meaning ability versus the verb "can" meaning permission - are marked by boxed numbers. The editors use what they call pragmatics labels in the side notes: approval, disapproval, emphasis, feelings, formula, politeness, vagueness. The introduction says of the side notes, "The information is coded for brevity, and every effort has been made to keep the coding clear and easily memorable. This edition makes the Extra Column even easier to use." I dissent. Because the side notes are in a special column instead of buried within the definition, they are easier to FIND. But because they are coded, they are no easier to USE." Perhaps the best advantage of this dictionary is that explanations are substituted for definitions. When one of my students asks me for help with an unfamiliar word, I don't quote a dictionary definition. I simply explain what the word means. Then I use the word in a sentence. Then I provide some insights through grammar and culture. That is the same strategy other teachers use, and that is the same strategy Collins/Cobuild uses. Collins/Cobuild uses it's Bank of English, a massive collection of material compiled from British and American culture since 1990. The Bank, as well as computer software, help lexicographers 1) determine the order in which words are listed, ie, in order of frequency use 2) explain what the words mean and how they are used 3) choose the best sentence examples. Most of the 75.000 sentence examples come from the Bank, which means they are direct quotes. When a student asks a teacher for help with vocabulary, the teacher doesn't have the advantage of being able to research and quote the literature of the day. They have to use, on the spot, their own knowledge of the English language. However extensive that knowledge might be, it is no match for an on-screen corpus combined with computer technology.
For more details, see this review: http://www.antimoon.com/how/cobuild-review.htm John Sinclair, founding editor of the dictionary and
COLLINS/COBUILD ADVANCED DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH
The Collins-Cobuild Advanced Dictionary of American English distinguishes itself from other Collins-Cobuild dictionaries by being exploratory. The publisher wants you to spend a lot of time in this dictionary. For exploring, the user is offered a CD and 6 types of "vocabulary builders": Word Web boxes have short encyclopedia style articles. Word Partnership boxes have collocation information. Word Link boxes have examples of prefixes, suffixes, and root words. Thesaurus boxes have synonyms and antonyms. Usage boxes have information about shades of meaning, cultural references, and grammar. Vocabulary builder boxes are color coded. Numbers in the Word Partnership boxes and Thesaurus boxes match the numbers in the definitions. Picture Dictionary boxes and Word Web boxes contain color photos and color illustrations. Picture Dictionary boxes are numerous but not near as numerous as the other four boxes. There are 3000 vocabulary boxes. The feature guide does not say how many of these are picture dictionaries, nor are the picture dictionaries indexed. Many of the words in the picture dictionary boxes are almost too small to read or are buried in color. "Style" labels are spoken and written; formal and informal; offensive, vulgar, and humorous; dialect and old fashion; business, computing, medical, military, legal, journalism, literary, and trademark. "Pragmatic" labels are approval, disapproval, emphasis, feelings, formulae, politeness, and vagueness. This dictionary continues the Collins Cobuild tradition of being usage oriented. For the verb come, I found 3 definitions. Within these 3 definitions, I found 24 usages. These definitions and usages are followed by definitions for 28 phrasal verbs, each definition with its own paragraph. Within these 28 phrasal verb definitions are 7 usages for come in, 5 usages for come on, 7 usages for come out, 4 usages for come through, and 7 usages for come up. In the second definition of the verb take, I found 44 usages. For the verb give, I find 21 usages within 3 definitions. For the verb go, I found 18 usages in the first definition and 16 usages in the third definition, followed by - coincidence - 28 definitions for phrasal verbs. You get the picture. Collins-Cobuild is still infected with encoded-itis. I counted 110 grammar abbreviations and notations, followed by 13 pages of explanations for those 110 grammar terms. This is a full service dictionary with blue lettered head words, IPA pronunciation, word class, highlighted full conjugation as part of the headword, high frequency indicators, easy to find sample sentences, etc. But usage numbers within the definitions are white in blue boxes, and so small that I almost need a magnifying glass. Includes an activity guide, grammar handbook, writer's handbook, speaker's handbook, TOEFL / TOEIC list, and defining vocabulary.
From the catalog: 1150 Word Partnerships, 1500 Word Links, 750 Thesauruses, 50 Picture Dictionaries. From the founding editor-in-chief, John Sinclair: "In the choice of examples, we pay careful attention to collocation - the significant co-occurrence of models of usage. Important collocations are also highlighted in the definitions, giving help with set lexical and grammatical patterns. The Cobuild defining style is modeled on the way people explain the meaning of words to each other, and it is refreshingly direct, because the definitions are just normal sentences of English with the headword or phrase in bold face. This style is not only easier to understand than the usual way definitions are written, it also allows a lot of extra information to be presented in a natural way." Note: When this dictionary was published, the Bank of English had 645 million words. See the Collins-Cobuild website for more information about the Bank of English.
LONGMAN DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH
The Longman Dictionary of American English is one of the most impressive dictionaries on the shelf.
Definitions include syllables and pronunciation; word class, tense, plural and singular, countable and uncountable, transitive and intransitive, linking; formal, informal, slang, old-fashioned, offensive, taboo, etc; phrasal verbs, collocations, and idioms; synonyms and antonyms; irregular verbs, conjugation and derivatives, example sentences and cross references.
Different meanings of the same word are listed separately. Different uses of the same headword are easily distinguished by numbers and color-highlighted signposts. Uses are conveniently arranged by frequency. Color is used skillfully to distinguish common words from other headwords, phrasal verbs from idioms and collocations, boxes from definitions, and to highlight signposts inside boxes and inside definitions.
Almost every page has 2 or 3 thesaurus boxes. Many of the most common words have large thesaurus boxes. Many other boxes for idioms, grammar, usage, collocations, communication, spoken only, and topic. Again, many of these other boxes are large. Numerous, large photos and illustrations.
The Learner's Handbook includes a 14 page workbook with answer key, an 18 page writer019s guide, a 13 page grammar guide, and a 16 page communication guide. The Learners Handbook is by far the most creative, visually appealing, innovative, and well arranged user's guide I've seen in any dictionary. The Learner's Handbook also includes many illustrations and makes good use of color.
The LDAE also includes a 12 page picture dictionary and a map of North America. The map includes cities, states, regions, countries, and bodies of water.
The definitions come from the 2000 most common words, otherwise known as the Longman American Defining Vocabulary. The editors use full sentence examples from the 400 million word Longman Corpus Network of written texts and recorded conversations. They also use the Longman Learner019s Corpus of 8 million words from essays and exams to identify and correct common errors, allowing ESL students to learn from each other's mistakes.
The CD includes pronunciation of all example sentences, an exercise bank (including TOEFL), videos, sounds, color, and a popup dictionary for Internet use.
There are some minor problems. As with most dictionaries, conjugation is buried in the definition. I would have used dark blue instead of light blue, red instead of dark pink, and light blue instead of light purple and light pink. "Longman pioneered the use of limited vocabulary as the best way to guarantee that definitions are clear and easy to understand." Well, more than one publisher has made that claim. A.P. Cowie When I taught several ESL college freshmen classes in MACMILLAN ENGLISH DICTIONARY FOR ADVANCED LEARNERS Michael Rundell MacMillan When I taught a dictionary class in COLLINS COBUILD ACTIVE ENGLISH DICTIONARY [ COLLINS GEM COBUILD ENGLISH DICTIONARY FOR LEARNERS OF ENGLISH ] Michela Clari Collins, Cobuild, Harper Collins, This is a very unusual dictionary. Most dictionaries use difficult words and sentences in their definitions. This dictionary uses the most common words and very easy sentences. In most dictionaries, conjugation is buried in the definition. In this dictionary, conjugation is part of the headword. In most dictionaries, conjugation is in light italics. In this dictionary, conjugation is in bold, straight letters. In most dictionaries, conjugation is abbreviated. In this dictionary, conjugation is fully spelled. In most dictionaries, the word class - noun, verb, etc - is difficult to find. In this dictionary, the word class is easy to find. The only problem with this dictionary is that it's available only in pocket size. From the introduction: "The Collins Cobuild Active English Dictionary covers the 6000 words learners of English really need to know to help them master 85% of the English language." Note: the Gem has been replaced by the Active.
COLLINS COBUILD NEW STUDENT'S DICTIONARY
Major features that distinguish Collins Cobuild New Student's Dictionary from the Advanced Learner's and the Active/Gem: - a boxed star to indicate 3000 high frequency words - large blue-shaded areas for usage notes - small blue-shaded areas to mark different meanings and uses of the same word - absolutely the biggest grammar section I've ever seen in any regular dictionary. Includes a large picture dictionary section. As with the Active, each page has the alphabet down the side, with the letter you're using shaded. From the introduction: "The words explained in this dictionary account for over 90% of the language that is written and spoken. That is because there is a relatively small number of words which are used over and over again, while there is a larger number of words which are not used very frequently. This dictionary concentrates on the words that occur over and over again, and the entries represent the language that students really do need to know and to use. One of the primary purposes of a learner's dictionary such as this one is to provide information about those words that the user already 'knows', as well as to provide information that the user does not know. Many words have several uses and meanings, and we do not really 'know' a word until we are familiar with its full range of meaning and grammatical behaviour." Kate Woodford The Cambridge Essential English Dictionary is exceptionally easy to use. The headwords are in color, the word class and conjugation are above the definition, the definitions use conjugation, almost every definition includes example sentences or phrases - in italics, "past participle," "present participle," and "no plural" are used to clarify conjugation, many collocations and phrasal verbs - in bold. The how-to-use section is almost free of jargon, the English alphabet is on the side of every page, the International Phonetic Alphabet is at the bottom of every page. A 16 page picture dictionary illustrating food, colors, clothes, etc, a 5 page section on the most essential phrasal verbs.
OXFORD ESSENTIAL DICTIONARY
At last Oxford gives us a user oriented dictionary instead of a scholar oriented dictionary! A key represents one of the 2000 keywords. Arrows point to synomyms, antonyms, and related words. A magifying glass marks shaded speaking, pronunication, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and culture boxes. Conjugation is spelled out and not buried. Help with British / American usage, plurals, idioms, and phrasal verbs. Many photos and illustrations. 16 color picture dictionary. Study pages for prepositions, numbers, times, dates, writing letters and email, filing in forms, etc. Keyword index. Geographic index with pronuciation. CD.
From the publisher: "2000 keywords show you the most imporant words to learn. 500 notes on spelling, grammar, and speaking mean you avoid mistakes. 1100 synonyms and opposites help you learn more words. 120 pronunciation boxes. 19,000 British and American words explained in easy language. 13,000 examples help you use words correctly. 400 illustrations and photos explain difficult words. 16 color pages include topics such as food and drink, jobs and clothes. 16 study pages cover skills such as telephoning. 16 study pages cover skills such as telephoning, letter writing, and everyday conversation." BEGINNER'S DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH USAGE P.H. Collin, Mariam Lowi, and Carol Weiland McGraw-Hill Many dictionaries claim to contain beginner vocabulary, but include far too many words, as well as many words that are well into the intermediate and even advanced level. This dictionary contains a truly beginner's vocabulary, in volume and selection.
LONGMAN DICTIONARY OF CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH LONGMAN EXAM DICTIONARY OXFORD ESL DICTIONARY OXFORD PRIMARY DICTIONARY reviews soon
DICTIONARY GUIDES AND WORKBOOKS MACMILLAN ADVANCED LEARNERS DICTIONARY WORKBOOK - Adrian Underhill Of the handful of dictionary aids on the market, Adrian Underhill's workbook for the Macmillan Advanced Learners Dictionary is by far the most visual friendly, user friendly, innovative, interesting, insightful, useful, and challenging. Includes a class activities section, a chapter on the World English Corpus, and an answer key. Each chapter includes a "interesting facts" box. Table of contents: Finding words in the dictionary; Red words and black words [word frequency]; Introducing concordances [corpuses]; Pronunciation and stress; Grammar information, Finding and exploring meanings; Collocation, idioms, and phrasal verbs, Choosing the right word; Language study [etymology and metaphors]; Working with texts
LONGMAN DICTIONARY SKILLS HANDBOOK - Janet McAlpin COLLINS COBUILD LEARNER'S DICTIONARY WORKBOOK - Bill Mascull COLLINS COBUILD ENGLISH DICTIONARY WORKBOOK COLLINS COBUILD JUNIOR DICTIONARY SKILLS WORKBOOK COLLINS COBUILD FIRST SCHOOL DICTIONARY SKILLS WORKBOOK COLLINS COBUILD PRIMARY DICTIONARY SKILLS WORKBOOK COLLINS COBUILD SHORTER SCHOOL DICTIONARY SKILLS WORKBOOK OXFORD ESL DICTIONARY WORKBOOK OXFORD STUDENT'S DICTIONARY WORKSHEETS OXFORD ADVANCED LEARNER'S DICTIONARY RESOURCE BOOK CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH STUDENT ACTIVITY BOOK COLLINS COBUILD IDIOMS DICTIONARY WORKBOOK COLLINS COBUILD PHRASAL VERBS DICTIONARY WORKBOOK
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