Martin Stark Book order

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).

This book evaluates the newly developed encyclopedic learner's dictionary (ELD) by addressing three main questions: what ELDs are, their usefulness, and how to design them effectively for users. The first chapter analyzes ELDs from a typological perspective, examining the elements that create this lexicographical type. It compares two specific ELDs, the "Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture" and the "Oxford Advanced Learner's Encyclopedic Dictionary," alongside their non-encyclopedic counterparts, culminating in a checklist of ELD-specific design features. The second chapter shifts to the user perspective, providing a critical survey of prior user-based studies and detailing the questionnaire methodology used in this research. Forty informants participated, allowing for correlations between user characteristics, dictionary use, and attitudes toward encyclopedic information in learners' dictionaries. The third chapter offers an in-depth description of each design feature found in the ELDs, along with evaluations of their usefulness from informants. This synthesis of typological analysis and user feedback leads to a user-informed evaluation of ELD components. The book concludes with implications for future ELD production, presenting a checklist of recommendations and suggesting areas for further lexicographical research.