Not all dictionaries are created equal:
Some considerations towards improving
the effectiveness of dictionary use in EFL
Pino Cutrone

Abstract
This paper attempts to draw attention to the importance of making informed decisions
regarding the use of dictionaries in EFL contexts. Random entries from two arbitrarily
chosen dictionaries are examined according to the following criteria: (1) clarity of defi­
nition(s), (2) order of presentation of the different meanings of a word, (3) grammati­
cal advice, and (4) insights into the use of collocations. The findings of this analysis
suggest that these two dictionaries differ in many respects. Pedagogical implications arediscussed, and some suggestions to assist EFL teachers in making more informed dic­tionary choices are offered.

PDIntroduction
Having taught EFL courses in tertiary education in Japan over the past decade, the author
has noticed that one of the requirements of learners often found in EFL course syllabi is that they
possess a dictionary. Sometimes, the syllabus mentions something to the effect that English toEnglish dictionaries are preferred; however, unfortunately for students in many cases, that is theextent of the information provided. In other words, learners are often not given any specific in­formation regarding what kind of dictionary they should buy and what, specifically, they willneed it for. In addition, once learners show up to their first class with their new dictionary, theyrarely receive any sort of follow­up information and/or training regarding how to best understandand use the features of their dictionary. Hence, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate that, as
the title conveys, not all dictionaries are created equal, and teachers would thus be well­served inspending the time to make more informed decisions regarding the dictionaries they recommend
their learners to purchase (Cowie 2009).

QDAnalysis
To demonstrate the potential differences between dictionaries, this paper will provide acomparison of various entries and features found in two arbitrarily chosen English to English dic­tionaries: the Longman Dictionary Of Contemporary English Third edition (1995) and Random
House Webster's Concise College Dictionary (1999). While these dictionaries may appear some­― 17 ―

Journal of the Faculty of Global Communication, University of Nagasaki No.10(2009)

what dated, they were chosen for the practical reason that they were among two of the diction­aries that the author's students recently brought with them to class. In providing a framework
for this analysis, this paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of various entries found in
the two dictionaries according to the following criteria: (1) the clarity of definition(s), including
any support from illustrations, examples etc., (2) the likely reason for order of presentation of
the different meanings of a word, (3) the advice on grammar (clarity, usefulness etc), and (4)insights on collocation (range, clarity etc).
２.１ Clarity
Regarding clarity of definitions, a review of the Longman dictionary finds that the entries
therein generally provide explicit definitions, and often include examples and illustrations. In
contrast, Random House's entries are generally brief and give infrequent examples and illustra­tions. SLA (Secondary Language Acquisition) research tells us that a distinction can be madebetween passive and active vocabulary (Ellis 1995). Dictionary entries containing examples offer
the reader a better chance to actively learn a new word, enabling the reader to use the word ap­
propriately in context. Furthermore, Random House's definitions contain complex vocabularythat often forces the reader to cross reference. This would require subsequent time and may
cause confusion among EFL students. Further, EFL students often encounter cultural incon­
sistencies when using dictionaries. For example, Random House does not usually distinguish be­
tween British and American English. Random House's (1999: 198) entry of crisp does not men­tion that a crisp defined in British English is a potato chip in American English. In this sense,
their entries would seem to be culture­specific toward American English. The definition of crispin Longman (1995: 322) includes and identifies both the British and American meaning. For
EFL students, these inconsistencies are likely to create confusion and may even cause students
to question the validity of the word.
２.２ Organization
Additionally, polysemy can be problematic for EFL students when using a dictionary.
Generally, dictionaries seem to present words with multiple meanings in the order they are mostfrequently used. Longman explains how this is determined in their dictionary guide: This dic­tionary is based on analysis of large corpora of written and spoken English, which shows how
often a word or phrase is used, and how often it is used in each meaning(Longman 1995: xvi).
In some cases, students have trouble dealing with the presentation of words from a clarity stan­dpoint. With longer entries, Longman includes signposts to aid the reader in finding the meaning
they need. For instance, Longman's (1995: 1072) entry of place contains signposts / subheadings
in bold letters underneath the entry heading. As well, they divide each definition into sub defini­tions, and they are presented separately. These features make it easier and faster for students tofind information. The presentation of Random House's (1999: 627) definition of place does notseem to be user friendly for EFL students as large amounts of text often appear clustered insmall areas. Many students might be confused and even intimidated by this.

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Pino Cutrone :Not all dictionaries are created equal: Some considerations towardsimproving the effectiveness of dictionary use in EFL

２.３ Grammatical advice
Similar to confusion caused by organizational issues, EFL students often have difficulty dis­cerning grammatical advice given in dictionaries. They often fail to read the conventions of thedictionary (i.e., found in the introduction and/or at the back of the dictionary). Longman andRandom House both offer readers useful grammatical advice. Their entries show the readers theword class (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) to which the headword belongs, and give information
about the inflections of words. Longman goes further by providing additional grammatical advice
in square brackets showing the countability of nouns, and whether a verb is transitive or intransi­
tive. It also explains how the word is used syntactically, with examples of conventional as well as
idiomatic expressions involving the word often provided. Without question, these are invaluable
inclusions for EFL students as they can obtain information about a word that will give them theconfidence to use it in different situations. For instance, Longman's definition of verify includes asyntactical illustration, with instruction on collocations. Directly underneath the first definition itstates

verify sth with sb(Longman 1995: 1590). This feature illustrates the patterns of which
words combine to form sentences. Accordingly, students can manipulate the words to serve theirlanguage function.
Students would probably gain only a passive understanding of verify based on the definition
provided in Random House (1999: 906). Besides lacking in grammatical advice, it contains otherweaknesses. The vocabulary used in the definition could be perceived as being too complex formany EFL students, and the order of presentation seems inconsistent with other dictionaries.
Their first definition includes the words testimony and evidence as used in a court. Verify is mostcommonly used to seek the truth or confirm, but not necessarily in a court room. Hence, this en­try may be thought to be culture­specific in the sense that it seems to assume that the entire
world practices law similarly. It also seems to be profession­specific in that it appears better suit­ed for those in the legal profession.
２.４ Using Collocations
Although students generally enjoy learning idiomatic phrases, they often seem to havedifficulties with collocations. In their book, Vocabulary and Language Teaching, Carter andMcCarthy (1988) explain that this difficulty is caused by the different degrees of variability of
fixed expressions. One of the main aims of the Longman (1995: xvi) dictionary is to show explic­
itly the collocation of a word. Their entry of crisp includes an example of how crisp and burn areused together in American English. In bold letters, it reads burn sth to a crisp (Longman 1995:322). Similarly, Longman's (1995: 1066) entry of pilot displays the relationship pilot has withother words such as test, project, and scheme as a restricted collocation. In contrast, Random
House's (1999: 198，623) entries of crisp and pilot only present definitions and do not provide in­sights on collocations. From Random House's definitions, EFL students probably cannot recog­
nize how English can be expressed through fixed combinations of words. Consequently, their un­derstanding of the word would be limited, and they would most likely only be able to learn the― 19 ―

Journal of the Faculty of Global Communication, University of Nagasaki No.10(2009)

word passively.

RDPedagogical implications
While the analysis above was in no way meant to be an exhaustive examination of dictionary
features, it served its purpose in demonstrating that, as the title of this article states, there can begreat variability in terms of dictionaries that learners use in their classes. Recently, electronic
dictionaries have become increasingly popular in Japan, and while their benefits have been
documented, so too has the fact that that EFL learners in Japan are generally not taking advan­
tage of either the portability or the extra speed that they paid for (Weschler & Pitts 2000).
Moreover, there are some learners who prefer bilingual dictionaries because of the seemingly
easier, more accessible and immediate payback. While bilingual glosses do indeed help and give
immediately accessible learning pegs to the user, it seems to be generally agreed in ELT thatmonolingual dictionaries are better for the students in the long run for many reasons (Universityof Leicester 1999). First, the notion that learners are saving time by using a bilingual dictionary
is not necessarily true as bilingual dictionary users are frequently required to spend a great dealof time engaging in detailed cross­referencing to make sure one has indentified the most ap­
propriate sense of the word. Even more important is the fact that there are very few words thatmaintain an exact correspondence in meaning and use with an equivalent in a foreign language.
Lastly, there are also those in ELT who believe learners should limit their use of dictionaries in c­lass as it may detract from their foci and/or impede the amount of contact and communication
learners can potentially have with their teachers (Futonge 2005). This, however, may have more
to do with learners lacking the skills to use their dictionaries effectively. When used effectively,
dictionaries can be thought to act as supplemental teachers, or in a different light, dictionaries
may help learners to not be as reliant on their teachers by helping them develop a sense of au­
tonomy and responsibility for their own learning.
From the analysis above, the author will provide some basic suggestions to assist teachers inchoosing the most appropriate dictionary for their context. First and foremost, it is necessary topoint out that every situation is different, and teachers would be well­served in understanding
precisely who their students are, what purpose(s) the dictionary use is intended to serve, andhow specifically students plan to use their dictionaries. By the same token, teachers have to keep
in mind that learners will undoubtedly use their dictionaries in other English related classes aswell as in situations outside the classroom context. Thus, while it is generally wise for teachers tohave specific ideas for dictionary use in mind when recommending a dictionary to their students,
they should also consider dictionaries that offer students flexibility, and of course, cost­effective­
ness.
For English majors in tertiary institutions, it would seem to make sense that monolingual ad­vanced learner dictionaries with many features be considered first as they would open students
up to new language and, as mentioned above, contain more accurate representations of a word'smeaning. Further, in order to make the best use of this type of dictionary, learners need to― 20 ―

Pino Cutrone :Not all dictionaries are created equal: Some considerations towards
improving the effectiveness of dictionary use in EFL

receive some training regarding the conventions of the dictionary, which are most often
described in the introductions and/or the back covers of dictionaries. In a brief informal survey ofsome learners in this context, twenty of twenty­two students in an English Oral Communication
class admitted that they essentially ignored the information related to the conventions of theirdictionaries. This type of training should take place at the beginning of a course and may include
advice on abbreviations, lay­out of entries, grammatical explanations, how verbs are treated,
finding canonical forms, phrasal verbs, etc. While any directive towards these conventions islikely to to be helpful, teachers are encouraged to be creative in designing activities to teachthese points. Publishers often offer suggestions and tasks to help learners train for this endeavor,
and there also exist workbooks and CD ROMs specifically designed to prepare learners for theuse of dictionaries (Runcie 2004). Lastly, not only does learner training for dictionary use needto account for what information is available and how it can be accessed, but it also needs to show
the limitations of the dictionary (i.e., what is absent and/or what difficulties might arise). This
may involve limitations in such areas as space, the selection of examples, the need for cross­referencing, and the difficulty of defining function words, to name a few.

SDConclusion
The differences between the Longman and Random House dictionaries illustrate the impor­tance of choosing a well­informed dictionary. Without a doubt, a dictionary that offers students
additional information is most beneficial for them in developing their vocabulary. It should in­clude clear and comprehensible entries, concrete examples, illustrations, grammatical advice,guidance regarding cultural differences, and insights into the use of collocations. EFL learners
generally seem to like dictionaries that are user friendly which include uncomplicated vocabulary
and entries presented in a way that is clear and helps them find information quickly. The purpose
here is not to criticize one publisher's dictionary and promote another; rather, it is to maketeachers conscious of the many differences that can exist among dictionaries. At first glance, one
might assume that the Webster's dictionary, which is more than twice as large and publishedfour years later, would be the better choice, but it is the Longman dictionary that is, in fact, moresuitable to the needs of the author's learners.

References
Cowie, A. P., ed. (2009) The Oxford History of English Lexicography, New York, Oxford Univer­sity Press.
Ellis, N. C. (1995)

Vocabulary acquisition: Psychological perspectives and pedagogical implica­

tions , The Language Teacher, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 12‑16.
Futonge, K. (2005) The Advent of Electronic Dictionaries in ESL/EFL Learning , ESL Galaxy,viewed 15 July 2009, http://www.esl­galaxy.com/electronicdictionaries.html― 21 ―

Journal of the Faculty of Global Communication, University of Nagasaki No.10(2009)

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1995), 3rd edition, Harlow, Longman.
McCarthy, M. & Carter R. A. (1988) Vocabulary and Language Teaching, London, Longman.
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