ELexicography in the 21st Century : New Challenges, New Applications


Book Description

The field of lexicography is undergoing a major revolution. The rapid replacement of the traditional paper dictionary by electronic dictionaries opens up exciting possibilities but also constitutes a major challenge to the field. The eLexicography in the 21st Century: New Challenges, New Applications conference organized by the Centre for English Corpus Linguistics of the Université catholique de Louvain in October 2009 aimed to bring together the many researchers around the world who are working in the fast developing field of electronic lexicography and to act as a showcase for the latest lexicographic developments and software solutions in the field. The conference attracted both academics and industrial partners from 30 different countries who presented electronic dictionary projects dealing with no less than 22 languages. The resulting proceedings volume bears witness to the tremendous vitality and diversity of research in the field. The volume covers a wide range span of topics, including: -the use of language resources for lexicographic purposes, in the form of lexical databases like WordNet or corpora of different types - innovative changes to the dictionary structure afforded by the electronic medium, in particular multiple access routes and efficient integration of phraseology -specialised dictionaries (e.g. SMS dictionaries, sign language dictionaries) -automated customisation of dictionaries in function of users' needs -exploitation of Natural Language Processing tools - integration of electronic dictionaries into language learning and teaching




Electronic Lexicography


Book Description

This book brings together leading professional and academic lexicographers to report on current developments in the deployment of electronic means in the planning, writing, and dissemination of dictionaries. Every major aspect of electronic lexicography is covered by the book including dictionary types (general and specialized dictionaries, monolingual and multilingual dictionaries, collocation dictionaries, sign dictionaries, collaborative dictionaries) in a range of formats (CD-ROM, web-based, handheld), dictionary-writing systems, integration of corpora, The book also addresses the implications of electronic dictionary-making for lexicographic theory and illustrates how the new developments are integrated into innovative dictionary projects like Wiktionary. The perspective of the user is considered throughout the book, including how electronic dictionaries take account of user needs and whether and how users take advantages of the new features afforded by the electronic medium. This state-of-the-art account of developments in one of the most vibrant areas of reference publishing and language research will appeal to everyone concerned with current lexicography.




e-Lexicography


Book Description

This book looks at current research and future directions in e-lexicography. Online dictionaries and reference tools are increasingly prevalent in a digitized and internet-led era in language study that has embraced computational linguistics. This book responds with theoretical and practical analysis of key topics, from a global range of contributors. Since COBUILD in the 1980s, lexicographers have found it essential to engage with and utilize electronic computational tools. Internet dictionaries, online reference tools and even search engine optimization demand a knowledge of electronic lexicography and force a reassessment of the field. This volume looks at, amongst other topics: • Polyfunctional versus monofunctional dictionary tools • Developing theories of lexicography for electronic mediums • Distinguishing between the database and the dictionary • Online dictionaries not as data repositories but as sophisticated search engines This volume will appeal to scholars in lexicography and to practicing lexicographers.




A Taste for Corpora


Book Description

The eleven contributions to this volume, written by expert corpus linguists, tackle corpora from a wide range of perspectives and aim to shed light on the numerous linguistic and pedagogical uses to which corpora can be put. They present cutting-edge research in the authors’ respective domain of expertise and suggest directions for future research. The main focus of the book is on learner corpora, but it also includes reflections on the role of other types of corpora, such as native corpora, expert users corpora, parallel corpora or corpora of New Englishes. For readers who are already familiar with corpora, this volume offers an informed account of the key role that corpus data play in applied linguistics today. As for readers who are new to corpus linguistics, the overview of approaches, methods and domains of applications presented will undoubtedly help them develop their own taste for corpora. This volume has been edited in honour of Sylviane Granger, who has been one of the pioneers of learner corpus research.




The theory and practice of examples in bilingual dictionaries


Book Description

The dictionary example is the culminating component of the information presented in articles of dictionaries intended for language learning. This study analyses the example comprehensively: its provenance, its theoretical status, its distinction from multiword lexical units (to be presented as infralemmas), types and specific functions. The example not only illustrates the data provided by the definition, the equivalent, the grammatical, collocational and pragmatic items, but also provides valuable complementary information on the use of each lexical unit described. Examples are models with which users can form other sentences but are also instantiations of the language that escape systematicity and reflect unpredictable but real uses. Theoretical reflection on the theory of the example (with special emphasis on the bilingual), analysis of how (especially bilingual) dictionaries present examples and what kind of information each type of example provides can assist lexicographers in planning their dictionaries and making theoretically based choices when it comes to the selection and presentation of examples.




Vocabulary Assessment to Support Instruction


Book Description

Vocabulary development is essential for learning, but conventional vocabulary assessments lack the range and flexibility to support K–12 classroom teachers in making instructional decisions. Drawing on linguistics, educational psychology, and educational measurement, this book offers a fresh perspective on word learning and describes powerful, precise assessment strategies. Guidelines are presented for selecting which words to teach, evaluating the depth and richness of students' word knowledge and their ability to apply it in complex contexts, designing effective instructional practices, and using technology to create adaptive and scalable assessments. User-friendly features include sample test items, classroom examples, a glossary, and suggested print and online resources.




Academic Vocabulary in Learner Writing


Book Description

Academic vocabulary is in fashion, as witnessed by the increasing number of books published on the topic. In the first part of this book, Magali Paquot scrutinizes the concept of 'academic vocabulary' and proposes a corpus-driven procedure based on the criteria of keyness, range and evenness of distribution to select academic words that could be part of a common-core academic vocabulary syllabus. In the second part, the author offers a thorough analysis of academic vocabulary in the International Corpus of Learner English (ICLE) and describes the factors that account for learners' difficulties in academic writing. She then focuses on the role of corpora, and more particularly, learner corpora, in EAP material design. It is the first monograph in which Granger's (1996) Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis is used to compare 10 ICLE learner sub-corpora, in order to distinguish between linguistic features that are shared by learners from a wide range of mother tongue backgrounds and unique features that may be transfer-related.




Computational Processing of the Portuguese Language


Book Description

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Computational Processing of the Portuguese Language, PROPOR 2012, held in Coimbra, Portugal in April 2012. The 24 revised full papers and 23 revised short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 86 submissions. These papers cover the areas related to phonology, morphology and POS-Tagging, acquisition, language resources, linguistic description, syntax and parsing, semantics, opinion analysis, natural language processing applications, speech production and phonetics, speech resources, speech processing and applications.




The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Linguistics


Book Description

The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Linguistics 2e provides an updated overview of a dynamic and rapidly growing area with a widely applied methodology. Over a decade on from the first edition of the Handbook, this collection of 47 chapters from experts in key areas offers a comprehensive introduction to both the development and use of corpora as well as their ever-evolving applications to other areas, such as digital humanities, sociolinguistics, stylistics, translation studies, materials design, language teaching and teacher development, media discourse, discourse analysis, forensic linguistics, second language acquisition and testing. The new edition updates all core chapters and includes new chapters on corpus linguistics and statistics, digital humanities, translation, phonetics and phonology, second language acquisition, social media and theoretical perspectives. Chapters provide annotated further reading lists and step-by-step guides as well as detailed overviews across a wide range of themes. The Handbook also includes a wealth of case studies that draw on some of the many new corpora and corpus tools that have emerged in the last decade. Organised across four themes, moving from the basic start-up topics such as corpus building and design to analysis, application and reflection, this second edition remains a crucial point of reference for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and scholars in applied linguistics.




Lexical Analysis


Book Description

A lexically based, corpus-driven theoretical approach to meaning in language that distinguishes between patterns of normal use and creative exploitations of norms. In Lexical Analysis, Patrick Hanks offers a wide-ranging empirical investigation of word use and meaning in language. The book fills the need for a lexically based, corpus-driven theoretical approach that will help people understand how words go together in collocational patterns and constructions to make meanings. Such an approach is now possible, Hanks writes, because of the availability of new forms of evidence (corpora, the Internet) and the development of new methods of statistical analysis and inferencing. Hanks offers a new theory of language, the Theory of Norms and Exploitations (TNE), which makes a systematic distinction between normal and abnormal usage—between rules for using words normally and rules for exploiting such norms in metaphor and other creative use of language. Using hundreds of carefully chosen citations from corpora and other texts, he shows how matching each use of a word against established contextual patterns plays a large part in determining the meaning of an utterance. His goal is to develop a coherent and practical lexically driven theory of language that takes into account the immense variability of everyday usage and that shows that this variability is rule governed rather than random. Such a theory will complement other theoretical approaches to language, including cognitive linguistics, construction grammar, generative lexicon theory, priming theory, and pattern grammar.