Alenka Vrbinc, Marjeta Vrbinc CDU (038) = 111: 371.3 : 0/9 University of Ljubljana HOW DO SLOVENE LEARNERS OF ENGLISH USE THEIR DICTIONARIES? 1. Introduction The conference Dictionaries and their Users, which was organized by Reinhard Hartmann i.n the late 1970s, initiated a period of more intensive dictionary testing. Jerzy Tomaszczyk (1979) was the first to study the foreign users of dictionaries more thoroughly and was soon followed by Bejoint (1981), who based his investigation partly on Tomasczczyk's (Cowie 1999: 175-98). Later in the 1980s and 1990s, vari­ous researchers carried out studies concerning different aspects of dictionary needs, skills and use. The focus was on many areas of interest, such as definitions, illustra­tive examples, labels, grammatical information, inclusion of phraseological units, and the trend still continues (Atkins 1998, Dolezal and McCreary 1999, Tono 2001, Bogaards and van der Kloot 2001, Al-Ajmi 2002, Campoy Cubillo 2002, Nesi and Haill 2002, Wingate 2002). Consequently, learners' dictionaries have been improved a great deal on the basis of the findings of these studies, which have contributed to a better understanding of average dictionary users, their expectations and the prob­lems they encounter when consulting their dictionaries. In Slovenia, no such study has ever been conducted, so it is impossible to say whether the dictionary skills of Slovene learners of English differ from those of other learners and whether they are capable of making full use of existing monolingual English dictionaries. Therefore, many questions such as the following need to be answered: -Which dictionaries do language learners in Slovenia possess and use when learn­ ing a foreign language (in particular English, which is the first foreign language taught in Slovene schools at all levels)? -How often do they use their dictionaries? -When do they consult a bilingual or a monolingual dictionary? -What kind of information do they want to find? -Do they find what they are looking for? -Are they taught at school how to use their dictionaries? To gain insight into the real situation, the skills of Slovene dictionary users have to be investigated by means of a relevant survey. It seemed inappropriate to start our investigation by testing just one particular aspect of dictionary use; we decided, therefore, to undertake general research in to the dictionary skills of language learn­ers in Slovenia. Our study is at least partly based on the EURALEX-and AILA-spon­sored research described by Atkins and Varantola (1998: 21-81). This project studied many aspects of dictionary use by many different types of learners of English as a foreign language who were native speakers of French, German, ltalian and Spanish but not of any Slavonic languages. We adopted the design of the questionnaire used in this project, but made several modifications to meet our needs. The sample sen­tences in different tasks were changed to include sentences that are contrastively dif­ferent in English and Slovene, thus posing problems to Slovene learners of English. Some tasks were excluded (e.g. a passage for translation from one's mother tongue into English, since the correction of translations involves subjective decisions on the part ofthe person doing the correcting), and some were reintroduced ( e.g. testing the ability of dictionary users to read the IPA, testing the ability to recognize grammat­ical properties of words, testing the ability to choose the appropriate meaning of a polysemous word). 2. Description of the study Test Subjects and Their Level oj Knowledge: Research was carried out among sec­ond-and third-year students of the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, in March and April 2003. The researchers distributed 50 questionnaires. Forty-seven respondents (i.e. 94 %) speak Slovene as their mother tongue and 3 (i.e. 6 %) speak Serbo-Croatian. Those whose mother tongue is Serbo-Croatian are bilin­gual because they have lived in Slovenia since they were born and have obtained all their schooling in Slovenia. The test subjects were asked to give details about the number of years they had been studying English. The majority of them have been studying English for nine years ( 40 %), two students ( 4 %) have been studying it for seven years, while all the others have been studying it for between eight and twelve years (see Table 1). All of them have learnt English in primary school, in grammar school and at the universi­ty, two of them stated that they had additionally attended courses in Slovenia and abroad. Table 1: Distribution ofyears ofEnglish study among respondents. Length of English studies 7 years Number of respondents in % 4% 8 years 8% 9 years 40 % 10 years 32 % 11 years 10 % 12 years 6% Total 100 % For the purpose of the EURALEX/ AILA project, respondents had to undergo a placement test, which is understandable, since the research was carried out in diff er­ent countries and in different educational systems. Our test subjects were considered as belonging to a more homogenous group: most ofthem attended schools in Slovenia, they had the same number of English lessons per year and covered the same syllabus. These are the reasons why we considered it unnecessary for them to undergo a place­ment test. However, we did enquire about the students' average grades in English in grammar school. Only 4 %of the students that took part in our research obtained a grade of A, whereas the majority (i.e. 54 %) obtained a grade of C (see Table 2). Table 2: Distribution of grades in grammat school. Grade s Number of respondents in % GradeA 4% Grade B 34 % Grade C 54 % Grade D 8% Total 100 % Test Design: The questionnaire consists of two parts ( cf. Atkins and Varantola 1998): a Dictionary user profile form and a Dictionary research test. The Dictionary user profile form was aimed at obtaining information about the dictionary users, i.e. their mother tongue, how long they have been studying English, and their grades in grammar school. The next few questions concentrated on the dictionaries they own and their reasons for purchasing these, on the frequency of use of bilingual and monolingual dictionaries, the dictionaries they use for particular tasks ( e.g. while reading a text in English, while translating or checking the spelling), and on their preferred dictionary/dictionaries. Test subjects were asked to list a dictionary or dictionaries they were going to use throughout the test. In some tasks students were encouraged to use dictionaries, whereas in others they were asked not to use them. The aims of individual tasks were as follows: testing the students' ability to recognize the correct part of speech, to rec­ognize grammatical properties of words, to locate multi-word lexical items, to select the appropriate prepositional complement, to understand polysemous words in con­text, to read the IPA, to fill the slot in context and to select the appropriate word to fill the slot in difficult contexts. lnformation Prior to the Test: The students were acquainted with the aim of the test. We asked them not to use their dictionaries in certain tasks and explained why. They were also asked to give details about the dictionary they were going to use in a par­ticular task. When dictionaries were allowed, the students were asked to indicate whether or not the dictionary had been consulted in that particular instance. The questionnaires were completed at home with no tirne limitation. 3. Results The Dictionary research test consisted of eight tasks, each comprising severa! questions. Each task was aimed at testing a specific skill, ability or expectation of a dictionary user. The results obtained from the questionnaires are presented below. 3.1 ldentification ojpart ojspeech Task 1 consisted of six sentences in which students had to identify the part of speech of the word in italics. The majority of the existing monolingual and all of the English-Slovene dictionaries include different parts of speech as separate entries. It is, therefore, necessary for dictionary users to be able to determine the part of speech before looking up a word in a dictionary. In this task, dictionaries were not allowed. The correct answer was indicated by only 20 %of the participants in question 1/2 (ajter used asa conjunction in the sentence 'Ajter you'd left, I got a phone call from John'), but by 74 %in question 1/5 (just used as an adverb in the sentence 'He has just arrived'). For a more detailed treatment see Table 3. Table 3: ldentification of part of speech .. Question Parts of speech 1/1 adverb 40 % adjective 2% conjunction 6% preposition (*) 52 % don't know 0% 1/2 adverb 54 % adjective 6% conjunction 20 % preposition (*) 12 % don't know ,8 % 1/3 noun 18 % adjective (*) 32 % adverb 20 % preposition 2% don't know 26 %(+) 1/4 noun (*) 38 % adjective 8% adverb 42 % preposition 4% don't know 8% 1/5 noun 8% adjective 0% adverb (*) 74 % preposition 10 % don't know 8% 1/6 noun 6% adjective (*) 62 % adverb 8% preposition 16 % don't know 8% (*) The correct answer. ( +) One student (2 %) claimed that the item tested was a verb. Although this was a rather uncomplicated task, the results are not as good as expected. We can justifiably assume that these respondents have difficulty in find­ing the right part of speech when consulting their dictionary. The students had fewer problems when ajter was used asa preposition (52 %gave the correct answer) than when it was a conjunction (20 %gave the correct answer). A smaller gap was observed in the identification ofpresent used as an adjective (32 %) and asa noun (38 %), and ofjust used as an adverb (74 %) and as an adjective (62 %). Our initial assumption was that students would have problems with after used as a preposition and asa conjunction, and withjust used as an adverb and as an adjec­tive, since students often have difficulty distinguishing between prepositions and conjunctions and between adjectives and adverbs, even in Slovene. Normally, they have fewer problems if they are asked to identify a noun or a verb. The above results, however, do not prove this hypothesis. The highest percentage of the respondents considered present in the sentence 'At present the outlook appears bleak' as an adverb, a result which is most certainly due to the fact that the phrase at present is translated into Slovene as an adverb. All the other words in question should not have posed problems, since they are translated with the same part of speech in to Slovene. 3.2 Recognition ojgram matica/ properties ojwords Task 2 tested whether students are aware of certain grammatical restrictions and properties of English words (e.g. transitivity/intransitivity, verb complementation, countability/uncountability, predicative/attributive use). The students were encour­aged to use their dictionaries. As we can see from the results (see Table 4), correct student answers range from 10 %to 72 %. Table 4: Answers to questions eoneerning grammatieal properties ofwords and dietionary use. Question Answers 2/7 a. 42 % b. 48 %(*) e. 6 % d. 4 % 1 1 1 +diet. 8 % -diet. 92 % 2/8 a. 2 % b. 52 % e. 0 % d. 46 %(*) 1 1 1 +diet. 4 % -diet. 96 % 2/9 a. 4 % b. 72 %(*) e. 16 % d. 8 % 1 1 1 +diet. 2 % -diet. 98 % 2/10 a. 40 %(*) 1 b. 46 % 1 e. 4 % 1 d. 6 %(+) +diet. 2 % -diet. 94 %(+) 2/11 a. 72 % b. 10 %(*) e. 12 % d. 4 %(++) 1 1 1 +diet. 6 % -diet. 92 %(++) (*) Correet answer. (+) Two students (4 %) did not provide an answer. (++)One student (2 %) did not provide an answer. Ifwe consider the example where students were supposed to insert the adjective Ione used attributively in'______ women drivers are advised not to pick up hitch hik­ers', we can see that the majority of respondents did not choose the correct answer. Only 10 % of the respondents answered this question correctly, but strikingly as many as 94 %did not consult their dictionaries. It is interesting to note the example testing the transitivity of the verb discuss. In Slovene the verb is followed by the preposition about, and as many as 42 %of the stu­dents were misled by their mother tongue, whole 48 %chose the correct answer. However, it should be emphasized that 92 %did not consult their dictionaries. The same holds true of the verb enter, which is intransitive in Slovene but transitive in English. Only 46 %ofthe respondents provided the right answer, but 52 %were again too much under the influence of Slovene. They seem to have been sure about the correctness oftheir answer, because 96 %did not use their dictionaries. Similar prob­lems can also be observed when testing the countability of nouns. The use of the uncountable noun pleasure was tested, and 40 %chose the answer without the indef­inite article, whereas 46 %chose the answer with the definite article. Here, the stu­dents' mother tongue Slovene did not cause interference, because articles are not used in Slovene. Generally speaking, students find it difficult to use the articles in English correctly even if the use of articles depends on the grammatical category of countability. · It seems that their choice of answers depended either on their previous knowledge or on their choosing the correct answer by chance rather than on their consulting the dictionary. The results concerning the use of dictionaries are rather worrying, since only a very few respondents actually consulted their dictionaries (2 %, i.e. one respon­dent, to 8 %, i.e. four respondents), although they were not necessarily acquainted with the grammatical properties of all the words in question (see Table 5): Table 5: Sueeessful and unsueeessful look-ups. Question Number of respondents who used a dietionary Correet + diet. Ineorreet + diet. Dietionaries eonsulted 2/7 4 4 o LDOCE, OALD 2/8 2 1 1 OALD, COBUILD 2/9 1 1 o ESD 2/10 1 1 o ESD 2/11 3 1 2 COBUILD, LDOCE, OWD Although the number of students who used their dictionaries to help them solve their linguistic dilemma was small, we can see that those who did consult their dic­tionaries generally found the correct answer (see Table 5). The example with the attribu­tive use of the adjective Ione again proved to be the most problematic one, since two out of three students who consulted their dictionaries provided the incorrect answer. 1.4 Lexical items and their expected place in a dictionary Task 3 tested students' expectation of where in the dictionary they can find dif­ferent (multi-word) lexical items (e.g. idioms, phrasal verbs, compounds). The use of dictionaries was not allowed, since students might have believed that the correct answer could be found in their dictionaries. This is, of course, not true, since the inclusion of multi-word lexical items and special meanings of, say, plural nouns dif­fers from dictionary to dictionary. Our initial hypothesis was that students would not consider a multi-word lexical item as a separate entry word. The results of the sur­vey confirm this hypothesis, since only 2 %to 6 %of the respondents regarded a multi-word lexical item as a separate entry word. The phrasal verb come through was regarded as a separate entry by 22 %, but even here it can be assumed that some stu­dents believe that phrasal verbs are independent entries in monolingual learners' dictionaries, although they are included as run-ons. The rest of the answers comply with our expectations, i.e. dictionary users try to find a multi-word lexical item under the noun if it contains one (see Table 6). Table 6: Expectations of students of the location of (multi-word) lexical items. Question In the entry for ... 3/12 16 % hard 80 % nut 2% hard nut 2% don't know 3/13 6% pay 88 % dividend 6% pay dividends 0% don't know 3/14 62 % come 14 % through 22 % come through 2% don't know 3/15 48 % colour 42 % colours / don't know 10 % 3.4 Selection ojthe appropriate prepositional complement Task 4 tested students' ability to find the correct prepositional complement of various English words. We selected grammatical collocations that present problems for native speakers of Slovene (i.e. grammatical collocations that are different in English and Slovene). If students were not acquainted with the correct preposition, they were supposed to check it in a dictionary. Here, too, the percentage of correct answers could have been higher if the students had used their dictionaries more fre­quently. They seem to have relied too much on their knowing the correct preposi­tions and did not use their dictionaries as much as they should. The greatest num­ber of mistakes can be observed in the example where students had to find the prepositional complement of the adjective surprised. The correct preposition (i.e. at) was selected by 28 %of the students only, but only 20 %consulted their dictionaries. The results of this task are summarized in Table 7. Table 7: Seleetion of the appropriate prepositional eomplement. Question Answers 4/16 with 40 % 1 by 1 for 30 % 2% 1 at (*) 28 % +diet. 20 % -diet. 80 % no answer O% 4/17 at (*) 38 % 1 of 1 in 2% 56 % 1 with 4% +diet. 16 % -diet. 80 % no answer 4 % 4/18 at 6% 1 over (*) 1 on 44% 4% 1 in 44 % +diet. 6 % -diet. 88 % no answer 6 % 4/19 for 44% 1 at 1 on 2% 4% 1 by (*) 50 % +diet. 10 % -diet. 86 % no answer 4 % 4/20 for 8% 1 in(*) 1 to 84 % 2% 1 by 6% +diet. 4 % -diet. 94 % no answer 2 % (*) Correet answer. (+) One student (2 %) provided no answer. The only example where native speakers of Slovene could have been misled by their mother tongue was sentence 4/19, 'Profits declined _____ 6 %this year'. The preposition by (chosen by 50 %of the respondents) is often mistakenly replaced by the prepositionfor (chosen by 44 %), which is used in Slovene. The use ofthe correct preposition in the rest of the examples is unpredictable for native speakers of Slovene; it is, therefore, a must to consult a dictionary in case of doubt. According to the resuHs obtained, only between 4 %and 20 %of the respondents actually used their dictionaries. Table 8 represents the number of students who consulted their dictionaries in relation to the correctness of their answers. The students mostly consulted mono­lingual learners' dictionaries. Only in 4/19 does the number of unsuccessful look­ups surpass the number of successful look-ups. It is often impossible to tell exactly what edition of a given dictionary was used, but LDOCE3 and COBUILD3 do not include information on the correct preposition, whereas OALD6 does. It can be assumed that students did not find the answer to their question in the dictionary they consulted; therefore they chose the wrong answer. Table 8: Suecessful and unsueeessful look-ups. Question Number of respondents who used a dietionary Correet + diet. Ineorreet + diet. Dietionaries eonsulted 4/16 10 6 4 OALD, LDOCE, OWD, ESD 4/17 8 8 o LDOCE, OWD, ESD 4/18 3 2 1 COBUILD, OALD 4/19 5 2 3 LDOCE, OALD, COBUILD 4/20 2 1 1 COBUILD, OWD 3.5 Understanding polysemous words in context Task 5 tested how well students understand polysemous words in context. The students were asked either to provide the Slovene translational equivalent of the underlined word or to paraphrase it in English. They were allowed to use their dic­tionaries and here the average percentage of students who used the dictionary is slightly higher than in the previous tasks (as high as 56 %). The results of this task are summarized in Table 9. Table 9: Understanding polysemous words in eontext. Question Answers 5/21 eorreet 56 % 1 ineorreet 138 % no answer 6% +diet. 28 % -diet. 66 % no answer 6 % 5/22 eorreet 56 % 1 ineorreet 140 % no answer 4% +diet. 18 % -diet. 76 % no answer 6 % 5/23 eorreet 40 % 1 ineorreet 138 % +diet. 56 % -diet. 24 % no answer 20 % no answer 22 % 5/24 eorreet 40 % 1 ineorreet 148 % +diet. 20 % -diet. 78 % no answer 2 % no answer 12 % 5/25 eorreet 96 % 1 ineorreet 14% +diet. 6 % -diet. 90 % no answer 4 % no answer 0% 5/26 eorreet 56 % 1 ineorreet 1 34 % +diet. 24 % -diet. 72 % no answer 4 % no answer 10 % The question can be asked why students used their dictionaries more often in this particular task than in the previous ones. The answer may be sought in the demands placed upon the students in Task 5. In comparison to the previous tasks where stu­dents had to ehoose the correet answer from severa! possibilities, Task 5 required that the students themselves provide an answer. It is understandable that, if they did not understand the meaning of the word in question, they would consult their dic­tionaries, a pattern of behaviour which complies with our expectation that the dic­tionary is most frequently used while reading an English text and encountering unknown words. Table 10 summarizes how (un)successful respondents were while using their dic­tionaries. It should be noted that the students made use of monolingual dictionar­ies, but they also consulted a bilingual English-Slovene dictionary, when looking for a translational equivalent in Slovene. Table 10: Sueeessful and unsueeessful look-ups. Question Number of respondents who used a dietionary Correet + diet. Ineorreet + diet. Dietionaries eonsulted 5/21 14 5 9 OWD, OALD, COBUILD, LDOCE, ESD 5/22 9 6 3 LDOCE,OWD,OALD,ESD 5/23 28 18 10 OWD, COBUILD, LDOCE, OALD, ESD 5/24 10 5 5 COBUILD, OALD, ESD 5/25 3 2 1 OALD,ESD 5/26 12 6 6 OALD, LDOCE, COBUILD, ESD 3.6 Reading the international phonetic alphabet Task 6 dealt with the IPA, which is used in British monolingual (learners') dic­tionaries to indicate pronunciation of entry words. This task was added to the ques­tionnaire because we hypothesized that a great number of dictionary users in Slovenia cannot read the given pronunciation. To test this assumption, we included six well-known words (i.e. unimaginative, birthplace, northern, approach, breathing, showgirl) written in the IPA to see whether the test subjects are able to read the pho­netic symbols. Dictionaries were not allowed. Our initial assumption proved correct, since the majority of students did not make any attempt to decipher the words, or perhaps tried to decipher the words but were unable to do so. The percentage of stu­dents who gave no answer ranges from 62 %(in unimaginative) to as much as 90 % (in northern and showgirl). The results are summarized in Table 11. Table 11: Students' ability to read the IPA. Question Answers 6/27 correct 34 % incorrect 4% no answer 62 % 6/28 correct 10 % incorrect 12 % no answer 78 % 6/29 correct 2% incorrect 8% no answer 90 % 6/30 correct 14 % incorrect 4% no answer 82 % 6/31 correct 12 % incorrect 10 % no answer 78 % 6/32 correct 2% incorrect 8% no answer 90 % Instruction about the IPA is on the English syllabus in grammar schools in Slovenia. Students should, therefore, be acquainted with the symbols, but the results show a completely different picture. It is beyond the scope of this research to find the reasons why students are unable to read pronunciation. Is it simply because they have forgotten it, because oflack of practice? Or could it be because they did not deal with it in grammar school? These questions remain unanswered. 3.7 Filling the s lot in context Task 7 tested students' ability to find a suitable word to fit the context. The test subjects were allowed to use the dictionary. The text contained 14 slots that had to be filled with parts of lexical and grammatical collocations. It is obvious from the results that the students were reluctant to consult their dictionaries (only up to 16 %), even if they were unsure of which word to use. There are as many as five cases .where not a single respondent consulted the dictionary. The percentage of students who gave a correct answer ranges from O %to 96 %, depending on their previous knowl­edge rather than on dictionary use. Obviously, they were acquainted with the gram­matical collocation explain to, since 96 %of the respondents inserted the correct preposition. The lexical collocationfill or make up the prescription was the most prob­lematic example, because no one was able to fill the slot with the correct verb (for details see Table 12). Table 12: Filling the slot in eontext. Question Answers 7/33 eorreet 96 % 1 ineorreet 2% +diet. O% -diet. 94 % no answer 6 % 1 no answer 2% 7/34 eorreet 90 % 1 ineorreet 8% +diet. 2-% -diet. 92 % no answer 6 % 1 no answer 2% 7/35 eorreet 44 % 1 ineorreet 144 % +diet. 14 % -diet. 76 % no answer 10 % no answer 12 % 7/36 eorreet 60% 1 ineorreet 32 % +diet. 10 % -diet. 82 % no answer 2 % 1 no answer 8% 7/37 eorreet 0% 1 ineorreet 190 % +diet. 2 % -diet. 88 % no answer 10 % no answer 10 % 7/38 eorreet 66 % 1 ineorreet 128 % +diet. 6 % -diet. 78 % no answer 16 % no answer 6% 7/39 eorreet 78 % 1 ineorreet 112 % +diet. 4 % -diet. 78 % no answer 18 % no answer 10 % 7/40 eorreet 92 % 1 ineorreet 6% +diet. O% -diet. 94 % no answer 6 % 1 no answer 2% 7/41 eorreet ineorreet no answer 6% 1 90 % +diet. O% -diet. 92 % no answer 8 % 1 4% 7/42 eorreet ineorreet no answer 92 % 1 4% +diet. 2 % -diet. 92 % no answer 6 % 1 4% 7/43 eorreet ineorreet no answer 62 % 1 32 % +diet. 4 % -diet. 88 % no answer 8 % 1 6% 7/44 eorreet ineorreet no answer 80 % 1 14 % +diet. O% -diet. 92 % no answer 8 % 1 6% 7/45 eorreet ineorreet no answer 48 % 1 1 36 % +diet. 16 % -diet. 68 % no answer 16 % 16 % 7/46 eorreet ineorreet no answer 68 % 1 24 % + diet. O % -diet. 92 % no answer 8 % 1 8% Their performance on the whole task would probably have been much better if they had used their dictionaries more often. It has to be stressed that the use of dic­tionaries was much more demanding in this task than in previous ones. Here, the students should actually have looked up the bases of the collocations, i.e. the words that were given in the text, in order to get the collocators, i.e. the words they were looking for (e.g. they should have looked up the noun prescription to find the verbs fill or make up, which collocate with this noun). One possible reason for not (suffi­ciently) consulting their dictionaries may also be that they simply did not know what to look up. We strongly believe that students should be systematically taught which words in word combinations they should look up if they want to become efficient dictionary users. A specialized dictionary of collocations would be of great help in this task, but interestingly, nota single respondent mentioned that he/she possessed a dictionary of this type. This can lead us to the conclusion that students are unaware of the existence of specialized dictionaries, let alone of how to use them. Table 13 summarizes the number of look-ups performed by respondents while completing this task. We can see that when students consulted their dictionaries their look-up operations were mostly successful. Most frequently they made use of mono­lingual learners' dictionaries, and in four questions they also consulted the ESD. Table 13: Suceessful and unsueeessful look-ups. Question Number of respondents who used a dietionary Correet + diet. Ineorreet + diet. Dietionaries eonsulted 7/33 o o o / 7/34 1 1 o OALD 7/35 7 5 2 COBUILD, LDOCE, OALD, ESD 7/36 5 4 1 OALD, ESD 7/37 1 o 1 ESD 7/38 3 3 o OALD, LDOCE, COBUILD 7/39 2 2 o COBUILD, LDOCE 7/40 o o o / 7/41 o o o / 7/42 1 1 o OALD 7/43 2 2 o OALD 7/44 o o o / 7/45 8 8 o OALD, LDOCE, COBUILD, ESD 7/46 o o o / 3.8 Selection ojthe appropriate word Task 8 tested students' ability to choose the appropriate word from a list of four items to fill the slot in relatively difficult contexts. They were allowed to use their dictionaries. Ifcompared with the previous task there were more look-ups (as many as 46 %in 8/51). On the other hand, performance on some examples was rather poor (e.g. the students were in two minds about deciding between the verbs overcome and surpass in combination with the noun expectations; they were unsure whether to use worth or worthy in'______ of our serious consideration'; 8/47 and 8/49 respectively). Por details see Table 14. Table 14: Seleetion of the appropriate word. Question Answers 8/47 a. 54 % 1 b. 24 % (*) 1 e. 6 % +diet. 10 % -diet. 78 % no answer 12 % 1 d. 6 % 1 no answer 10 % 8/48 a. O% 1 b.18 % 1 e. 64 % (*) 1 +diet. O% -diet. 96 % no answer 4 % d.14 % 1 no answer 4 % 8/49 a. 8 % 1 b. 8 % 1 e. 48 % +diet. 6 % -diet. 84 % no answer 10 % 1 d. 30%(*)1 no answer 6 % 8/50 a.10 % 1 b. 20 % 1 e. 46 % (*) 1 +diet. 36 % -diet. 50 % no answer 14 % d.14 % 1 no answer 10 % 8/51 a. 64 % 1 b. 2 % (*) 1 e.10 % +diet. 38 % -diet. 60 % no answer 2 % 1 d. 10 % 1 no answer 14 % 8/52 a. 8 % 1 b. 78 %(*) 1 e. 2 % +diet. 12 % -diet. 80 % no answer 8 % 1 d. 4% 1 no answer 8 % (*) correet answer Although students did have problems choosing the right word, they still did not consult their dictionaries often enough. The majority of those who used their dic­tionaries managed to find the correct answer to their question (see Table 15). Table 15: Sueeessful and unsueeessful look-ups. Question Number of respondents who used a dietionary Correet + diet. Ineorreet + diet. Dietionaries eonsulted 8/47 5 3 2 COBUILD, ESD 8/48 o o o I 8/49 3 2 1 OWD,ESD 8/50 18 12 6 OALD,LDOCE OWD, COBUILD, ESD 8/51 1 o 1 ESD 8/52 6 6 o OALD, LDOCE, ESD 4. Discussion The aim of this empirical study was to test dictionary use and the ability to retrieve information from the dictionaries consulted. The students were asked to enumerate all the dictionaries they own and use in production and reception. They all claim that they have bilingual as well as monolingual dictionaries, printed and/or electronic versions. Among bilingual dictionaries, they listed various English­Slovene and Slovene-English dictionaries, whereas, as far as monolingual dictionar­ies are concerned, they mostly possess learners' dictionaries, such as different edi­tions of OALD, COBUILD and LDOCE. Occasionally, they own a monolingual dic­tionary for native speakers, such as Webster's New World Dictionary oj the American Language or the Concise Oxford Dictionary. One question referred to the frequency of use of bilingual dictionaries. Fifty-two percent of the respondents claim to use a bilingual dictionary rarely, 46 %say that they often use one (i.e. every week), and only 2 %use it regularly (i.e. almost every day). When the students were asked how often they used a monolingual dictionary, the following results were obtained: 58 %rarely use one, 30 %often use one, 10 % never use one and 2 %use one regularly. The above figures show that students are quite well equipped with general dic­tionaries. Consequently, one may assume that they are familiar with the types of information they could find either in a bilingual or in a monolingual dictionary. The results of the survey, however, show that they consult dictionaries far too rarely and that if they do, their performance generally improves. The students who participated in this research were well aware of its aims, and they were encouraged to use their dictionaries as much as possible when completing the questionnaire. Despite this, the results concerning dictionary consultation are striking. In some tasks as many as 90 %or more students did not use their diction­aries. There are several possible explanations as to why the students failed to consult their dictionaries in so many cases. The students may have believed that they knew the cor~ect answer; therefore, they did not consider it necessary to use the diction­ary at all. The second, more likely, interpretation is that they are not accustomed to solving their linguistic problems and dilemmas by using a dictionary. Very often stu­dents simply give an answer, and their teachers then tell them whether they have answered correctly or incorrectly, and if their answer is incorrect, their teacher tells them the correct answer rather than encouraging them to try to find it themselves, possibly in dictionaries or other reference books. Another possible reason may be that they simply feel that consulting a dictionary is a time-consuming job, because they may not immediately find the answer to their question. The results of this study clearly show that students do not consider dictionaries to be the most important aid in learning a foreign language. Sixty percent claim that they have been taught at school how to use their dictionaries in comparison to only 33 %who say that they were not given any systematic lessons or precise instructions on how to do this. Obviously, in primary and secondary schools in Slovenia not enough tirne (if any at all) is devoted to promoting students' awareness ofthe wealth of information that can be found in dictionaries, let alone to the development of dic­tionary skills. We strongly believe that dictionary use should be systematically taught throughout the educational process. Students should be encouraged to use diction­aries at school as well as at home. Attention should be paid not only to bilingual but also (or even more intensively) to monolingual dictionaries, especially to those intended for foreign users. Teaching dictionary use should be initiated at a very early stage of learning a foreign language but should be adapted to the age and leve1 of knowledge of learners. 5. Conclusion The first research project ever carried out into dictionary use among Slovene learners of English has yielded some interesting findings and may be regarded as a good starting point for further investigation into more specific areas, such as the analysis of the micro-and macrostructure of English-Slovene and Slovene-English dictionaries, the ability of users to make good use of various types of information found in bilingual as well as monolingual (learners') dictionaries ranging from gram­matical information to the inclusion of phraseological units, the role of definitions and example sentences within dictionary entries. Since this is a new area of research in Slovenia, there is much to be done to catch up with the level of research attained in other European countries with a longer tradition of studying dictionaries from users' point of view and improving them on the basis of the results gained in such studies. It should be emphasized that the most comprehensive English-Slovene dic­tionary was compiled in 1978 and has not yet been revised. In contrast, the most comprehensive Slovene-English dictionary was at least partly revised in 1990, but as far as the macrostructure is concerned, no new entries were included and microstructurally only the most glaring mistakes from the previous edition were cor­rected. It is hoped that, when we get results from several surveys testing different aspects of users' reference skills, their needs and dictionary use and including a greater number of dictionary users, bilingual dictionaries (English-Slovene and Slovene-English ones) can also be improved a great deal. The study was well accepted by the students who completed the questionnaire. At the end of the questionnaire they were asked to add comments about their degree of satisfaction with the dictionaries they used. Overall, they were less satisfied with their bilingual than with their monolingual dictionaries, a result which is under­standable, taking into account the quality of the existing bilingual as opposed to monolingual dictionaries. They also made critical comments, such as the following: -the dictionaries are not precise and comprehensive enough (referring to the stu­ dents' bilingual dictionaries); -an English-Slovene dictionary can be used only to find translational equivalents of completely unknown words; otherwise, it is not particularly useful; -one student complained that he/she did not use his/her OALD a lot because he/she does not really know how to use it; -one student complained that he/she did not find all the words in one dictionary but had to consult several dictionaries; -it is a time-consuming job when you want to find the appropriate preposition; -one student claimed not to have been completely satisfied with the LDOCE because he/she did not find the answers to all his/her questions in it; -one student found the OWD not comprehensive enough, because of lack of expla­ nations of a great number of words and example sentences illustrating the use of the word or phrase in context. We believe it was useful for students to complete such a questionnaire, because some of them did consult their dictionaries and expressed their opinions about them. It is still a matter for concern that they are still not willing to use their dic­tionaries more often -it is only in this way that they become familiar with them ­their layout and the variety of information they contain -and finally become more efficient dictionary users. More effort should be devoted to the development of dic­tionary skills and more tirne should be spent on teaching dictionary use in grammar schools, but teachers ofEnglish should first be trained in how to do it and convinced of the necessity of teaching dictionary skills. Dictionaries cited: LDOCE Longman Dictionary oj Contemporary English OALD Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary COBUILD Collins COBUILD English Language Dictionary OWD O:>iford Wordpower Dictionary ESD English-Slovene Dictionary References: AL-.AJMI, H. (2002). Which microstructural features of bilingual dictionaries affect users' look-up performance? International Journal ojLexicography 15(2), 119-131. ATKINS, B. T. S. (ed.) (1998). Using dictionaries: Studies oj dictionary use by language /earners and translators. (Lexicographica Series Maior 88.) Tiibingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag. ATKINS, B. T. S. & VARANTOLA, K. (1998). Monitoring dictionary use. in B. T. S. Atkins (ed.), 83-122. BEJOINT, H. (1981). The foreign student's use of monolingual English dictionaries: A study of language needs and reference skills. Applied Linguistics 2(3), 207-222. BoGAARDS, P. & VAN DER KLoor, W. A. (2001). The use of grammatical information in learners' dictionaries. International Journal ojLexicography 14(2), 97-121. CAMPOY CUBILLO, M. C. (2002). Dictionary use and dictionary needs ofESP students: An experimental approach. International Journal ojLexicography 15(3), 206-228. Cowrn, A. P. (1999). English Dictionariesfor Foreign Learners: A History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DoLEZAL, F. T. & McCREARY, D. R. (1999). Pedagogical Lexicography Today. (Lexicographica Series Maior 96.) Tiibingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag. NESI, H. & HAILL, R. (2002). A study of dictionary use by international students at a British university. lnter­ national Journal ojLexicography 15(4), 277-305. ToMASZClYK, J. (1979). 'Dictionaries: Users and uses.' Glottodidactica 12: 103-119. TONO, Y. (2001). Research on Dictionary Use in the Context ojForeign Language Learning. (Lexicographica Series Maior 106.) Tiibingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag. WINGATE, U. (2002). The Effectiveness ojDijferent Learner Dictionaries. An lnvestigation into the Use ojDictionaries far Reading Comprehension by Intermediate Learners oj German. (Lexicographica Series Maior 112.) Tiibingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag. Povzetek KAKO ROJENI GOVORCI SLOVENŠČINE, KI SE UČIJO ANGLEŠČINO, UPORABLJAJO SLOVARJE? V študiji o rabi slovarjev je sodelovalo petdeset študentov drugega in tretjega letnika Eko­nomske fakultete. Zanimalo nas je, kako dolgo se že učijo angleščino, kakšne ocene so imeli v gim­naziji, katere slovarje imajo in kdaj ter kako pogosto jih uporabljajo. V drugem delu študije smo se osredotočili na testiranje različnih vidikov, kot so sposobnost študentov, da prepoznajo pravilno besedno vrsto in slovnične lastnosti besed, da znajo najti večbesedno leksikalno enoto, da izberejo ustrezen predlog, da razumejo večpomenske besede v sobesedilu, da znajo prebrati besedo, zapi­sano v mednarodni fonetični transkripciji, da znajo poiskati ustrezno besedo v besedilu z izbrisi in da izberejo ustrezno besedo v vprašanjih izbirnega tipa. Preučevali smo tudi, kako pogosto študen­ti uporabljajo slovar in kako so uspešni pri določeni nalogi, če uporabijo slovar, kar smo ocenili na osnovi pravilnosti odgovorov, ki so jih navedli. Appendix 1 The Dictionary User Profile Form was produced in Slovene, so that respondents could complete theform in their native language. The questionnaire here is a translation oj the original form. DICTIONARY USER PROFILE FORM The aim ofthis questionnaire isto discover how dictionaries can be improved. You can help us by filling in this questionnaire. The questions are about both monolingual (i.e. English-English) dic­tionaries and bilingual (i.e. English-Slovene) dictionaries l. What is your native language? -----------------------------------------------­ 2. How many years have you been learning English for and where? ------------------------­ 3. What was your average grade in English in grammar school? -------------------------­ 4. a. Have you learnt at school how to use a dictionary? Yes No b. Ifyou answered yes, please answer the following question: Have you been systematically taught how to use a dictionary and have you received predse instructions about it? Yes No 5. Ifyou personally own a dictionary or dictionaries that you use when studying or reading texts in English, say which ones (title, editor, published by, date of publication -not a reprint!). A B D 6. How long have you owned the dictionary or dictionaries that you listed above? Dictionary A ____ years Dictionary C ______ years Dictionary B ______ years Dictionary D ______ years 7. What were your reasons for choosing the dictionary or dictionaries? 8. a. Recommended by the teacher f. It looked easy to use b. Recommended by the bookshop g. It had good illustrations c. Recommended by the parents h. It was a gift d. Recommended by a friend i. Other (please specify) e. It didn't cost much 9. Do you ever use a monolingual English dictionary? a. Never b. Seldom c. Often (every week) d. Constantly (nearly every day) 10. Do you ever use a bilingual dictionary? a. Never b. Seldom c. Often (every week) d. Constantly (nearly every day) 11. Do you ever use a dictionary that you don't own yourself? 12. Ifyou use other dictionaries, please give full details (title, editor, published by, date of publi­cation -not a reprint!): 13. What kind of dictionary would you normally use for each of the following purposes? 14. Which of ali the dictionaries you use seems the most useful? a. Monolingual dictionary (specify which one/ones) b. Bilingual dictionary Never Seldom Often Constantly a. In the school library b. In class (provided by the school library) C. At home a. To understand an English word, e.g. during reading b. To find the English translation of a word in Slovene C. To check on how to use an English word that you already know, for instance, when you are writing an essay or a letter d. Other (please specify) English monolingual Bilingual Appendix 2 The Dictionary Research Test was produced in S/ovene to ensure that participants in the project would read the questions in their own language. The questionnaire here is a translation ofthe S/ovene original. DICTIONARY RESEARCH TEST Thank you for helping us by doing these tests. The point is not to test you personally, but rather to assess the usefulness ofthe dictionary that you are using. (However, we will sometimes ask you not to use your dictionary for a particular question.) We are using the same tests for all students, what­ever their level ofEnglish, and so you should not worry ifyou can't answer all the questions. Please use the dictionary that you normally use, whether it is a monolingual English dictionary, or a bilingual one (in English and your own language). It is important that you should not change dic­tionaries in the course of doing the test. Please give details of the dictionary you are going to use for the tests (title, editor, published by, date of publication -not a reprint!): l. ANSWER THIS QUESTION WlTHOUT USING YOUR DICTIONARY. Do you know what part of speech the word is that you are looking up? For instance: in: ''I'm going to address the letters." the word address is a "verb" in: "What's her address?" the word address is a "noun" So the correct answer to the question "What part of speech is address?" is marked like this: I'm going to address the letters. What's her address? noun X adj. verb X prep. I don't know Now answer the following questions by putting a cross in the appropriate box. In the next two sentences, what part of speech is the word after? 1/1 1/2 adv. adj. conj. prep. I don't know I went for a swim ajier breakfast. After you'd left, I got a phone call from John. In the next two sentences, what part of speech is the word present? In the next two sentences, what part of speech is the word just? 1/5 1/6 noun adj. adv. prep. 1 don't know He has just arrived. Many Americans viewed it as ajust war. 2. IF YOU WANT TO, USE YOUR DICTIONARY TO HELP YOU ANSWER THE NEXT SET OF QUESTIONS. Circle the correct answer. 2/7 You should discuss _____ with your doctor. a. about this problem c. on this problem b. this problem d. over this problem Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 2/8 Soldiers entered _____, apparently searching for weapons. a. in the houses c. to the houses b. into the houses d. the houses Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 2/9 He stili denies _______ his wife. a. murder c. to murder b. murdering d. of murdering Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 2/10 His books have given ____ to many people. a. enormous pleasure c. the enormous pleasure b. an enormous pleasure d. enormous pleasures Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 2/11 ______ women drivers are advised not to pick up hitch hikers. a. Alone c. An alone b. Lone d. A lone Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 3. ANSWER THIS QUESTION WITHOUT USING YOUR DICTIONARY. Put a cross against the word that you would look up first if you wanted to find the following items. For instance, hot cross bun: if you think you would find hot cross bun under the word hot, mark the box as follows: atHOT at CROSS atBUN at HOT CROSS BUN, as if it were a "word" in its own right I don't know X Now answer the following questions in the same way: say where you would really look for the expression -there is no "correct" answer to these. 3/12 hard nut at HARD atNUT at HARD NUT, as if it were a "word" in its own right I don't know 3/13 pay dividends atPAY at DIVIDEND at PAY DIVIDENDS, as if it were a "word" in its own right I don't know 3/14 come through atCOME atTHROUGH at COME THROUGH, as if it were a "word" in its own right I don't know 3/15 The word colour is a colour, but colours is a plural noun with a special meaning: where would you look it up? atCOLOUR at COLOURS, as if it were a "word" in its own right I don't know 4. IF YOU WANT TO, USE YOUR DICTIONARY TO HELP YOU ANSWER THE NEXT SET OF QUESTIONS. Complete the sentences below by putting a cross against the preposition which you think is the cor­ rect on~ to fill the slot. For instance, ifyou think that "It's cruel to pick an animal up by its tail" is correct, mark it like this: It's cruel to pick an animal up ____ its tail. with by on X at Now answer the following questions by putting a cross in the appropriate box. 4/16 I'm surprised ___ you. with by for at Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 4/17 Students who do not have a computer are __ a disadvantage. at of in with Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 4/18 1 couldn't hear what she was saying the noise of the crowd. at o ver on in Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 4/19 Profits declined _____ 6 %this year. for at on by Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 4/20 We achieved a small increase ____ profits of $ 3257. for in to by Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 5. IF' YOU WANT TO, USE YOUR DICTIONARY TO HELP YOU ANSWER THE NEXT SET OF QUESTIONS. Read the following sentences carefully. Focus on the meaning of the underlined word. What does this word mean (you can translate it into Slovene or copy a suitable definition from a monolingual dictionary)? 6. ANSWER THIS QUESTION WITHOUT USING YOUR DICTIONARY. The words underneath are written in the way they are pronounced. This is how pronunciation is written in monolingual dictionaries. Which words are these? (Pronunciation was given in the IPA.) 5/21 The arms will need shortening. Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 5/22 The main course was a bit heavv on the garlic. Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 5/23 He has never courted popularity. Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 5/24 She held fast to the railings and refused to move. Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 5/25 1 told her to leave, for 1 was very tired. Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 5/26 Ringed by soldiers for protection, he tried to address the crDid you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? owd. No Yes -which: 6/27 unimaginative 6/28 birthplace 6/29 northern 6/30 approach 6/31 breathing 6/32 showgirl 7. IF YOU WANT TO, USE YOUR DICTIONARY TO HELP YOU ANSWER THE NEXT SET OF QUESTIONS. Read the following short English passage, and give one single word which will fill each of the num­ bered slots. In some cases, there are severa! correct alternatives. A Visit to the Doctor I did not feel well and went to see the doctor. She asked me what was wrong. I explained (1) ________ her that I (2) _________ a cold. The doctor did a physical examination, (3) ________ _ a diagnosis, and (4) _______ (a) medication. A pharmacist had to (5) _________ the prescrip­tion. This medication is sold (6) _________ prescription (7) _________. She told me to (8) _________ the medication twice a day. The medication is reported to be very effective (9) ________ the common cold. The doctor also (10) _________ me some advice. She said that I was allergic (11) _________ certain types of meat and should not eat them. She suggested that I (12) _________ a warm bath once a day in order to relax. She also urged me to (13) _________ calis­thenics every morning and (14) ________ a long walk every afternoon. Did you use your dictionary to help you answer individual questions? Circle Yes or No for each word separately: 7/33 (1) No Yes -which: 7/34 (2) No Yes -which: 7/35 (3) No Yes -which: 7/36 (4) No Yes -which: 7/37 (5) No Yes -which: 7/38 (6) No Yes -which: 7/39 (7) No Yes -which: 7/40 (8) No Yes -which: 7/41 (9) No Yes -which: 7/42 (10) No Yes -which: 7/43 (11) No Yes -which: 7/44 (12) No Yes -which: 7/45 (13) No Yes -which: 7/46 (14) No Yes -which: 8. IF YOU WANT TO, USE YOUR DICTIONARY TO HELP YOU ANSWER THE NEXT SET OF QUESTIONS. Circle the correct answer. 8/47 We believe that the cumulative effects of renewed prosperity will _____ expectations. a. overcome b. surpass c. undermine d. succeed Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 8/48 He will _____ leaving the door open -it drives me mad! a. hold on b. go on c. keep on d. carry on Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 8/49 1 do not believe that this preposterous scheme is _____ of our serious consideration. a. worthless b. worthwile c. worth d. worthy Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 8/50 There was a _____ ofbrakes as the car took the corner too quickly. a. squawk b. squelch c. screech d. scream Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 8/51 _____ through the attic and see ifyou can find anything for the jumble sale. a. Rummage b. Ravage c. Forage d. Salvage Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 8/52 It is often difficult for ex-convicts to keep to the ___ and narrow. a. wide b. straight c. deep d. long Did you use your dictionary to help you answer the question? No Yes -which: 9. YOUR OPINION ABOUT THE DICTIONARIES YOU USED: a. Were you satisfied with the dictionary/dictionaries you used or not (write down the title of the dictionary you are referring to)? b. What did you not find in the dictionary/dictionaries (write down the title of the dictionary you are referring to)? c. What did you like in the dictionary/dictionaries (write down the title of the dictionary you are referring to)? d. What problems did you have when using the dictionary/dictionaries? THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION!