On The Thick Description Of Entries For Concrete Nouns In English-Chinese Learner’s Dictionaries

As one of the important branches of learner’s dictionaries,bilingual learner’s dictionaries are distinguished from monolingual ones in that compilation of the former aims at serving different users from different countries.Although monolingual learner’s dictionaries such as OALDs are popularly used by Chinese learners of English,their universal design for worldwide non-native English learners often makes them inadequate for Chinese users who need dictionaries with Chinese-oriented design features---English-Chinese learner’s dictionary.When it comes to compilation practices of English-Chinese learner’s dictionaries,it is of great necessity to take into full consideration different acquisition processes and results concerning words of different parts of speech due to cognitive and cultural differences,which implies that different words need to be described differently in dictionaries.As to dictionary users,language learning of intermediate and high-level English learners in China has gradually shifted from the focus on decoding to the emphasis on both decoding and encoding and as a result,English-Chinese learner’s dictionaries are supposed to provide English learners with appropriate linguistic and cultural information to scaffold their encoding practices.Because of the above reasons,in this dissertation,Chinese intermediate and advanced learners of English were chosen as target users to study the representation mode of entries for concrete nouns in English-Chinese learner’s dictionaries.Among verbs,nouns and adjectives,researches on verbs and adjectives have been widely carried out while there is an obvious scarcity of researches on nouns,even fewer on concrete nouns which have seemingly simple conceptual meanings,but actually very rich extended meanings,especially,special cultural connotations.Therefore,a lack of deep understanding of concrete nouns is bound to cause difficulties in learners’ encoding practices and sometimes even cross-cultural misunderstanding due to improper use.In view of this,how to meet the encoding needs of Chinese learners of English is a key topic in researches on and compilation of English-Chinese learner’s dictionaries.As an answer to the above question,a thick description of entries for concrete nouns in English-Chinese learner’s dictionaries is called for because of the following reasons: in-depth acquisition,encoding differences and text representation in learner’s dictionaries.An in-depth acquisition of concrete nouns will have a wide impact on the acquisition of English language due to the fact that concrete nouns form the cognitive basis of verbs and adjectives and an aid for their semantic expressions.Apart from this,differences in concepts,structure and context in English and Chinese concrete nouns tend to be obstacles to language acquisition and encoding,and therefore need to be highlighted by way of a thick description of concrete nouns in learner’s dictionaries.Text representation in bilingual learner’s dictionaries should also be considered.Instead of the traditional practice of merely providing corresponding words for each independent entry in English-Chinese learner’s dictionaries,which is obviously inadequate to present sufficient knowledge necessary for encoding,a multi-leveled structure of representation in dictionaries is encouraged to be tried.That is,individual entries elaborately described in the microstructure are supposed to be widely connected to other entries by way of medio-structure to present rich linguistic and cultural information to assist language learners’ encoding activities.In all,it is of great necessity as well as significance to practice thick description of concrete nouns in English-Chinese learner’s dictionaries.The Generative Lexicon Theory(short as GLT),as the theoretical basis of this research,has been found that the noun description system proposed by GLT not only addresses the syntagmatic relation between the semantic meanings of nouns,but paradigmatic relation between nouns and other words as well.In general,the semantic structure description system and the semantic generative mechanism of GLT provide a usable framework and reliable theoretical support for a thick description mode of concrete nouns in learner’s dictionaries.Based on GLT,a general principle for the thick description of concrete nouns has been proposed,that is,the principle of integration of multi-dimensions and multi-levels and combination of implicit and explicit representations.Principles for the thick description of different types of concrete nouns have also been put forward respectively due to their different semantic characteristics.The “formal-role-highlighting principle” is suitable for Natural types,that is,prominence should be given to the formal role and cultural differences so as to present culture-loaded usages.The “telic-role-highlighting principle” is for Artifactual types,that is,the telic role and different cultural backgrounds should be emphasized.And the “principle of all-role description” is right for Complex types,that is,all the four roles of the qualia structure are supposed to be considered and special attention must be paid to translation of examples.Finally,an encoding-oriented thick description model for entries of concrete nouns in English-Chinese learner’s dictionaries has been put forward: with GLT as the theoretical basis,different ways of representation have been adopted in dictionary texts.To be more specific,methods include: unconventional inclusion of entries in the macrostructure,informative guide available in the external materials,and suitable presentations tailored for different types of entries with the method of multi-dimensional integration of the microstructure as well as the medio-structure of the dictionaries so as to realize an overall presentation of grammatical,semantic,pragmatic,collocational and cultural information necessary for encoding.An empirical test has been conducted to verify the effectiveness of the model,and the results show that entries compiled in accordance with the thick description model have effectively promoted subjects’ acquisition of linguistic and cultural knowledge and played an auxiliary role in their encoding activities.To sum up,a set of thoughts and practical methods for the thick description of concrete nouns in bilingual learner’s dictionaries have been explored,which,with some theoretical and practical significance,will benefit researches on and compilation practices of entries for concrete nouns in English-Chinese learner’s dictionaries.Theoretically speaking,in this dissertation,the theories of cognitive linguistics,lexical semantics and second language vocabulary acquisition have been combined with researches of lexicography,which reflects the characteristics of interdisciplinary research and enriches the approaches and directions of lexicographical research.As far as compilation practices are concerned,principles for the thick description of entries for concrete nouns have been put forward and a thick description model has been constructed as well,which has practical guiding significance for the compilation practice of English-Chinese learner’s dictionary.In addition,on the basis of a thorough and careful combing of vocabulary theories,a working definition of“in-depth acquisition” has been given,which will provide a beneficial reference for Chinese learners of English to acquire vocabulary and for teachers of English to improve vocabulary teaching.