A Study Of Verb-Pattern Coding Systems In English Learner's Dictionary

Based on comparative research into verb-pattern coding systems in English learners' dictionaries (ELDs), the thesis aims to detect their discrepancies, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, address the factors affecting their discrepancies, and investigate the usefulness of grammatical information by an empirically-based research method. The author attempts to delve into the following questions: (1) In what ways do the verb-pattern coding systems in different ELDs differ from each other? (2) How does the verb-pattern coding system evolve in different editions of OALD? (3) What factors may lead to such discrepancies? (4) What are the differences in the usefulness of grammatical information in different ELDs?In order to attain these goals, the author adopts synchronic and diachronic research into the first and second question respectively. Besides, with the Chinese advanced learners of English as subjects, an empirical study is performed to detect the usefulness of the verb-pattern coding systems in four ELDs published in 1995. Major results of the present study are summarized as follows.Firstly, the trend towards transparency and simplification of the verb-pattern codes can be obviously observed in the different editions of ELDs. They have gradually evolved from a neither transparent nor mnemotechnical coding system, to a totally transparent semi-coding one, and eventually to a 'pattern illustration' labeling system. OALD1-3 employ alphabetic-numeric codes to indicate the verb-patterns, which is neither transparent nor mnemotechnically organized. By contrast, LDOCE1 and OALD4 adopt a similar set of verb-pattern coding system, which is mnemonically organized, but not transparent enough. The former adopts a combination of abbreviations and figures, whereas the latter employs a letter-letter combination. The majority of recent editions of ELDs employ the totally transparent semi-coding systems, where abbreviations for syntactic information are used to indicate the relevant verb constructions. Finally, LDOCE3 and OALD3-7 employ the 'pattern illustration' labeling system, which spells out the grammatical information in full.Secondly, these transparent verb-pattern coding systems should be regarded as beneficial to the learner, for they can enhance the accessibility of syntactic information to the learner. However, greater transparency and simplification of codes may blur the distinctions between the types of information they represent, consequently leading to a decrease of accuracy. As the research results show, some inconsistency and incompleteness occur in the verb-pattern codes of some entries in the ELDs that are compared. It is a challenging task for the dictionary makers to strike a balance between accuracy and accessibility of syntactic information. The reduced accuracy of verb-pattern codes should be seen as an acceptable trade-off for clarity.Thirdly, the present research shows that the changes of verb-pattern coding systems in ELDs have been mainly influenced by 'pedagogical grammar' and 'user-friendliness'. Pedagogical grammar research has made great contributions to the introduction of verb-pattern schemes into ELDs. Its development has resulted in the changes of verb-pattern coding systems to some extent. A user's perspective, once adopted, has brought into being of 'user-friendliness' in pedagogical lexicography, contributing greatly to the trend towards transparency and simplification of verb-pattern coding systems.Lastly, the empirical study shows that the verb-pattern coding systems of different ELDs lead to no significant differences in relevant information retrieval, correct sentences production or mean look-up time for both English majors and non-English majors. It can be concluded that none of the verb-pattern coding systems in the four ELDs is more useful to dictionary users than the others. The users' failures in dictionary consultation can in part be attributed to their poor reference skills. Therefore, dictionary makers need to bring user-friendliness into their dictionary design, whereas dictionary users have to improve their reference skills. Only by this can the syntactic information in ELDs be more fully made use of.