A Study On The Presentation Of Di-Transitive Verb Constructions In English Learner’s Dictionaries

With the thriving of cognitive linguistic research in the past several decades, construction grammar has become a fast-developing research field, whose latest research findings and theories have found their place in the dictionary compiling practice. However, the application of some of these fruits to the practice of English learner’s dictionary compilation still leaves much room for improvement. In this thesis, the author focuses on one aspect of multitudes of cognitive linguistic findings, i.e., di-transitive construction, and explores how to better present di-transitive constructions in English learner’s dictionaries.The author first reviews some relevant theoretical parameters concerning di-transitive verbs and constructions, and inspects their presentation in English learner’s dictionaries from both macro and micro perspectives. He then carries out two major surveys in this study:a dictionary survey to reveal the main deficiencies of current English learner’s dictionaries in presenting di-transitive constructions in verb entries, and a test and questionnaire survey to gain a general picture of Chinese EFL learners’ command of English di-transitive verbs and constructions, and more importantly, their reference needs, evaluations, and expectations regarding the presentation of di-transitive constructions. Five major deficiencies concerning the presentation of di-transitive constructions are found through the dictionary survey and part of the questionnaire, which are:(1) scattering distribution of di-transitive constructions;(2) obscurity of certain verb patterns and grammar codes;(3) lack of transformation of certain di-transitive constructions;(4) lack of adequate information of usage notes and error warnings; and(5) imperfect Chinese definition equivalents in bilingual(ized) dictionaries which does not indicate di-transitive constructions.Accordingly, five pieces of advice proposed by the author to improve the presentation of di-transitive constructions in English learner’s dictionaries are:(1) Presenting at the beginning of a verb entry clustered verb patterns which are transparent and complete;(2) Elaborating each verb pattern with carefully selected verbal illustrations to show the actual use of them;(3) Providing abundant usage notes and common learner errors to teach students how to use di-transitive constructions correctly;(4) Introducing di-transitive verbs and constructions in study pages to inform students of the general knowledge; and(5) Improving the definition equivalents in bilingual(ized) dictionaries by adding components that indicate the use of di-transitive constructions.These findings of this study show some implications in both theoretical and practical aspects. Theoretically, it is an attempt to incorporate research findings of cognitive linguistics into the field of lexicography, and it also enlightens future researchers who will carry out studies of the same or similar kind. Practically, the suggestions dealing with the presentation of di-transitive constructions in English learner’s dictionaries proposed by this thesis can be a guideline for the dictionary compiling practice.