A Sociocognitive Approach To English Online Dictionaries

In the 1990 s,with the rapid development of the computer technology and the Internet,machine readable reference works began to take the Internet as their medium and against this background,online dictionaries appeared.By virtue of the huge advantages of the Internet,online dictionaries have demonstrated such merits as convenient retrieval,on-demand updatability,etc.,in comparison to traditional paper dictionaries and gradually become popular with a large number of users.Moreover,extensive and profound studies on online dictionaries have been conducted by a great many scholars.Observing the present studies,however,the writer finds that social features and cognitive features of dictionaries have been illustrated respectively,but few scholars have attempted to approach online dictionaries from the sociocognitive perspective.Since social factors and cognitive factors are not diametrically opposed to each other,it is both feasible and necessary to study online dictionaries from this perspective.This thesis mainly studies English online dictionaries from the sociocognitive perspective.English online dictionaries have become a necessity for English learners to acquire vocabulary.Driven by the advanced computer and information technology in the modern society,online dictionaries appear and have the capacity to quickly collect the neologism,thus timely mirroring the social cultural phenomenon at a particular time.In this respect,they are social.Meanwhile,online dictionaries insist on user-orientation and go a step further by enabling the general users to play a role in the compilation.On the other hand,the compilation of online dictionaries is built on the basis of a comprehensive understanding of users' cognitive habits,cognitive rules and cognitive needs,therefore,online dictionaries are able to better satisfy users' multiple needs,thusbringing better user experience.Based upon some propositions of sociocognition and the cognitive theory of multimedia learning,this thesis discusses the sociocognitive feature of online dictionaries from the perspective of compilers and users respectively,analyzing the role that the social and the cognitive play in the emergence and development of online dictionaries.It is the interplay of these two factors that drives online dictionaries to appear and constantly develop.Also,these analyses can help to explain why online dictionaries are so popular with users.The study in this thesis is beneficial for broadening the perspectives of online dictionary study and deepening its theoretical study.It can also provide some guidance for further perfecting the practical compilation of online dictionaries.