A Study On The Design And Reception Of Pictorial Illustrations In English-Chinese Dictionaries For Primary School Students

The Standard for English Curriculum in the Compulsory Education(2011 Version)puts forward the requirement of “Enriching curriculum resources and expanding English learning channels” for English teaching in elementary schools.The dictionary is often used as an important resource for language learning.Among all the defining devices in dictionaries,the pictorial illustrations could vividly and directly show the referential meaning of the headwords,which conform to the cognitive characteristics of primary school students.The role of pictorial illustrations in the dictionary is becoming increasingly important.This study attempts to investigate into the problems related to the design of pictorial illustrations in English-Chinese dictionaries for primary school students and examine the reception of pictorial illustrations from the students ' perspectives in the hope of promoting the efficiency of dictionary use.Methods of textual analysis,questionnaires and interviews are adopted to study the use of pictorial illustrations in seven English-Chinese dictionaries for primary school students.Our investigation purports to answer the following questions:(1)What is the status quo of the design for pictorial illustrations in English-Chinese dictionaries for primary school students? Are there any problems?(2)What is the receptivity of the pictorial illustrations in the English-Chinese dictionaries on the part of students?(3)What is the ideal design for pictorial illustrations in English-Chinese dictionaries for primary school students?(4)What are the measures to improve the design of pictorial illustrations in the English-Chinese Dictionaries for primary school students?The findings of the study are listed below:(1)Three problems are found in the function of pictorial illustrations in English-Chinese dictionaries for primary school students: insufficient explanation,excessive explanation and improper explanation;(2)The overall level of reception of pictorial illustrations by primary school students is relatively high.The individual evaluation is diversified,and most primary school students think that the illustration should be improved;(3)Most primary school students think that the images of pictorial illustrations and the information delivered by pictorial illustrations are the two essential factors that contribute to the explanatory power of the pictorial illustrations;(4)Most primary school students agree that more example sentences should be explained by pictorial illustrations.(5)Primary School Students hope thatthe lexicographical resources like the pictorial illustrations can be integrated into English teaching and,could be used creatively.Based on the feedback on the current use of pictorial illustration in English-Chinese dictionaries for primary school students,the following suggestions are proposed:(1)the problematic pictorial illustrations should be reset and revised to fully exert the explanatory function;(2)the design of pictorial illustrations should be standardized to conform to the user-friendly principle;(3)Users' cognitive needs should be taken into consideration in the design of pictorial illustrations.The study has insightful implications for elementary English education:(1)Students should be guided in the use of English-Chinese dictionaries and they are supposed to develop self-directed learning abilities in the use of dictionaries;(2)More innovative activities for English teaching are expected to be used in order to fully employ the lexicographical resources.The innovations of the study are:(1)the research perspective is new by integrating the design of pictorial illustrations with the practical use of pictorial illustrations by students;(2)the textual materials for analysis content are comparatively new by analyzing a number of English-Chinese dictionaries for primary school students from the Mainland,Taiwan and Hong Kong,which is of cross-regional innovative significance;(3)the use of multiple research methods is new by using methods of textual analysis,questionnaires and interviews,and offering a multi-angle analysis of the pictorial illustrations.Our research has investigated the design of pictorial illustrations from different perspectives,which is inspiring for dictionary compilation in designing standard and individualized pictorial illustrations and could be used as a practical guide for the compilation of user-friendly English-Chinese dictionaries for primary school students.