MA Synopsis
Background, problem , Methodology, and Findings
Thesis Title: Awareness of the Information in a Good Learners’ Dictionary
Awarding Institution: University of Khartoum
Date: 1995
Supervisor: Dr. Madani Osman Ahmad, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Khartoum
Pages: 66: ( A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA in English)
This a study was an attempt to examine the extent to which Sudanese learners of English at tertiary level use monolingual dictionary, the frequency of use and the linguistic information sought therein. The type of information looked up was taken as an index of learners’ awareness of the relevant aspects of a lexical item. According to Ahmad (1994P:34) knowing a word implies “… knowing the lexical information related to it”. The minimum aspects that constitute learners’ knowledge of a word are the spelling, pronunciation, grammar and meaning. But since it is proposed that the words that are apolysemous are infrequent in human language, a learner may not be able to learn all the meanings of the word simultaneously; thus, knowing a word involves knowing its spelling, pronunciation, grammar and at least one of its meanings.
Generally speaking, the aspects that form a learner’s knowledge of words are classified into four categories (Richards 1976; Ahmad, ibid):
1. 1. Meaning
2. 2. Grammar: lexical categories, inflectional forms and syntactic frames
3. 3. Formal aspects: spelling and pronunciation
4. 4. Stylistic overtones: formal and informal style.
Forty-five students were randomly chosen to respond to a questionnaire pertaining to the use of dictionary. The questionnaire consisted of four question (with sub-questions). It was supposed to collect data about dictionary use, types of dictionary used, lexical information sought and other ways of acquiring the same information.
It was found that 91.1% of the subjects used dictionary of whom about 55% used bilingual dictionaries. It was also found that the majority of participants were aware of the linguistic information in dictionaries – particularly meaning spelling and grammar. Some implications were reported in the light of the study findings.