Word frequency distribution for electronic learner's dictionaries
- Autores: Hanhong Li
- Localización: E-lexicography in the 21st century: New challenges, new applications : proceedings of eLex 2009, Louvain-la Neuve, 22-24 october 2009 / Sylviane Granger (ed. lit.), Magali Paquot (ed. lit.), 2010, ISBN 978-2-87463-211-2, págs. 217-227
- Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
Word frequency information has been an indispensable part of electronic dictionaries for learners of English. A review of the current five major electronic leamer's dictionaries (LDOCE5. OALD7, CALD3, MED2, COBUILD5) shows that word frequency information is mainly based on raw frequency without considering distributed frequency across different genres. Our research explores the distributed frequency in 14 reorganized genres (9 written, 5 spoken) of the British National Corpus XML Edition (BNC XML 2007). Statistics show that a core vocabulary for EFL learners selected by distributed frequency achieves higher cumulative coverage than a core vocabulary selected by raw frequency alone. An electronic English Frequency Dictionary has been developed to display distributed frequency across genres as a histogram. This software helps EFL learners to understand the register and cultural implication of English words, and to identify some subtle distinctions between synonyms. This enhancement is proposed for future electronic learner's dictionaries.
