OUP, a pioneer and trendsetter in the field of publishing world-class monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, brought together experts from the field to share insights on the use of dictionaries as an effective language learning tool through a suite of 3 webinars during the Dictionary Week, held between July 20-22,2022. The webinars, entitled Role of Monolingual Dictionaries in the Hybrid Setup, Using Dictionaries in the Middle and Secondary Classrooms and for Competitive Exams, and Bilingual Dictionaries and Alignment to NEP 2020, proved to be in complete sync with the impetus that has lately been injected into the academic eco-system by the new education policy.
The role of the monolingual and bilingual dictionaries has a proven track record as being an effective language learning tool, whether it is used as a self-access research and resource tool or as a scaffold for classroom teaching. The sessions explored some of the ways in which the monolingual and bilingual dictionaries can facilitate the processes above by aiding articulation and contextualization of words, conveying meaning, and building complex arguments.
Click on the links of the various sections below to watch the excerpts of the webinar by Sharmila Guha and Madhura Sen.
Madhura Sen,
Managing Editor, HEAT
and Dictionaries, Education
Division, OUP
Sharmila Guha,
Head – HEAT and
Dictionaries, Education
Division, OUP
Using dictionaries in the middle and secondary classrooms and competitive examinations
The session highlights how the dictionary can be used as an effective language learning tool for articulating oneself, contextualizing words, conveying meaning, and building complex arguments. It highlights the uses of the dictionary as well as the features that characterise the monolingual dictionaries at the middle and secondary levels in schools. The bilingual dictionaries as a tool to harness the richness afforded by the mother tongues is showcased through detailed description of the features. The dictionaries may be harnessed for the purposes of proficiency building in verbal ability, comprehension skills and vocabulary building for the purposes of preparing for competitive and international exams such as common entrance exams, exams for government jobs and English proficiency exams. The various features in the dictionary cater to various testing items found in the exams and a continued practice over the years will help realise targets.
