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 Prof. J P Tamuli.
Prof. J.P.Tamuli,
Professor and Head,
Department of Linguistics,
Gauhati University
Bilingual dictionaries and alignment to NEP
The session makes observations on how bilingualism and multilingualism have been focused on in sections 4 and 5 of the NEP 2020 and the expectations they put on educational facilitation, in view of the multilingual backdrop of India and the three-language formula proposed in it. Suggested innovation for School and Higher Education includes the need for bilingual medium of instruction, textbooks and hiring of teachers based on their proficiency in the regional language. NEP 2020 emphasises on incorporating traditional and local knowledge, culture and languages into the curriculum across the streams. Bilingual dictionaries are to be developed to this effect, taking help from language academies and appropriate methods need to developed for bilingual teaching, since this would help counter over-emphasis on English and deter rote-learning. The session briefly discusses some challenges and how they may be addressed.
