Developing dictionary skills through monolingual and bilingual English dictionaries at tertiary-level education in Hungary

Abstract

Among reference works, dictionaries are particularly important in foreign language learning. Dictionaries provide language learners with a wide range of data, however, wading through the mass of data and information can be a daunting task. Mastering dictionary skills should be important in the language learning process; however, in official educational documents in Hungary, there are no clear guidelines on how to develop these skills. By integrating dictionary skills into the curriculum and teaching them explicitly in lessons, teachers could play an important role in bridging the gap between lexicographers and dictionary users. In the present study, we report on our methods of teaching lexicography and dictionary skills to students at a Hungarian university. The authors are speaking from experience, the discussion and accompanying material are based on more than 15 years of teaching practice. To ensure that the training can meet the expanding needs of young students, a longitudinal study was launched in 2020 to examine students' changing habits and needs. The aims of the article are threefold: first, to encourage the teaching of lexicography at university level by providing concrete methods, then to highlight the importance of dictionary skills, and finally, to emphasise the importance of integrating the effective teaching of the use of electronic dictionaries into dictionary didactics. In this context, the article underlines the need to incorporate new evaluation criteria as well as to develop new skills for digital dictionaries, different from those for print dictionaries, into education.