lex·i·cog·ra·phy

/ˌleksəˈkäɡrəfē/

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noun
1. the practice of compiling dictionaries.
"Webster's name had become famous before he embarked on his career in
lexicography"

1. Group Members: Siti Nur Diyana Mohd Ghazali (0727706) Nurul Liyana Binti Janah@Zainal (0723990)
Noor Arina Binti Muhamad (0726896) Melisa Nurjustina Elwiana Muhd Alwin Liew (0719306)

2. Definition of Lexicography <ul><li>1) the editing, compiling, writing or making of a dictionary

</li></ul><ul><li>2) the principles and practices of dictionary making </li></ul><ul><li>~ Lexicography is
divided into two related disciplines : </li></ul><ul><li>a) Practical lexicography </li></ul><ul><li>The art
or craft of compiling, writing and editing </li></ul><ul><li>dictionaries. </li></ul>

3. <ul><li>b) Theoretical lexicography </li></ul><ul><li>The scholarly discipline of analyzing and

describing the </li></ul><ul><li>semantic, syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships within the lexicon
(vocabulary) of a language. </li></ul><ul><li>Developing theories of dictionary components and
structures linking the data in dictionaries. </li></ul><ul><li>The needs for informa tion by users in
specific types of </li></ul><ul><li>situation. </li></ul><ul><li>How users may best access the data
incorporated in printed </li></ul><ul><li>and electronic dictionaries. </li></ul><ul><li>This is sometimes
referred to as ' metalexicography '. </li></ul>

4. Scope of Lexicography <ul><li>i- Practical lexicographic work involves several activities, and the
compilation of well crafted dictionaries require careful consideration of some of the following aspect:
</li></ul><ul><li>Shaping the intended users </li></ul><ul><li>Selecting and organizing the components
of the dictionary </li></ul><ul><li>Selecting words and affixes for systemization as entries
</li></ul><ul><li>Selecting collocations, phrases and examples </li></ul><ul><li>Defining words
</li></ul><ul><li>Organizing definitions </li></ul><ul><li>Specifying pronunciations of words
</li></ul><ul><li>Labeling definitions and pronunciations for register and dialect, where appropriate
</li></ul><ul><li>Designing the best way in which users can access the data in printed and electronic
dictionaries </li></ul>

5. <ul><li>ii- Theoretical lexicography </li></ul><ul><li>- Concerns the same aspects as lexicography but
is meant to lead to the development of principles that can improve the quality of future dictionaries.
Several branches of such academic dictionary research are: </li></ul><ul><li>Dictionary criticism -
evaluating the quality of one or more dictionaries </li></ul><ul><li>Dictionary history - tracing the
traditions of a type of dictionary in a particular country or language </li></ul><ul><li>Dictionary
typology - classifying the various genres of reference works (ex: monolingual versus bilingual dictionary)
</li></ul><ul><li>Dictionary structure - formatting the various ways in which the information is
presented in a dictionary </li></ul><ul><li>Dictionary use - observing the reference acts and skills of
dictionary users </li></ul><ul><li>Dictionary IT - applying computer aids to the process of dictionary
compilation </li></ul>

6. Relevance to Language Learning/ Corpus Linguistics <ul><li>Printed bilingualised learners’

dictionaries, typically include an L2 definition immediately followed by an L1 translation and provide
access to both monolingual and bilingual information. </li></ul><ul><li>The corpora that they use to
produce the dictionary: </li></ul><ul><li>HOW THEY DECIDE? </li></ul><ul><li>Current, reliable, user
friendly, more information, and relevancy. </li></ul>

7. Corpus of Lexicography <ul><li>Corpora is used for the production of dictionaries and grammar books.
</li></ul><ul><li>Examples : for dictionaries: Collins Cobuild, British National Corpus (BNC), Longman
Corpus Network and Online Dictionaries. </li></ul><ul><li>For Grammar books: COBUILD Corpus of
Spoken and Written British, American and Australian English, LOB Corpus of Written British English,
Kohlapur Corpus of Written Indian English, London-Lund Corpus of Spoken British English,
UTS/Macquarie Corpus of Spoken Australian English. </li></ul>

9. Synopsis of Study 1 <ul><li>Topic : “Improving dictionary skills in Ndebele” by Samukele Hadebe,

University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe </li></ul><ul><li>Level: School pupils and Ndebele
community. </li></ul><ul><li>Purpose : To improve dictionary skills amongst the Ndebele.
</li></ul><ul><li>Method : Incorporating the teaching of dictionary skills into teacher training .
</li></ul><ul><li>Tool : Dictionaries </li></ul><ul><li>Findings : Current and future Ndebele dictionaries
are likely to remain underutilised unless users develop requisite skills for dictionary use. Dictionary skills
is improved when the teaching of reference skills is incorporated in the school syllabus. </li></ul>

10. Synopsis of Study 2 <ul><li>Topic : “An investigation into the effect of English learners’ dictionaries
on international students’ acquisition of the English article system” by Julia Miller, Flinders University
Student Learning Centre . </li></ul><ul><li>Level : Postgraduate international students involved in an
introductory academic program at a South Australian university, with an average length of English study
from 7 to 10 years. Group 1 & 4 = 32 students. </li></ul><ul><li>Group 2 & 3 = 34 students.
</li></ul><ul><li>Purpose : Aims to investigate the effectiveness of dictionary use for ESL students
studying the English article system, specifically in regard to accountability. </li></ul><ul><li>Method : 4
groups - In Stage one , at the start of the session, each student was given a pre-test exercise consisting
of five passages from which articles had been deleted. In Stage two , after the pre-test exercise, a lesson
was taught on the English article system, during which students were encouraged to remember or
deduce their own rules in respect to article usage. In Stage three, at the end of the session, they were
asked to do a post-test exercise and complete a questionnaire. The lesson was identical for all the
groups, but Groups 2 and 3 were given basic instruction in how to use a learners’ dictionary and were
requested to use the dictionary for the post-test exercise. </li></ul><ul><li>Tool : Dictionaries - Collins
COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary; Cambridge Learner’s Dictionary; and Longman
Dictionary of Contemporary English. </li></ul><ul><li>Findings : Not all the students in Groups 2 and 3
used the dictionaries provided. However, these groups had more correct answers post-test, especially in
the gap-fill exercises. The non-dictionary Groups 1 and 4 made more changes in total (both correct and
incorrect) from pre- to post-test. This would seem to indicate that the use of the dictionary guided
groups 2 and 3 in their choices and prompted them to think more carefully and make fewer random
changes. </li></ul>

11. Other Relevant Information <ul><li>Professor Kev Nair is regarded as the father of fluency
lexicography . - Fluency lexicography came into existence as a separate branch of dictionary writing
</li></ul><ul><li>Lexicography is not merely focusing on English language but also other language as
well like Arabic Lexicography and German Lexicography. </li></ul><ul><li>Lexicographer is a linguist
whose specific expertise is in writing dictionaries. </li></ul><ul><li>A lexicographer is concerned with
what words are, what they mean, how the vocabulary of a language is structured, how speakers of the
language use and understand the words, how the words evolved and what relationships exists between
words. </li></ul>

12. Conclusions <ul><li>Lexicography is divided into two related discipline that is practical lexicography
and theoretical lexicography. </li></ul><ul><li>The relevancy of lexicography to language learning and
corpus linguistics. </li></ul><ul><li>Lexicography corpora. </li></ul><ul><li>Related studies pertaining
to lexicography. </li></ul>