Users of monolingual learner's dictionaries (MLDs) and native speaker dictionaries (NSDs) have the same needs when it comes to decoding unfamiliar words. Both types of users want to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words or senses listed in the dictionaries. However, users of MLDs sometimes have difficulty understanding the definitions provided once the appropriate sense has been located. The document examines how different MLDs, such as Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD), Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE), Cambridge International Dictionary of English (CIDE), and Collins COBUILD Dictionary, define sample words to analyze the effectiveness of the definitions. Pictures and examples are found to help supplement definitions, especially for concrete words

1. Learners’ decoding needs
By :
Mohammed al_Heraki
Raed al_Tahan
Supervised by
Dr. Khaleel Al Bataineh
Department of English Language & Translation

2. Two types of dictionaries : MLDs & NSD
• Users of MLDs have the same decoding needs that
NSD users have

3. • The two dictionaries have the same needs, namely
looking up the meaning of unfamiliar words or senses
• In addition, users of these dictionaries have difficulty
understanding he definitions once the appropriate
one has been found

4. • CIDE: stamp letter, stamp foot, stamp mark, stamp quality.
• LDOCE3: stamp n 1 MAIL, 2 TOOL, 3 the stamp of sth, 4 PAYMENT, 5
TAX, 6 IN A SHOP, 7 a man/woman of his/her stamp; stamp2 v 1
FOOT, 2 stamp your foot, 3 stamp your feet, 4 MAKE A MARK, 5
stamp on sb/sth, 6 AFFECT SB/STH, 7 stamp sb as sth, 8 MAIL.
• OALD6 : stamp noun ON LETTER/PACKAGE 1, PRINTING TOOL 2,
PRINTED DESIGN/ WORDS 3, PROOF OF PAYMENT 4,
CHARACTER/QUALITY 5, 6, OF FOOT 7; verb FOOT 1, WALK 2,
PRINT DESIGN/WORDS 3, SHOW FEELING/QUALITY 4, 5, ON
LETTER/PACKAGE 6, CUT OUT OBJECT 7

5. • the stamp of boots on the bare floor
• he must be able to stamp his authority on the
team
• the whole place is mine which means I can
stamp my personality on it
• a first-class stamp

6. • The other problem is decoding the
definitions in the dictionaries:

7. • OALD : – Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
• LDOCE – Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
• CIDE – Cambridge International Dictionary of English
• COBUILD

8. Compare the definitions for the noun
knuckle:
• Each dictionary use its own way to define the word here we will discuss how
it define the word knuckle :
• OALD6: any of the joints in the fingers, especially those connecting the
fingers with the rest of the hand
• LDOCE3: the joints in your fingers including the ones where your fingers join
your hands
• COBUILD3: Your knuckles are the rounded pieces of bone that form lumps
on your hands where your fingers join your hands, and where your fingers
bend.
• CIDE: one of the joints of the fingers. between the hand and the fingers

9. OALD6.LDOCE3. use picture in order to illustrate the meaning . When
.COBUILD does not .
The pictures are usually line drawings dispersed throughout the text,
though LDOCE3 and OALD6 also contain full-page color plates.
LDOCE3 and OALD6 also contain full-page color plates.
They use picture because it supplement the verbal definitions . especially
for nouns with a concrete reference

10. Now consider the definitions for the verb smear:
OALD6: to spread an OILY or soft substance over a surface in a rough or careless way
LDOCE3: to spread a liquid or soft substance over a surface, especially carelessly
COBUILD3: If you smear a surface with an oily or sticky substance or smear the
substance onto the surface, you spread a layer of the substance over the surface.
CIDE: to spread (a thick liquid or a soft sticky substance) over a surface.
We notice here that All the definitions have the essential components of ‘spread’,
‘liquid/soft substance’ OALD6 and LDOCE3 also include a component of ‘carelessly’.
Note the capital letters for oily in the OALD6 definition? because it is not in its defining
vocabulary
the use of brackets in the CIDE definition, in the conventional manner? for indicating
typical collocations as object of verb

11. • now examine the definitions for the abstract adjective versatile:
• OALD6: (approving) 1 (of a person) able to do many different things. 2 (of food, a
building, etc.) having many different uses
• LDOCE3: approving 1 good at doing a lot of different things and able to learn new skills
quickly and easily. 2 having many different uses
• COBUILD3: 1 If you say that a person is versatile, you approve of them because they
have many different skills. 2 A tool, machine, or material that is versatile can be used for
many
• CIDE: able to change easily from one activity to another or able to be used for many
different purposes.
CIDE use to refer to people as against things.
But here we can notice that all four dictionaries contain examples that make the distinction
clear and that’s because its not clearly stated.
: OALD suggests ‘food’ and ‘buildings’, while COBUILD specifically mentions ‘tool’,
‘machine’ and ‘material’. OALD and LDOCE have the ‘approving’, meaning , which is
incorporated into the definition in COBUILD and not mentioned in CIDE
with the preceding sets of definitions, gives some impression of how successful MLDs have
been in making definitions understandable to their learner-users.

12. OALD LDOCE COBUILD
CIDE

13. References
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encoding/decoding_model_of_communica
tion
• Lexicography : An Introduction . author Jackson, Howard.
• Willy online library
(https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/9781118783764.wbieme
0113)