Generally, there is a huge gap between classroom learning and autonomous learning. English teachers are not available continuously, so students need to find reliable information on their own when they face difficulties related to English. That has never been truer than during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dictionaries can fill this gap if students learn how to use dictionaries properly. However, dictionary user surveys conducted from the 1960's onwards have revealed that there is a huge gap between the user and the dictionary (e.g., Barnhart 1962; Atkins & Varantola 1997) as users do not possess the reference skills required to find information in a sophisticated entry. There may be two possible ways to bridge this gap. Firstly, lexicographers strive to develop methods that match the linguistic knowledge of ordinary users and make dictionaries more user-friendly; secondly, users should also be trained to be more skilful in using dictionaries (Rundell 1999). Those findings have significantly changed the lexicographic practice and made dictionaries more user-friendly. Sadly, the same cannot be seen in the field of dictionary didactics concerned with the education of users. No extensive teaching of dictionary use is provided in schools and universities.
The proposed paper demonstrates the dictionary use skills of foreign language teacher trainees as well as their attitudes towards teaching and learning reference skills in the classroom. The first section offers a historical overview of research on dictionary use and dictionary didactics in Hungary (e.g., Dringó-Horváth 2017, 2021; P. Márkus 2020). This is followed by a detailed description of the quantitative research, which aims to investigate the preferences and attitudes concerning dictionary use, dictionary consultation behaviour, and the role of dictionaries as an aid to language learning. The paper is the second step of a longitudinal study (see previous results: e.g., Dringó-Horváth – P. Márkus & Fajt 2020).
In Hungary 'dictionary awareness' is generally rather low, more attention to the teaching of dictionary skills would be needed in the curricula for English language learning. In order to develop a method and improve the existing situation, the current situation must be assessed by identifying the special needs of the student and the teacher. A more distant goal is to design a core "reference skill" (= dictionary training module) module, which could be incorporated into different courses at the university (e.g., study skills, language practice, patterns of English).
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Barnhart, C. (1962): Problems in editing commercial monolingual dictionaries. In: Householder, F. W. – Saporta, S. (eds.) Problems in Lexicography. Bloomington: Indiana Research Centre for Language and Semiotic Studies.
Dringó-Horváth, I. (2017): Digitális szótárak ‒ szótárdidaktika és szótárhasználati szokások. (Digital Dictionaries – Dictionary Didactics and Dictionary Use) In: Alkalmazott Nyelvtudomány 17 (5), pp. 1–27. http://alkalmazottnyelvtudomany.hu/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/DringoHorvath.pdf (last access: 21-03-2022).
Dringó-Horváth, I./P. Márkus, K./Fajt, B. (2020): Szótárhasználati ismeretek vizsgálata német és angol szakot végzettek körében. Modern Nyelvoktatás 26:4 pp. 16–38.
P. Márkus, K. (2020): A szótárhasználat jelene és jövője a közoktatásban – a nyelvoktatást szabályozó dokumentumok és segédanyagok tükrében. (Dictionary Use in Public Education – Present and Future) In: Modern Nyelvoktatás 26 (1–2), pp. 59–79.
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