Dictionaries for Children

Skaistė Motiekaitytė AnF8

The Aim of the presentation

The Aim of this presentation is to reveal how the dictionaries for children are

compiled.

The tasks of the presentation The tasks of the presentation are

as follows: to provide a description of children

dictionaries; to investigate the main features of such

dictionaries; to consider the most popular options of Kids’ dictionaries.

Picture Kids' Dictionaries Picture dictionaries are perfect for

the earliest learners. Children who are just learning the alphabet or are trying to master alphabetical order will find a picture dictionary useful. A young child can learn from a picture dictionary by looking at the pages on her own, but will gain more from using the dictionary with an adult.

Elementary Dictionary Elementary dictionaries are perfect for

children between the ages of seven and ten. These dictionaries include all the elements of a dictionary, but are written to be child-friendly. The words are chosen from the language most used by elementary aged children. The definitions are simple and the print is large enough to be comfortable and engaging for children.

Intermediate Dictionaries

Intermediate dictionaries are perfect for the more mature learner who is seeking a user-friendly set-up but more sophisticated definitions. These dictionaries usually include

an extensive guide on how to use a dictionary as well.

Learning to Use a Kids‘ Dictionary

Every child will be asked to learn the different parts of a dictionary and how and why to use them at some point. As vocabulary study is almost always included in a reading program, children will need to be able to look up words in the dictionary. Early readers will need to master alphabetization while intermediate learners will be expected to use guide words and to understand pronunciation guidelines.

When to Use a Dictionary? Although, it is important that children

practice dictionary skills and eventually master their use, there are times when it is inappropriate to send a child to the dictionary. Kids' dictionaries are a great resource when a child is required to define vocabulary words, but children should not be sent to the dictionary when reading for meaning or writing if at all possible.

The main features of children dictionaries (1) Mostly, such dictionaries include: clear simple

definitions, full-colour photographs and drawings; Commonly the compilers of such dictionaries try

to make them easy-to-use; Alphabetical index for easy reference is also a feature of some dictionaries for children;

In most cases, many various Kids’ dictionaries have a special thematic colour picture section on topics ranging from animals, colours, clothes, classroom language, numbers, weather, family, and words pupils need to know when on holiday;

The main features of children dictionaries (2) These dictionaries can be monolingual or

bilingual; There are many up-to-date dictionaries with

colour photos and artwork in a handy format; Dictionaries for children include accessible

layout and design appropriate for the exact age group;

Also, some of the dictionaries comprise special information on word families, usage, compounds and derived words.

The most popular Kids’ dictionaries

1. Webster's New World Children's Dictionary;

2. Thorndike Barnhart Children's Dictionary;

3. The American Heritage Children's Dictionary;

Online dictionaries for children There are plenty of online

dictionaries, but only a few cater to kids. Also, there are many options of these dictionaries, the most popular ones would be:

Yahoo! Kids Online Dictionary; Word Central Student Dictionary;

Little Explorers Picture Dictionary; Wordsmyth.

Conclusions Dictionaries for children can be subdivided into

three groups according to the age of the learner: Picture Kids’ dictionaries, Elementary dictionary and Intermediate dictionaries.

Kids’ dictionaries can be defined as mostly comprising (thematic) colourful pictures or drawings accompanying the word; may have alphabetical index; some of dictionaries include information on word families, usage, compounds and derived words.

Dictionaries for children can be in the written or online form.

Reference http://www.elearnaid.com/forkids.html http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/category/

education/dictionaries.do http://familyinternet.about.com/od/

websites/tp/kidsdictionaries.htm http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/

toppicks/tp/childdictionary.htm http://kids.lovetoknow.com/wiki/

Kids'_Dictionaries

Thank You for your attention !