TEXT J

　　First read the following questions.
　　37. Words in both the OWF and Longman Activator are ___.
　　A. listed according to alphabetical order
　　B. listed according to use frequency
　　C. grouped according to similarities only
　　D. grouped according to differences only

　　38. To know the correct word for “boiling with a low heat”, you will pr obably turn to first ___.
　　A. page 10
　　B. page 99
　　C. page 100
　　D. page 448

　　Now go through TEXT J quickly and answer questions 37 and 38.
　　The Oxford Wordfinder (OWF)is a “production dictionary” designed for learn er s of English at Intermediate level and above, It is a useful tool with which to discover and encode (produce) meaning, rather than just to simply check the mean ing, grammar and pronunciation of words. The OWF encourages a reversal of the tr aditional role of the language learners’dictionary, which is normally to help decode and explain aspects of words that appear in a text.
　　The OWF is based upon similar lines to the ground breaking Longman Activato r in that words in each dictionary are not simply listed in alphabetical order. Instead, they are grouped according to their similarities and differences in bot h meaning and use. Twenty-three main groups of 630 “keywords” (concepts) in al ph abetical order, assist the learner in exploring semantic areas such as: “People ” , “Food and drink”, and “Language and Communication”. Each of these rather l arge areas contains cross-referencing in order to provide further helpful lexical in formation. Some of the keywords helpfully direct the learner to another keyword. Most keywords, however, have an index that shows how lexical items and their re lated terms are organized. Other keywords point to smaller sub-section headings whilst a few contain sections labeled “More”, which deal with less frequently occurring vocabulary.
　　The majority of words in the OWF are grouped together because they are clea rly related in meaning. Examples include: rucksack, “suitcase”, trunk and hol d- all, on page 28, under the keyword “Bag”. Other words are grouped together bec au se statistically they tend to “collocate”, i.e. appear in English very near, i f not next to each other. The reader would, more often than not, find them in the same sentence or phrase. Examples include those for “butter”, “spread” and “melt ”, and those for Television on page 448: “watching”, “turn on/off”and “pr ogramme”.
　　The OWF is an ideal supplementary resource for learners to engage in word-b uilding activities during topic based lessons. How is it best used? Let’s say t h e learner wishes to know the correct word for “boiling with a low heat”. The i nt ermediate learner, who will probably begin her search under “Cook” on page 99, l ocates the sub-section: “heating food in order to cook it” on page 100,then th e further sub-section “cooking food in water” and finally finds the definition f ol lowed by the word:—to boil slowly and gently: simmer. With the help of the OWF teachers could design a variety of such vocabulary exercises for a class, or eve n go on to designing a vocabulary-based syllabus.
　　Definitions in the OWF are, as with all good dictionaries, concise but cle ar. They are obviously written according to a controlled defining vocabulary. Li nguistic varieties are also taken into consideration: formal/in formal labels ar e provided and, where it occurs, American English (AmE) is pointed out, e. g. fo r alcohol, liquor in AmE on page 10. The OWF also contains many drawings that ou tline meaning where words could not possibly do so or would require too much spa ce. Items chosen for inclusion in the OWF, along with example phrases outlining meaning are, it is assumed, based on evidence of frequency from a carefully cons tructed linguistic corpus, although this is not made clear.