On The Treatment Of Preposition Usage Information In E-C Learner’s Dictionaries:a Perspective Of Bidirectional System Theory

Three major factors motivate the present study on the treatment of preposition usage information in E-C Learner’s dictionaries (henceforth ECLDs):the actual needs of the advanced Chinese EFL learners in their preposition use, the unsatisfying treatment of preposition usage information in current ECLDs, and the necessity of the relevant theoretical as well as practical explorations in bilingual lexicography. The present research attempts to better the craft of preposition treatment from two aspects: the determination of information categories based on preposition error analysis and the application of Lemmens and Wekker’s Bidirectional System Theory for a better lexicographical presentation.The researcher conducted two empirical studies, namely an investigation into the preposition use by Chinese EFL learners and a comparative text study of learner’s dictionaries. Fifty-two BA candidates majoring in English at Nanjing University participated in the investigation, which consisted of a preposition test and a questionnaire survey. It was carried out to identify the common preposition errors made by the advanced Chinese EFL learners and to find out that their expectations for preposition usage information in ECLDs. As for the dictionary text study, seven entries (three preposition entries and four notional word entries) were selected for specific analyses. The comparative study, which incorporated three ECLDs, aims to find the deficiencies in the treatment of preposition usage information from two aspects:the information category and the lexicographical presentation of the preposition usage information.Based on the data collected from the two empirical studies, the researcher identified the frequent preposition error types and described the expectations of the advanced Chinese EFL learners for the treatment of preposition usage information in ECLDs, which are summarized as follows: 1) The most frequent preposition error type is the misuse of prepositions or preposition phrases that are considered synonymous but different in usage. Learners only have a vague idea about their usage differences and often use them wrongly. Preposition errors caused by inadequate acquisition of the usage rules are also frequently seen among learners. For those prepositions with fixed collocational behavior, learners tend to confound one preposition phrase with another and make errors.2) Among the preposition usage information categories, specific usage rules or summaries, warnings against common preposition errors and usage discrimination among confusing synonymous prepositions are greatly valued by the learners.3) The advanced Chinese EFL learners welcome a comprehensive and systematic presentation of the preposition usage information to assist their preposition acquisition. Also, the preposition usage information presented explicitly is much more favored.Through the dictionary text study, the researcher identified the major problems concerning the treatment of preposition usage information in current ECLDs:1) The categories of preposition usage information provided are not sufficient. Preposition phrases listed as run-on entries are the major information category found in existing dictionaries. Other categories of preposition usage information such as warnings against common errors, preposition usage rules and subtle discrimination among synonymous prepositions are rare.2) The presentation of the preposition usage information is far from being systematic. First, the preposition usage information is mainly found in the lexicographical microstructure, i.e. the individual entries, while the presentation by way of the lexicographical megastructure and mediostructure is rarely seen. Secondly, the information is mainly presented in an implicit way (e.g. in examples), while not many explicit ways of presentation (e.g. by usage notes) are actually used. With the above research findings, the researcher adopted the theoretical framework of Bidirectional System Theory proposed by Lemmens and Wekker (1991) to work out some possible solutions to the problems concerning the treatment of preposition usage information in ECLDs. Three practical suggestions are finally provided as the following:1) Bilingual lexicographers can first carry out preposition error analyses to find the target users’trouble-spots. 2) Based on the results from the error analyses, the preposition information categories can be determined accordingly.3) As for the lexicographical presentation of the preposition usage information, a bidirectional system can be used to strike a balance between the microstructure and megastructure as well as mediostructure to achieve a systematic presentation.The present study has some theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically speaking, the present study provides a new perspective on the treatment of preposition usage information in ECLDs. Practically, the present study offers bilingual lexicographers helpful suggestions on how to decide the information categories and improve the lexicographical presentation of the preposition usage information.