Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction
There’s no doubt about it – technology is changing our lives in many ways,
bringing us new opportunities. One innovative and enjoyable piece of technology is the app.
A huge variety of apps exist for entertainment and a multitude of practical tasks; they can be
downloaded onto a wide range of portable devices for use ‘on the go’.
Oxford University Press has embraced app technology and realized how important it is to be able
to access learner’s dictionaries on devices such as tablets and smartphones. Many people find
a dictionary app more convenient than a printed dictionary. But dictionary apps offer far more
than just convenience. Here are some of the advantages and innovations that they provide for
teachers and learners:
• The dictionary app contains everything in the printed dictionary and a lot more, such as
information on word origins, links to synonyms and extra examples (also available on the
CD-ROM). You can tap on words you don’t know in example sentences or definitions to bring
up their definition.
• It is very quick to find the word you want to look up because you just start typing it in the search
box. Once you have started typing your word, the app will list words which start in that way and
you simply have to click on the one you want. The app will even ask you ‘Did you mean …?’ and
give you some options if you spell a word incorrectly. Not only this, but you’ll also be able to see
instantly whether the word exists as different parts of speech, e.g. noun and verb.
• You can just swipe right/left or tap to navigate backwards and forwards alphabetically from
one entry to another and all this navigating is saved. This means your searches for different
words are stored in a search history which you can refer to easily.
• You can personalize the content of the app by using folders. This means that you can group
words together in ways which are memorable to you and store them to make your own unique
sets of vocabulary.
• You can listen to the British and/or American pronunciation of each word, not just read the
phonemic script. This audio function can help so much with building accurate pronunciation.
In many cases, not only single words are recorded but also entire example sentences.
• There are links to special explanation pages relating to grammar and pronunciation. (Use
Information>About OALD to display a list of these pages.)
• You can change the text size – for those who find it easier to read larger font, or if you’ve
forgotten your glasses!
So, there are a lot of good reasons to use a learner’s dictionary app! But as with any piece of
technology, it is important to familiarize yourself with how it works. This is the main focus of
the activities below, all of which are based upon the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
They can be used easily in class if the app is downloaded onto multiple devices but if this is not
possible, then just one device can be used and should be connected to a projector. Each activity
is stand-alone so choose the ones which are most useful to you and your class and do as many
of them as you wish. We hope both teachers and learners will find them fun and interesting and
that learners will be able to expand their vocabulary knowledge through using them.
TASK 1 Heteronyms
A Which of these pairs are heteronyms?
Heteronyms are words which look alike but have different meanings and are
pronounced differently too. Which of these pairs are heteronyms?
1 live (v.) and live (adj.)
2 refuse (v.) and refuse (n.)
3 close (v.) and close (adj.)
4 base (v.) and base (n.)
5 pasty (n.) and pasty (adj.)
6 low (adj.) and low (n.)
1 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Which word is in all of the sentences? What is the meaning in each sentence?
Match each example sentence to the correct meaning in the dictionary entry.
Can you think of an antonym for this word? How many synonyms can you think of?
CUT
TEAM B
with flying colours
Example sentence: _______________________________________________________________________________________
The expression ‘with flying colours’ refers to the custom in the past of…
a ships returning to port after a victory in battle decorated with flags (= colours).
b _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
c giving coloured ribbons to athletes who won races.
bite the bullet
Example sentence: _______________________________________________________________________________________
The expression ‘bite the bullet’ comes from…
a _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
b the custom of giving soldiers a bullet to bite on during a medical operation
without anaesthetic.
c a famous showman in the Wild West who used to catch bullets in his teeth as the
finale of his show.
TASK 6
A Categorization
Sort these extreme adjectives into two categories: positive and negative.
exorbitant spotless
hilarious invaluable
devastating ludicrous
excruciating fascinating