193 Dictionary Skills

This course acquaints students with different types of specialized and general dictionaries and the characteristics of each. Students are trained on how to skillfully use the dictionary, and gaining speed in looking up words. The course focuses in particular on dictionary use and its relations to: writing, speaking, grammar and semantic meaning. Students are familiarized with the different symbols used in dictionaries with special emphasis on phonetic transcription, intonation, and stress as a means of using dictionaries to develop correct pronunciation. Students are trained in the use and formation of derivatives. They are also acquainted with their organization in a dictionary: the relationship between suffixes, prefixes, affixes, derivation rules, and their role in building up words and their meanings. Students are taught to understand primary, secondary and figurative meanings of words.