Oxford Learners

[Griselda Humbarger]

TheOxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD) was the first advanced learner's dictionary of English. It was first published in 1948. It is the largest English-language dictionary from Oxford University Press aimed at a non-native audience. Users with a more linguistic interest, requiring etymologies or copious references, usually prefer the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, or indeed the comprehensive Oxford English Dictionary, or other dictionaries aimed at speakers of English with native-level competence.

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, previously entitled the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English, started life as the Idiomatic and Syntactic Dictionary, edited by Albert Sydney Hornby. It was first published in Japan in 1942. It then made a perilous wartime journey to Britain where it came under the wing of OUP, which decided it would be the perfect counterpart for the prestigious OED.

A. S. Hornby was a teacher of English studies at a small college in Japan; he had gone there in 1923 to teach literature, but his experiences in the classroom drew his attention to the need for sound principles of language teaching. At that time Harold E. Palmer headed the Institute for Research into English Teaching in Tokyo, and in 1931 he invited Hornby to work on vocabulary development at the Institute. The result of this was the Idiomatic and Syntactic Dictionary, published by Kaitakusha in 1942. A year before publication, Hornby had managed to send an advance copy in sheets of the book to B. Ifor Evans at the British Council, a tough feat during the war. Ifor Evans offered him a job, and in 1942 Hornby came back to Britain and joined the Council, which posted him to Iran.

The sheets reached Humphrey S. Milford, then publisher to the University of Oxford and effectively OUP's managing director. Milford saw immediately that the dictionary could fill a troublesome gap in the Press's lists, since it was compiled for non-English speakers and rested on Hornby's solid experience in teaching the language overseas. Thus it explained spelling, grammar, phonetics, and usage much more extensively than would a dictionary for native English speakers. With the cachet of the Press to promote it, it could take the "Oxford dictionary" brand to readerships that might be intimidated or puzzled by the more magisterial OED.

But the command economy of World War II under which all British publishers were then operating posed a problem: everything was in short supply, and Milford appealed to the British Council for help in getting the paper and cloth.[1] He referred the matter to E.C. Parnwell, who was looking after the Press's overseas projects, Milford being by then too unwell to manage the Press without substantial assistance, as he had been doing since 1904.[1]

Hornby had brought with him the world rights to the book excluding Japan and China; Kenneth Sisam, then Secretary to the Delegates of the Press, gave a favourable report to the Delegates on the book. Milford also used hostility to Japan to push for a subsidy from the British Council, saying that "the Japanese are very cheap producers" and were likely to capture the market.

The book had more than 1,500 pages and for an edition of 10,000 copies would need ten tons of paper. Milford applied for a special release to acquire this paper "in the direct interest of British culture and overseas trade, particularly in the non-sterling areas". He had adequate paper stock to begin the edition but this was all earmarked for "essential reprints" and he could only use it if replacements were guaranteed.[2] Milford's niece, Eleanor M. Booker, was now working at the India Office, and he lobbied for paper through her.

Simplified Chinese versions of Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary (牛津高阶英汉双解词典/牛津高階英漢雙解詞典) has been published by The Commercial Press since 1988. Traditional Chinese version has been published by Oxford University Press (China) Ltd. since 4th edition.

In contrast to the Oxford's learner dictionaries, which are designed for learning foreign languages (English in the case of OALD), Oxford Student's Dictionary is designed for learners using English to study other subjects.[14] Oxford Student's Dictionary has smaller vocabulary than the OALD counterpart.

She feels lost.

She takes it out on her English dictionary with its blue, black, and yellow jacket. It's called Hornby. Mr Hornby thinks he's so great that he can teach you a language. She wonders whether the gentleman is still alive. Is he sad? Lonely? Ugly? She imagines him to be thin and bespectacled, not good-looking. With a pencil she scratches a picture of the imaginary Mr Hornby on the book jacket.

'Serves you right,' she says rancorously.[15]

Without a doubt, teaching secondary level Spanish in the Caribbean at is one of the most rewarding, enriching, and thought-provoking feats as an educator. It thrives on the essence of vocation, dedication, and reflexivity.

When delving into the present of Covid 19, the Caribbean and specifically Trinidadian foreign language educators have been challenged to rise to the occasion to not only inculcate a passion, spark, and interest in learners, but also a sense of independence that promotes the idea of holistic and autonomous learning.

As a secondary level Spanish language educator at Trinity College East in Trinidad, I hold the perspective that any type of resource, once valid and credible, can enrich the academic journeys of my foreign language learners. However, as not every learner may not fit into a one-dimensional box, learning and education can be defined a multifaceted entity that flourishes when the inculcator of knowledge understands that not every student learns the same.

With this dictionary, learners can dive into deep waters of the Spanish language as they find not just meanings, but local and cultural content that provokes the stimulation of the visual, auditory and kinaesthetic cognitive learning styles that are crucial for students to discover on their language-learning journey. Learners must decipher in their second language acquisition trajectory which style works for them and appreciate the splendours and flexibility of multidimensional methods of learning.

The pupil, through flipping through the pages and relishing in the beauty of the Spanish to English duality, does not merely stimulate tactile senses but also touches the prize of knowledge that opens their eyes to another world. A world that is rich in diversity and accessibility, making the dictionary user-friendly and effective.

Essentially, reviving the thirst for knowledge from Spanish language learners in Trinidad at the secondary level has undoubtedly been a challenge, due to the heavy influence of the internet and the incursion of a global pandemic. However, for those educators who do what they do with vocation and passion, do you all truly believe that there is hope for the revival of the critical thinker and the learner who appreciates and understands the importance of autonomous learning? I honestly and firmly believe that there is.

Mara is a foreign language educator with a tremendous passion for Hispanic culture, literature and history whose area of expertise lies within the sphere of secondary and tertiary level Spanish language acquisition. Mara has a BA in Spanish and a BA in Latin American Studies, in addition to having spent time in Zaragoza, Spain where she studied Hispanic Philology. She has been teaching for almost 8 years and spent 6 years in Colombia teaching English as a second language in addition to Portuguese.

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