Electronic lexicography goes local: Design and structures of a needs-driven online academic writing aid

Granger, Sylviane [UCL] Paquot, Magali [UCL]

Writing idiomatic academic texts in English is a challenge faced by an increasing number of international students and scholars. In this article, we present a web-based dictionary-cumwriting aid tool, the Louvain English for Academic Purposes Dictionary, which aims to address the attested needs of non-native writers of English, with a particular focus on the phraseological patterning of academic words. First, we present the general design of the dictionary, highlighting four of its main features, i.e. the fact that it is corpus-based, production-oriented, hybrid and customizable. We then describe key aspects of the macroand microstructure and highlight innovative features of the access structure, such as direct access to discipline-specific corpora. The conclusion outlines some important priorities for the future, in particular the need for validation and the desirability of integrating the dictionary into a wider learning environment.

(eng) Writing idiomatic academic texts in English is a challenge faced by an increasing number of international students and scholars. In this article, we present a web-based dictionary-cumwriting aid tool, the Louvain English for Academic Purposes Dictionary, which aims to address the attested needs of non-native writers of English, with a particular focus on the phraseological patterning of academic words. First, we present the general design of the dictionary, highlighting four of its main features, i.e. the fact that it is corpus-based, production-oriented, hybrid and customizable. We then describe key aspects of the macroand microstructure and highlight innovative features of the access structure, such as direct access to discipline-specific corpora. The conclusion outlines some important priorities for the future, in particular the need for validation and the desirability of integrating the dictionary into a wider learning environment.