Bilingualized Dictionaries with Special Reference to the Chinese EFL Context

Abstract

As a type of dictionary with huge popularity among EFL learners in China, the bilingualized dictionary (BLD) deserves more academic and pedagogical attention than it receives nowadays. This article gives an overview of the BLD within the framework of dictionary research, including dictionary history, dictionary typology, dictionary criticism and dictionary use. It first traces, with a special reference to the Chinese EFL context, the origin and historical development of this type of dictionary, and then proposes several approaches to its classification. The strengths and weaknesses of the BLD are evaluated and its role in language pedagogy discussed, followed by an extensive review of the empirical studies of BLD use. Finally, further areas of BLD research are also suggested. It is hoped that such an overview would kindle more research interest in BLDs which is relevant to language pedagogy, dictionary use instruction and lexicographic practices.