A Functional Approach to User Guides

Abstract

The functional approach opens up exciting new possibilities for theoretical and practical lexicography. It encourages lexicographers to adopt a new way of thinking when planning and compiling dictionaries and when discussing and developing new lexicographic principles. One area in which it impacts on lexicography and lexicographic products is the writing of a really crafted and valuable user guide for instance by giving increased consideration to the user perspective. This involves the identification of the functions of the dictionary in terms of communication-oriented and cognitive functions, which helps draw the user's attention to the different types of use-situations in which the dictionary can help him. When the dictionary functions have been established and the relevant user group has been profiled, the lexicographers will have an excellent basis on which to select the types of information needed to fulfil the requirements of users. By applying the functional approach lexicographers are forced to reconsider the scope of the user guide. The user guide has traditionally centred on the structures of entries - and consequently on the word list - but its scope should be widened, so as to include all function-related dictionary components, thereby highlighting the fact that a dictionary is much more than a list of words and that it can be used to solve specific function-related problems. One way in which to write really crafted and valuable user guides is to accentuate the relevant communication-oriented and/or cognitive functions and relate the data in the entire dictionary, not merely the entries, to these functions. Finally, the lexicographers should consider the classes of language functions involved in writing user guides. In order to guide and instruct the user in the best way possible, user guides should contain text parts that have a directive discourse function, as this is an excellent way in which to tell the user how to benefit the most when consulting the dictionary in a function-specific context. The functional approach will enable lexicographers to write user guides that are true to their genuine purpose: explain how to effectively use the dictionary. Udgivelsesdato: juni

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