This study reports on the results of a meta-analysis which investigates the effects of dictionary use on second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition, as well as the magnitude of the moderating effect of a number of moderator variables on the effectiveness of dictionary use in improving L2 vocabulary knowledge. A total of 125 effect sizes were gleaned from 44 studies, which represented 87 independent samples and included 3,475 participants. A random-effects model of the meta-analysis shows that the overall effect of dictionary use on L2 vocabulary acquisition is g = 2.10 (p < .01) for within-group studies and g = 1.03 (p < .01) for between-group studies respectively, which are both large in the domain of second language research. Subsequent moderator variable analysis reveals how treatment-related variables (timepoint, dictionary form, dictionary type, target lexical unit, vocabulary knowledge type, learning condition, and research setting), methodological variables (type of experimental design, presence of pretest, and assessment type), as well as learner-related variables (age and proficiency) might contribute to the variation across studies. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Although conceptual metaphor boxes were introduced in Macmillan English Dictionary over a decade ago, the effect of this innovative presentation on the retention of metaphorical collocations remains unclear. To fill this gap, this paper reports on a study involving 70 Chinese EFL learners, who were randomly assigned into three groups. They were exposed to three types of collocation presentation, varying in terms of availability and salience of conceptual metaphor information. The results show that the learners who were exposed to the accessible and salient presentation of metaphor information had the best retention of metaphorical collocations and the shortest lookup time. Two competing theoretical accounts, Involvement Load Hypothesis (ILH) and Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), were compared. It was found that CLT had greater explanatory power in predicting the research results, accounting for why conceptually grouping collocations facilitated the retention of metaphorical collocations.

This article focuses on the treatment of the spatial preposition to in English learners’ dictionaries. Few in-depth studies have been undertaken on the preposition to though it has a high frequency and a rich meaning, and both its sense differentiation and definition in dictionaries are sometimes not satisfactory. Adopting a cognitive approach, we classified the spatial uses of the preposition to into six primary groups. Evidence suggests that the dynamic ‘Unspecified Source – Path – Goal’ schema on the horizontal plane is the proto-schema of to , around which a semantic network can be organised. We then analysed some of its abstract senses, which are metaphorically connected with its spatial uses. Finally, we proposed a ‘four-tier’ model to arrange the senses of the preposition to . This study not only aims to optimize the preposition entry to for learners’ dictionaries, but to explore a new perspective from which spatial preposition entries can be made more reasonable and streamlined.

The rise of online dictionaries has brought fundamental changes to dictionary typography. Using a multimodal communicative approach, this study aims to explore the current use of typography in online English learner’s dictionaries in light of the transition from typography for print to typography for digital display. The approach and the analytical framework were developed on the basis of theories of multimodality, dictionary communication and typographic studies. Sample entry pages for the word panda, as well as the ‘Word of the Day’ sections in the ‘Big Five’ online English learner’s dictionaries, have been used for case analyses. Typographic features were mainly identified using Whatfont, an extension of Google Chrome. Following a two-step procedure of identification and explanation, this study summarised the main features of the typography used in online English learner’s dictionaries, considering the consistency of typefaces, a certain degree of variation, the use of colour, and the deployment of space. As an important mode for making meaning in dictionary communication, typography has representational, structural, interpersonal, and aesthetic functions. These functions show different dimensions of the communicative potential of dictionary typography.