ASHDRA: five years of ELT dictionary research

2023 was a busy year for ASHDRA and we’re looking forward to lots of new developments in 2024, as we mark 5 years since ASHDRA was launched.

Completed research:

This year we’ve published several new reports/summaries from completed ASHDRA projects:

Dr Aisling O’Boyle, from Queens University Belfast, investigated the use of dictionaries by refugees in Northern Ireland. Dr Thomai Dalpanagioti, from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, explored a different kind of lexicographic resource to encourage her university-level EFL learners to develop their use of metaphor as part of a writing course. Dr R Vennela, from the National Institute of Technology, Warangal, India, developed and piloted sample bilingual English-Telegu picture dictionary entries with classes in a rural village in Andhra Pradesh. And Professor Amy Chi, from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, developed and trialled a Teaching Pack aimed at helping EFL teachers to improve their knowledge of contemporary learner’s dictionaries.

You can, of course, read the reports of completed ASHDRA projects, along with shorter, one-page summaries here.

News, events, & publications:

In 2023, ASHDRA awardees past and present took part in a number of events and conferences. In April, Chinh Ngan Nguyen Le presented her Semi-Med project, which developed a novel reference resource focused on semi-technical vocabulary for medical students, at the IATEFL Conference in Harrogate. In June, ASHDRA researchers, Lorna Morris, Thomai Dalpanagioti, and Priya Mathew presented their research (virtually) at the eLex Conference and again in September at the AFRILEX Conference. You can find a video of their presentations here. 

In other alumni news, past ASHDRA researchers, Yan Yan Yeung and Chinh Ngan Nguyen Le have both been awarded their PhDs – congratulations to them both! And Agus Riadi has received a scholarship to pursue a PhD at Coventry University.

The ASHDRA panel members were also busy. Michael Rundell delivered a keynote at the ASIALEX Conference in Seoul in June, looking at the potential impact on dictionary creation of Large Language Models such as ChatGPT. Michael also published an article in HLT magazine about ASHDRA, which you can read here. I spoke at IATEFL in April about the role of CEFR labels in learner’s dictionaries and gave a keynote to the BAAL VocabSIG conference in Nottingham in June about the role of vocabulary research in practical lexicography.

Coming up in 2024:

Two ASHDRA research projects are due for completion this year – so watch out for new reports on the website in the autumn. I’m looking forward to speaking about the fascinating range of research that’s already come out of ASHDRA projects over the past 5 years at the IATEFL Conference in Brighton on 16 April. Amy Chi will be repeating her LexTeach workshop for Japanese school teachers in September as part of the ASIALEX conference in Tokyo. And ASHDRA researchers will be reporting on their projects at the Euralex Conference in Croatia in October.

2024 Call for Proposals OPEN

Finally, this year’s call for proposals is currently open. If you, or one of your colleagues, might be interested in applying, there’s still time to get your application in before the 14 April deadline. Visit the website for more details and an application form.