Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (CEPD) on CD-ROM and the university phonetics syllabus
Włodzimierz Sobkowiak
School of English, AMU, Poznań
Pronouncing dictionaries are not only teaching/learning resources par excellence in the world of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), but are also regarded as being among the most often used and highly regarded aids at the advanced levels of EFL proficiency and pedagogy. Their authority, founded by the epoch-making EPD by Daniel Jones, is only matched by that of the (desk-size) general learner's dictionary of English released by one of the respectable EFL publishers. Pronouncing dictionaries have a particularly important function to play in the process of teaching and learning EFL pronunciation at the academic level.
In this contribution, the structural and functional design of CEPD on CD-ROM is analysed in the context of the aims, needs, methods and techniques of one university practical phonetics syllabus, that of the School of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland. The phonetic and linguistic content of the dictionary, its graphical user interface (GUI), its basic functionalities are scrutinised in detail for their applicability in the process of following the indications of the syllabus, both from the perspective of the teacher and the student. The issues to focus on in this analysis include:
The representation of segmental vs. suprasegmental information: (a) how are the two traditionally recognized facets of phonetics accommodated in the dictionary, (b) how is this information represented, (c) how can it be accessed.
The rendering of reduction and assimilation processes: (a) their representation and access method, as above, (b) the treatment of phonostylistic aspects of English pronunciation.
The questions of transcription: (a) the choice of the system, (b) its graphic design and screen rendering, (c) its functionality in user queries.
The access modes to the phonetic content of the dictionary, especially Sound Search: (a) its functionality in the context of the syllabus, (b) possible problems, (c) user-interface issues.
The non-phonetic content of the dictionary: its potential role and usefulness.
User flexibility and customisability.
It is shown that, while CEPD on CD-ROM is a remarkable achievement in electronic phono-lexicography, to be fully applicable in the process of teaching advanced English phonetics according to a university syllabus it would have to be supplemented both structurally and functionally. In this context an appeal is voiced for tighter integration of electronic pronouncing dictionaries with general learner's EFL dictionaries, for example of CEPD with Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (CALD).
Some of the unavoidable teething problems of the new dictionary are also pointed out parenthetically, albeit not necessarily directly related to the main concerns of the paper.