Innovative phonetic interfaces for electronic dictionaries
Włodzimierz Sobkowiak
School of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
Plan
0. Abstract
1. Some recent innovative
data visualization GUIs
2. Advantages of innovative
GUIs in learner dictionaries
· Adaptivity/customizability
· Foregrounding
rules/regularities/patterns/clusters
· Iconicity,
simulation of physicality/tangibility (conceptualizing by doing)
· Exploration,
interactivity, navigation, incidental/opportunistic learning, heuristics
· Technical:
platform-independent Java
3. Problems and solutions
4. The need for innovative phonetic
GUIs in electronic dictionaries
5. An example of an innovative lexi-phonetic
GUI with Semantica®
0. Abstract
The query facilities
built into electronic dictionaries of English as a foreign language (EFL) have
significantly improved in recent years: hypertextual links, global text
searches, Boolean search criteria combinations, access through phonetic
transcription, etc. However, as far as
dictionary content representation is concerned, the graphical user
interfaces (GUI) mostly keep to the old tradition of two windows: (1)
dynamically searchable macrostructural wordlist on the left, and (2) static
microstructural entry panel on the right.
Other boxes, menus, frames and flashcards are just embellishments of
this fundamental standard interface scheme.
Pronunciation in particular is graphically represented in but one
century-old method: as a phonetic transcription field appearing (or not) right
after the entry headword. In this
paper I argue for the application to the representation of EFL electronic
dictionary pronunciation of the new Java- and Flash-enabled animated GUIs based
on concept-mapping techniques, recently proposed for database querying by various
authors. The benefits to learners
include: (a) better mnemonicity, (b) improved customizibility, (c) direct
intuitive searchability, (d) explicit mapping of phonetic processes,
relations and groupings (homophony, allophony, similarity, minimal-pairs,
assimilations, deletions, L1 substitutions, etc.), and others.
Keywords: EFL, foreign language, electronic dictionaries,
GUI, concept-map, user interface, dictionary query
1. Some recent
innovative data visualization GUIs
(see Andrews 2002 for more examples and some
discussion)
For web browsing and conceptualization, e.g.:
·
Grokker (http://www.groxis.com/service/grok)
·
KartOO (http://www.kartoo.com)
·
Websom (http://websom.hut.fi/websom/)
·
H3Viewer (http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/h3cga/)
For knowledge bases (data, biblio, etc.),
e.g.:
·
SemNet (http://www.si.umich.edu/~furnas/Papers/SEMNET.txt)
·
Semantica (http://www.semanticresearch.com/)
·
TouchGraph (http://www.touchgraph.com)
·
HighWire's TopicMap (http://highwire.stanford.edu/help/hbt/index.dtl)
·
Concept Space (http://conceptspace.london.edu/)
For dictionaries, e.g.:
·
Constellation (http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/const/const.pdf)
·
Visual Thesaurus by Plumb Design
(http://thesaurus.plumbdesign.com/index.jsp)
·
KirrKirr (http://www-nlp.stanford.edu/kirrkirr/ausweb99/present.html)
"Clearly the greatest
potential for electronic dictionaries is to take advances in storage and
visualisation technology to those who could truly benefit from a better
interface to dictionary information, such as language learners"
(http://www-nlp.stanford.edu/kirrkirr/ausweb99/html/ @e-dictionaries@.html)
2. Advantages of innovative GUIs in learner
dictionaries
2.1.
Adaptivity/customizability, better fit with mental lexicon
· (EFL) learner
electronic dictionaries' GUIs mostly keep to the old tradition of two windows:
(1) dynamically searchable macrostructural wordlist on the left, and (2) static
microstructural entry panel on the right.
· But
"Learners need a system that can accommodate their own, idiosyncratic, and
probably frequently changing ideas of vocabulary organization". An innovative dictionary GUI "interface
allows learners to visualize relations between items and categories, without
predefining or implicitly favouring any particular taxonomy" (O'Rourke
1998).
· "This means
that the dictionary can deal with a broader range of intentions and a greater
range of language competency than is possible with printed copy" (Jansz et
al 1999).
2.2. Foregrounding
rules/patterns/clusters/connections
· "The
lexicographic perspective has thus traditionally been (and to quite an extent
continues to be) idiographic: concerned with a description and analysis of cases,
tokens and idiosyncrasies, conveniently categorized in terms of
'words'" (Sobkowiak, in press).
· "To comprehend a knowledge base [...] a user must recognize
(1) the identities of individual elements in the knowledge base,
(2) the relative position of an element within an hierarchical context,
and (3) explicit relationships between elements (Fairchild, Poltrock &
Furnas 1999).
· Innovative GUIs
based on concept-mapping theories and techniques foreground structure, make
relations explicit, visualize links.
"Besides readability, graphic notations often have heuristic value
in helping human readers (either students or researchers) to discover patterns
that would be difficult or impossible to see in the linear form" (Sowa
2002).
2.3. Iconicity/physicality/tangibility (conceptualizing
by doing)
· "Our
understanding of the world is fundamentally linked to visual stimulation and
the tactile experience of manipulating objects in our environment" (Lynch
1994:23, quoting Piaget 1954, Bruner 1966, Kay 1988, Kay 1990). "The Spider attempts to layout a
graph of information by using a combination of "Informotions," which
are modeled on physical properties such as magnetism, elasticity and
viscosity" (http://www.plumbdesign.com/
products/spider.html).
· Other simulated
dimensions of physicality: e.g. strength of connection visualized as node
distance or link salience/colour.
2.4. Interactivity, exploration, navigation, incidental/opportunistic learning, heuristics
· The various
lexical networks or fields [in the mental lexicon – WS] are closely connected
and form a kind of multi-dimensional word-web.
Within the human word-web, each word is linked to other words or groups
of words in a variety of ways and can be retrieved from different starting
points" [...] "Psycholinguistic studies show that [...] words are primarily organised
in semantic and thematic fields" (Abel & Weber
2000:808).
·
Research shows (see Cañas et al. 2003
for an excellent overview) that computer-assisted concept-mapping fosters
retention and understanding of the studied material.
2.5. Technical: platform-independent Java
3. Problems and solutions (e.g. Munzner et al. 1999; Fairchild et al. 1999)
3.1. Screen clutter
Solution: zooming, varied sampling density,
clustering, 3D perspective, node pruning/deletion, mouseover hovering tips,
distinctive vs desaturated colour, graph self-organization, fisheye views.
3.2. Excessive jiggle
Solution: freezing/anchoring, amplitude
reduction.
3.3. Lost in 3D space
Solution: maps, indexes,
trails, marker-dropping, backtracking, landmarks
4. The need for innovative phonetic
GUIs in electronic dictionaries
· Pronunciation is
graphically represented in but one century-old method: as a phonetic
transcription field appearing (or not) right after the entry headword. And yet, "the [phonetic – WS] rules are
inevitably there, hidden under the surface of tokens" (Sobkowiak, in
press).
· In the mental
lexicon, "words which present phonological
assonances or similar rhythmic patterns are clustered together" (Abel & Weber 2000:808).
· "Phonetic
lexicography is at the very start of the long road to fully account for such
prosodic features of words in context as the mentioned stress shift, liaison,
rhythm, elision or juncture" (Sobkowiak, in press). For example: In
my dialect the words 'been' and 'Ben' are pronounced the same in isolation. But
'been' shortens to [bn] in 'I've been wanting to'. 'Ben' never shortens in this
way. So has anyone developed a policy for indicating such pronunciation
variation in their dictionary? (Ron Moe on
<lexicographylist>, 12th April 2004)
· >
I'm searching for ideas to give a good graphic
> representation of the vowel length, syllable
> stress, and tone (Norwegian has two tonemes
> -- all those
three are related, and I'm
> thinking here
that perhaps animation (with the
> long or short
part of the word stretching),
> and also
showing up and down tone patterns. I
> definitely
think this type of graphic would
> help learners
(while they listen to the word,
> for example),
but it has to be simple and
> clear.
(Louis Janus on <lexicographylist>, 24th
February 2004; I am grateful to Gilles-Maurice de Schryver for bringing this
message to my attention)
5. An example of an innovative lexi-phonetic
GUI with Semantica®
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