A taxonomy of user guidance devices for e-lexicography

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this article is to give an overview of the nature of current lexicographic user guidance devices and to suggest a possible classification or taxonomy to serve as a guideline for future compilations of such tools to assist users in communicative and cognitive situations, especially in text production, text reception and computer assisted vocabulary learning. The higher levels of the taxonomy are broadly based on the Function Theory of Lexicography. The lower level of tools that support the communicative function describes the nature of the interaction of the user with the tool - interactive, automated linking/checking and automated translation. The lower level of the tools that describe the cognitive function can be further expanded, based on the nature of the cognition e.g. into self-study of corpus-based analyses and computer-aided learning. We expect this work to provide a broader basis for the discussion of this dispersed set of tools, and for a more principled design and development of new ones.