Abstract:

The main task of a foreign language teacher in primary school is to lay the basis of communicative competence necessary for a child to study the subject further. Among the four types of speech activity – listening, speaking, reading and writing, the first two types stand out as priorities in teaching young learners in Russia (according to the Russian Educational Standard, pupils start studying a foreign language in the second form of primary school – at the age of 7-8). Reading and writing are intertwined into learning within several weeks.

At the initial stage, the teachers’ task is to help pupils with reading techniques. At the same time, these skills should be acquired as an integral part of reading activity for various purposes. Efficient reading stands for choosing each time the type adequate to a certain task. That is why, besides building technical skills, it is necessary to help pupils develop learning strategies. One of those, which play an important part in the development of pupils’ independence, is using learners’ dictionaries.

As very little research has been done on the issue of children’s dictionaries and arranging activities aimed at the development of skills necessary for learning to read, our main task was to look into the reference needs and skills of young learners. Methodologically, our work was based on the analysis of 38 children's dictionaries sold and used in Russia, and on their classification according to several parameters (e.g. the number of languages presented, the means of arranging information, the learners’ age, the availability of activities).

We have concluded that children’s dictionaries are not complied as abridged versions of adults’ ones (as they have their own features connected with the users’ age and psychology); the definitions are supported with vivid illustrations to cause immediate emotional response, and are based on the principle of simplicity. In such dictionaries, words are often grouped thematically and sometimes – even by rhyming patterns. For example, in Oxford First Rhyming Dictionary the key words being in red are easy to find, and you will find the rhyming sound after the key word supplied with pictures (key word: breeze; rhyming sound: -eeze; rhyme family: freeze, sneeze, wheeze).

As a result, we offer a set of game exercises designed to familiarize young learners with the information dictionaries can provide. We consider the following ones relevant to build dictionary skills for good reading techniques:
1) alphabet games (Alphabet Soup; Alphabet Dinner; The Word Cross);
2) spelling games (A Guilty Guinea Pig and a Gentle Giraffe; Writing about Wrecks; Predictable Pronunciation).

Reading as a means of perceiving information needs skills to work with unfamiliar vocabulary. The following games can be of help here:
1) related to finding a word and its meaning (matching techniques; Word Exchange; Five True Five False);
2) aimed at scanning and guessing techniques (Find the Adjective; Color Connections);
3) aimed at study reading (Five New Words; Text Comprehension);
4) aimed at skimming (First and Last; Topic Vocabulary).

We are sure that the game principles on which children’s dictionaries are based make the learning process enjoyable and entertaining, and the ability to work with them correctly makes reading efficient. Integrating dictionaries into lessons from the beginning, the teacher will provide a basis for the pupils’ development as mature readers.

Keywords:

Speech activity, reading, dictionary skills, children's dictionary, vocabulary games