New bilingual isiXhosa dictionary from Oxford University Press SA

"The company has been making up-to-date bilingual dictionaries for South African languages since 2004. Each bilingual dictionary we produce takes at least three years, an extensive team of language and dictionary-making experts and state-of-the-art technological support. This dictionary had a team of more than 35 experts working on it," says Steve Cilliers, OPSA MD.

Up-to-date dictionary

It is described as the first of its kind to have been made with a corpus. This means that words were selected based on their frequency in texts such as novels, textbooks, official documents and even transcripts, ensuring that the dictionary reflects the language as it is spoken today. It also includes words from across the South African curriculum, such as life cycle, photosynthesis and vertex. The result is a modern, up-to-date dictionary that supports learning and teaching in subjects such as natural sciences and maths, as well as in the two languages.

"Our goal is to support education and enable all South African children to fulfil their potential. This may seem like a big task for a dictionary to achieve, but our research indicates that widespread use of bilingual dictionaries could help children acquire the languages they need to learn, and to succeed, whatever their mother tongue may be. Having dictionaries in class can help teachers stop being 'walking dictionaries' and enable them to spend more time on the subject they're teaching. We feel confident that they can make a real difference," continued Cilliers.

Promote reading

At the launch, 600 copies of the dictionary were donated to the Nelson Mandela Institute for Education and Rural Development (NMI), an Eastern Cape-based NGO working with rural communities to create text-rich classrooms that promote reading, writing, expression and critical thinking. Xolisa Guzula, Senior Language and Literacy Specialist at NMI, was on hand to accept the donation and commented that it would go a long way in supporting learners and teachers.

"Dictionaries are a scarce resource in our schools. This will help teachers to standardise meanings as they teach vocabulary, and learners as they engage with difficult texts. They'll be invaluable in making texts even more accessible in both languages."

The new Oxford Bilingual School Dictionary: isiXhosa and English is available at leading book retailers at a recommended selling price of R129.95. For more information, go to www.oxford.co.za.