Comparative analysis of online dictionaries in the context of the digital transformation of education

Abstract

The article is devoted to a comparative analysis of popular online dictionaries and an overview of the main tools of these resources to study a language. The use of dictionaries in learning a foreign language is an important step to understanding the language. The effectiveness of this process increases with the use of online dictionaries, which have a lot of tools for improving the educational process. Based on the Alexa Internet resource it was found the most popular online dictionaries: Cambridge Dictionary, Wordreference, Merriam–Webster, Wiktionary, TheFreeDictionary, Dictionary.com, Glosbe, Collins Dictionary, Longman Dictionary, Oxford Dictionary. As a result of the deep analysis of these online dictionaries, we found out they have the next standard functions like the word explanations, transcription, audio pronounce, semantic connections, and examples of use. In propose dictionaries, we also found out the additional tools of learning foreign languages (mostly English) that can be effective. In general, we described sixteen functions of the online platforms for learning that can be useful in learning a foreign language. We have compiled a comparison table based on the next functions: machine translation, multilingualism, a video of pronunciation, an image of a word, discussion, collaborative edit, the rank of words, hints, learning tools, thesaurus, paid services, sharing content, hyperlinks in a definition, registration, lists of words, mobile version, etc. Based on the additional tools of online dictionaries we created a diagram that shows the functionality of analyzed platforms.