Oxford Dictionary develops app for non-native English students

The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary of Academic English app focuses on academic English and was developed to help non-native English speakers with their studies.

The app was released by Paragon Software Group, the multi-platform dictionary applications developer for mobiles, tablets and PCs, and was developed by Oxford University Press, the largest university press in the world and a recognised authority on the English language.

Diana Lea, Managing Editor for the app at Oxford University Press says, “The number of students studying academic subjects in English is growing every year. While many may have a good level of general English, the more academic vocabulary required for writing essays and understanding texts is challenging for them.”

“A general English dictionary doesn’t give them the help they need but the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary of Academic English, which focuses exclusively on academic English, gives them exactly what they need,” she says.

Comprising of 22,000 words and phrases, the app content was carefully researched and informed by the Oxford Corpus of Academic English, which is 85 million words large.

Specifically helping academic students, the app covers subject areas such as physical sciences, life sciences, social sciences and humanities.

Every word and phrase is accompanied by an explanation on how the word is used in academic English.

Example sentences are included so the user can see how the word is used in academic texts and gain a greater understanding of the word in context.

Through the app, the user can understand words and phrases used in academic writing and improve their own writing.

The app also allows for user interaction. Students can add to or edit subject areas, create and organise lists of favourite words, and customise the view by choosing colour, font size and highlights.

It's available for iOS 7.0 and later. To find out more or download the app, click here.