Jordan, R. R. (1997).

English for Academic Purposes: A guide and

resource book for teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Turner, J. (2004). Language as academic purpose. Journal of English
for Academic Purposes, 3(2), 95-109.

CAMBRIDGE ADVANCED LEARNERS

DICTIONARY, THIRD EDITION
Elizabeth Walter (Ed.)
Cambridge University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-71266-8
(1699pp plus appendices and CD-ROM)

Reviewed by Julia Miller

Adelaide University

This third edition of the Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary

(CALD3) offers several hundred new words, new illustrations and a
comprehensive CD-ROM. There are many features which make this
an essential dictionary for all advanced learners of English, and lest
anyone should think a learners dictionary is only for non-native
English speaking beginners, try looking up tricuspid valve, trug and
turnkey, all of which were unfamiliar to me. Instructions for use are
restricted to four illustrated pages at the beginning, making them
succinct and user-friendly. Teachers would do well to point these out
to their students.
The new words in CALD3 are not necessarily newly coined
words; they include those which have regained popularity or taken on
an extended meaning. One hundred and twenty of the most
interesting of these appear in an appendix, including carbon footprint,
egosurfing, tajine and chugger.
Other features include common mistake boxes, where various
user errors and their corrections are highlighted. These appear again
in list form in the appendix and include problems of spelling, verb
tense and collocation. Important words to learn are separated into
Essential, Improver and Advanced, based on frequency information
from the Cambridge International Corpus. The most common words
and certain core concepts (e.g. asleep) are listed as Essential, while the
Advanced words are given to help users to be more fluent and
confident. Collocations are indicated implicitly in the example
sentences at each entry, and in separate word partner boxes for some

69 TESOL in Context Volume 19 No.2 December 2009

words. Other ways of saying boxes at certain entries give useful
thesaurus information. At attract, for example, we are introduced to
draw, entice, lure, tempt, seduce and appeal, all with explanations
and example sentences.
Explanations at individual word entries are clear and avoid
circularity of the round: see circle, circle: see round type. Angioplasty,
for example, is defined as a medical operation to remove something
blocking an ARTERY (=thick tube carrying blood from the heart) in
a person who has ANGINA. Angina, of course, is defined just above.
Some proper nouns are given, such as Methuselah (in the Bible, a
man who was said to have lived for 969 years) and the accompanying
idiom as old as Methuselah. The wine bottle measurement is not
given, as one imagines it is unlikely to feature in most learnersÊ
everyday vocabulary needs. Numbers are included on a separate
numbers page before the letter A, with entries such as 180 („a sudden
change from one particular opinion, decision or plan to the opposite
one‰) and $64,000 question.
The appendices are printed with a blue edge, making them easy
to identify. There is a LetÊs talk conversation section, where many
phrases are given to facilitate users joining in conversations at work or
with friends. A further section gives advice on essay writing, with
useful transitional words and phrases. There are also lists of affixes;
irregular verbs; units of measurement (both imperial and metric);
word families (e.g. nouns cleaner, cleaning, cleanliness, verb clean,
adjective clean, unclean, adverb cleanly); and the ever-useful idiom
finder, where idioms with three or more main words are listed in this
separate section to make them easier to find. Shorter idioms are listed
in the dictionary, so that the archetypal spill the beans appears at spill,
though not at beans, and the Australian spill your guts is also
included under spill.
In regard to the central pictorial pages, many words are given
with UK and US variants. One significant addition for Australian and
New Zealand users is the inclusion of maps of these two countries,
after the maps for the UK and the USA. There are helpful sentences
which indicate the use of words featured in the pictures. For example,
„To start using a computer, you log in/on using your name and a
password‰. There is also a page illustrating air and rail travel and
associated vocabulary. Clothing items are up to date (although some
of the terms, such as flip-flops instead of thongs, may not apply in
Australia or the USA). Fruit and vegetable names are mainly
applicable in Australia when both the UK and US variants are
considered, with the exception of peppers (capsicums) and the
paucity of melon varieties. The pictures are clear and colourful, with a

Volume 19 No.2 December 2009 TESOL in Context 70

mixture of drawings and photographs. I liked the body positions
photographs, but would have found the accompanying words more
useful if the parts of speech had been indicated. Stretch, for example,
could be a verb or a noun, while crouch is only a verb, and yet a
learner might not know this. I found some of the patientsÊ severe
expressions in the health section rather off-putting. (The in-text
illustration of a dog in a kennel was much more engaging).
The labelling system is fairly comprehensive, but not so detailed
as to cause confusion, with regional variations marked as Australian,
Canadian, East African, Irish, Northern and Scottish English.
Currency and age-use are noted by childÊs word, dated („used in the
recent past and often still used by older people‰), old-fashioned („not
used in modern English‰) and old use („used a long time ago in other
centuries‰). This is particularly useful for learners who want to use a
word or expression appropriate to their age group.
Grammatical information is included, with information on
countable/uncountable nouns, parts of speech and transitivity.
Pronunciation in the paper dictionary is provided by means of the
IPA.
The easily-installed CD-ROM has every word in the dictionary
spoken in British and American English. There is also a
pronunciation practice feature, where users can record their own
voice and play it back in order to compare their own pronunciation
with the examples. It also contains exam preparation exercises for
IELTS and other Cambridge ESL exams, with past IELTS reading
papers for further practice. The exercises are all of the drop-down
box multiple choice variety. More variation in style and type of
question would have made the exercises more attractive and engaging
for users. Study pages from the book are included as PDF documents.
There is a picture section, with drawings for a selection of words, and
some pictures also appear at the individual word entries. A thesaurus
is included, along with a QUICKfind feature, which is a mini
dictionary box to be used alongside a studentÊs writing on the
computer.
Inevitably, the dictionary has a UK/US bias, catering to this
large market. This might lead to difficulties at times for learners in
Australia. The Anglican Church, for example, is still called Anglican
in Australia, but a student here might be confused by the entry which
suggests that „Outside England, the Anglican Church is often referred
to as the Episcopal(ian) Church‰. The Australian term Flying doctor
is, however, given, as „a doctor, usually in Australia, who travels by
air to see ill people who live a long way from a city‰. The inclusion of

71 TESOL in Context Volume 19 No.2 December 2009

this Australian item is laudable, although the adjective ill may grate
slightly on some native speakers. (Sick and ill are discussed elsewhere
in an excellent usage note).
One feature of most dictionaries is the inclusion of the
abbreviations sth and sb, as in the entry heap sth on sb. I could not
find an explanation of these short forms in CALD3. Sometimes it is
easy to assume too much familiarity with dictionary conventions on
the part of users.
Overall, however, this dictionary is an excellent resource and
thoroughly recommended to students (and teachers) who want to
define, spell and use words appropriately.

THE MASTERTALKER BOARD GAME

MASTERTALKER
www.mastertalker.com, 2007

Reviewed by Michelle Lanyon

Adult Migrant English Service, Bankstown

Mastertalker is a board game that gives English language learners an

enjoyable way to practise their English skills. The game aims to help
learners develop their language skills in an interactive atmosphere as
well as help show the strengths and weaknesses of a learnerÊs
language ability. The game is designed for ages 14 and over and is
recommended for groups of two to six players. Players move around
the board and must answer a question depending on which colour
they land on. The questions cover four aspects of language: grammar,
vocabulary, speaking and reading. The questions are divided into
three sets of cards with each set targeting a different level: elementary,
lower intermediate and upper intermediate. The teacher can select
the most appropriate set of cards for their particular group of learners.
Within each level, the questions are further divided into three stages
of difficulty. The simplest questions in each level are worth one point,
the medium-difficulty questions are worth two points, and the most
difficult are worth three points. Below is an example of a lower
intermediate, medium-difficulty question card which has the following
questions for each category:

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