O n f e r e n c e

on-line dictionary word formation
experience. Completing this task, students are 
supposed to pick out the underlined words (e.g. equip, measure, etc.) from a 
professionally-oriented text, form new words with the same stems using electronic on-
line dictionaries and finally make up sentences with these new words. The first part of 
this task on word formation can be fulfilled at least in two possible variants (Popova, 
2011): 

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2014 CALL Conference 
LINGUAPOLIS
www.antwerpcall.be 
1.
The introduction of a target word into the search box on the link of the Lingvo 
dictionary http://lingvo.abbyyonline.com/ru, its translation into Russian, and then 
selection of Russian cognate words and their subsequent translation to find 
several options of word formation in English, for example, 
pure
–
ч
; 
ч
о а
–
purity
; 
оч ща
–
purify
; 
ч
о
- 
purely
, etc. Note that the italicized 
words in bold type were chosen by students themselves and the corresponding 
translations into English turned out to be English cognate words with respect to 
the initial English word 
pure
. These newly found English words were used to 
make up sentences as required in the task. 
2.
The algorithm of the task can be different if one uses the Google search engine or 
other dictionaries, for example, Multilex on the mobile phone, which, after 
learners’ typing two or three letters of the target word immediately show the list 
of cognate words that can be written out for further work and making up 
sentences. For example, typing the word stem 
magni
causes the display of the 
following list of 8 words: 
magnification, magnificence, magnificent, magnifier, 
magnify, magniloquence, magniloquent, magnitude
. After checking the 
translations of these words, students can select the most suitable of them for 
further work with the word forms. 
With regular execution of such search assignments during the semester students will not 
only develop their linguistic competence, but acquire skills of using several electronic 
dictionaries (Multilex, Multitran, Lingvo, Thesaurus.com, Webster, Onelook, etc.), 
understand their preferences in the search activity. The habit of appealing to a specific 
electronic resource formed in students during the course of foreign language learning, or, 
in other words, the basic CALL competence, is to be demanded in the future when 
searching and translating the necessary terminological collocations in their field of 
knowledge, if necessary. They will be able to find the right word in the discussion of 
professional problems with their English-speaking peers and colleagues. Vocabulary 
search is thus actualized by considering alternative options for its implementation. 
Comparison of the found variants and their relative usefulness in professional field may 
become the main subject of discussion in class. 
When doing the second task on