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3. 
The outer access structure of a dictionary 
The outer access structure starts on the cover of the dictionary. Almind and 
Bergenholtz (2000) have made a detailed study of the aesthetic dimension of 
the dictionary where the outer access structure includes, for instance, the type 
and amount of information, as well as the presentation on the back and front 
pages of the dictionary. 
3.1 
The frame structure 
Once the relevant dictionary has been found, the next step is to find the right 
component in the dictionary. This brings us to the frame structure. Accessibility 
of data is not only determined by the use of a well-defined access structure, 
leading the user to a venue within the word list structure of the dictionary, but 
it is also determined by a functional positioning of the data within the word 
book structure of the dictionary, by employing different texts in the dictionary 
to explain and explicate the contents of the dictionary. Utilising a word book 
approach, a dictionary can display a so-called frame structure (Kammerer and 
Wiegand 1998: 230, 233). Any dictionary is regarded as a carrier of different 
texts and text types. The frame structure makes provision for three textual focal 
points, i.e. the front matter, the central list and the back matter. 
The central list is the textual component which is the most typical venue 
for dictionary consultation procedures. The structure of the central list should 
therefore facilitate the quick and unimpeded access to the required data. The 
outer access structure has to guide the user to a specific article stretch within 
the central list and within the article stretch to a specific lemma sign. 
The front matter section contains all the texts preceding the central list and 
the back matter section contains all the texts following the central list. The texts 
in the front and back matter of a specific dictionary constitute the outer texts of 
that dictionary. According to Gouws (2001: 103), neither the front nor the back 
matter are functional parts of a dictionary, although both may contain individ-
ual texts, for instance the users' guidelines, which have specific functions in the 
dictionary. Traditional dictionaries have often used the front and back matter 
to present outer texts. However, in many dictionaries these were not functional 
texts and contributed very little to the genuine purpose of the dictionary. Outer 
texts included in the front and back matter should help the user to gain access 
to the required data as swiftly as possible. The user should furthermore be 
assisted in accessing information included in the outer texts. 

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The Access Structure in Learner's Dictionaries 
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