Abstract | Semantic maps situate unknown words in particular semantic fields in order to make them easier to understand. This article presents an approach based on fuzzy logic whereby semantic maps are drawn automatically from information contained in the definitions in a dictionary. The approach is coded into a software module accessing DAFLES (<em>Dictionnaire d'Apprentissage du Français Langue Étrangère ou Seconde</em>), an on-line electronic dictionary for learners of French as a foreign or second language, which will be incorporated into DIDALECT, an educational software package for learning French as a second language. This software module also includes a method for displaying semantic maps that will allow users learning French in a reading context to browse through words that are semantically linked and thus acquire a better understanding of the meaning of those words. |
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