Glossary of ELT Terms
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Glossary of ELT Terms
Accent
This can mean word stress - control has the accent on the
second syllable but we use it to mean the pronunciation used by
some speakers – a regional or class accent.
Acquisition
A term used to describe language being absorbed without
conscious effort; i.e. the way children pick up their mother
tongue. Language acquisition is often contrasted with language
learning.
Active Vocabulary
The words and phrases which a learner is able to use in speech
and writing. Contrasted with Passive Vocabulary.
Advanced
A level of attainment where the learner has mastered most of
the structures and functions of the language and is able to move
freely through several registers - there may be a working
vocabulary of in excess of 3000 words.
Aids to Teaching
(a) Visual: Blackboard, whiteboard, overhead projector, realia,
posters,
wallcharts,
flipcharts,
maps,
plans,
flashcards,
wordcards, puppets.
(b) Electronic: Tape recorder, TV or video player, computer, CD
Rom, language laboratory.
Applied Linguistics
The study of the relationship between theory and practice. The
main emphasis is usually on language teaching, but can also be
applied to translation, lexicology etc.
Audio-Lingual
Listen and speak: this method considers listening and speaking
Method
the first tasks in language learning, followed by reading and
writing. There is considerable emphasis on learning sentence
patterns, memorization of dialogues and extensive use of drills.
Authentic Materials
Unscripted materials or those which have not been specially
written for classroom use, though they may have been edited.
Examples include newspaper texts and TV broadcasts.
Auxiliary Verbs
Forms of the verbs be, do and have which are used to create the
different tenses in English: am/is/are/was/were eating/ being
eaten; do/does/did eat; has/have/had eaten/ been eaten.
Behaviourism
A psychological theory developed by B F Skinner; became the
basis for the audio-lingual approach, which viewed language
learning in terms of habit formation.
Bilingualism
Being able to communicate effectively in two or more languages,
with more or less the same degree of proficiency.
CALL
Computer Assisted Language Learning.
Cloze Procedure
An exercise where every fifth word (or sixth or seventh etc) is
deleted from a text. The interval between the deleted words
should remain the same throughout the text. The student then
supplies the missing words, often relying on contextualization
for help.
Cognate
Cognates are words from different languages which are related
historically, eg English bath - German bad or English yoke - Hindi
yoga. Beware FalseFriends however.
Cognitive Code
An approach in which a conscious effort is made to understand
the Learning rules when learning a new item. There is little
concern with the formation of habits as in the audio-lingual and
direct methods; can be seen as deductive learning, cf inductive
learning.
Collocation
The tendency for words to occur regularly with others: sit/chair,
house/garage.
Common Core
The central part of the course or syllabus; or the elements of a
language vital to any teaching programme.
Communicative
An
approach
concerned
with
the
needs
of
students
to
Language Teaching
communicate outside the classroom; teaching techniques reflect
this in the choice of language content and materials, with
emphasis on role play, pair and group work etc.
Content Words
Words with a full meaning of their own; nouns, main verbs (ie
not auxiliaryor modal verbs), adjectives and many adverbs.
Contrasted with structure words.
Contextualization
Placing the target language in a realistic setting, so as to be
meaningful to the student.
Cue Cards
Cards with words or pictures on them which are used to
encourage student response, or pair and group work.
Dialect
The regional variety of a language, differing from the standard
language, in grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation or idiomatic
usage.
Direct Method
The most common approach in TEFL, where language is taught
through listening and speaking. There may be little or no
explicit explanation of grammatical rules, nor translation into
the mother tongue of the student - inductive learning rather
than deductive.
Discourse
A unit of language greater than a sentence.
Drilling
The intensive and repetitive practice of the target language,
which may be choral or individual.
Elementary
Students at this level may have a vocabulary of up to 1000
words and will probably be learning or practising present simple
and
continuous
tenses,
past simple
and
present
perfect,
will/shall, 'going to' futures. They should be able to hold simple
conversations and survive in everyday situations.
ESL/E2L
English as a Second Language.
ESOL
English to/for Speakers of Other Languages.
ESP
English for Special Purposes; eg for business, science and
technology, medicine etc.
Extensive Reading
Reading for general or global understanding, often of longer
texts.
False Friends
Cognate words, or words accidentally similar in form, whose
meaning is rather different in the two languages, eg English
gentle - French gentil.
Finely-tuned
Language which is equivalent to the students' knowledge, which
Language
they should readily understand.
First Certificate
Cambridge First Certificate: an examination which may be taken
by students of a good intermediate level.
Function Words
See Structure Words
Functional Approach
A course based on a functional approach would take as its
starting point for language development, what the learner wants
to do through language. Common functions include identifying
oneself and giving personal facts about oneself; expressing
moods and emotions.
General Service List
A standard list of 2000 frequently used words as compiled by
Michael West. Regarded as a language core by many syllabus
designers.
Grading
The order in which language items are taught. Systematic
grading may reduce the difficulties of language learning by
introducing the language in steps or stages.
Grammar-Translation
A method based upon memorizing the rules and logic of a
language and the practice of translation. Traditionally the means
by which Latin and Greek have been taught.
Grapheme
The written symbols for sounds in language; ie letters of the
alphabet or a character in picture writing (as in Japanese kange).
IATEFL
International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign
Language.
Immersion Method
This simulates the way in which children acquire their mother
tongue. The learner is surrounded by the foreign language, with
no deliberate or organized teaching programme. The learner
absorbs the target language naturally without conscious effort.
Inductive Learning
Learning to apply the rules of a language by experiencing the
language in use, rather than by having the rules explained or by
consciously deducing the rules.
Inflection
The change in form of a word, which indicates a grammatical
change:eg. behave - behaved - behaviour - misbehave.
Intermediate
At this level a student will have a working vocabulary of between
1500 and 2000 words and should be able to cope easily in most
everyday situations. There should be an ability to express needs,
thoughts and feelings in a reasonably clear way.
Intensive Reading
Reading for specific understanding of information, usually of
shorter texts.
Intonation
The ways in which the voice pitch rises and falls in speech.
L1
The mother tongue.
L2
A language other than the mother tongue.
LAD
Language Acquisition Device; a term coined by Noam Chomsky
to
explain
an
innate
psychological
capacity
for
language
acquisition.
Language
A room equipped with headphones and booths to enable
Laboratory
students to listen toa language teaching programme, while
being monitored from a central console. Labs may be AudioActive (AA), where students listen and respond to a tape, or
Audio-Active-Comparative
(AAC),
where
they
may
record
their own responses and compare these with a model on the
master tape. Lexical item An item of vocabulary which has a
single element of meaning. It may be a compound or phrase:
bookcase, post office, put up with. Some single words may
initiate several lexical items; eg letter: a letter of the alphabet /
posting a letter.
Lexical Set
A group or family of words related to one another by some
semantic principle: eg lamb, pork, chicken, beef are all different
types of meat and form a lexical set.
Micro-teaching
A technique used on teacher training courses: a part of a lesson
is taught to a small number of students. A variation of this is
'peer teaching', where the 'students' are often peers of the
trainee teacher attending the same course.
Minimal Pair
A pair of items differing by one phonological feature; eg sit/set,
ship/sheep, pen/pan, fan/pan, pan/pat etc.
Modal Verb
Verbs which express the mood of another verb: will/would;
shall/should; may/might; can/could; must, ought, need, dare,
used to.
Monitor
The device by which learners check their spoken or written
language against their knowledge of the rules that operate in
the particular situation they are facing.
Morpheme
The smallest unit of language that is grammatically significant.
Morphemes may be bound, ie they cannot exist on their own; eg
-er,un-, -ed, mis- ; or they can be free, as is ball in football.
Morphology
The branch of linguistics which studies how words change their
forms
when they
change
grammatical
function,
ie
their
inflections swim -swam - swum - swimming - swimmer; cat - cats;
mouse - mice; happy - happier - happily etc. See also Syntax.
Natural Approach
Pioneered by Krashen, this approach combines acquisition and
learning as a means of facilitating language development in
adults.
Pair Work
A process in which students work in pairs for practice or
discussion.
Passive Vocabulary
The vocabulary that students are able to understand compared
to that which they are able to use. Contrasted with Active
Vocabulary.
Peer Group
Usually refers to people working or studying at the same level or
in the same grouping; one's colleagues or fellow students.
Phatic Communion
Phrases used to convey sociability rather than meaning.
Phoneme
The smallest unit of sound which causes a change of meaning:
cattle - kettle /kætl/ - /ketl/; sleep - sleeve, /sli:p/ - /sli:v/.
Phonemic sounds are written in sloping brackets / /. There are
usually considered to be 24 consonant and 20 vowel phonemes
in RP.
Phonetics
The study of sounds by the manner or place of articulation.
Phonetic
The recording of speech sounds in writing, using a special
Transcription
alphabet; eg book [buk], bath [ba:q]. Phonetic transcription
(using
squarebrackets
[
]
)
makes finer
distinctions
than
Phonemic transcription, with a narrow transcription being more
accurate than a broad one. A standard sometimes applied is the
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet).
Phonology
The study of the sound system of a language - its phonemes,
stress and intonation.
Polar Questions
See YES/NO Questions.
Practice Stage
This follows the Presentation Stage and is the time when
students begin to master the target items themselves.
Presentation Stage
Usually the beginning of a lesson when new language is
introduced by the teacher, generally followed by a practice
stage.
Realia
Using real objects or things in the classroom as teaching aids; eg
travel brochures, train tickets, food items etc.
Redundancy
Using more utterances than necessary; includes talking around
the subject, unnecessary addition and saying the same thing
twice in different ways. In grammar it refers to a grammatical
feature which has no functional use, such as the -s inflection for
present tense third person singular.
Register
A variation in language due to circumstances: these may include
age, sex, status, topic or setting. The language of medicine,
business and science all differ in their register, which may be
spoken or written.
Reinforcement
The means by which language which has been presented and
practised
is fully
internalized
by
the
learner.
This
usually
involves plenty of repetition and extra language use.
Rhotic Accents
Accents which pronounce R after a vowel, as in mother, part, and
which include American, Scottish, Irish and Western British
accents.
Rhythm
The pattern of sound length and stress in speech. English has
stress-timed rhythm, while Spanish is said to have syllable-timed
rhythm, because the syllables tend to be uniform in time.
Role Play
A practice activity which involves students acting out a given
role; eg playing an angry customer returning an item to a shop
or being a patient in a doctor's waiting room. It may be
controlled and structured, or more or less improvised.
R.P.
Received Pronunciation - a term coined by Daniel Jones. RP was,
until recently, widely regarded as being the yardstick for correct
pronunciation; corresponds loosely to a public school or BBC
accent.
Roughly-tuned
Language which is somewhat beyond the students' knowledge,
Language
whichthey should eventually absorb through exposure.
RSA
Royal Society of Arts.An examining board which offers exams in
both EFL and TEFL. It is now merged with UCLES.
Scanning
Going
quickly
over
a
text
to
find
a
particular
piece
of
information.
Scheme of Work
An outline plan for a sequence of lessons, usually within a
syllabus,perhaps for a period of hours or for a number of weeks.
Schwa
The weak English vowel, represented / /, which is found in
English unstressed syllables. The only other unstressed vowel
is /I/.
Semantics
The study of the meaning of words and the study of context, how meaning is expressed through language and in individual
languages.
Silent Way
An approach to language teaching, developed in the States by
Caleb Gattegno,
specialized
involving
techniques
a
highly
structured
and apparatus.
The
system
of
teacher
is
encouraged to restrict his own speech to a minimum, in order
that
students
become
involved
in
establishing
meaningful language behaviour themselves.
Simulation
Refers to students acting out language situations, where they
may have to draw on their knowledge of the outside world; eg
they have just survived a plane crash in the desert and must
now plan a course of action.
Situational Approach
Uses
selected
situations
as
the
basis
of
the
teaching
programme; eg at a railway station, in a restaurant, in a bank
etc.
Skimming
Reading a text quickly to get the gist.
Stress
Normally refers to word stress: English words have one syllable
which
is invariably
stressed,
the
others
being
weak
or
unstressed: below, normally, photographer. Words of three or
more
syllables
may
have secondary
stress
on
one
of
the
remaining syllables: photograph, ' responsibility.It may also refer
to the greater emphasis of some syllables or words over others
in speech. This often carries changes of meanings as in
He went to America (not she) or
He went to America (not Australia)
This is an aspect of sentence stress, or rhythm, and involves
different intonation patterns.
Structure
The complex set of rules underlying a language, generally the
grammar of a language.
Structural Approach
An approach based on the teaching of the different areas of
'grammar' in a language; eg present simple tense, conditionals,
adverbs and adjectives etc. A structural syllabus will view the
language in terms of linguistic structures,of which there will be
grading and sequencing; cf a functional approach.
Structure Words
Words with no lexical content, with a grammatical role in the
phrase or sentence; eg 'articles, pronouns, prepositions, modal
and auxiliary verbs'. These are sometimes called function words.
Syllabus
A plan of what is to be taught. Most syllabuses now attempt to
combine structural and functional approaches. This is reflected
in many modern coursebooks.
Syntax
The branch of grammar concerned with word order as an
element in a clause or sentence and the rules governing word
order and sentence structure.
Target Language
The items to be learned in a particular lesson or sequence of
lessons.
TESL
Teaching English as a Second Language. See Introduction to
Modulet 1.TESOL Teaching of English to Speakers of Other
Languages. This includes both TEFL and TESL.
TOEFL
Test of English as a Foreign Language. An American examination
to test language proficiency; usually necessary in order to gain
entry to university in
the United States. A related exam is
TOEIC, Test of English for International Communication.
TPR
Total Physical Response: an approach developed by J Asher, in
which learners are not required to speak until they are ready.
This may take days, weeks or even months. During this period
learners
listen
and
acquire language;
understanding
and
comprehension are demonstrated through non-verbal, physical
responses.
Transfer
The influence of a mother tongue habit on the language being
learned; can be in pronunciation, word order or use of tenses
etc.
Utterance
A stretch of speech or written language, which may be a single
word or a string of sentences. This is generally marked in speech
by silence before and after. Also refers to a word or expression
that conveys meaning.
WH Questions
Questions starting with one of the question words: Who, What,
When, Where, Why, Whose & How.
YES/NO Questions
Questions
starting
with
a
modal
or
auxiliary
verb,
Does/Are/Will/Could etc.as opposed to open or WH questions
starting with a WH word.Sometimes called Polar Questions.
Glossary of ELT Terms
Accent
This can mean word stress - control has the accent on the
second syllable but we use it to mean the pronunciation used by
some speakers – a regional or class accent.
Acquisition
A term used to describe language being absorbed without
conscious effort; i.e. the way children pick up their mother
tongue. Language acquisition is often contrasted with language
learning.
Active Vocabulary
The words and phrases which a learner is able to use in speech
and writing. Contrasted with Passive Vocabulary.
Advanced
A level of attainment where the learner has mastered most of
the structures and functions of the language and is able to move
freely through several registers - there may be a working
vocabulary of in excess of 3000 words.
Aids to Teaching
(a) Visual: Blackboard, whiteboard, overhead projector, realia,
posters,
wallcharts,
flipcharts,
maps,
plans,
flashcards,
wordcards, puppets.
(b) Electronic: Tape recorder, TV or video player, computer, CD
Rom, language laboratory.
Applied Linguistics
The study of the relationship between theory and practice. The
main emphasis is usually on language teaching, but can also be
applied to translation, lexicology etc.
Audio-Lingual
Listen and speak: this method considers listening and speaking
Method
the first tasks in language learning, followed by reading and
writing. There is considerable emphasis on learning sentence
patterns, memorization of dialogues and extensive use of drills.
Authentic Materials
Unscripted materials or those which have not been specially
written for classroom use, though they may have been edited.
Examples include newspaper texts and TV broadcasts.
Auxiliary Verbs
Forms of the verbs be, do and have which are used to create the
different tenses in English: am/is/are/was/were eating/ being
eaten; do/does/did eat; has/have/had eaten/ been eaten.
Behaviourism
A psychological theory developed by B F Skinner; became the
basis for the audio-lingual approach, which viewed language
learning in terms of habit formation.
Bilingualism
Being able to communicate effectively in two or more languages,
with more or less the same degree of proficiency.
CALL
Computer Assisted Language Learning.
Cloze Procedure
An exercise where every fifth word (or sixth or seventh etc) is
deleted from a text. The interval between the deleted words
should remain the same throughout the text. The student then
supplies the missing words, often relying on contextualization
for help.
Cognate
Cognates are words from different languages which are related
historically, eg English bath - German bad or English yoke - Hindi
yoga. Beware FalseFriends however.
Cognitive Code
An approach in which a conscious effort is made to understand
the Learning rules when learning a new item. There is little
concern with the formation of habits as in the audio-lingual and
direct methods; can be seen as deductive learning, cf inductive
learning.
Collocation
The tendency for words to occur regularly with others: sit/chair,
house/garage.
Common Core
The central part of the course or syllabus; or the elements of a
language vital to any teaching programme.
Communicative
An
approach
concerned
with
the
needs
of
students
to
Language Teaching
communicate outside the classroom; teaching techniques reflect
this in the choice of language content and materials, with
emphasis on role play, pair and group work etc.
Content Words
Words with a full meaning of their own; nouns, main verbs (ie
not auxiliaryor modal verbs), adjectives and many adverbs.
Contrasted with structure words.
Contextualization
Placing the target language in a realistic setting, so as to be
meaningful to the student.
Cue Cards
Cards with words or pictures on them which are used to
encourage student response, or pair and group work.
Dialect
The regional variety of a language, differing from the standard
language, in grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation or idiomatic
usage.
Direct Method
The most common approach in TEFL, where language is taught
through listening and speaking. There may be little or no
explicit explanation of grammatical rules, nor translation into
the mother tongue of the student - inductive learning rather
than deductive.
Discourse
A unit of language greater than a sentence.
Drilling
The intensive and repetitive practice of the target language,
which may be choral or individual.
Elementary
Students at this level may have a vocabulary of up to 1000
words and will probably be learning or practising present simple
and
continuous
tenses,
past simple
and
present
perfect,
will/shall, 'going to' futures. They should be able to hold simple
conversations and survive in everyday situations.
ESL/E2L
English as a Second Language.
ESOL
English to/for Speakers of Other Languages.
ESP
English for Special Purposes; eg for business, science and
technology, medicine etc.
Extensive Reading
Reading for general or global understanding, often of longer
texts.
False Friends
Cognate words, or words accidentally similar in form, whose
meaning is rather different in the two languages, eg English
gentle - French gentil.
Finely-tuned
Language which is equivalent to the students' knowledge, which
Language
they should readily understand.
First Certificate
Cambridge First Certificate: an examination which may be taken
by students of a good intermediate level.
Function Words
See Structure Words
Functional Approach
A course based on a functional approach would take as its
starting point for language development, what the learner wants
to do through language. Common functions include identifying
oneself and giving personal facts about oneself; expressing
moods and emotions.
General Service List
A standard list of 2000 frequently used words as compiled by
Michael West. Regarded as a language core by many syllabus
designers.
Grading
The order in which language items are taught. Systematic
grading may reduce the difficulties of language learning by
introducing the language in steps or stages.
Grammar-Translation
A method based upon memorizing the rules and logic of a
language and the practice of translation. Traditionally the means
by which Latin and Greek have been taught.
Grapheme
The written symbols for sounds in language; ie letters of the
alphabet or a character in picture writing (as in Japanese kange).
IATEFL
International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign
Language.
Immersion Method
This simulates the way in which children acquire their mother
tongue. The learner is surrounded by the foreign language, with
no deliberate or organized teaching programme. The learner
absorbs the target language naturally without conscious effort.
Inductive Learning
Learning to apply the rules of a language by experiencing the
language in use, rather than by having the rules explained or by
consciously deducing the rules.
Inflection
The change in form of a word, which indicates a grammatical
change:eg. behave - behaved - behaviour - misbehave.
Intermediate
At this level a student will have a working vocabulary of between
1500 and 2000 words and should be able to cope easily in most
everyday situations. There should be an ability to express needs,
thoughts and feelings in a reasonably clear way.
Intensive Reading
Reading for specific understanding of information, usually of
shorter texts.
Intonation
The ways in which the voice pitch rises and falls in speech.
L1
The mother tongue.
L2
A language other than the mother tongue.
LAD
Language Acquisition Device; a term coined by Noam Chomsky
to
explain
an
innate
psychological
capacity
for
language
acquisition.
Language
A room equipped with headphones and booths to enable
Laboratory
students to listen toa language teaching programme, while
being monitored from a central console. Labs may be AudioActive (AA), where students listen and respond to a tape, or
Audio-Active-Comparative
(AAC),
where
they
may
record
their own responses and compare these with a model on the
master tape. Lexical item An item of vocabulary which has a
single element of meaning. It may be a compound or phrase:
bookcase, post office, put up with. Some single words may
initiate several lexical items; eg letter: a letter of the alphabet /
posting a letter.
Lexical Set
A group or family of words related to one another by some
semantic principle: eg lamb, pork, chicken, beef are all different
types of meat and form a lexical set.
Micro-teaching
A technique used on teacher training courses: a part of a lesson
is taught to a small number of students. A variation of this is
'peer teaching', where the 'students' are often peers of the
trainee teacher attending the same course.
Minimal Pair
A pair of items differing by one phonological feature; eg sit/set,
ship/sheep, pen/pan, fan/pan, pan/pat etc.
Modal Verb
Verbs which express the mood of another verb: will/would;
shall/should; may/might; can/could; must, ought, need, dare,
used to.
Monitor
The device by which learners check their spoken or written
language against their knowledge of the rules that operate in
the particular situation they are facing.
Morpheme
The smallest unit of language that is grammatically significant.
Morphemes may be bound, ie they cannot exist on their own; eg
-er,un-, -ed, mis- ; or they can be free, as is ball in football.
Morphology
The branch of linguistics which studies how words change their
forms
when they
change
grammatical
function,
ie
their
inflections swim -swam - swum - swimming - swimmer; cat - cats;
mouse - mice; happy - happier - happily etc. See also Syntax.
Natural Approach
Pioneered by Krashen, this approach combines acquisition and
learning as a means of facilitating language development in
adults.
Pair Work
A process in which students work in pairs for practice or
discussion.
Passive Vocabulary
The vocabulary that students are able to understand compared
to that which they are able to use. Contrasted with Active
Vocabulary.
Peer Group
Usually refers to people working or studying at the same level or
in the same grouping; one's colleagues or fellow students.
Phatic Communion
Phrases used to convey sociability rather than meaning.
Phoneme
The smallest unit of sound which causes a change of meaning:
cattle - kettle /kætl/ - /ketl/; sleep - sleeve, /sli:p/ - /sli:v/.
Phonemic sounds are written in sloping brackets / /. There are
usually considered to be 24 consonant and 20 vowel phonemes
in RP.
Phonetics
The study of sounds by the manner or place of articulation.
Phonetic
The recording of speech sounds in writing, using a special
Transcription
alphabet; eg book [buk], bath [ba:q]. Phonetic transcription
(using
squarebrackets
[
]
)
makes finer
distinctions
than
Phonemic transcription, with a narrow transcription being more
accurate than a broad one. A standard sometimes applied is the
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet).
Phonology
The study of the sound system of a language - its phonemes,
stress and intonation.
Polar Questions
See YES/NO Questions.
Practice Stage
This follows the Presentation Stage and is the time when
students begin to master the target items themselves.
Presentation Stage
Usually the beginning of a lesson when new language is
introduced by the teacher, generally followed by a practice
stage.
Realia
Using real objects or things in the classroom as teaching aids; eg
travel brochures, train tickets, food items etc.
Redundancy
Using more utterances than necessary; includes talking around
the subject, unnecessary addition and saying the same thing
twice in different ways. In grammar it refers to a grammatical
feature which has no functional use, such as the -s inflection for
present tense third person singular.
Register
A variation in language due to circumstances: these may include
age, sex, status, topic or setting. The language of medicine,
business and science all differ in their register, which may be
spoken or written.
Reinforcement
The means by which language which has been presented and
practised
is fully
internalized
by
the
learner.
This
usually
involves plenty of repetition and extra language use.
Rhotic Accents
Accents which pronounce R after a vowel, as in mother, part, and
which include American, Scottish, Irish and Western British
accents.
Rhythm
The pattern of sound length and stress in speech. English has
stress-timed rhythm, while Spanish is said to have syllable-timed
rhythm, because the syllables tend to be uniform in time.
Role Play
A practice activity which involves students acting out a given
role; eg playing an angry customer returning an item to a shop
or being a patient in a doctor's waiting room. It may be
controlled and structured, or more or less improvised.
R.P.
Received Pronunciation - a term coined by Daniel Jones. RP was,
until recently, widely regarded as being the yardstick for correct
pronunciation; corresponds loosely to a public school or BBC
accent.
Roughly-tuned
Language which is somewhat beyond the students' knowledge,
Language
whichthey should eventually absorb through exposure.
RSA
Royal Society of Arts.An examining board which offers exams in
both EFL and TEFL. It is now merged with UCLES.
Scanning
Going
quickly
over
a
text
to
find
a
particular
piece
of
information.
Scheme of Work
An outline plan for a sequence of lessons, usually within a
syllabus,perhaps for a period of hours or for a number of weeks.
Schwa
The weak English vowel, represented / /, which is found in
English unstressed syllables. The only other unstressed vowel
is /I/.
Semantics
The study of the meaning of words and the study of context, how meaning is expressed through language and in individual
languages.
Silent Way
An approach to language teaching, developed in the States by
Caleb Gattegno,
specialized
involving
techniques
a
highly
structured
and apparatus.
The
system
of
teacher
is
encouraged to restrict his own speech to a minimum, in order
that
students
become
involved
in
establishing
meaningful language behaviour themselves.
Simulation
Refers to students acting out language situations, where they
may have to draw on their knowledge of the outside world; eg
they have just survived a plane crash in the desert and must
now plan a course of action.
Situational Approach
Uses
selected
situations
as
the
basis
of
the
teaching
programme; eg at a railway station, in a restaurant, in a bank
etc.
Skimming
Reading a text quickly to get the gist.
Stress
Normally refers to word stress: English words have one syllable
which
is invariably
stressed,
the
others
being
weak
or
unstressed: below, normally, photographer. Words of three or
more
syllables
may
have secondary
stress
on
one
of
the
remaining syllables: photograph, ' responsibility.It may also refer
to the greater emphasis of some syllables or words over others
in speech. This often carries changes of meanings as in
He went to America (not she) or
He went to America (not Australia)
This is an aspect of sentence stress, or rhythm, and involves
different intonation patterns.
Structure
The complex set of rules underlying a language, generally the
grammar of a language.
Structural Approach
An approach based on the teaching of the different areas of
'grammar' in a language; eg present simple tense, conditionals,
adverbs and adjectives etc. A structural syllabus will view the
language in terms of linguistic structures,of which there will be
grading and sequencing; cf a functional approach.
Structure Words
Words with no lexical content, with a grammatical role in the
phrase or sentence; eg 'articles, pronouns, prepositions, modal
and auxiliary verbs'. These are sometimes called function words.
Syllabus
A plan of what is to be taught. Most syllabuses now attempt to
combine structural and functional approaches. This is reflected
in many modern coursebooks.
Syntax
The branch of grammar concerned with word order as an
element in a clause or sentence and the rules governing word
order and sentence structure.
Target Language
The items to be learned in a particular lesson or sequence of
lessons.
TESL
Teaching English as a Second Language. See Introduction to
Modulet 1.TESOL Teaching of English to Speakers of Other
Languages. This includes both TEFL and TESL.
TOEFL
Test of English as a Foreign Language. An American examination
to test language proficiency; usually necessary in order to gain
entry to university in
the United States. A related exam is
TOEIC, Test of English for International Communication.
TPR
Total Physical Response: an approach developed by J Asher, in
which learners are not required to speak until they are ready.
This may take days, weeks or even months. During this period
learners
listen
and
acquire language;
understanding
and
comprehension are demonstrated through non-verbal, physical
responses.
Transfer
The influence of a mother tongue habit on the language being
learned; can be in pronunciation, word order or use of tenses
etc.
Utterance
A stretch of speech or written language, which may be a single
word or a string of sentences. This is generally marked in speech
by silence before and after. Also refers to a word or expression
that conveys meaning.
WH Questions
Questions starting with one of the question words: Who, What,
When, Where, Why, Whose & How.
YES/NO Questions
Questions
starting
with
a
modal
or
auxiliary
verb,
Does/Are/Will/Could etc.as opposed to open or WH questions
starting with a WH word.Sometimes called Polar Questions.
