An ELT Glossary C - Com

Question 1

caretaker speech

Answer 1

➡️ Definition: simplified language used by speakers who believe the listener has limited linguistic or intellectual competence.

➡️ Example: Mother to child: “Look, look! It’s a red car. A big red car.”

In this example, the mother uses repetition (“Look, look!” and simple syntax (“A big red car”) to make the message clearer for the child.

Question 2

Cataphoric Reference

Answer 2

➡️ Definition: Cataphoric reference occurs when an item in the text refers forward to another item that appears later, forming a cohesive link.

➡️ Example:
“I walked around the corner and stopped dead. It was the biggest dog I’d ever seen.”
In this example, “It” refers forward to and replaces “the dog.”

Question 3

Catenation and Liaison (check this in the sounds book)

Answer 3

➡️ Definition: Catenation refers to the linking of sounds between words in connected speech, particularly when a final consonant links to the following vowel or when an intrusive consonant is added between two vowels. Liaison often describes the same concept, especially in the context of linking sounds.

➡️ Examples:

Consonant-Vowel (CV) linking: A final consonant links to the following vowel.

“start up” /stɑːt ʌp/
“his own” /hɪz əʊn/
“call out” /kɔːl aʊt/
Vowel-Vowel (VV) linking: A final vowel links to a following vowel with an intrusive consonant, like /r/, /w/, or /j/.

“I saw it” /aɪ sɔː r ɪt/
“go and see” /gəʊ w ənd siː/
“my only hope” /maɪ j əʊnliː həʊp/

Question 4

Catenative Verbs

Answer 4

➡️ Definition: Catenative verbs are verbs that are followed directly by another verb, which can be in the bare infinitive, to + infinitive, or V+ing form. “Catenative” means “chaining.”

➡️ Example:
Catenative verb followed by bare infinitive:

“He can speak three languages.” (Here, can is the catenative verb followed by the bare infinitive speak.)

Question 5

Causative Verbs

Answer 5

➡️ Definition: Causative verbs like ‘have’ and ‘get’ are used when the subject causes someone else to perform an action. The structure is: have/get (in the appropriate form) + noun phrase + past participle.

➡️ Examples:

“I had my hair cut yesterday”. (The subject caused someone else to cut their hair.)

Question 6

Concept Check Questions (CCQs)

Answer 6

➡️ Definition: Questions used by teachers to check whether learners understand the meaning or use of a new grammatical or lexical item.
Inductive approach: Learners first see examples and then infer the rules.

➡️Example:
If the lesson focuses on the present perfect (for actions in the past continuing to the present), such as “I’ve worked for PMC for three years,” the teacher might ask CCQs like:

“When did she start working for PMC?”
“Does she still work there now?”

Question 7

Central Vowel

Answer 7

➡️ Definition: A vowel produced by raising the centre of the tongue.

➡️ Example:
The sound /ə/ as in “sofa” is a central vowel.

Question 8

Chain Drills

Answer 8

➡️ Definition: are a classroom activity where learners repeat and expand on a sentence, using the target language. Each student adds a new piece of information, creating a growing “chain” of sentences.

➡️ Example: The teacher starts with “On Saturday, I did the washing.”
Each student repeats and adds to the chain:
“On Saturday, Sue did the washing and I made the beds,” then “On Saturday, Sue did the washing, Juan made the beds, Maria did her homework,” and so on.

Question 9

Circumlocution Strategies

Answer 9

➡️ Definition: a communication/coping strategy used by language learners when they cannot recall a specific word. They explain or describe the word using other language instead of directly naming it.

➡️ Example:
Instead of saying “saddle,” a learner might say, “It’s the thing that you put on a horse’s back when you ride.”

Question 10

Citation Forms

Answer 10

➡️ Definition: the full, slow pronunciations of words, typically used when speaking them in isolation. They contrast with the reduced forms of words used in connected speech, where words often change due to factors like elision and vowel weakening.

➡️ Examples:

Library: Citation form: /laɪbrəri/ (in isolation); connected speech: /laɪbri/ (in fluent speech).
Probably: Citation form: /prɒbəbli:/; connected speech: /prɒbli:/

Question 11

Clause

Answer 11

Clause
➡️ Definition: A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate (a verb or verb phrase). It can express a complete thought (main clause) or an incomplete thought (subordinate clause).

➡️ Example:
Main Clause: “She sings beautifully.”

Subject: “She”
Predicate: “sings beautifully”

Question 12

Cleft Sentences

Answer 12

➡️ Definition: A cleft sentence is a sentence that is divided into two parts to emphasise a specific piece of information. Each part contains a verb.

➡️ Example:
To emphasise “David” in the sentence “David came to see me,” we divide it into two parts:
“It was David who came to see me.”

Question 13

Clipping

Answer 13

Clipping
➡️ Definition: Clipping is the process of shortening a longer word or expression by removing one or more syllables.

➡️ Example:

‘Phone’ is a clipped form of ‘telephone’.

Question 14

Closed Pairs

Answer 14

➡️ Definition: When all students work in pairs at the same time.

➡️ Example:
After students complete a controlled practice vocabulary exercise individually, they typically check their answers together in pairs.

Question 15

Closed Questions/Yes-No Questions

Answer 15

➡️ Definition: A question that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” It is formed by placing the operator before the subject.

➡️ Example:
Can I park the car there?
Answer: Yes.

Question 16

Close Vowels

Answer 16

➡️ Definition: These vowels are produced by partially closing the jaws and raising part of the tongue near the hard or soft palate.

➡️ Example:
The sounds /i:/ as in “see” and /u:/ as in “food”

Question 17

Cloze test

Answer 17

Definition : A test created by deleting words at regular intervals from a text (eg every 7th or 9th word) and asking learners to infer and replace them.

Example : This is an example of a ……… test where every seventh word has …………. deleted.

Question 18

Code Switching

Answer 18

➡️ Definition: The practice of switching between languages during a conversation, often within the same sentence.

➡️ Example:
A bilingual speaker might say, “My phone is barato.”
(“Barato” is the Spanish word for “cheap.”)

Question 19

Cognates

Answer 19

Cognates
➡️ Definition: A word that has a similar form, pronunciation, and meaning in both English and the learner’s L1.

➡️ Example:
The Italian word “possibile” is a cognate of the English “possible.”

Question 20

Coherence

Answer 20

➡️ Definition: the logical flow and connection of ideas, making communication easy to understand.

➡️ Example:
A: “The phone’s ringing!”
B: “I’m in the bath!”

Even without linking words, the second response makes sense because it’s understood as an explanation for why the phone isn’t answered.

Question 21

✅ Cohesion

Answer 21

➡️ Definition: The use of grammatical and lexical means to achieve connected text, either spoken or written.
➡️ Example: “John is going to the store. He needs to buy groceries.” (The pronoun “he” connects back to “John” and helps the text flow cohesively.)

Question 22

Cohort / Test Cohort

Answer 22

➡️ Definition: A cohort is a group of people with shared characteristics. A test cohort refers to all individuals taking a specific test during a particular session.

➡️ Example:
Anyone taking the IELTS exam in the summer is part of the test cohort for that session.

Question 23

Collective Nouns

Answer 23

➡️ Definition: Collective nouns refer to a group of people, animals, or things considered as a single unit.

➡️ Example:
‘The army is marching.’
Explanation: ‘Army’ is a collective noun because it refers to a group of people (soldiers) treated as a single unit, and therefore the singular verb “is” is used.

Question 24

Colligation

Answer 24

➡️ Definition: the tendency of certain linguistic items (such as words or phrases) to be used together in specific syntactic contexts, but not in others.

➡️ Example:
“Much” is often used in negative sentences, not in positive ones:
“She doesn’t have much money.” (correct)
“She has much money.” (incorrect, should be “a lot of”)

Question 25

Collocation

Answer 25

➡️ Definition: The tendency of words to co-occur regularly and form “partnerships” in ways not fully explained by semantic or grammatical compatibility.

➡️ Examples:

You can have a “bad cold” or a “heavy cold.”
You can have a “bad headache” but not a “heavy headache.”

Question 26

✅ Comma Splice

Answer 26

➡️ Definition: A comma splice occurs when two independent clauses are joined by only a comma, without a coordinating conjunction, semicolon, or full stop.
➡️ Example:
Incorrect: The weather was great, we had a great holiday.
Correct: The weather was great, and we had a great holiday.

Question 27

✅ Communicative Competence

Answer 27

➡️ Definition: The ability to use language correctly and appropriately in different contexts, involving:

Systemic potential (grammatical rules)
Appropriateness (cultural and situational correctness)
Occurrence (what is commonly said)
Feasibility (what is possible in real-time communication)
➡️ Examples:

Systemic potential: “He work in factory” (incorrect)
Appropriateness: “Give me a coffee!” (correct, but not polite in all situations)
Occurrence: “Mother language” (possible but rare)
Feasibility: “This is the barn the corn the rat the dog the man owned chased ate was stored in” (correct grammar, but impractical for real-time processing

Question 28

✅ Competence

Answer 28

➡️ Definition: Competence refers to a user’s innate knowledge of the language, which allows them to understand and produce an infinite number of sentences, and recognise which sentences are acceptable or not in the language.

➡️ Example:
A speaker can recognise that “The cats are in the garden” is a correct sentence in English, whereas “*The cat are garden the in” is not.

Question 29

Complement

Answer 29

➡️ Definition: A complement is a clause element that relates to or equates with the subject or object of the clause. Complements can be adjectives, reflexive pronouns, or noun phrases.

➡️ Examples:

Subject complements occur after copulative verbs:

“Mary is a neurologist.” (Mary = a neurologist)
“John looked unhappy.” (John = unhappy)
“The leaves are turning brown.” (The leaves = brown)
Reflexive pronouns can act as subject complements:

“I’ve hurt myself.” (Subject complement: myself = I)

Question 30

✅ Complementary Antonyms

Answer 30

➡️ Definition: Complementary antonyms are pairs of words that represent a relationship where one term excludes the other, meaning there is no middle ground or overlap. You can only be one or the other at any given time.

➡️ Examples:

Child/Adult: You are either a child or an adult, but not both at the same time.
Dead/Alive: Something cannot be both dead and alive at the same time; it must be one or the other.
Monday/Not Monday: If today is Monday, it cannot be any other day of the week (i.e., Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.); it’s a clear dichotomy.
Push/Pull: When you are pushing something, you are not pulling it, and vice versa.

Question 31

✅ Complex Preposition

Answer 31

➡️ Definition: A complex preposition consists of more than one word, typically formed by combining a simple preposition with a noun phrase, adjective, or verb. These prepositions function in the same way as simple prepositions, but provide more specific meaning or context.

➡️ Example:

“In spite of” the rain, we went for a walk.
“Because of” the delay, we missed the meeting.
“Out of” respect, she didn’t interrupt the speaker.

Question 32

✅ Complex Sentence

Answer 32

➡️ Definition: A sentence that consists of a main clause and at least one subordinate clause.

➡️ Example:

‘Although he works in London, John lives in Brighton.’ (Main clause: ‘John lives in Brighton,’ Subordinate clause: ‘Although he works in London.’)

Question 33

✅ Compound Sentence

Answer 33

➡️ Definition: A sentence that consists of two or more main clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or).

➡️ Example:
John lives in Brighton but he works in London.
(main clause 1: “John lives in Brighton”
main clause 2: “he works in London”
Coordinating conjunction: but)

Question 34

✅ Compound-Complex Sentence

Answer 34

➡️ Definition: A compound- complex sentence has at least two co-ordinated main clauses, plus at least one subordinate clause.

➡️ Example:
John works in London, but he lives in Brighton where he has a lovely house by the beach.

Example: “John works in London, but he lives in Brighton where he has a lovely house by the beach.”

Main Clause 1: John works in London.
Main Clause 2: He lives in Brighton.
Subordinate Clause: Where he has a lovely house by the beach.

Question 35

Compound Words

Answer 35

➡️ Definition: words formed by combining two or more free morphemes into a single lexical item.

➡️ Example:
Noun + Noun: “footstep,” “headache”
Adjective + Noun: “blackbird,” “greenhouse”