English Glossary Flashcards
Abbreviation
Shortening
Accommodation
Process of modifying one’s mental processes in order to meet the demands of one’s environment (NB this is Jean Piaget’s definition which is broader than the exclusively linguistic definition coined by Howard Giles and his team)
Acronym
Initialism which can be sounded as a word
Advanced stage (writing)
Stage of writing in which the child will comprehend families of words and the ways inflections work and be able to deploy a varied vocabulary, generally appropriately spelled, and a range of sophisticated punctuation including paragraphing
Affected RP
Traditional, clipped accent and intonation of the upper classes in England
Affixation
Morphological process where (a) prefix(es) or suffix(es) are added to words to create new ones
Affricative
Of a consonant, pronounced using a combination of a plosive and a fricative sound as in ch, dge
Amelioration
Semantic change whereby a word gains a more positive meaning
Analogical overextension
Overextension in which a term is applied to a person/object/setting/idea which is perceived to be similar because of the role it plays in the speaker’s experience
Analytical phonics
System of phonics where a child will break down words into the smallest elements. See phonics
Angle
Particular slant on a news story
Anglo-Saxons
Collection of peoples, from what are now parts of northern Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark, who settled in England after the Romans left
Answering
One of John Dore’s taxonomy of functions or primitive speech acts: where language is used to give a direct response to an utterance from another speaker
Anthropomorphism
Writing about animals as if they were human
Antiphrasis
Figurative technique whereby an idea or object is referred to in
terms which are contradictory to its actual meaning
Antonym
Word which is opposite of another word
Approximate
Of a consonant, voiced like a vowel as in r, j, w
Archaic
Fallen out of use. See obsolete
Assimilation
Experience of physical objects which Jean Piaget believed was necessary before children could modify their mental processes in order to meet the demands of their environment
Auto-antonymy
Word which can be understood in two completely different ways
Babbling
Repetitions of similar sounds by about 7 months (see reduplications); here the child appears to have some awareness of the purpose of speech and to be intending to make meaning
Back formation
Imagined process by which supposed affixes have been removed from word (usually nouns) to create (usually) verbs
Backronym
Word assumed to be acronyms – often false etymologies
Behaviourism
School of psychology which believes that everything which a person does, even thinking, should be described as a behaviour which can be changed
Blend
Word composed of a free morpheme and a part of another free morpheme or of parts of two free morphemes. Also known as portmanteau word
Borrowing
Loan word
Bound morpheme
Morpheme which cannot stand on its own
Breaking news
News which is just being brought into the public domain
Break the fourth wall
Of acting, to destroy the illusion that the world on stage is self-contained by speaking directly to the audience
Broadening
Process of semantic change whereby a word gains in scope or acquires more meanings
Burbling
Crying and burbling
Calling
One of John Dore’s taxonomy of functions or primitive speech acts:
where language is used to attract attention by raising the voice
Categorical overextension
Overextension in which a term is used to denote a person/object/ setting/idea is used to refer to others in the same category
Chancery Standard
Standard of English based on the English spoken and written in the political, religious, academic and commercial triangle linking London, Oxford and Cambridge; imposed in the fifteenth century
Child directed speech
Very specific ways in which adults speak to the children whom they encounter or who are in their care
Clausal analysis
Division of a sentence into main and subordinate clauses
Clipping
Process by which a word is shortened by cutting off its last letters. Also
known as end clipping
Cognitivism
Set of theories about the ways children learn
Coin
Of a word, to create
Coinage
Word which is completely new and which bears no relation to any existing word; often used as a synonym for neologism
Complex word
Word made up of more than one morpheme, for instance a base word and an affix
Compounding
Morphological process where existing words are joined together to make new words
Concrete operational stage
Period, specified by Jean Piaget, from ages 2–7, in which, although children have begun to think logically, they tend to do so in very concrete rather than abstract terms
Conditioning
Type of psychological learning whereby the learner changes his/her behaviour by associating the behaviour with a particular stimulus
Confirmation and fluency
Stage two of Jeanne Chall’s reading development where the child becomes a more fluent reader and begins to grapple with the meanings of texts – 7–8 years
Contraction
Shortening, often by removing letters from inside a word
Consolidation
B M Kroll’s second stage of writing where the child writes as s/he
speaks – 7–8 years
Construction and reconstruction
Stage five of Jeanne Chall’s reading development where the young person becomes a fully independent reader – 18+
Conventional stage
Stage of writing in which the child writes fluently, spelling most words correctly though opting for phonic spelling for difficult or unknown words and sometimes muddling homophones
Conversion
Process in language change where a word is used in a word class different from the one where it has previously been seen
Cooing
Specific soft, birdlike sounds at about 2 months. See vocal play
Critical period
Period somewhere between 7 and 13 years after which non-
speaking children may never acquire language successfully
Crying and burbling
Pre-lexical articulations at 0 to 4 months, probably not true language since although it is communicative, the infant in unlikely to be aware that its sounds have specific meanings
Cursive
Of handwriting, joined up
Dead metaphor
Metaphor which is so familiar that users are scarcely aware that
it is not literal
Deformation
Spelling of a word in a different way by transposing or substituting letters in it, often in order to avoid giving offence
Derivational morphology
Change in the meaning of words due to the addition of non-inflectional suffixes
Descriptive analysis
Analysis which merely outlines what is obvious
Didactic
Of a text, intended to teach
Differentiation
B M Kroll’s third stage of writing where the child is conscious of the differences between writing and speech - 9 – 10 years
Digraph
Pair of letters used to articulate one discrete sound
Dipthong
Sound made up of more than one clear vowel sound
Dysphemism
Term which makes an idea or object seem worse than it actually is. Often used humorously
Early emergent stage
Stage of writing in which the child becomes more competent at wielding and manipulating a writing implement though writing doesn’t yet represent actual letters
Early Modern English
The English spoken and written in Britain from about 1450 to about 1700
Early multi-word stage
Telegraphic stage
Egocentric
Seeing the world (or able to see the world) from one’s own perspective only
Egocentric speech
Talking to oneself, often in order to make sense of the world. According to Lev Vygotsky, this leads to the inner speech of thought; according to Jean Piaget, it dies out
Egocentrism
Child’s tendency to talk to him/herself as s/he attempts to make sense of his/her environment; also, according to Jean Piaget, child’s tendency to be more preoccupied with constructing his/her own understanding of the world than in engaging socially with others
Elaboration
Paragraphs immediately after the intro which tell readers of a news story more about what occurred
Elision
Process by which letters on the middle of words are omitted or two words are collapsed into one
Emergent stage
Stage of writing in which the child can write letter strings, sometimes as long as a line, often using real letters learned from her/his own name
Enactive stage
Action-based stage of development, up to 3 years, proposed by Jerome Bruner, where the child learns about its environment by seeing, touching , moving
End clipping
Clipping
Environmental print
Examples of the printed word which appear in the
environment
Epistemologist
Academic who studies epistemology or the study of the nature of knowledge
Eponym
Word for an object or idea which is derived from a person
Estuary English
Language and accent used by ordinary people living on and around the Thames estuary
Etymology
History and background of words
Euphemism
Way of expressing an idea which makes it seem more pleasant than it actually is
Euphemism treadmill, the
Way that the need for new euphemisms arises as old ones become semantically pejorated
Expressive
Of early language, using a greater proportion of action and social words than of naming words. See referential OR First stage of James Britton’s early writing genres where children write in the first person, articulating personal preferences
Extrapolate
Infer or imply something unknown from something known
Falling out of use
In the process of becoming obsolete
False etymology
Process whereby a word, or part of a word, is accorded a meaning or derivation to which it is not entitled
Families of fonts
Fonts which are variations of each other
Feature article
Article whose scope, though newsworthy, is not restricted to very recent events and which is topic- rather than news-focused
Feedback
Fourth stage of Bruner’s set of carer-child interactions in the pre- reading phase: getting the child to look at a picture: responding to the child’s utterance(s)
Formal operation stage
Period, specified by Jean Piaget, from ages 11 and 16 onwards, when abstract reasoning develops
Framework for Teaching
2006 initiative which continues to advocate the daily teaching of literacy though, increasingly, encouraging a greater variety of approaches and extending this teaching across the curriculum rather than focusing on texts traditionally studied in English lessons
Free morpheme
Morpheme which can stand on its own
Fricative
Of a consonant, pronounced so that the air stream is partially blocked
so that some air moves through the lips as in f, h, s, sh, th, v, z
Full alphabetic writing
Phase 3 of J Richard Gentry’s writing stages where the child writes simple stories with beginning-middle-end and some grasp of genre
Gaining attention
Initial aspect of Bruner’s set of carer-child interactions in the pre-reading phase: getting the child to look at a picture
Gestalt word
Term made up of two or three words which is heard by a child as one word. See pivot word
Great Vowel Shift, the
Change in the pronunciation of words which occurred between about 1400 and about 1650
Greeting
One of John Dore’s taxonomy of functions or primitive speech acts: where the child speaks or shouts to welcome or start conversation
Heuristic function
One of Michael Halliday’s taxonomy of functions: where language is used to learn about and to explore the environment
Holophrastic stage
Stage at which a child expresses itself in one word minor sentences with context, paralinguistics and especially intonation conveying much of its meaning
Hyperbole
Exaggeration
Hypothesis
Proposition put forward to be tested in an experiment or
investigation
Iconic stage
Image-based stage of development, from 3 years, proposed by Jerome Bruner, where the child begins to imagine events and actions and where visual memory is formed
Idiom
Figure of speech or extended metaphor which cannot readily be translated into another language
Imaginative function
One of Michael Halliday’s taxonomy of functions: where language is used to develop the imagination
Indo-European
Language believed to have existed thousands of years ago, the putative ancestor of languages from India to Iceland
Inflectional morphology
Change in the meaning of words due to inflection
Informalisation
Process by which a more informal language register becomes
acceptable in a particular context
Initialism
Abbreviation consisting of (usually) initial letters of a series of words; occasionally used to refer to blends which consist of initials and part-words
Initial reading and decoding
Stage one of Jeanne Chall’s reading development where the child recognises the link between sounds and letters and reads simple texts – between 6 and 7
Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA)
Phonetic alphabet invented in the 1960s by Sir James Pitman and designed as a stepping stone to help children to read
Insertion
Type of spelling error where unnecessary letters are added to a word, sometimes by analogy with a known word
Instrumental function
One of Michael Halliday’s taxonomy of functions: where language is used to fulfil the speaker’s needs
Integration
B M Kroll’s fourth stage of writing – where the young person develops a personal voice – mid-teens
Internalisation
Process by which, for example, cultural values and information can be used for the child’s own purposes
Interactional function
One of Michael Halliday’s taxonomy of functions: where language is used to initiate, develop and maintain social relationships
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
Alphabet devised so as to represent the sounds in all the world’s languages phonetically
Intransitive
Of a verb, that cannot take a direct object
Intro
First and introductory paragraph of a news story which often outlines the
whole story
Jargon
Language, particularly of a technical or occupational nature, exclusive to a small group of language users
Key Stages
Stages in the British education system by which children are expected to have reached certain objectives. Key stage 1 extends from Reception to Year 2 (4–7); Key Stage 2 extends from Year 3 – Year 6 (7–11)
Labelling
One of John Dore’s taxonomy of functions or primitive speech acts: where language is used to give a name to a person, object, behaviour or experience OR in Jean Aitchison’s semantic model, a category of language usage where a child will understand the concept of labels, reliably associating sound with objects and linking words to things OR third stage of Bruner’s set of carer-child interactions in the pre-reading phase: telling the child what the object is
Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
Neurological mechanism (proposed by Noam Chomsky to be present in all human brains) which helps infants subconsciously to deduce the grammatical rules of their own languages without being explicitly taught them
Language Acquisition Support System (LASS)
Variety of structures, provided by carers, which help children to acquire language
Lateral
Of a consonant, pronounced with the tongue placed on the ridge of the teeth so that air moves up through the side of the mouth as in l
Leader article/column
Article which offers editorial opinion usually on one or more specific news stories of the day
Literacy Hour, the
Government programme launched in 1998 which established a specifically structured hour-long English lesson in primary schools daily
Litotes
Understatement
Loan word
Word which has come into English from overseas. Also known as
borrowing
Look and Say
Reading approach which focuses on teaching children complete words at a time so that they learn the shape of words and do not necessarily break them down into individual graphemes and phonemes. Also known as the whole word or whole language approach
Look, say, cover, write and check
Complementary reading and spelling strategy
Magical thinking
Type of reasoning which expects some causal, seemingly
illogical or irrational relation between acts/utterances and events
Masthead
Title of regular publication, usually in distinctive font
Meaning relation
Relationship between words based on meaning rather than grammar
Mean length of utterance (MLU)
System of classification, introduced by Roger Brown, calculated by the number of morphemes uttered by a child per 100 words
Metonymy
Figurative technique in which ideas or objects are expressed by using ideas or objects which are related to them
Middle English
The English of mediaeval times, from about 1000 to 1450, a hybrid of Anglo-Saxon and Norman French
Miscue
Mistake made by a child when learning to read
Mismatch
Mismatch Overextension which occurs when the child is trying to convey some more abstract information – for example, Rescorla’s instance of a child who labelled an empty cot doll referring to the doll which was not there. Also referred to as predicate statement
Morpheme
Smallest element of meaning
Multiplicity and complexity
Stage four of Jeanne Chall’s reading development where the child attempts more complex material, analysing it, and often finds reading comprehensions easier than listening ones – 14–16 years
Narrative
Fourth stage of Joan Rothery’s early genres where the child adopts an orientation-complication-resolution-coda structure to her/his fiction
Narrowing
Word which has lost some of its meanings or which finds its scope restricted
Nasal
Of a consonant, pronounced so that air is sent through the nose as in m, n, ng
Nativism
Acquisition theory, associated with Noam Chomsky, which suggests that human brains possess a set of linguistic principles which are inborn and which help them to pick up their own language
Negative reinforcement
obvious
Neologism
New word
Network building
Jean Aitchison’s semantic model, a category of language usage where a child will make connections between the labels she has developed, can grasp the concepts of opposites and similarities and begin to explore relationships between and contrasts in words
News values
Criteria by which journalists decide what will appeal to their audiences
Newsworthy
Of news, that audiences will find interesting
NIBs
Acronym for ‘news in brief’, small snippets of news
No letter use
Phase 0 of J Richard Gentry’s writing stages where the child draws, scribbles and pretends to write
Non-alphabetic writing
Phase 1 of J Richard Gentry’s writing stages where the child attempts to label, often using random letters
Non-U
Term coined in the 1950s and used of language and culture to denote ‘lower class’,‘unsophisticated’. See U
Object permanence
Realisation that an object does not cease to exist just because one cannot see it
Observation/comment
First stage of Joan Rothery’s early genres where the child makes an observation and links it with an evaluative comment
Obsolete
Fallen out of use. See archaic
Omission
Type of spelling error where letters are left out
Onset and rime
Method for the teaching of reading where monosyllabic words are split into two and the initial consonant sound is considered separately from and then combined with the rest of the word
Orthographical
To do with spelling and punctuation
Overextension
Inaccurate labelling where a term is used to refer to a lexical
field wider than it should do. See underextension
Overgeneralisation
Application of a perceived rule where it should not be used
Packaging
In Jean Aitchison’s semantic model, category of language usage where a child will start to explore the extent of labels. At this stage over- and underextensions will frequently occur
Parallel play
Phenomenon in which children play side by side but do not really engage with each other socially
Partial alphabetic writing
Phase 2 of J Richard Gentry’s writing stages where the child writes simple narratives of 3–6 lines
Pejoration
Semantic change whereby the meaning of a word becomes more negative
Personal function
One of Michael Halliday’s taxonomy of functions: where language is used to express the speaker’s personal preferences and promote the speaker’s identity
Phonetic spelling
Type of spelling error where the child spells a word as s/he hears it, using the grapheme which s/he has most frequently associated with the sound
Phonetic stage
Stage of writing in which the child will include first and last consonants in most of her/his words and spell some familiar words correctly, though phonetic spelling predominates
Phonics
System for teaching reading where the child is systematically taught the letters of the alphabet and then combinations of these and how these correspond to sounds (phonemic-graphemic correspondence)
Pivot word
Key word or gestalt expression which is used by a small child very frequently and in a versatile way so that utterances seem to revolve around it
Plosive
Of a consonant, pronounced so that the air stream is briefly blocked in various parts of the mouth as in b, d, g, k, p, t
Poetic
Second stage of James Britton’s early writing genres where children consciously craft their work
Polite
Good mannered, considerate and gracious; mostly archaic: refined and upper/upper middle class
Political correctness (PC)
Principle by which words are consciously selected to avoid giving offence
Positive reinforcement
obvious
Poverty of the stimulus
Seemingly inadequate amount of linguistic experience – i.e. limited number of actual words heard in and often fragmented syntax of ordinary conversation – to which children are exposed before they start to speak and understand language
Practising
One of John Dore’s taxonomy of functions or primitive speech acts: where language is used and repeated when no adult is present – egocentric speech
Predicate statement
Mismatch
Prefix
Affix, or free/bound morpheme, which is added to the beginning of a
word
Preliterate stage
Stage just before writing where the child scribbles in a way which resembles true writing
Pre-operational stage
Period, specified by Jean Piaget, from ages 2–7 in which children are not able to think logically about causes and effects. See magical thinking
Preparation
B M Kroll’s first writing stage where the child acquires basic necessary motor skills needed to manipulate a writing implement and learns simple spelling – up to six years
Pre-reading and pseudo-reading
Stage zero of Jeanne’s Chall’s reading development where children pretend to read and recognise/write some letters – up to 6 years
Prescriptivism
Insistence that language norms are adhered to and that language does not change
Progressive verb
Form of the verb which implies a continuous action
Projection
Part of a news story which tells the reader what might happen next
Protesting
One of John Dore’s taxonomy of functions or primitive speech acts: where language is used to object to requests, behaviour, moods
Protoconversation
Early form of conversation in which an infant may play a turntaking role, even initiate, though without necessarily using actual words
Protoword
Very early sound intended to be (and often sounding like) an actual word
Querying
Second stage of Bruner’s set of carer-child interactions in the pre- reading phase: asking the child what the object in the picture is
Quotes
Abbreviation of ‘quotations’ used in the media
Reading for learning
Stage three of Jeanne Chall’s reading development where reading becomes a tool, not an end in itself 9–13 years
Received pronunciation (RP)
Overtly prestigious accent associated with educated people who live in the south-east of England
Recount
Second stage of Joan Rothery’s early genres where the child makes a (usually chronological) account
Reduplications
Sequences of similar or repeated sounds by about 7 months
Register drfit
Movement which occurs when language which is generally considered appropriate for a situation becomes more or less formal than before
Regulatory function
One of Michael Halliday’s taxonomy of functions: where language is used to influence others’ behaviour
Reinforcement
Response to a subject’s behaviour which makes it more likely, according to behaviourists such as B F Skinner, that the subject will repeat it; can be positive or definitely affirming, such as praise or a treat or negative, consisting in the withdrawal of something unpleasant
Referential
Of early language, using a greater proportion of naming words than of action and social words. See expressive
Repeating
One of John Dore’s taxonomy of functions or primitive speech acts: where language is used to echo something said by another speaker
Representational function
One of Michael Halliday’s taxonomy of functions: where language is used to exchange information
Report
Third stage of Joan Rothery’s early genres where the child writes a strictly dispassionate, usually not chronological description of something that has taken place or of a person or object
Requesting action
One of John Dore’s taxonomy of functions or primitive speech acts: where language requires that something be done
Requesting answer
One of John Dore’s taxonomy of functions or primitive speech acts: where language is used to ask a question which needs an answer
Salient sounds
Most significant sounds of a word
Sans serif
Type of font whose letters lack a serif or thickened edge
Scaffolding
Term coined by Jerome Bruner to describe the way adults help children in their learning by gradually withdrawing their support as children become more competent
Semi-phonetic stage
Stage of writing in which the child is consciously using specific letters to match sounds though s/he may write ‘words’ which consist simply of one or two letters
Sensori-motor stage
Period, specified by Jean Piaget, from birth to age 2 where children experience the world through their five senses
Seriation
Sense that many objects or ideas have a place in a sequence
Social interactionism
Belief that interaction between people in necessary for the learning process
Sound it out
Say letters or blends of letters out loud
Stages
Periods of development – a better ways of classifying children’s progress than by ages
Structural analysis
Analysis based on structure, whether grammatical or semantic, of a text
Substitution
Type of spelling error where one letter takes the place of another letter or digraph
Suffix
Affix, or free/bound morpheme, which is added to the end of a word
Symbolic stage
Language-based stage of development, proposed by Jerome Bruner, at which point the child’s language is capable of representing and organising what has been learnt and of dealing with abstract concepts
Synecdoche
Figurative technique in which an object or idea is expressed by a term which refers to part of it
Synonym
Word which has the same or a very similar meaning to that of another word
Synthetic phonics
System of phonics whereby a child learns longer phoneme- grapheme correspondences – up to 44 of them – rather than single letters
Tally
Count items which are similar in a text
Telegraphic stage
Stage of language acquisition where children express themselves using the key (usually lexical rather than functional) words in a sentence only. Also termed early multi-word stage
Tools of intellectual adaptation
Mental processes, techniques and habits, as termed by Lev Vygotsky
Transactional
Third stage of James Britton’s early writing genres where children write from a detached, third person perspective
Transitional stage
Stage of writing in which the child’s writing is quite fluent and spellings and punctuation are often correct though s/he will invent his own spellings when s/he is unsure
Transitive
Of a verb, that can take a direct object
Transposition
Type of spelling error where the correct letters are used but in the wrong order
U
Term coined in the 1950s and used of language and culture to denote ‘upper class’, ‘sophisticated’
Underextension
Inaccurate labelling where a term is used to refer to a lexical field of people/objects/settings/ideas which is too small. See overextension
Universal Grammar
The innate set of linguistic principles believed by Noam Chomsky to be shared by all humans
Unvoiced
Of a consonant, articulated in such as way that the vocal chords do not vibrate
Variable
Attribute which can differ within a context such as a text
Virgule
/; used as a minor stop in mediaeval times
Virtuous error
Logical mistake
Vocabulary spurt
Sudden rapid acquisition of lexis
Vocal play
Gurgles, squeals, giggles and growls by about 4 months; as with cooing the child may not mean anything specific here but seems to be taking pleasure in the sounds s/he can make
Voiced
Of a consonant, articulated in such a way that the vocal chords vibrate
Wh-questions
Questions introduced by where, what, when, who, why and how
Whole language
See look and see
Whole word
See look and see
Wug test
Test, formulated by Jean Berko and using her invented word to describe an imaginary creature , to show how children extract and use grammatical rules
Writing in chunks of spelling patterns
Phase 4 of J Richard Gentry’s writing stages where the child writes more elaborate stories using first-then-next- last structure
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
Distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or collaboration with more capable peers
