Terminology Flashcards
Accomodation
PHONOLOGY
Squeezing syllables in an utterance into the same amount of time so that they occupy the same length of time .
Acculturation
SLA
The process by which a person integrates into a particular culture . One of the first theories of SLA that attempted to prioritize social factors over purely cognitive ones . It has been partly rehabilitated under the name socialization .
Accuracy
SLA
The extent to which a learner’s use of a second language conforms to the rules of the language . Once thought to be a precondition for fluency .
Achievement test
TESTING
Designed to test what learners have learned over a week , month , term or entire course . Because tests are directly related to the content of the teaching program , they provide feedback on the teaching-learning process , and are therefore useful data for course evaluation .
Action research
METHODOLOGY
A form of teacher-driven research , the twin goals of which are to improve classroom practice , and to empower teachers . Typically motivated less by the desire to answer the big question than by the need to solve a specific teaching problem in the local context .
Planning > acting > observing > reflecting
Adolescents
METHODOLOGY
The ideal time to learn a second language . This age group tends to outperform adults and progress more rapidly than younger learners .
Affect
PSYCHOLOGY
The general word for emotion or feelings . These factors positively or negatively influence language learning . Often contrasted with cognitive factors such as intelligence and learning style . Low cognitive filter = emotionally well-disposed to processing input , high-cognitive = won’t process input so effectively
Affix , Affixation
VOCABULARY
An element that is added to a word and which changes its meaning . The process of doing this .
Affordance
LINGUISTICS
The language learning opportunities that exist in a learner’s linguistic environment . Maximized with meaningful activities and giving learners feedback .
Agency
METHODOLOGY
Control of your own actions , including your mental activity . A notion from critical pedagogy*. Learners are not objects of the teaching process ; they are subjects of the learning process . A factor that contributes to motivation .
- Pedagogy : the study of teaching methods
Allophone
PHONOLOGY
A phonetic variation of the same phoneme . Does not affect meaning .
Applied linguistics
LINGUISTICS
Concerned with the application of linguistic theory to solving language-related problems in the real world . Language planning , speech therapy , lexicography*, translation studies , forensic linguistic .
*
Lexicography : the skill , practice or profession of writing dictionaries .
Appraisal
LINGUISTICS
Also called stance ; the way speakers and writers use language to express their personal attitude to what is being said or written ; one of the main ways that language’s interpersonal function is realized ; consists of 3 categories : affect ( personal feelings ) , judgment ( social values and social esteem ) appreciation ( opinions ) . These can all be expressed lexically , grammatically or through the use of paralinguistic* devices .
*Paralinguistic : relating to communication through ways other than words , for example tone of voice , expressions on your face and actions .
Appropriacy
SOCIOLINGUISTICS
Using language in a way that is suitable for the context and in a way that meets the expectations of the people you are communicating with . An aspect of sociolinguistic competence , which is a component of a speaker’s overall communicative competence .
Appropriation
SLA
To make something your own . Gaining ownership of a skill by first doing it with someone who is more skilled than you are until you can control or regulate the skill yourself . A key concept in sociocultural learning theory . Language is not simply a behavior that is conditioned through repeated practice , but that it is one of collaborative construction , in which skills are transferred in socially-situated activity .
Aptitude
PSYCHOLOGY
The innate talent or predisposition for language learning . 3 kinds of ability : auditory , linguistic , memory .
ARC
METHODOLOGY
Lesson design proposed by Jim Scrivener that focuses on Authentic language use , Restricted language use and then Clarification . These stages can be rearranged and occur many times within one lesson .
Aspect
GRAMMAR
The way the speaker’s view of an event is expressed by the verb phrase , regardless of the time of the event itself . 2 of these in English : Progressive and Perfect .
Assimilation
PHONOLOGY
When a sound is modified by a neighboring sound , such as when the final /n/ of green is followed by a /p/ , and is pronounced /m/ ; /t/ /d/ = /p/ /b/ ; /t/ /d/ = /k/ /g/
Audiolingualism
METHODOLOGY
Became widespread in the US in the 1950s and 60s . Distinctive feature = drilling of sentence patterns . Came from a view of learning as habit formation ( behaviorism ) . Spoken language was prioritized ; translation and the use of metalanguage* was discouraged ; accuracy was considered a precondition for fluency . Shot down by Chomsky in the early 60s and the birth of mentalism .
*metalanguage : the words and phrases that people use to talk about or describe language or a particular language .
Athenticity
LINGUISTICS
Became a priority with the communicative approach . The idea of ‘grade the task , not the text’ was born . This kind of interaction is both more communicative and offers more affordances for learning .
Automaticity
PSYCHOLOGY
The ability to perform a task without to focus attention on it . This frees a learner’s limited attentional resources for more demanding activities . A process of setting up chunks and associations that link one step with another . This doesn’t mean a sacrifice of accuracy . When chunks of language are produced in a pre-assembled form , the speaker has much less chance of making mistakes .
Autonomy
PSYCHOLOGY
Also called self-directed learning . The capacity to take responsibility for your own learning .
Avoidance strategy
SLA
Abandoning a message or replacing an original message with one that is less ambitious .
Backwash
TESTING
The way a test affects the classroom teaching that leads up to it .
Behaviorism
PSYCHOLOGY
A psychological theory popular in the mid-twentieth century that viewed learning as a sort of habit formation and positive reinforcement . Audiolingualism is the teaching method that is associated with this . Stimulus-response-reinforcement . This theory rejected any role , in learning , for mental process such as thought and reasoning .
Bilingualism
SLA
At one point it was considered a handicap to second language learners since ( according to behaviorist theory ) the first language interferes with the second . ADDITIVE = second language added to first without threatening the speaker’s first language identity ; SUBTRACTIVE = the second language replaces the first , threatening the speaker’s language identity .
Broad-band curriculum
METHODOLOGY
Curriculum in which objectives are broadly identified , eg in terms of general competencies . Allows each learner to contribute to the best of his/her abilities . Also allows for the teaching and learning of a variety of language areas concurrently* . Learning is viewed as holistic* , emergent* and concurrent . Better suited to cope with diversity and turn it into a resource .
*
Concurrent : happening or existing at the same time
Emergent : starting to exist or to become known
Holistic : dealing with or treating the whole of something or someone and not just a part
Cognitive Learning Theory
PSYCHOLOGY
A learning theory that draws upon ideas from cognitive psychology, the branch of psychology that deals with perception and thinking. Piaget first proposed the view that language develops out of the child’s thoughts and growing awareness of the world. A later version suggests that the child acquires language by forming and testing hypotheses about the adult language it hears around it. Has been criticized as being mechanistic, and for ignoring social and affective factors.
Coherence
Discourse
How the sentences in a text relate to each other.
Cohesion
Discourse The use of grammatical and lexical means to achieve connected text. LEXICAL : repetition, synonyms, general words, same thematic field, substitution, ellipsis ; GRAMMATICAL : references , substitution, ellipsis, linkers, parallelism
Ellipsis : The act of leaving out a word or words from a sentence deliberatly, when the meaning can be understood without them .
Collocation
Vocabulary
Words that frequently occur together.
Can be grammatical(collocate with specific prepositions: account for , or lexical : narrow escape
Communication Strategy
SLA
Ways that learners get around the fact that they may not know how to say something, but that help the learner achieve their intended message : paraphrase, word coinage, foreignizing a word, approximation, all-purpose words, language-switching, paralinguistics, appealing for help.
Communication Activity
Methodology
Activity in which real communication occurs. Key features : purposefulness, reciprocity, negotiation, unpredictability, heterogeneity, synchronicity.
Communicative Approach
Methodology
An umbrella term used to describe a major shift in language teaching that occurred in the 1970s. Shift away from language systems and toward how these systems are used in real communication. Linguistic competence replaced with focus on communicative competence. Directly related to functional-notional syllabus.
Communicative Competence
Linguistics
First proposed by Dell Hymes, what you know in order to be able to communicate effectively. The term contrasts with linguistic competence(Chomsky). Hymes introduced the notion of appropriacy.
Community Language Learnig
Methodology
Also called counseling learning, a teaching method developed by Charles Curran in the 70s in the US. The learners (clients) sit in a circle having a conversation. They consult with the teacher/knower, who is outside the circle, to help formulate each utterance. The conversation is recorded, played back, translated, transcribed, boarded and read aloud.
Competence
Linguistics
What we intuitively know about a language in order to be able to use it. Contrasts with performance. This motivates the use of corpus data to inform grammars, dictionaries and classroom materials. I language (internalized language) and E language (i language put to use externally)
Competency
Methodology
A specific practical skill. Sometimes in the form of ‘can do’ statements.
Complexity
SLA
Gauged by the following factors : amount of subordination, complex sentences, reference, lexical/linking verb ratio, conjunctions
Comprehension
Psychology
The process of understanding speech or writing. It results from an interaction between different kinds of knowledge. Bottom-up vs. top-down processing is involved. Involves different psychological operations, including perception, recognition and inferencing.
Computer-Mediated Communication
CMC
Methodology
The use of networked computers in order to communicate. Can be synchronous (people communicate in real time) or asynchronous (delayed communication)
Concord
Grammar
Also called agreement. The name given to the grammatical relationship whereby the form of one word requires a corresponding form in another. In English, it’s the case with subjects and verbs(I like, He likes…)
Connectionism
Psychology
A model of learning which belongs to what are called usage-based accounts of language acquisition. It does not presuppose any innate language-learning faculty, nor any rule-learning and rule-using. It assumes we are mentally predisposed to look for associations between elements and create links between them in response to frequently encountered patterns of usage.
Consciousness-Raising (CR)
Psychology
The way that learners become aware, or are made aware, of features of the language they are learning. The term belongs to cognitive learning theory, which claims a central role for conscious mental operations learning. Things teachers do with this potential: enhancing the input in some way so as to make certain items more salient; asking learners to infer rules from examples(inductive learning); asking them to compare their own output that of more proficient users of the target language(noticing the gap); problematizing the input; pushed output(noticing the holes in the present state of their language).
Constructivism
Psychology
A theory of learning that claims that individuals actively construct knowledge, rather than passively receiving it. Supports the case for learner-centered instruction and experiential learning. Underscores the argument for personalization. Key figures: Jean Piaget and Jerome Burner. Contrasts with behaviorist theory and is ideologically aligned with cognitive learning theory, mentalism and, most closely, humanism.
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)
Methodology
Teaching a subject through English. Also called content-based teaching. A strong form of the communicative approach in that there is no predetermined language syllabus.
Contingency
Psychology
The sense that what is happening is connected to what has just happened and what is about to happen.
Contrastive Analysis
SLA
The way the linguistic systems of two languages are compared and contrasted. Used to be thought that a comparison between a learner’s L1 and L2 would predict the errors that a learner would make; the underlying assumption was a behaviorist one - that L1 interference was to blame. Many errors are now attributed to developmental causes, not interference. The best predictions of this are in the area of phonology.
Conversational Implicature
Discourse
The ability to infer from what has been said what has not been said
Conversation Analysis
Discourse
Concerned with describing the structure of conversational interaction, including the sequential organization of talk and the ways that speakers repair communication problems. The basic unit of talk is the turn. Managed by turn-taking, includes adjacency pairs, conversational openings and closings, back channeling and repair strategies. Limited in that it divorces conversation from its content.
Co-operative Principle
Discourse
The principle that speakers try to co-operate with one another. When people take part in a conversation they do so on the assumption that the other speakers will observe certain unstated rules. First articulated by H.P. Grice, included 4 maxims:
Maxim of quantity : make your contribution as informative as required
Maxim of quality : make your contribution one that is true
Maxim of relation : make your contribution relevant
Maxim of manner : avoid obscurity and ambiguity. Be brief and orderly
Has been criticized as being culturally biased.
Corpus
Linguistics
A collection of actually occurring texts (either spoken or written) stored and accessed by means of computers, and useful for investigating language use.
Corpus Linguistics
Linguistics
The use of corpora for researching language structure and use; has lead to the development of grammars and dictionaries that claim to be more reliable than their forbears, in that they are based on attested data. Has been criticized on the grounds that the information it reveals relates only to language performance.
Course Design
Methodology
The design of a language teaching program and of the specific materials to be used on a program. Stages include needs analysis, goal setting, syllabus design, materials choice, assessment instruments, evaluation procedures.
Criterion-Reference Test
Testing
Test in which the candidate has to achieve a certain agreed standard in order to pass.
Critical Pedagogy
Methodology
Has roots in progressive education and is also sometimes called transformative education. Gained prominence through Paulo Freire. Assumes that education can never be purely disinterested or neutral. It either functions to maintain the status quo or it works to change the status quo. Has been influenced by humanism, learner autonomy, literacy training, critical discourse analysis, identity politics and cultural studies.
Critical Period Hypothesis
Psychology
Neurological factors occurring at puberty mean that thereafter you can’t just pick up a language as you did when you were a child.
Culture
Linguistics
Addresses these questions :
What is the relationship between language and culture and to what extend do languages express cultural values ?
Does learning a second language involve learning a new set of cultural values ?
Does teaching a second language involve teaching the culture of the language ? Is there a homogenous English culture ?
How do cultural factors impact on terminology ? How and to what extend should methodology adapt to take account of local cultural practices ?
Is there such a thing as intercultural competence, analogous to communicative competence, and if so, how is it fostered ?
Curriculum
Methodology
The whole complex of ideological, social and administrative factors which contribute to the planning of its teaching program. Embodies several decisions :
1. About the objectives or goals of the program
2. About the content - from these decisions the syllabus will be derived
3. About the method of instruction
4. About how the program is evaluated
Concerned with the beliefs, values and theory, not with how they are realized.
Deductive Learning
Psychology
Occurs when a rule or generalization is first presented to the learners, and then they go on to apply it in practice activities. Associated with approaches such as grammar-translation. Can be very effective in teaching form of the language.
Deixis
Grammar
The way language points to spatial, temporal and personal features of the context. The speakers’s location is the center, and these expressions distinguish between ‘near’ the speaker and ‘away’ from the speaker. Can be expressed by certain verbs, which have direction built into their meaning: come, go , bring, take.
Descriptive Grammar
Linguistics
Describes, in a systematic way, the rules that govern how words are combined and sequenced in order to form sentence in a given language. Deal with morphology and syntax. Can be formal or functional.
Diagnostic Test
Testing
A form of assessment given before the entry of a course to identify a learner’s particular needs (as in needs analysis)
Dialect
Sociolinguistics
A regional or social variety of a language.
Dictogloss
Methodology
A form of dictation in which students hear the complete text(short) and then reconstruct it from memory. Learners first work individually, then in pairs, then in groups, each time comparing their versions of the text and negotiating changes.
Direct Approach to Conversation
Methodology
Argues that the characteristic features of conversation, as identified in conversation analysis, should be taught explicitly and in isolation, before being integrated into freer practice activities. These features include conversational gambits, turn-taking, use of discourse markers, appraisal language, vague language, etc.
Direct Method
Methodology
An umbrella term for a wide range of language teaching methods that emerged in the later part of the 19th century.
They shared the belief that only the target language should be used in the classroom and that therefore translation should be avoided at all costs. Started with Maxmilian Berlitz. Bome out of the demand for learning languages for international commerce and tourism. Laid the foundation of applied linguistics. In the US, it ingested behaviorist theory and became audiolingualism.
Discourse Analysis
Discourse
Any connected piece of speech or writing. The study of how such stretches of language achieve both cohesion and coherence.
Discourse Marker
Discourse
Also called pragmatic markers. Words or expressions that normally come at the beginning of an utterance, and function to orient the listener to what will follow. Can indicate some kind of cane of direction in the talk or appeal to the listener in some way.
Discrete-Point test
TESTING
Test that tests individual components in isolation.
Discussion
Methodology
Opportunity for learners to interact freely and spontaneously, to cope with unpredictability, to voice opinions using language that is both complex and fluent. More structured than conversation. Risks: might get out of hand, learners might feel unduly constrained by the TL, some learners might dominate.
Display Question
Methodology
Questions asked by the teachers in order that learners can ‘display’ their knowledge. They typically initiate a 3 part exchange that is characteristic of classroom interaction and is called IRF (interaction, response, follow-up). Usually aimed at finding out what learners can say in the TL. Contrast with real questions.
Dogme ELT
Methodology
The name of a loose collective of teachers who challenge what they consider to be an over-reliance on materials, including published coursebooks, in current language teaching. Based on DOGME 95, a group of Danish filmmakers who vowed to make films using minimal means for maximum effect. Proponents say they are not so much anti-materials as they are pro-learner, and thus align themselves with other forms of learner-centered instruction and critical pedagogy.
Drama
Methodology
Can provide entertaining practice opportunities, as well as offering a useful springboard into real-life language use. A greater range of registers can be practised than are normally available in classroom talk. Can include roleplays and simulations.
Drill
Methodology
Repetitive oral practice of a language item, whether a word, a sound, a phrase or a sentence structure. Follow a prompt-response sequence. Were a defining feature of the audiolingual method and were designed to reinforce good language ‘habits.’ Can still be communicative with an information gap type element built in (‘find someone who…’).
Dynamics
Methodology The actions and interactions, both conscious and unconscious, that take place between members of a group, whether the whole class or sub-group. Instrumental in forging a productive and motivating classroom environment. Determined by the composition of the group (age, sex, status), the patterns of relationships between group members, physical factors such as group size, the task itself.
Eclecticism
Methodology
Combining techniques and activities from different methods in your teaching. Motivated by different reasons, one being a general distrust of a ‘one size fits all’ method. Ts sometimes think that certain methods are not sensitive enough to such variables as the context, culture and learning styles of the students. Has been criticized on the grounds that it lacks principle and encourages an ‘anything goes’ approach to teaching. Principled ____ subscribes to a ‘post-method’ philosophy.
Elision
Phonology
This happens when a sound is omitted, because another, similars, sound follows. This is common when two plosive sounds occur together. Walked to = walktuh ; baked beans = bakebeans ; last week = lasweek ; next, please = neksplease
Ellipsis
Discourse
Leaving elements out of a sentence because they are either unnecessary or because their sense can be worked out from the immediate context. Very common in spoken language and is also a common feature of certain text types where brevity is priority(i.e. postcards)
End-Weight
Discourse
A principle in which new information is placed at the end of a sentence rather than at the beginning, which is normally reserved for given information.
Error
SLA
An instance of the learner’s language that does not conform to accepted norms of usage, and which is attributed to incomplete or faulty learning. Usually defined in terms of adult native speakers. Sometimes distinguished from mistakes, the former being due to lack of knowledge (i.e. competence), and the latter being due to the demands of performance. Categorized in a number of ways: pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar or discourse; or according to the way they depart from the norm (omission, addition, mis-selection, misformation, misordering); also categorized according to their cause.
Evaluation
Methodology
Not to be confused with assessment. Can be ongoing (formative) : getting feedback on the curriculum in action. Can be final (summative) : when the outcomes of the program are evaluated according to the goals that were established at the outset. Procedures involve the use of questionnaires, interviews, observation, meetings and focus groups.
Examination
Methodology
A formal test that is usually administered by some examining body.
Exercise
Methodology
An activity that involves the controlled manipulation of the forms of the language. Contrasts with more meaning-focused, and less tightly controlled, activities such as tasks. Usually written, like the equivalent of drills. Closed =only 1 answer; open=more than one possible. include gap fills, sentence transformations, ordering exercises, matching exercises, insertion exercises, deletion exercises, translation exercises, error-correction exercises.
Experiential Learning
Methodology
A general term for ‘deep end’ approaches to learning that rate direct practical experience over the learning and application of abstract rules. This might take the form of TBL, discovery learning or content-based learning. Belongs to the constructivist school of learning theory in which knowledge is a mental construct which is subject to constant re-evaluation and reconstruction. The cycle consists of alternating stages of action and reflection. Shares with mentalist theory a belief in the value of inductive learning. Shares with humanism a commitment to whole-person learning and with critical pedagogy a belief in the transformative power of direct experience. Particularly appropriate in teaching young learners.
Face
Discourse
The desire to be appreciated (called positive) or the desire not to be imposed upon (negative)
Face Threatening Facts
Discourse
Requests And invitations are these because they expose both the speaker and the addressee to the risk of her refusal. Often prefaced by a question which gives the addressee a let-out.
Facilitation
Methodology
A way of thinking about teaching that recognizes the fact that teachers do not directly cause learning, but that they can provide the conditions in which learning happens. The notion comes from humanist theory and partly from critical pedagogy both of which credit the learner with agency in the learning process. Community Language Learning is a good example of this.
Feedback
SLA
The information, either immediate or delayed, that learners get on their performance. Traditionally takes the form of correction. Can be explicit or implicit.
Finite Verbs
Grammar
Show that they are related to a subject by having person, number and tense. “Brad works for his uncle.”
First Language Acquisition
Psychology
It takes place relatively quickly. It is systematically staged. It happens despite the ‘poverty of the stimulus.’ It results from contact and interaction and not from any formal teaching. Given a reasonable amount of exposure, it is always 100% successful. We are hard-wired to learn a first language.
Fluency
SLA
The ability to speak a language idiomatically and accurately, without undue pausing, without an intrusive accent, and in a manner appropriate to the context. The ability to produced and maintain speech in real time. This involves: appropriate pausing, long runs, formulaic language, production strategies. Can also be called “communicative effectiveness” regardless of formal accuracvy or speed of delivery.
Focus on Form
SLA
When conscious attention is directed to some formal feature of the language input. It has been argued that this is a necessary condition for language learning. Meaning is not enough. It can occur at any stage in classroom instruction. Correction is also a kind of this.
Form
Linguistics
The way a word, phrase or sentence is written or pronounced, independent of its meaning. Often contrasted with function.
Formal Language
Sociolinguistics
A style of language that is appropriate in situations where there is social distance between speakers, or where the situation or topic requires a degree of seriousness. Not to be confused with politeness. It is more common in print, such as in official documents. Characterized by: complex sentences, frequent use of the passive, reported speech, fast modals, long and complex noun phrases, long words with Greek or Latin roots.
Formulaic Language
Linguistics
Those sentences of two or more words that operate as a single unit. They are not generated word by word, but are stored in the memory and retrieved as if they were one-word vocabulary items. Also ca led lexical chunks, multi-word units, ready-mades, prefabricated language and holophrases. Can be classified in the folowing categories: co locations, phrasal verbs, idioms, sentence frames, social formulae, discourse markers. They make for easy access in real-time speaking conditions and aid fluency because of the low planning time required. Can also help make speaker sound idiomatic, a feature of the target speech community. The central platform of the Lexical Approach.
Fossilization
SLA
When an error becomes a permanent feature of a learner’s interlanguage. In theory such errors are resistant to correction. It has been hypothesized that the lack of instruction (and therefore the lack of a focus on form) is the main cause. May also be due to a lack of negative feedback on errors or the lack of a push to make learners’ output more accurate. Some learners also have no social motivation to improve their interlanguage.
Function
Linguistics
The communicative purpose of a language item. It is also the communicative uses to which forms and meanings are put. To assign a ____ to a text or an utterance requires knowledge of the context in which the text is used. Can be micro (speech acts with +ing) or macro (expressive purposes, regulatory purposes, etc). Differ from notions, which describe areas of meaning.
Functional Syllabus
Methodology
A syllabus based around a list of language functions. Often combined with notions. They were developed to support a communicative approach. If these have survived at all, it’s as one strand in a multi-layered syllabus.
Function Words
Grammar
Those words which have a mainly grammatical function (also called grammar words). Includes auxiliary verbs, determiners, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions and some adverbs. Contrast with content words. Of the 50 most common words in English, 49 are these.
Futurity
Function Expressed by : will + infinitive going to + infinitive present simple present progressive will + be + present participle will + have + past participle Sometimes determined by speaker's perception of, or attitude to, the future event being referred to.
Genre
Linguistics
Any type of spoken or written discourse which is used and recognized by members of a particular culture or sub-culture
As these become established, they acquire a conventionalized structure and often a characteristic vocabulary and grammar. Involves features at macro level (overall organization) and micro level (specific grammatical and functional features).
Genre-Based Approach to Writing
Methodology
An approach that is similar to a product approach. Starts with a model text (authentic) that is subjected to analysis and replication. These are closely associated with their contexts of use, and they are analyzed in functional terms as much as in linguistics ones.has been particularly influential in the teaching of academic writing.
Grammaring
Linguistics
A term coined by the applied linguist Diane Larsen-Freeman in order to capture the notion of grammar being more a skill than an inert body of knowledge. The process by which a sequence of words if fine-tuned in order to create a more complex massage than mere words can express. Has also been used to describe the way the learner’s mental grammar develops, over time, from a mainly lexical mode into a fuller mode(mirrors L1 acquisition).
Grammar-Translation Method
Methodology
Developed out of a way that classical languages (Greek and Latin) were traditionally taught. It wasn’t fully formalized until the mid-19th century, when became institutionalized in schools in Germany. First known as the Prussian Method. Grammar is taught deductively (rules first) and accuracy is highly prioritized. Seriously challenged by the Reform movement of the late 19th century.
Highlighting Form
Methodology
When a teacher draws learner’s attention to features of spoken or written language using :
Modeling, finger-coding, cuisenaire rods, board work, substitution tables. Takes place in close association with the meaning of the item.
Homographs
Vocabulary
Words that are written the same way, but pronounced differently, and which have different meanings.
A long and windy road. A windy night.
Homonyms
Vocabulary
Words that are written and pronounced the same way, but have different meanings.
I like pizza. What does she look like?
Humanistic Approaches
Methodology
Learning approaches that assert the central role of the ‘whole person’ in the learning process. Emerged in the mid-20th century as reaction to behaviorism and to counterbalance the exclusive intellectualism of mentalism. Identifies with the autonomy movement, learner-centered instruction, whole language learning and critical pedagogy. Most closely associated with the Silent Way, Community Language Learning and Suggestopaedia. In recent years , has come to include NLP and the theory of multiple intelligences.
Hyponym
Vocabulary
A specific item of a larger category.
An orange is a fruit. (Orange is the specific item).
Hypothetical meaning
Function
Contrasts with factual meaning and refers to situations that are assumed to be. Improbable or impossible. Sometimes the term counterfactual is used to describe impossibility. Frequently expressed by conditional constructions.
Identity
Psychology
One of the most important functions of language is as a marker of____. Speakers make accent and dialect choices in order to align themselves with particular socially and geographically defined groups. Learners can also try to identify with a discourse community. L2____ may either support or threaten their first language____, and this in turn will affect their success. Multiple factors affect the learner’s notion of this : gender, ethnicity, job, family relationships, etc.
Idiom
Vocabulary
A word sequence whose meaning is not literal (cannot be easily worked out from its individual words. Can be classified in a variety of ways:
metaphorical : a hot potato, the tip of the iceberg
restricted collocations : pitch black, fat chance
phrasal verbs : pick up, get on
frozen similes : as old as the hills, as easy as pie
binomials and trinomials: hook, line and sinker, spick and span
proverbs and catchphrases: waste not, want not
euphemisms: pass away
true idioms (fixed and non-literal): spil the beans, fly off the handle
Idiomaticity
Linguistics
The extent to which a person’s language sounds native-like. Has been a key influence on the development of the lexical approach.
Immersion
SLA
When children, as a group, are taught some or all of their school subjects in a language that is not their mother tongue. It is aimed at fostering bilingualism. Can be total (when all curriculum subjects are taught in the second language) or partial (when only some subjects are taught in the second language). Should be distinguished from submersion (only individuals, not a group)
Indirect Approach to Conversation
Methodology
Argues that conversation is best learned by having conversations. Syllabus might consist of a list of topics to talk about or situations where conversations are likely to occur.
Individual Learner Differences
Psychology
Variations based on learning styles, abilities, needs and drives. Reflected in the differences in the rate at which learners learn and in their eventual levels of attainment. Key factors are biological, personality, cognitive and affective. Outcomes of this research were : learner training procedures, learning strategies, one-to-one teaching and self-access centers.
Inductive learning
Psychology
The process of working out rules on the basis of examples. Also called discovery learning. Has been a core principle in such natural methods as the direct method and audiolingualism. More recently has been promoted as a means of consciousness-raising.
Input
SLA
The spoken or written language that learners are exposed to. You cannot learn a language without this. Krashen argues that this is all that is necessary for language acquisition to take place, but it must be comprehensible and one step above the learner’s interlanguage.
Input Flood
SLA
To include an item lots of times in a text to increase the chances of learners noticing it.
Instructions
Methodology
The way that teachers manage classroom learning. Usually verbal. Will normally include some of the following features :
A frame, a brief summary, the organization, the procedure, the mode, the outcome, a strategy, the timing, a cue.
Have a directive function and are typically realized using the imperative.
Intake
SLA
According to cognitive learning theory, the conscious process of noticing features of input results in this. The part that was taken into short-term memory, the first step in the process of accommodating it into the learner’s developing interlanguage system.
Integrative Test
Testing
Test that combines various components of a skill.
Intelligibility
Phonology
When other people can understand what you are saying. Has resulted in the phonological core - features of phonology that are crucial.
Interaction
SLA
When learners communicate with one another, or with their teacher, or with the other speakers of the target language. Learner-learner ____ is a defining feature of the communicative approach, promotes good group dynamics and is a step toward learner autonomy.
Interaction Hypothesis
SLA
Michael Long’s theory that tasks that promote negotiation of meaning are beneficial. Exchanges where learners jointly resolve a communication problem provide a source of comprehensible input. Long argues for the need for interaction, primarily because it is a site for negotiating meaning, called discourse repair strategies.
Interlanguage
SLA
The grammatical system that a learner creates in the course of learning another language. It is neither their first language system, nor the target language system, but occupies a transitional point between the two.
Seen as an independent system in its own right, and not simply a degenerate form of the target language. Reflects the learner’s evolving system of rules. It follows particular stages, no matter what the learner’s first language is. Initially called the basic learner variety. Partial competence is a valid objective in second language learning.
Intonation
Phonology
The music of speech. A suprasegmental feature of pronunciation, meaning that it is a property of whole stretches of speech rather than of individual segments. Functions of this are:
grammatical function: indicating the difference between statements and questions
attitudinal function: indicating interest, surprise, boredom; what is called high and low involvement
discoursal function: contrasting new information with information that is already known, hence shared between speakers. Serves both to separate the stream of speech into blocks of information (tone units), and to mark information within these units as being significant.
High key=implies a contrast in attitude with respect to the preceding utterance
Low key=Speaker is adding something that is obvious or by the way
