Language Learning Terminology Quiz

Language Learning Terminology

• Backwash: The effect a test has on classroom teaching, positive or negative.
• Substitution: Replacing a noun phrase/clause with a single word to avoid repetition or improve cohesion.
• Universal Grammar: A theory suggesting all language speakers possess inherent grammatical principles with adjustable parameters.
• Connotation: A word's associated meaning (attitude, positive/negative), often culturally influenced.
• Tonic Syllable: The stressed part of an utterance, highlighting the main message.
• Fossilised Error: A learner error that becomes permanently ingrained and resistant to correction.
• Intransitive Verb: A verb that doesn't need an object (e.g., "He runs").
• Ellipsis: Omitting words/parts of a sentence without losing meaning, often to avoid repetition.
• Homophone: Words with the same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings (e.g., "see" and "sea").
• Fricative: A consonant sound where air is partially blocked and released slowly (e.g., /v/, /s/, /z/).
• Behaviourism: Learning as habit formation, reinforced by positive responses to stimuli.
• Back-channeling: Verbal cues from a listener showing interest/attention (e.g., "uh-huh," "really").
• Aspect: How a verb describes an event's completeness/duration.
• Cohesion: Unifying sentences/utterances into a connected text using grammar/lexicon (e.g., referencing, linkers, lexical chains).
• Cloze Test: A test that removes every nth word to assess grammar, vocabulary, or discourse.
• Cognates: Words with similar form and meaning in different languages (e.g., "haus" (German) - "house" (English)).
• Determiner: Words like quantifiers and articles that modify nouns (e.g., "much time," "a car").
• Individualisation: Tailoring teaching to individual student needs in mixed-ability classes.
• Assimilation: A sound changing due to a nearby sound (e.g., "ten boys" where /n/ becomes /m/).
• Antonym: Words with opposite meanings (e.g., "big"-"small," "arrive"-"leave").
• Norm-referenced Test: A test comparing students to each other, not external criteria.
• Process Approach: Writing through planning, drafting, revising, editing, and sharing.
• Auxiliary Verbs: Verbs supporting the main verb in a sentence (e.g., "be," "do," "have").
• Fillers: Words used to avoid pauses or fill silence (e.g., "er," "um," "well").
• Tense: Grammatical categories indicating when an action happens (e.g., "walked," "walks").
• Direct Test: A test using real-life tasks (e.g., role-play, letter writing).
• Minimal Pair: Words differing by only one phoneme (e.g., "met," "mat").
• Superordinate: A general term encompassing more specific items (e.g., "fruit" for "apple," "orange," "pear").
• Product Approach: Imitating features from a model text to write.
• Gerund: A verb acting as a noun (-ing form; e.g., "Parking is not permitted").
• Corpus: A large database of texts used to study language.
• CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning): Using English to teach other subjects.
• Affricate: A consonant with a stopped sound followed by friction (e.g., /ch/, /j/).
• Affixation: Adding morphemes to a word's stem (e.g., "useful," "unhappy").
• Diagnostic Test: Identifying a learner's language skills/knowledge before a course.
• Compound: A new word created by combining two or more words (e.g., "website," "downsize").
• Genre: A category of text (e.g., formal letter, anecdote).
• Stative Verb: Describing a condition, state, belief, or emotion.
• Proficiency Test: Assessing language ability independently of a course.
• Alveolar Plosive: A consonant produced by releasing air from the mouth (voiced/unvoiced).
• Eclecticism: Combining elements from different methods/approaches.
• Information Gap Activity: Tasks where learners exchange information.
• Syntax: The ordering of words in clauses/sentences to create meaning.
• Bound Morpheme: Meaningful units needing another unit to form a word (prefixes/suffixes).
• TPR (Total Physical Response): Learning reinforced by physical responses to instructions.
• Idiom: A non-literal expression (e.g., "face the music").
• Coordinating Conjunction: Connecting independent clauses of equal status (e.g., "and," "but").
• Modal Auxiliary Verb: Verbs expressing attitudes to actions (e.g., "can," "may").
• Direct Method: Only using target language, no translation.
• Allophone: Phonetic variants of a single phoneme.
• Formative Assessment: Checking progress during a course.
• Jigsaw Reading: Learners read different parts of a text and share information.
• Delexicalized Verb: Verbs with limited dictionary meaning needing a noun/adjective for meaning（e.g. take time, have fun).
• Top-Down Processing: Using context to understand a text.
• Intrusive /w/: Linking sound /w/ between vowel-ending and vowel-starting words (e.g., "go out").
• Notional Syllabus: Syllabus organized around abstract concepts.