A glossary of methodology and background terminology

The following are the minimum terms and concepts with which you should be familiar to be able to
understand and describe methodology and learning in English Language Teaching.
Term Gloss
Acceptability A judgement concerning the appropriateness or accuracy of a
language item
Acculturation The process by which people’s attitudes and values may change by
exposure to alternative cultural norms
Achievement test A test designed to measure how well something has been learned
Acquisition A term contrasted with learning referring to the unconscious
acquiring of a language
Active vocabulary The vocabulary a learner can use as well as understand
Adjacency pair Two utterances related by function and often co-occurring. For
example, accusing and apologising
Affect Emotional effect
Affective filter A hindrance to learning caused by stress or uncertainty
Agglutination The tendency of some languages to combine words and add
morphemes together to make new meanings
Analytic language A language in which there are few or no inflections and which does
not agglutinate
Approach A term often used instead of methodology to describe a theory of
language and a theory of learning. E.g., a communicative approach
Appropriacy A socio-linguistic term used as a measure of the social acceptability
of an utterance with reference to communicative intention, style and
register
Appropriateness A non-technical measure of the social acceptability of a language
item often used instead of appropriacy (q.v.). This is also the correct
term to describe the relevance and applicability of something (e.g., a
test or course) to its target audience.
Associative learning Learning aided by associations between sounds, meanings or
contrasts
Audiolingualism A methodology associated with behaviourist language learning
theory and structural linguistics
Audio-visual aid Any chart, diagram, video sequence or audio recording etc. used in a
classroom
Aural Referring to hearing / listening
Authenticity The degree to which teaching materials come from the ‘real world’
Automaticity The ability to use language without thinking
Avoidance A learner’s tendency to avoid using certain language items because a
simpler formulation is available
Backchaining Drilling a sequence orally beginning at the end and working in
sections to the beginning
Backwash (aka washback) The effect on teaching that testing has

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Term Gloss
Behaviourism A theory of learning based around the acquisition of habit and
reinforcement of learning
Bottom-up processing An analytic approach to understanding a written or heard text which
uses the reader / hearer’s knowledge of the structure and lexicon of
the language to piece together the import of the text (cf. top-down
processing)
Cloze test Technically, removing, e.g., every fifth or seventh word from a
passage and asking test takers to guess the missing words.
Informally, a gap-fill test
Cocktail party effect Descriptive of the ability to filter out background noise and only
focus on the information one wishes to hear
Code switching Changing languages or varieties of the same language in a text
Cognate A word which has the same derivation and is similar in form in more
than one language (meaning may or may not vary)
Cognition Mental processes such as thinking, remembering, recognising,
inferencing, deducing and classifying
Cognitive style A learner’s preferred way of learning
Coherence The extent to which a text or exchange makes sense in terms of
logical connection
Cohesion The extent to which a text or exchange is linked by language forms
Common core Those language items and functions which a learner must acquire
whatever the ultimate aim of learning is
Communicative To do with the exchange of information, feelings, attitudes etc.
between a Sender (the speaker / writer) and the Receiver (the
listener / reader)
Communicative Language An approach which has the ability to communicate effectively as its
Teaching ultimate aim and which uses simulated or real communicative
situations in teaching
Communicative competence The ability to:
a) form accurate language
b) understand the rules of speaking
c) know how to make and understand speech acts and perform
identifiable functions in language
d) know where and when to use the language (i.e., understand
what is appropriate)
Community Language A methodology developed from group counselling techniques
Learning
Comparative linguistics The study of languages and their structures in relation to each other
Competence A person’s internalised grammar
Comprehensible input Input of language which can be understood and form the basis of
learning
Computer assisted language Using computers as a major element in the teaching-learning process
learning (CALL)

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Term Gloss
Concept-checking question A display question intended to ascertain whether an idea has been
understood (cf. instruction-checking question)
Concordance A computer-generated analysis of texts intended to identify
collocational and colligational patterns
Concurrent validity The degree to which the results of a test will agree with the results of
another test aimed at measuring the same ability
Connectivism A theory of language acquisition based on the cognitive process of
making connections and drawing parallels
Connotation The additional meaning connected to a word or phrase beyond its
base or denotational meaning
Consciousness raising Alerting learners to features of the language
Construct validity In testing, the ability of the test constructor to describe what exactly
is being tested
Content-based instruction Language teaching which focuses on the skills and knowledge
required in other school subjects
Content validity The degree to which a test measures what it is intended to measure
Co-text and Context The first refers to the language around an item, the second to the
broader setting in which the language occurs. The term context is
often used for both.
Contrastive analysis Analysing the differences between two languages or varieties
Conversational analysis An analysis of natural conversation intended to identify its
characteristics
Conversation maxim One of four maxims devised by Grice to describe the conventions of
communication
Co-operative / Collaborative An approach in which learners are organised into groups or pairs to
learning work together
Corpus A database of linguistic information which can be analysed using
computers
Correlation The agreement or otherwise between two variables (e.g., learning
time and learning success)
Course design The design of a teaching programme
Creative construction theory The hypothesis that learners are active in constructing theories to
explain the data they are exposed to
Criterion referencing Measuring the outcomes of a test against an external set of criteria
such as task completion, accuracy, communicative effect etc.
Critical period hypothesis The theory that there is a critical period for learning language which
ceases around the age of 12
Curriculum The content, often externally imposed, of a syllabus
Deductive learning Learning based on being given the rule and from that to produce
acceptable language
Delayed correction A technique which avoids the interruption of an activity and leaves
correction of language until its completion

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Term Gloss
Descriptive grammar Grammar which describes what native speakers do rather than
attempting to say what is right or wrong
Developmental error An error made which is the result of developing a grasp of a rule
Diagnostic testing Testing to discover a learner’s strengths and weaknesses
Direct method Teaching a language in the language
Discourse analysis Analysing language above the level of the sentence
Discovery learning Learning through being led to the rules by observation and noticing
Discrete-point testing Testing which involves assessing ability to produce / understand
individual language items
Distractor Any of the wrong responses in a multiple-choice test
Drill Any technique based on repetition or cueing
EAP English for Academic Purposes (i.e., studying in the language)
Eclecticism The selection of whatever practice seems appropriate from a range
of theoretical perspectives
EGP English for General Purposes. Contrasted with English for Science
and Technology (EST), ESP (English for Special Purposes) etc.
Ethnographic approach Study of a phenomenon in its cultural setting
Expectancy theory A theory of motivation concerned with a learner’s view of the
efficacy and value of the methodology and targets of learning
respectively
Extensive Reading or listening in quantity rather than to limited amounts of
language
Face validity A measure of how much a learner recognises that a test is fair and
reliable
FLA First Language Acquisition
Formative evaluation Testing or assessment designed to contribute to learning and
improving teaching
Framing (aka transition) Any technique which explicitly signals the end of an activity and the
beginning of the next stage of a lesson
Functional linguistics An approach to language study which focuses on language as a social
interaction (aka Systemic Functional Linguistics)
Generative grammar An approach to grammar analysis which focuses on the underlying
rules allowing acceptable language to be produced
Genre Language forms which share purpose, text staging and many
linguistic elements. E.g., discussions, expositions, narratives,
explanations etc.
Genre approach An approach to teaching, especially, writing which focuses on
analysing the structure and content of a model text. It may be
combined with a process or product approach (q.v.)
Global motivation A learner’s general reason for learning
Grammar translation An approach to teaching which focuses on accessing the culture and
literature of the target language using translation and grammatical
study

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Term Gloss
Humanism A term referring to the importance of human values, self-awareness,
sensitivity and cultural appropriateness in teaching methodologies
Hypothesis testing Describing how learners create hypotheses or theories about the
language and test them against the data they receive
Illocutionary force An utterance’s intended or perceived meaning. E.g., It’s cold in here
= Please shut the window
Imitation theory A theory of learning which assumes that language is learned by
imitating language heard
Inductive learning A learning theory which assumes that people can arrive at a
language rule by being given access to sufficient examples of it in
action
Information gap A communicative task based around a difference of information
provided to the task doers
Innatist theory A theory which proposes that language learning ability is genetically
determined
Input hypothesis The hypothesis that for input to be effective for learning it should be
understandable and just above the learner’s current mastery level
Instruction-checking question A question used by the teacher to check that an instruction has been
understood and will be acted on in accordance with the demands of
the procedure (cf. concept-checking question)
Interaction The use of language to maintain social relationships
Interlanguage A learner’s current ability on a scale of knowing none of the language
to full mastery
Inter-lingual error An error resulting from the influence of a learner’s first language
Isolating language A language in which words are not inflected or combined and in
which meaning arises from word order and function words
Kinaesthetic Relating to touch and movement
Language acquisition device A hypothesised in-built ability to learn language
Language transfer The effect of one language on the learning of another
Language typology The cross-language study of form and ordering in languages
Language universal A posited phenomenon which occurs in all languages. E.g., the
existence of noun phrases, subjects, verbs etc.
Langue Suassure’s term for the shared knowledge of a language within a
speech community. It is akin (but not the same as) Chomsky’s
concept of competence. The former is based on the speech
community’s knowledge, the latter on the individual’s knowledge
Lexicon A learner’s total knowledge of words in a language
Locutionary act Saying something that is meaningful rather than performing any
express function (cf. illocutionary act)
Meaningful drill A type of drilling in which it is necessary for the learner to
understand the meaning of the cue to be able to respond
Mechanical drill (aka A type of drill in which it is possible for the learners to produce a
meaningless drill) correct response even if they do not understand the meaning of the
cue

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Term Gloss
Meta-language Language used to describe language. E.g., This is a verb
Method A way of teaching based on principles and theory
Modelling Providing an example to imitate
Monitor hypothesis A posited process by which learners actively apply the rules they
have learned to their own output (after the event)
Motivation The willingness to expend effort in doing something
Multiple-choice test A form of testing which requires the test taker to select a correct
response from several alternatives
Natural approach An approach to teaching which emphasises spoken language, the use
of realia
Natural order hypothesis The theory that children and older learners acquire items in a fixed
order
Noticing A classroom procedure or a cognitive process whereby learners note
or are encouraged to note either:
a) the language which is used to realise a useful communicative
function (noticing the language) or
b) the gap between the learner’s current interlanguage and a
native-speaker model (noticing the gap)

Notion A mental concept such as heaviness, duration, location, time etc. (cf.
function)
Open-ended item A test item which allows the test taker to respond in his / her own
way
Oral Concerned with speaking
Order of acquisition See acquisition order
Orthography Spelling or ‘correct’ spelling
Overgeneralisation Extending a learned rule into areas where it will not work. E.g.,
making the past tense of come as comed.
Paralinguistic Of non-verbal communication
Parole What is said in a language. Cf. langue
Pedagogic grammar A grammar designed for learners and for teachers to use
Performance What people actually say in a language. Cf. competence
Perlocutionary force The effect of an utterance
Phatic communication Communication which does not and is not intended to convey
information. E.g., How do you do?
Phonemics The study of the sound units of a language
Phonetics The study of all speech sounds
Pragmatics The study of the use of language to communicate
Prefabricated language Language learned and used as a single concept or chunk, e.g., What’s
the matter?
Prescriptive grammar Grammar which sets out what is considered right and wrong rather
than describing what people say

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Term Gloss
Process approach An approach to teaching (especially of writing) which focuses on
subskills such as drafting, proofing, expanding and so on rather than
the end product
Product approach An approach to teaching (especially of writing) which focuses on
producing a text based on a model provided
Proficiency test A test intended to measure language competence regardless of any
teaching programme, e.g., public examinations
Readability A measure of the accessibility of a text concerning, especially, the
number of new words, lexical density, length of sentences and
grammatical complexity
Redundancy Describing the fact that a message will contain more information
than is required for comprehension. For example, on He says, the -s
ending is redundant because the pronoun already carries the third
person singular information
Register The speech variety used by members of the same profession or a
shared interest
Reliability A measure of how consistent and trustworthy a test’s results are
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis The theory that the language we speak determines what we can
speak about
Scanning Looking through a text to locate specific information
Schema (pl. schemata) A mental framework in which information is ordered and classified
Semantics The study of meaning (cf. pragmatics)
Simulation An elaborate role-play in which learners take on specific functions in,
e.g., solving tasks
Situational Language Teaching An oral approach to teaching which sets language in a social context
and focuses on function words in particular
Sociolect The variety of language used by a social group
Sociolinguistics The study of language in society
Speech act An utterance which performs a specific communicative function
Speech community A group who share a language or language variety
Strategic competence The ability to use compensation to keep communication effective or
to produce a desired effect on the listener
Structural linguistics The study of language from a structural point of view involving
phonemes, morphemes, words, phrases, clauses, sentences and
texts as a hierarchy
Style Variation in formality
Summative evaluation Assessment which happens at the end of a teaching unit
Synthetic language A language which uses inflections rather than separate words or
particles to express meaning. Cf. analytic or isolating language
Task-based teaching / learning An approach organised around tasks to perform in the language
rather than tasks concerning the language
Top-down processing Using knowledge of the world, the topic or the generic structure to
make sense of a written or heard text (cf. bottom-up processing)

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Term Gloss
Topic sentence The sentence in a paragraph, usually the first, which sets out the
theme of the paragraph
Transition See framing
Use / Usage The former refers to an utterance’s communicative vale, the latter to
its significance or form
Wait time The amount of time a teacher waits after asking a question before
moving on
Zone of Proximal Following Vygotsky, the ZPD is the area in which the learner can
Development (ZPD) perform a task only with some support

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