TGC Glossary

Term/word Definition

Accuracy is the ability to produce language without making any errors; to

Accuracy speak or write a language without grammatical, vocabulary, spelling, or
pronunciation mistakes.

Appropriateness refers to how well the use of a language fits the social
Appropriacy setting in which it is used. Formal pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar
/appropriateness is suitable for a formal context, whereas informal language is appropriate
for a more relaxed situation.

An attempt is a mistake that learners make when they try to say things they
Attempt
don’t know how to say yet.

The Audio-lingual Approach emphasizes listening and speaking skills over

reading and writing skills in the foreign language. This method contains the
Audio-lingual approach
belief that listening and speaking are the most basic language skills and uses
repetitive oral drills and immersive aural practices.

Authentic materials are writings that were not designed or created for
language learning purposes; some examples are news reports, magazines,
Authentic materials
blogs, or songs. These texts contain writing that is closer to how the
language is used in everyday life.

Content-based instruction is a program in English as a second language that

CBI (content-based
teaches students the skills that they need through content areas or subjects
instruction)
such as math, geography, or history.

Concept Checking Questions (CCQ) are questions or statements that are

CCQ (concept checking
used to check the students’ understanding of the meaning(s) of new
questions)
material.

The Communicative Approach has the goal of communicative competence

Communicative approach and focuses on developing the students’ abilities to make meaningful
communication and language through all classroom activities.

Controlled/restricted practice involves students in using target language in

a guided and restricted way in which they have little choice over what
Controlled practice
language to use. Examples of controlled practice activities are repetition
and substitution drills.

A dynamic system which includes identifying learning outcomes, planning

Curriculum for teaching and assessment, putting the plan into practice and evaluating
effects
 Deductive Teaching teaches rules (typically grammatical rules) and then
Deductive teaching
applies them to examples or data.

Dictogloss, or Grammar Dictation, is a technique to develop students’

grammatical competence. This involves the teacher dictating (speaking) a
text to students and letting them copy down whatever they are able to
Dictogloss hear. Then they compare with a partner or group to see what they missed,
which might be followed with the teacher repeating the process.
Afterwards, the students are given a copy of the original text to discuss
their accuracy and what they missed.

Drill is the teaching technique where the teacher asks the students to
Drill
repeat sounds, vocabulary, or structures several times to reinforce learning.

Eclecticism is an approach that uses several language teaching methods to

Eclectic approach /
accommodate different types of learners; e.g. applying both audio-lingual
eclecticism
and communication techniques instead of only using one.

EFL (English as a Foreign EFL (English as a Foreign Language) refers to learners whom are learning
Language) English in an environment where English is not primarily used.

The elicitation technique is used to get a better picture of the learners’

Elicitation language abilities by asking them questions that they might already know,
but to encourage the learner to practice more of the language.

An error is a systematic mistake made by a language learner that is due to

Error incomplete learning and lack of mastery of that part of the language
system.

ESL (English as a Second Language) refers to learners with another mother

ESL (English as a Second
tongue (first language) who are learning English while living abroad in an
Language)
English-speaking environment.

Explicit instruction of new language items includes all techniques the

teacher can use to focus learners’ attention on new grammar items and
help them notice the key features of these new forms and form-meaning
Explicit instruction / teaching
connections. These techniques include providing examples in context,
explanations, illustrations, using tables, charts, graphs, visuals, realia, texts,
videos and any combination of these.

Exposure refers to the beneficial effect of being surrounded by the spoken

Exposure and written language which the person is learning. More exposure typically
means that the language is more practiced and used on a daily basis.

Feedback is any (positive or negative) response that provides information

Feedback
on the result of a behavior or on a learners’ performance.
 A flowchart is a type of diagram that shows a sequential order of activities
Flowchart
or processes.

Fluency is the ability to speak stretches of language smoothly, naturally, and

Fluency with native-like use of pausing, rhythm, intonation, and rate of speaking
that is coherent (understandable) and with flow.

Three dimensions of grammar. Form refers to morphosyntactic, phonemic

Form, meaning, use
and graphemic patterns (e.g. how a particular grammar structure is
constructed, how it is sequenced with other structures in a sentence, how it
is pronounced and how it is spelled); meaning includes the lexical meaning
of the pattern (e.g. a dictionary definition) and its grammatical meaning
(e.g. plural – more than one); use refers to the pragmatic dimension of a
grammar item, that is, when it is used and why it is used.

Fossilization refers to the continuous use of incorrect linguistic features that

Fossilization become a permanent (fixed) part of the way a person speaks or writes a
language. “Fossilized errors” are the fixed or fossilized language aspects.

Grammar translation The Grammar Translation Approach emphasizes reading and teaches
approach translation and grammatical structures, usually along with a vocabulary list.

Grammaring conveys the dynamic nature of the grammar learning process.

Grammaring It is the process which a learner acquires the ability to use grammar
structures accurately, meaningfully, and appropriately.

Implicit instruction teaches students by guiding them to come to their own

conclusions. Whereas explicit teaching is when a teacher directly provides
Implicit instruction / teaching
the “answer,” implicit teaching is more indirect and is used to help language
learners internalize language use for higher fluency and accuracy.

Implicit learning is generally non-conscious learning without awareness of

Implicit learning what has been learned, in comparison to explicit learning where the learner
is aware of what they learned.

Inductive teaching lets learners discover grammatical or other types of

language rules through their own experience of using the language. This
Inductive teaching
type of teaching usually applies implicit instruction and focuses on use of
the language rather than presentation of language knowledge.

Inert knowledge is information of a language which one can express but not
use. An example of the problem is such that a learner might learn
Inert knowledge problem
vocabulary of a foreign language for an exam but not be able to use in a real
situation.

Information gap An information gap between two or more people is when some people
 know more information than others present. For instance, there is an
information gap between teachers and students as the teacher has the
knowledge, language skills, or answers while the students are trying to
close the gap.

Input in language learning is what a learner hears or receives that is used

Input for learning. It refers to the part of language which the learner is exposed to
and “takes in.”

Integrated skills are the combination of two or more skills within a

Integrated skills
communicative task.

L1 is also known as First Language, mother tongue, native language, or

L1 home language, which is a person’s mother tongue or first acquired
language.

L2 L2 is also known as Target Language which is one that a person is learning.

Language Chunk refers to several words that are customarily used together
Language chunk
in a fixed expression: e.g. “to make a long story short,” “in my opinion”.

Language skills are the acquired abilities of how the language is used.
Listening, speaking, reading, and writing are considered the 4 core language
Language skills
skills. Speaking and writing are the active and productive skills while reading
and listening are passive and receptive skills.

Learner training are the activities that help learners take responsibility for
Learner training their learning and help them develop and strengthen their language
learning strategies.

Meaning, in linguistics, is what a language expresses about the world we

Meaning
live in or any world. The study of meaning is called Semantics.

Meaning, grammar
See Form, meaning, use
dimension

Metalinguistic knowledge is the knowledge of the forms, structure and

Metalinguistic other aspects of a language, which a learner arrives at through reflecting on
and analyzing the language.

A metaphor is a figure of speech where something is described by stating

something that can be compared. For example: “The classroom was a zoo”
Metaphor
is a metaphor describing the teacher’s class as loud, rowdy, or hard to
control like wild animals seen in a zoo.
Mistake A mistake is a non-technical word that refers to both a slip and an error.

Brief and specific descriptions of what a student is expected to be able to

Objectives
do by the end of a period of instruction (lesson, module, or semester).

Output, in language learning, is language which a learner produces while

Output speaking or writing and demonstrates what he or she can express in the
target language.

Peer correction / Self- Peer correction refers to when a classmate or another learner corrects a
correction partner’s language mistakes. Self-correction is when one corrects oneself.

PPP is a model of lesson planning with Presentation, Practice, and

PPP (presentation, practice,
production)
Production stages. The teacher in the Presentation Stage begins the
language lesson with models, situations, or illustrations of the topic. The
practice stage is where the students practice the new language in a
controlled way through drills and activities. Lastly, the production stage is
when students are encouraged to use the new language in a freer way for
their own purposes and meanings (e.g. through role play, communication
task, etc.).

A prompt is a description of the material that test takers will encounter and
Prompt
respond to in the item.

Recast is a type of negative feedback where a speaker of the target

language corrects a learner’s incorrect question or sentence by rephrasing it
Recast back to the learner. These are thought to be a way for learners to acquire
new linguistic structures or notice that the ones they are using are
incorrect.

Reflection is the process of thinking back on experiences, in order to better

Reflection
understand the experiences and why it is important.

Restructuring, in language acquisition, is the integration of new forms into

Restructuring the learner’s language system to trigger reorganization of a sentence or
question.

A slip is a mistake learners make due to pressure of time, anxiety or

Slip
tiredness, and which they can easily correct themselves.

A spidergram is a diagram with lines and circles for organizing information

Spidergram so that it is easier to use or remember. The diagram has its name because it
looks like a spider’s web.

Syllabus A syllabus is a document which outlines the structure of the course and
 identifies specific course content, goals, and focus.

TBLT (task based language TBLT is an approach to teaching based on communication and interactive
teaching) tasks. They can provide engagement to acquire grammar.

Usage is the way people actually speak and write. There is a distinction
Usage / use between the function of a linguistic item as an element in a linguistic
system (usage) and its function as part of a system of communication (use).

Use, grammar dimension See Form, meaning, use.