Glossary
Adjective
A word which describes something or
someone, eg beautiful, happy, long.
Adverb
A word which describes or gives more
information about a verb or an adjective, eg he
walked quickly, she danced well.
Auditory learner
Prefers to learn through listening.
Authentic material – things written for
people in the English-speaking world
Newspapers, magazines, leaflets, brochures,
menus from restaurants, YouTube videos,
songs.
CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to
Speakers of Other Languages)
An initial teaching qualification from
Cambridge English Language Assessment. It’s
frequently taken as a four-week intensive
course, with input on methodology and
assessed teaching practice.
Coherence
Organising ideas in a logical way when
speaking or writing so that the listener or
reader can follow our ideas.
Cohesion
Joining sentences together using words like
and, but and because so our language flows
more easily.
Collocation
Learners need to know which words go with
the word they are learning. For example, we
make beds but do housework.
Conjunction
A word which connects words and phrases in a
sentence, eg but, and, although.
Connected speech
Spoken language in which the words join to
form a connected stream of sounds. In
connected speech some sounds in words may
be left out or some sounds may be
pronounced in a weak way or some words
might join together, eg Is he busy? /ɪzibɪzi/.
Connotation
Learners need to know if the word has a
positive or a negative sense to it. For example,
the words ‘slim’ and ‘skinny’ both mean thin but
one has a positive connotation (slim) and the
other (skinny) doesn’t.
Consonant
1. A sound in which the air is partly blocked by
the lips, tongue, teeth etc., eg /θ/ in ‘thing’,
/b/ in ‘boy’.
2. Any letter of the English alphabet which
represents consonant sounds, eg d = /d/, c
= /k/.
Determiner
A word which is used before a noun to show
which particular example of the noun you are
referring to, eg this pencil, your shoes.
Differentiation
This is when teachers identify and address the
different needs, interests or abilities of their
learners by providing a range of activity types
and using a range of approaches.
Digital resources – resources available
online
Online games, Cambridge English website
(materials for exam and non-exam classes,
lesson plans, visual aids, texts, YouTube clips),
Teacher’s and learners’ mobile phones.
Diphthong
Diphthongs are vowel sounds. They are a
combination of two single vowel sounds said
one after the other to produce a new sound; eg
/aɪ/ as in ‘my’ is pronounced by saying /æ/ and
/ɪ/ together. There are eight diphthongs in
English: /iə/(eg ear), /eɪ/(eg play), /ʊə/(eg
tourist), /ɔɪ/(eg boy), /əʊ/ (eg go), /eə/(eg air),
/aɪ/(eg life), /aʊ/ (eg now).
Digital tools – resources for teachers
English Vocabulary Profile, English Grammar
Profile, Text Inspector.
EAP (English for academic purposes)
Teaching English to people who are preparing
to take, or are taking, a university course in
English. The course will cover things like essay
writing, note-taking, reading skills and
academic vocabulary.
EFL (English as a foreign language)
This is the subject of English when it is taught
for work, study or pleasure. Learners may be
studying in their own country or studying for a
while in an English-speaking country before
returning home. They do not intend to live
permanently in an English-speaking country.
EFL is the term used in European contexts.
Eliciting
When the teacher asks learners questions, or
prompts them, to come up with ideas or
language. It can be used to activate their
existing knowledge of a language point in order
to base new knowledge on what they already
know.
ESL (English as a second Language)
This is the term used in the US and Canada to
talk about the subject of English when it is not
the learner’s first language. Learners may be in
the US or Canada or they may be in their own
countries.
ESP (English for specific purposes)
English for people who need a very specialised
type of English often for their jobs. Big sectors
within this are Business English, English for
Tourism and English for Medicine.
Experiential
Enjoys experimenting with language.
Extrinsic motivation
Motivation influenced by external factors, such
as the need to pass an exam or apply for a visa.
Feedback
This happens at the end of the activity cycle
when the teacher gives the learners feedback
on their performance by going through the
answers with the class and/or finding out what
they have talked about. This stage can be used
for further clarification if the learners still need
help with the language point.
Fluency
Speaking without a lot of hesitation and too
many long pauses.
General English
Classes which aim to improve learners’ overall
ability to communicate in English by studying
the grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation of
English and developing the skills of speaking,
listening, writing and reading.
Grading language
This is when teachers use language they know
the students have already studied to ease the
cognitive load. This can be done by avoiding
informal, colloquial language or complex
grammar structures.
IELTS (International English Language
Testing System)
https://www.ielts.org/ - usually used by non-
native speakers to prove language proficiency
for university entrance, visa applications or job
applications.
Inferring meaning
Making guesses about what is not stated
explicitly in a text, eg listening or reading a
conversation and deciding that the people are
brother and sister without them saying so.
Interactive strategies
Strategies we use when we are speaking, eg
showing you are listening to other people by
saying things like, mmmm or uh-uh or oh!
Interjection
An interjection is a word that is used to express
emotion, eg Oh no! Gosh! Ow!
Interpersonal
Prefers to work in pairs or groups.
Intonation
The way the level of a speaker’s voice changes
to show meaning such as how they feel about
something; eg the level of your voice when you
are angry is different from the level of your
voice when you are pleased. Intonation can be
rising or falling or both.
Intrapersonal
Prefers to work independently.
Intrinsic motivation
Motivation influenced by internal factors, such
as a desire to communicate in a new language
or an interest in a new culture.
Kinaesthetic learner
Prefers to learn through doing actions.
Learning preferences
These are also known as learning styles and
describe the way individuals learn languages
best. The most common categories are visual,
auditory and kinaesthetic, but there are many
others. Although some people dispute the fact
that learners can be boxed into these
categories, it is generally accepted that
teachers need to accommodate different
learning preferences in a class by providing a
range of activity types.
Listening for gist
Getting a general understanding of something
you hear, eg listening to the weather forecast
and deciding you might need to take an
umbrella when you go out.
Listening for specific information
Listening for a particular piece of information,
eg listening to the weather forecast to find out
what the temperature will be tomorrow.
Meaning
What idea the word shows and what contexts
the word applies to.
Monitoring
When the teacher observes learners during an
activity to check their understanding of the
activity and assess their progress.
Part of speech
Learners need to know what type of word
(noun, verb, adjective) they are learning so that
they know how to put it into a sentence.
Phoneme
The smallest sound unit which can make a
difference to meaning eg /p/ in pan, /b/ in ban.
Phonemes have their own symbols (phonemic
symbols), each of which represents one sound.
Phonemic chart
A poster or diagram of the phonemic symbols
arranged in a particular order.
Phonemic symbols
The characters we use which represent the
different sounds or phonemes, eg /ɜː/, /tʃ/, /θ/.
Words can be written in phonemic script
(usually the International Phonetic Alphabet or
IPA), eg /dɒktə/ = doctor.
Preposition
A word which is used with a noun or pronoun
to show time, place or direction, eg at, on, in.
Pronoun
A word which is used instead of a noun
perhaps because you have already talked
about the person or thing, eg I, they, which.
Pronunciation
Learners need to know how to say the word,
how many syllables there are and which is
stressed, e.g. ed-u-CA-tion.
Published material – things written specially
for ELT
Coursebooks (e.g. Student’s book, Teacher’s
book, CD Roms, DVDs), ebooks, supplementary
materials made for ELT (eg books with
listening, reading or grammar exercises).
Reading for gist/Skimming
Reading quickly to get a general understanding
of a written text, eg reading a description of a
city to find out if it sounds like somewhere
you’d like to visit.
Reading for specific information/Scanning
Searching for a particular piece of information
in a written text, eg reading a description of a
city only to find out which country it’s in.
Reading/listening for detail
Reading or listening more carefully so that you
get a full understanding of the text, eg reading
a description of a city to find out everything
about it.
Realia – real objects
A bag of fruit (oranges, apples, bananas, pears,
grapes); classroom items (pen, sharpener,
shelf, stapler, etc.).
Register
Learners need to know if the word should be
used in formal or informal situations. For
example, assist and help have the same
meaning but assist is more formal then help.
Sentence stress
Sentence stress is about the way some words
in a sentence are stressed and some are
unstressed. The stressed words are usually the
information-carrying words or content words
such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
For example, It was a LOVely EVEning, and the
TEMperature was PERfect (the parts of the
words in capitals are stressed).
Spelling
Learners need to know how to write the word.
Stress
Pronouncing part of a word (syllable) or part of
a sentence louder and longer than other parts,
eg VEGetable, I LOVE baNAnas. Some parts of
words and sentences are stressed (those in
capital letters in these examples) and some are
unstressed.
STT
This is the commonly accepted abbreviation for
student talk time and refers to the amount of
time in a lesson that the students talk. There
needs to be a balance of TTT and STT in a
language lesson.
Syllable
A part of a word that usually contains a vowel
sound, eg pen = one syllable; teacher = two
syllables – teach/er; umbrella = three syllables –
um/brell/a.
TEFL (Teaching English as a foreign
language)
Teaching English to learners, both overseas
and in the UK, who want to learn English for
work, for study or pleasure but who do not
normally live or work permanently in an
English-speaking country. TEFL is the term used
in European contexts.
TESL (Teaching English as a second
language)
The term used in the US and Canada for
teaching English. It is used for both learners
studying in their own country and those
studying in the US or Canada and it refers to
both learners who live permanently in the US
or Canada and those who don’t.
TESOL (Teaching English to speakers of
other languages)
The term which is used to cover all forms of
English teaching to non-English speakers. The
term is widely used in North America, Australia
and New Zealand.
TOEIC
A test of a candidate’s language proficiency.
TOEFL
This is a test of a candidate’s language
proficiency (used to apply for visas, university
admission, jobs that need English etc).
TTT
This is the commonly accepted abbreviation for
teacher talk time and refers to the amount of
time in a lesson that the teacher talks to the
learners. It is important that TTT is helpful to
the learners.
Turn taking
An interactive strategy which is about knowing
when you can join in a conversation and
signalling when you think someone else should
speak.
Verb
A word which describes an action or a state
of being, eg eat, like, know.

Visual learner
Prefers to learn through images and
pictures.

Vowels
1. A sound in which the air is not blocked
by the tongue, lips, teeth etc., eg /i:/ (eat),
/ə/ (about), /e/ (egg), /ʌ/ (fun). Movement
or vibration is felt in the throat because
the voice is used.
2. In the alphabet, the letters a, e, i, o, u are
vowels.

Word families
Learners need to know other words that are
formed from the same word, for example,
kind, unkind, kindness, kindly.

Word stress
Word stress is about which syllable of a
word is pronounced louder and longer – eg
umBRELLa /ʌmˈbrelə/.