Glossary of Computer A to Z– A glossary also known as vocabulary of terms, Basically it is an alphabetical list of word, it helps us find any word from the dictionary of technology.
A
Access Control :– It is a way of limiting access to a system or to physical or virtual resources.
Access Time :- The time interval between the instance at which data is called from a storage device and the instance when delivery begins.
Accumulator :- A local storage area called a register, in which the result of an arithmetic and logic operation is formed.
Active Cell :- It refers to the currently selected cell in a spreadsheet. It can be identified by a bold outline that surrounds the cells.
Active Window :- It is the currently focused window in the current window manager.
Algorithm :- In computing, an algorithm is a procedure for accomplishing some tasks which given an initial state, will terminate in a detinned end-state.
Alphanumeric:- A character set that contains letters, digits and other special character such as @,$,+,*,%,etc.
Antivirus:- It consists of computer programs that attempt to identify threat and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious software (malware).
Application Software:- It is a subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly to a task that the user wishes to perform.
Achieve:- It provides backup storage.
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU):- It is a part of the execution unit, a core component of all CPUs. ALUs are capable of calculating the results of a wide variety of basic arithmetical and logical Computations.
Artificial Intelligence:- Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence, are still in development, though there are some applications,
such as voice recognition, that are being used today.
ASCII(American Standard Code for Information Interchange):- It is a character set and a character encoding based on the Roman alphabet as used in Modern English and other Western European languages.
Assembler:- A program that translates mnemonic statement into executable instruction.
Attribute:- The characteristics of an entity are called its attributes.
Authentication:- It is a process in which the credentials provides are compared to those on file in a database.
Auxiliary Memory:- It is also known as secondary memory that is not directly addressable by the CPU.
B
Backspace Key:- This key is used to delete the text backspace will delete the text left side of the cursor.
Backup:- A copy of a file or other item of data made in case the original is lost and damaged.
Bandwidth:- The maximum amount of data that can travel in a communication path in a given time, measured in bits per second (bps).
Bar Code:- It is a machine-readable representation of information in a visual format on a surface.
Batch File:- It is a text file that contains a sequence of commands tor a computer operating system (LDOS).
Binary Coded Decimal:- (BCD) A coding system in which a 4 digit binary number represents each decimal digit from 0 to 9.
Bit:- It is the most basic information unit used in computing and information theory.
Blog:- It is a discussion or informational site published on the world wide web.
Bomb:- A type of virus designed to activate at a specitic date and time on your computer.
Bluetooth:- A protocol that permits a wireless exchange of information between computers, cell phones and other electronic devices.
Booting:- It is a bootstrapping process which starts the operating system when a computer is switched ON.
Browser:- A special software that enables users to read/view Web pages and jump from one Web page to another.
Buffering:- The process of storing data in a memory device, allowing the devices to change the data rates, perform error checking and error retransmission.
Bug:- A software bug is an error, flaw, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result.
Bus:- A circuit that provides a communication path between two or more devices of a digital computer system.
Byte:- It is commonly used as a unit of storage measurement in computers, regardless of the type of data being stored.
C
Cell:- A box in a spreadsheet, in which you can enter a single piece of data.
Central Processing Unit (CPU):- It performs the actual processing of data. The CPU is generally called by its generic name Processor. It is also known as the brain of computer.
Channel:- A communication channel can be a physical link, such as a cable that connects two stations in a network or it can consist of some electromagnetic
transmission.
Chatting:- Typing text into a message box on a screen to engage in dialog with one or more people via the Internet or other network.
Chip:- A tiny wafer of silicon containing miniature electric circuits that can store millions of bits of information.
Client-Server:- It is a network architecture which separates the client from the server. Each instance of the client software can send requests to a server or application server.
Coding:- It means the transformation of data into a form understandable by computer software.
Command:- It is a directive to a computer program acting as an interpreter of some kind, in order to perform a specific task.
Compile:- It is the process of converting high level languages to machine language.
Compiler:- It is a computer program that translates a series of instructions from high level language to machine language.
Communication Protocol:- It is a system of rules that allow two or more entities of a communications system to transmit information.
Computer Network:- It is a system for communication among two or more computers.
Computer Graphics:- These are visual presentations on a computer screen. Examples are photographs, drawings, line arts, graphs or other images.
Cold Boot:- When a computer restarts after the power cut, is called cold boot.
Control Panel:- It is the part of Windows menu, accessible from the Start menu, which allows users to view and manipulate basic system settings and controls, such as adding hardware, adding/removing8 software, controlling user accounts, changing accessibility options, etc.
Computer Worm:- It is a self-replicating computer program, similar to a computer virus.
Control Unit:- It is the part of a CPU that directs its operation. The outputs of this unit control the activity of the rest of the device.
Corel Draw:- A vector graphic edit software which is known as corel draw. It is mainly used in DTP (Desktop Publishing).
Crawler:- It is an Internet bot that systematically browse the world wide web, typically for the purpose of Web indexing. It is also called a Web spider.
Cryptography:- The conversion of data into a secret code for transmission over a public network.
Cut:- To remove an object from a document.
Data:- It is a collection of facts and figures which are not in directly usable form.
Database:- It is a collection of logically related information in an organised way so that it can be easily accessed, managed and updated.
Data Abstraction:- It is a simplified view of an object that includes only features one is interested in while hides away the unnecessary details.
Data Entry:- Direct input of data in the appropriate data fields of a database known as data entry.
Database Management System:- It is a collection of various programs. It provides a systematic way to Create, retrieve, update and manage data.
Data Processing:= Converting data into information, is called data processing.
Data Redundancy:- It is a condition created within a database or data storage technology in which the same piece of data is held in two separate places.
Data Flow Diagram (DFD:- It is a graphical representation of the flow of data through
information system. Debugging A methodical process of finding and reducing the number of bugs, or defects are known as debugging.
Degree:- The number of fields associated with the database table or relation.
Desktop Publishing (DTP):- It combines a personal computer, page layout software and a printer to create publications on small economic scale.
Device Driver:- A device driver, often called a driver for short, is a computer program that enables another program, typically, an operating system to interact
with a hardware device.
Dial-up Line:= A line through which communication established known as dial-up line.
Digital Clock:- A type of clock that located on motherboard and display digital signals.
Direct Access:- It is the capability of the computer equipment to obtain data from a storage device.
Directory:- In computing, a directory is an entity in a file system which contains a group of files and other directories. Together, the directories form a hierarchy
or a tree structure.
Domain Name:- A unique name that identifies a particular Website and represents the name of the server where the Web pages reside.
Dots Per Inch (DPI):- It is defined as the measure of the resolution of a printer, scanner or monitor. It refers to the number of dots in a one inch line.
Download:- It refers to the act of transmitting data from a remote computer on the Internet or other network to one’s own computer.
Drag and Drop:- In computer graphical user interfaces, drag and drop is the action of clicking on a virtual object and dragging it to a different location or onto another virtual object.
Dumb Terminal:- A computer terminal with no processing or programming capabilities, generally used for simple data entry or retrieval tasks.
DVD:- It is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage including movies with high quality video and sound.
Dynamic RAM DRAM:- is a type of random access memory which stores each bit of data in a separate capacitor.
E
EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code):- It is an 8-bit character encoding used on 1BM mainframe operating systems, like Z/OS, S/390, AS/400 and i5/OS.
E-Commerce:- Electronic commerce is a type of industry where buying and selling of product or services is conducted over electronic systems such as the Intranet and other computer network. Editing The process of changing information by inserting, deleting, replacing, rearranging and reformation.
Electronic Data Processing (EDP):- A data processing through equipment that is predominantly electronic such as digital computer.
Electronic mail:- E-mail is a method of composing, sending, storing and receiving messages over electronic communication systems.
Encryption:- In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding messages (or information) in such a way that hackers cannot read it, but the authorised users
can access it.
End User:- Any individual who uses the information generated by a computer based system.
Entity:- It is something that has certain attributes or properties which may be assigned values.
Error Message:- It is information displayed when an unexpected condition occurs usually on a computer or other device.
Escape Key:- A key that permits the user to leave one segment of a program and move to another.
Excel:- It allows users to create spreadsheets much like paper ledgers that can perform automatics calculations.
Exe (exe):- It is a common filename extension denoting an executable file (a program) in the DOS; MS Windows.
Execution Time:- The total time required to execute a program on a particular system.
Expansion Slot:- It is ‘a socket on the motherboard that is used to insert an expansion card which provides additional features to a computer.
Extranet:- A technology that permits the users of one organization’s Intranet to enter portions of another organization’s Intranet in order to conduct business transactions or collaborate on joint projects.
F
Fax It stands for ‘Facsimile’. It is used to transmit a copy of a document electronically.
Field The attributes of an entity are written as fields in the table representation.
File:- A collection of information stored electronically and treated as a unit by a computer. Every file must have its own distinctive name.
File Allocation Table (FAT):- It is the name of a computer file system architecture. The FAT filesystem is a legacy file system which is simple and robust.
File Manager:- It is an operating system utility that provides a user interface to work with file systems.
Firewall:- A security system usually consisting of hardware and software that prevents unauthorised persons from accessing certain parts of a program
database or network.
Flowcharts:- These are the means of visually representing the flow of data through an information processing system, the operations performed within the system and the sequence in which they are performed.
Foreign Key:- A field in a database table, which links it to another related table.
Format :-To set margins, tabs, font or line spacing in layout of a document.
FORTRAN:- Its name stands for formula translating system. The language was designed at IBM for scientific computing.
Freeware:- A form of software distribution where the author retains copyright of the software but makes the program available to others at no cost.
Function Key:- A special key on a computer keyboard or a terminal devices keyboard that is used to perform specific functions, Many keyboards have function keys labelled from F1 to F12.
G
Garbage In Garbage Out:- (GIGO) It pertains to the fact that most computer errors are not machine errors, they are data errors caused by incorrect input data.
Gateway:- A device that is used to joint together two networks having different base protocols.
Gigabyte (GB):- It is a unit of information or computer storage equal to approximately one billion bytes.
Gigahertz (GHz):- A measurement used to identify the speed of the central processing unit. One gigahertz is equal to 1 billion cycles per second.
Graphic Display Unit (GDU):- It is also known as Visual Display Unit. This displays characters graphics representing data in a computer memory.
Graphic Interchange Format (GIF):- A simple file format for pictures and photographs, that are compressed so they can be sent quickly.
Graphic Tablet:- It is an input device which is used to create images, etc.
Graphical User Interface (GUI):- It is a method of interacting with a computer through a metaphor of direct manipulating of graphical images and widgets
in addition to text.
H
Hacker:- A computer criminal who penetrates and tempers with computer programs or systems.
Hang:- To crash in such a way that the computer does not respond to input from the keyboard or mouse.
Hard Copy:- It is a printed copy of information from a computer.
Hard Disk:- It is a non-volatile data storage device that stores data on a magnetic surface layered onto disk platters.
Hardware:- The mechanical, magnetic, electronic and electrical components that comprises a computer system such as CPU, monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc.
High-Level Programming Languages:- It is a programming language that is more user-friendly, to Some extent platform-independent and abstract from low-level computer processor operations such as memory accesses.
Home Page:- A starting point or a doorway to the Website,. It refers to the Web page that identities a Website and contains the hyperlink to other Web pages in the Website.
Host Computer:- A computer that provides information or a service to other computers on the Internet. Ever host computer has its own unique host name.
Hub:- A network device that connects multiple computers on a LAN, s0 that they can communicate with one another.
Hybrid Computer :-Hybrid computers are made by taking the best features of the analog computer and digital computer. A simple example of this type is the
computer used in hospitals.
Hyperlink:- An image or portion of text on a Web page that is linked to another Web page.
Hyper Text Markup Language:- It stands for HTML. It is mainly used for design Websites.
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP):- It is an important protocol used on the world wide web for moving hypertext files across the Internet,
I
Icon:- A symbol (such as picture or a folder) that Icon represents a certain function on your computer. When the user clicks on the icon, the appropriate function is executed.
Information:- It is the summarisation of data according to a certain pre-defined purpose.
Input:- In order to give instructions to a computer, the information has to be supplied to it.
Instant Messaging (IM):- A chat program that lets people communicate over the Internet in real time.
Instruction:- A command or order given to a computer to perform a task.
Instruction Cycle:- Fetching and decoding operations of the machine cycle.
Interface:- A device or program that helps a user to communicate with a computer.
Interpreter:- A program that converts and executes the source code into machine code line by line.
Internet:- A vast computer network linking smaller computer networks worldwide.
Internet Surfing:- To search something on Internet is called Internet surfing.
Internet Service Provider (ISP):- It is a business organisation that offers users access to the Internet and related services.
Integrated Circuits:- Multiple electronic components combined on a silicon chip.
J
Java:- A programming language, used to crate mobile applications, software etc.
Javascript:- It is an object oriented programming language used to create interactive effects in a Web browser.
JPEG (join photographic expert group):- it is a commonly used method of compression for digital photography.
Joystick:- it is a computer peripheral expert general control device consisting of a handheld stick that pivots about one end and transmit its angle in two or three dimensions to a computer.
K
Kernel:- it is the fundamental part of program, such as an operating system, that resides in memory at all times.
Keyboard:- this is the standard input device attached to all computer. the layout of keyboard is just like traditional typewriter of the type QWERTY.
Key Field:- A unique field in a record used to distinguish one record from another.
Key Stroke:- It is the process of pressing button in keyboard.
Kilobyte (KB):- It is a unit of information or computer storage equal to 1024 bytes.
L
LAN:- LAN stands for Local Area Network. In a LAN. the connected computers are geographically close together. They are either in the same building or within that lets smaller area.
Laptop:- It is a small, lightweight and portable battery-powered computers that can fit onto your lap. They each have a thin, flat and liquid crystal display screen.
Light Pen:- A light sensitive style for forming graphics by touching coordinates on a display screen, thereby a user to seeming to draw directly on the screen.
Link:- A communication path between two nodes or channels.
LINUX:- It is an open source operating system, meaning smaller that the source code of the operating system is freely available to the public.
List Processing (LISP):- A high level programming language suitable for handling logical operations and non-numeric applications.
Log In:- It is the process by which an individual gains access to a computer system by identifying and authenticating themselves.
Log Off:- It is a process of withdrawal from function after performing program.
Low Level Language:- It is a assembly language which is used in computer, it was mostly used in first generation computers.
M
Machine Language:- The language of computer also called binary language. Instructions in this language are written as a sequence of of 0’s and 1’s.
Mainframe:- Sometimes it’s called a server or CPU. Mostly a mainframe is only a mainframe when compared to a desktop computer. It is bigger and much more powerful.
Mass Storage:- It is referred to storage where large such volumes of backup/data is stored.
Megabyte (MB):- 1 Megabyte is equal to 1048576 bytes, usually rounded off to one million bytes. It is also called a “meg”.
Memory:- Temporary storage for information, including applications and documents.
Menu Bar:- The horizontal strip across the top of an application’s window. Each word on the strip has a context sensitive drop-dowm menu containing features and actions that are available tor the application in use.
Merge:- Combining two or more files into a single file.
Microcomputer:- A microprocessor based computer, junction consisting of an CPU, internal semiconductor memory, input and output sections and a system bus, all on one, Non-Volatile or several monolithic 1C chips inserted into one or data several PC boards.
Microprocessor:- A complete Central Processing Unit Notebook (CPU) contained on a single silicon chip.
Midi:- It stands for Music Instrument Digital Interface. It Object allows a computer to store and replay a musical instrument’s output.
Minicomputer:- Considered to be more capable than a Object microcomputer but less powerful than a mainframe.
MIPS:- An acronym derived from Million of Instructions Offline Per Second. It is used to measure the speed of a processor.
Mnemonic:- A symbolic label or code remainder that Online assists, the user in remembering a specific operation or command in assembly language.
Modem:- An acronym for Modulator/Demodulator that refers to specific equipment that provides a means of communication between two computer systems over
Operation conventional telephone lines.
Monitor:- The visual readout device of a computer system. A monitor can be in several forms; a Cathode Ray Tube Operating (CRT), a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), or a flat-panel, full-color display.
MS-DOS (Microsoft Disc-Operating System):- An early operating system developed by Microsoft Corporation.
Multitasking:- It can simultaneously work with several Output programs or interrelated tasks that share memories, Patch codes, buffers and files.
Multithreading:- It is a facility available in an operating Peripheral system that allows multiple functions from the same application packages.
Multimedia:- Software programs that combine text and Personal graphics with sound, video and animation. A multimedia PC contains the hardware to support these capabilities.
N
Network:- It is an interconnection of two or more than two computer.
Network Interface Card (NIC):- This is a part of the computer that allows it to talk to other computers via a network protocol like TCP/IP.
Nibble:- A sequence of four adjacent bits, or a half byte. A hexadecimal or BCD coded digit can be represented by a nibble.
Node:- The endpoint of a network branch or the junction of two or more branches.
Non-Volatile Memory:- A memory where stored one, data remains undisturbed by the removal of electrical power.
Notebook:- A portable computer, that can fit into a briefcase. It is used as personal computer. It is also called laptop.
O
Object:- Something that contains both the data and the application that operate on that data.
Object Code:- Machine language code produced by a translator program, such as an assembler, interpreter, or compiler.
Offline:- It refers to the state in which a computer is temporarily or permanently unable to communicate with another computer.
Online:- It refers to the state of being connected to the networked computer system or the Internet.
Operand:- The part of a machine level instruction which tells the central processor, the location of the data to be manipulated by some operation.
Operation Code (Op-Code):- Part of a computer instruction word that designates the function performed by a specific instruction.
Operating System:- A set of instructions that tells a computer on how to operate when it is turned ON. It sets up a filing system to store files and tells the computer how to display information on a video display.
Output:- Data that come out of a computer device.
P
Patch:- A small program that improves an existing piece of software or corrects an error in it.
Peripheral:- An auxiliary device used to put information into and get information out of the computer.
Personal Computer:- (PC):- A single-user computer containing a Central Processing Unit (CPU) and one or more memory circuits.
Piracy:- The illegal copying of software or other creative works.
Pixels:- An acronym derived from picture element. The smallest element (a dot) on a display screen.
Plug-In:- This is a program that your browser uses manipulate a downloaded file.
Portrait A term that designates the position of conventional printing across the width of a page.
Past Office Protocol (POP):- A protocol that specifies how a personal computer can connect to a mail the server on the internet and download E-mail
Primary Key:- It is a key that uniquely identifies each tuple or row in a table.
process:- A collection of code, data and other system resources including at least one thread of execution that performs a data processing task.
Program:- A set of instructions to perform a specific task
Programming Language:- A vocabulary and set of grammatical rules tor instructing a computer to perform specific tasks.
Prompt:- An onscreen symbol, (e.g. cursor) that indicates where to type of command.
Printer:- A mechanical device for printing a computer’s output on paper.
Protocol:- A set of rules that defines exactly how information is to be changed between two systems over Internet.
Pseudocode:- It is a short hand way of describing a computer program
Q
.
Query:- A request for information from a database.
Simplex
R
Random Access Memory (RAM):- A volatile, Software semiconductor storage structure that accesses temporary data with a random or direct accessing
method. Data in this memory can be read by the Source CPU directly.
Read Only Memory (ROM):- A semiconductor memory whose data cannot be erased, or overwritten; it can only be accessed (read) for use by the CPU.
Record:- A collection of all the information pertaining to a particular entity instance.
Register:- A temporary storage unit for quick, direct. accessibility of a small amount of data for processing.
Remote Server:- A network computer that allows a user on the network from a distant location to access information.
Response Time:- The total time elapsed between submission of command and data to a computer and getting the result of computation.
Router:- A network device that enables the network to reroute messages it receives that are intended for The network with the router receives and sends it on its way exactly as received.
Routing:- The process of choosing the best path throughout the LAN.
S
Scanner:- An electronic device that uses light-sensing equipment to scan paper images such as text, photos, illustrations and translate the images into signals that
the computer can then store, modify, or distribute.
Search Engine:- Software that makes it possible to look for and retrieve information on the Internet, particularly the Web. Some popular search engines are AltaVista, Google, HotBot, Yahoo., Web Crawler and Lycos. Sector A section of a recording track on a magnetic disk.
Sequential Access:- It is a class of data storage device that read stored data in a sequence.
Server:- A computer that shares its resources and information with other computers on a network.
Shareware:- A software that is not free but is available for a free trial period.
Shell:- It is an outer layer of a program that provides that user interface or the way of instruct the computer.
Simplex:- Transmission of data in one direction only.
Software:-The let of computer programs, procedure and associated documentation related to the effective operation.
Source Code:- (Source Program) A set of computer instructions in hard-copy or stored form.
Spreadsheet:- Software that allows one to calculate numbers in a format that is similar to pages in a conventional ledger.
Sub Program:- A particular part of a program that
complete the special work.
Super Computer The largest mainframe computer featuring exceptionally high speed operation while manipulating huge amounts of information.
T
TCP/IP:- Stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. This is a large grouping of programs and standards that govern how information moves round the Internet.
Terabyte (TB):- It is about a trillion bytes. Actually it’s 2 or 10095111627776 bytes.
Terminal:- This is what you look at when you’re on the Internet. It’s your computer screen.
Time Sharing:- to the allocation of computer resources in a time dependent fashion to run several programs simultaneously.
Topology:- The structure of the network including physical connection such as wiring schemes and logical interactions between network devices.
Track:- A ring on the surface of a magnetic disk.
Trackball:- Input device that controls the position of the cursor on the screen.
U
Uniform Resource Locator:- (URL) The specific Internet address for a resource such as an individual or an organisation.
Unix:- This is an operating system developed by AT &
T. It is a big push that it allows one server to serve
many different end users at one time.
Upgrade:- The process of improve hardware and
software functionality.
Upload:- The processes of transferring information from a computer to a Website (or other remote location on a network).
UPS:- (Universal Power Supply or Uninterruptible Power Supply) An electrical power supply that includes a battery to provide enough power to a computer during an outage to back-up data and properly shut down.
User:- A person who uses or operate something.
User-Friendly:- A software program that has been designed to easily direct the user through the operation or application of a program.
V
Validation:- The process of making sure that the forms and documents from a particular transaction are correct.
Video Teleconferencing:- A remote face-to-face chat, when two or more people using a webcam and an Internet telephone connection chat online. The webcam enables both live voice and video.
Virus:- A piece of computer code designed as a prank or malicious act to spread from one computer to another by attaching itself to other programs.
Volatile Memory:- A memory whose contents are irretrievably lost when power is removed. If data in Ram must be saved after power shutdown, back-up in non-volatile memory (magnetic disk, tape, or Cd-R) is essential.
W
Window:-A portion of a computer display used in a graphical interface that enables users to select commands by pointing to illustrations or symbols with a mouse.
Wide Area Network:- It is a telecommunications network or computer network that extends over a large geographical distance.
Word Processor:- A computer system or program for setting, editing, revising, correcting, storing and printing text.
World Wide Web (‘WWW’ or ‘The Web’):- A network of servers on the Internet that use hypertext-linked databases and files. It was developed in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist and is now
the primary platform of the Internet.
Workgroup:- Persons sharing files and data between themselves.
Workstation:- The work area and/or equipment used for computer operations, including computer-aided design (CAD). The equipment generally consists of a monitor, keyboard, printer and/or plotter and other output devices.
X
X-Y Plotter:- A computer-driven printing mechanism that draws coordinate points in graph form.
Z
ZOOM:- The enlarging or reducing an image displayed on a computer process of proportionately monitor.
ZIP:- Stands for Zone Information Protocol. This is an application that allows for the compression of application files.
Zombie:- A computer that has been hijacked by a cracker without the owner knowledge and used to perform malicious tasks on the Internet.
Python Glossary¶
The default Python prompt of the interactive shell. Often seen for code examples which can be executed interactively in the interpreter.
Can refer to:
-
The default Python prompt of the interactive shell when entering the code for an indented code block, when within a pair of matching left and right delimiters (parentheses, square brackets, curly braces or triple quotes), or after specifying a decorator.
-
The Ellipsis built-in constant.
A tool that tries to convert Python 2.x code to Python 3.x code by handling most of the incompatibilities which can be detected by parsing the source and traversing the parse tree.
2to3 is available in the standard library as lib2to3; a standalone entry point is provided as Tools/scripts/2to3. See 2to3 — Automated Python 2 to 3 code translation.
Abstract base classes complement duck-typing by providing a way to define interfaces when other techniques like hasattr() would be clumsy or subtly wrong (for example with magic methods). ABCs introduce virtual subclasses, which are classes that don’t inherit from a class but are still recognized by isinstance() and issubclass(); see the abc module documentation. Python comes with many built-in ABCs for data structures (in the collections.abc module), numbers (in the numbers module), streams (in the io module), import finders and loaders (in the importlib.abc module). You can create your own ABCs with the abc module.
A label associated with a variable, a class attribute or a function parameter or return value, used by convention as a type hint.
Annotations of local variables cannot be accessed at runtime, but annotations of global variables, class attributes, and functions are stored in the __annotations__ special attribute of modules, classes, and functions, respectively.
See variable annotation, function annotation, PEP 484 and PEP 526, which describe this functionality. Also see Annotations Best Practices for best practices on working with annotations.
A value passed to a function (or method) when calling the function. There are two kinds of argument:
-
keyword argument: an argument preceded by an identifier (e.g. name=) in a function call or passed as a value in a dictionary preceded by **. For example, 3 and 5 are both keyword arguments in the following calls to complex():
complex(real=3, imag=5) complex(**{'real': 3, 'imag': 5})
-
positional argument: an argument that is not a keyword argument. Positional arguments can appear at the beginning of an argument list and/or be passed as elements of an iterable preceded by *. For example, 3 and 5 are both positional arguments in the following calls:
complex(3, 5) complex(*(3, 5))
Arguments are assigned to the named local variables in a function body. See the Calls section for the rules governing this assignment. Syntactically, any expression can be used to represent an argument; the evaluated value is assigned to the local variable.
See also the parameter glossary entry, the FAQ question on the difference between arguments and parameters, and PEP 362.
An object which controls the environment seen in an async with statement by defining __aenter__() and __aexit__() methods. Introduced by PEP 492.
A function which returns an asynchronous generator iterator. It looks like a coroutine function defined with async def except that it contains yield expressions for producing a series of values usable in an async for loop.
Usually refers to an asynchronous generator function, but may refer to an asynchronous generator iterator in some contexts. In cases where the intended meaning isn’t clear, using the full terms avoids ambiguity.
An asynchronous generator function may contain await expressions as well as async for, and async with statements.
asynchronous generator iterator
An object created by a asynchronous generator function.
This is an asynchronous iterator which when called using the __anext__() method returns an awaitable object which will execute the body of the asynchronous generator function until the next yield expression.
Each yield temporarily suspends processing, remembering the location execution state (including local variables and pending try-statements). When the asynchronous generator iterator effectively resumes with another awaitable returned by __anext__(), it picks up where it left off. See PEP 492 and PEP 525.
An object, that can be used in an async for statement. Must return an asynchronous iterator from its __aiter__() method. Introduced by PEP 492.
An object that implements the __aiter__() and __anext__() methods. __anext__() must return an awaitable object. async for resolves the awaitables returned by an asynchronous iterator’s __anext__() method until it raises a StopAsyncIteration exception. Introduced by PEP 492.
A value associated with an object which is usually referenced by name using dotted expressions. For example, if an object o has an attribute a it would be referenced as o.a.
It is possible to give an object an attribute whose name is not an identifier as defined by Identifiers and keywords, for example using setattr(), if the object allows it. Such an attribute will not be accessible using a dotted expression, and would instead need to be retrieved with getattr().
An object that can be used in an await expression. Can be a coroutine or an object with an __await__() method. See also PEP 492.
Benevolent Dictator For Life, a.k.a. Guido van Rossum, Python’s creator.
A file object able to read and write bytes-like objects. Examples of binary files are files opened in binary mode ('rb', 'wb' or 'rb+'), sys.stdin.buffer, sys.stdout.buffer, and instances of io.BytesIO and gzip.GzipFile.
See also text file for a file object able to read and write str objects.
In Python’s C API, a borrowed reference is a reference to an object, where the code using the object does not own the reference. It becomes a dangling pointer if the object is destroyed. For example, a garbage collection can remove the last strong reference to the object and so destroy it.
Calling Py_INCREF() on the borrowed reference is recommended to convert it to a strong reference in-place, except when the object cannot be destroyed before the last usage of the borrowed reference. The Py_NewRef() function can be used to create a new strong reference.
An object that supports the Buffer Protocol and can export a C-contiguous buffer. This includes all bytes, bytearray, and array.array objects, as well as many common memoryview objects. Bytes-like objects can be used for various operations that work with binary data; these include compression, saving to a binary file, and sending over a socket.
Some operations need the binary data to be mutable. The documentation often refers to these as “read-write bytes-like objects”. Example mutable buffer objects include bytearray and a memoryview of a bytearray. Other operations require the binary data to be stored in immutable objects (“read-only bytes-like objects”); examples of these include bytes and a memoryview of a bytes object.
Python source code is compiled into bytecode, the internal representation of a Python program in the CPython interpreter. The bytecode is also cached in .pyc files so that executing the same file is faster the second time (recompilation from source to bytecode can be avoided). This “intermediate language” is said to run on a virtual machine that executes the machine code corresponding to each bytecode. Do note that bytecodes are not expected to work between different Python virtual machines, nor to be stable between Python releases.
A list of bytecode instructions can be found in the documentation for the dis module.
A callable is an object that can be called, possibly with a set of arguments (see argument), with the following syntax:
callable(argument1, argument2, argumentN)
A function, and by extension a method, is a callable. An instance of a class that implements the __call__() method is also a callable.
A subroutine function which is passed as an argument to be executed at some point in the future.
A template for creating user-defined objects. Class definitions normally contain method definitions which operate on instances of the class.
A variable defined in a class and intended to be modified only at class level (i.e., not in an instance of the class).
An extension of the familiar real number system in which all numbers are expressed as a sum of a real part and an imaginary part. Imaginary numbers are real multiples of the imaginary unit (the square root of -1), often written i in mathematics or j in engineering. Python has built-in support for complex numbers, which are written with this latter notation; the imaginary part is written with a j suffix, e.g., 3+1j. To get access to complex equivalents of the math module, use cmath. Use of complex numbers is a fairly advanced mathematical feature. If you’re not aware of a need for them, it’s almost certain you can safely ignore them.
An object which controls the environment seen in a with statement by defining __enter__() and __exit__() methods. See PEP 343.
A variable which can have different values depending on its context. This is similar to Thread-Local Storage in which each execution thread may have a different value for a variable. However, with context variables, there may be several contexts in one execution thread and the main usage for context variables is to keep track of variables in concurrent asynchronous tasks. See contextvars.
A buffer is considered contiguous exactly if it is either C-contiguous or Fortran contiguous. Zero-dimensional buffers are C and Fortran contiguous. In one-dimensional arrays, the items must be laid out in memory next to each other, in order of increasing indexes starting from zero. In multidimensional C-contiguous arrays, the last index varies the fastest when visiting items in order of memory address. However, in Fortran contiguous arrays, the first index varies the fastest.
Coroutines are a more generalized form of subroutines. Subroutines are entered at one point and exited at another point. Coroutines can be entered, exited, and resumed at many different points. They can be implemented with the async def statement. See also PEP 492.
A function which returns a coroutine object. A coroutine function may be defined with the async def statement, and may contain await, async for, and async with keywords. These were introduced by PEP 492.
The canonical implementation of the Python programming language, as distributed on python.org. The term “CPython” is used when necessary to distinguish this implementation from others such as Jython or IronPython.
A function returning another function, usually applied as a function transformation using the @wrapper syntax. Common examples for decorators are classmethod() and staticmethod().
The decorator syntax is merely syntactic sugar, the following two function definitions are semantically equivalent:
def f(arg): ... f = staticmethod(f) @staticmethod def f(arg): ...
The same concept exists for classes, but is less commonly used there. See the documentation for function definitions and class definitions for more about decorators.
Any object which defines the methods __get__(), __set__(), or __delete__(). When a class attribute is a descriptor, its special binding behavior is triggered upon attribute lookup. Normally, using a.b to get, set or delete an attribute looks up the object named b in the class dictionary for a, but if b is a descriptor, the respective descriptor method gets called. Understanding descriptors is a key to a deep understanding of Python because they are the basis for many features including functions, methods, properties, class methods, static methods, and reference to super classes.
For more information about descriptors’ methods, see Implementing Descriptors or the Descriptor How To Guide.
An associative array, where arbitrary keys are mapped to values. The keys can be any object with __hash__() and __eq__() methods. Called a hash in Perl.
A compact way to process all or part of the elements in an iterable and return a dictionary with the results. results = {n: n ** 2 for n in range(10)} generates a dictionary containing key n mapped to value n ** 2. See Displays for lists, sets and dictionaries.
The objects returned from dict.keys(), dict.values(), and dict.items() are called dictionary views. They provide a dynamic view on the dictionary’s entries, which means that when the dictionary changes, the view reflects these changes. To force the dictionary view to become a full list use list(dictview). See Dictionary view objects.
A string literal which appears as the first expression in a class, function or module. While ignored when the suite is executed, it is recognized by the compiler and put into the __doc__ attribute of the enclosing class, function or module. Since it is available via introspection, it is the canonical place for documentation of the object.
A programming style which does not look at an object’s type to determine if it has the right interface; instead, the method or attribute is simply called or used (“If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.”) By emphasizing interfaces rather than specific types, well-designed code improves its flexibility by allowing polymorphic substitution. Duck-typing avoids tests using type() or isinstance(). (Note, however, that duck-typing can be complemented with abstract base classes.) Instead, it typically employs hasattr() tests or EAFP programming.
Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. This common Python coding style assumes the existence of valid keys or attributes and catches exceptions if the assumption proves false. This clean and fast style is characterized by the presence of many try and except statements. The technique contrasts with the LBYL style common to many other languages such as C.
A piece of syntax which can be evaluated to some value. In other words, an expression is an accumulation of expression elements like literals, names, attribute access, operators or function calls which all return a value. In contrast to many other languages, not all language constructs are expressions. There are also statements which cannot be used as expressions, such as while. Assignments are also statements, not expressions.
A module written in C or C++, using Python’s C API to interact with the core and with user code.
String literals prefixed with 'f' or 'F' are commonly called “f-strings” which is short for formatted string literals. See also PEP 498.
An object exposing a file-oriented API (with methods such as read() or write()) to an underlying resource. Depending on the way it was created, a file object can mediate access to a real on-disk file or to another type of storage or communication device (for example standard input/output, in-memory buffers, sockets, pipes, etc.). File objects are also called file-like objects or streams.
There are actually three categories of file objects: raw binary files, buffered binary files and text files. Their interfaces are defined in the io module. The canonical way to create a file object is by using the open() function.
A synonym for file object.
filesystem encoding and error handler
Encoding and error handler used by Python to decode bytes from the operating system and encode Unicode to the operating system.
The filesystem encoding must guarantee to successfully decode all bytes below 128. If the file system encoding fails to provide this guarantee, API functions can raise UnicodeError.
The sys.getfilesystemencoding() and sys.getfilesystemencodeerrors() functions can be used to get the filesystem encoding and error handler.
The filesystem encoding and error handler are configured at Python startup by the PyConfig_Read() function: see filesystem_encoding and filesystem_errors members of PyConfig.
See also the locale encoding.
An object that tries to find the loader for a module that is being imported.
Since Python 3.3, there are two types of finder: meta path finders for use with sys.meta_path, and path entry finders for use with sys.path_hooks.
See PEP 302, PEP 420 and PEP 451 for much more detail.
Mathematical division that rounds down to nearest integer. The floor division operator is //. For example, the expression 11 // 4 evaluates to 2 in contrast to the 2.75 returned by float true division. Note that (-11) // 4 is -3 because that is -2.75 rounded downward. See PEP 238.
A series of statements which returns some value to a caller. It can also be passed zero or more arguments which may be used in the execution of the body. See also parameter, method, and the Function definitions section.
An annotation of a function parameter or return value.
Function annotations are usually used for type hints: for example, this function is expected to take two int arguments and is also expected to have an int return value:
def sum_two_numbers(a: int, b: int) -> int: return a + b
Function annotation syntax is explained in section Function definitions.
See variable annotation and PEP 484, which describe this functionality. Also see Annotations Best Practices for best practices on working with annotations.
A future statement, from __future__ import <feature>, directs the compiler to compile the current module using syntax or semantics that will become standard in a future release of Python. The __future__ module documents the possible values of feature. By importing this module and evaluating its variables, you can see when a new feature was first added to the language and when it will (or did) become the default:
>>>>>> import __future__ >>> __future__.division _Feature((2, 2, 0, 'alpha', 2), (3, 0, 0, 'alpha', 0), 8192)
The process of freeing memory when it is not used anymore. Python performs garbage collection via reference counting and a cyclic garbage collector that is able to detect and break reference cycles. The garbage collector can be controlled using the gc module.
A function which returns a generator iterator. It looks like a normal function except that it contains yield expressions for producing a series of values usable in a for-loop or that can be retrieved one at a time with the next() function.
Usually refers to a generator function, but may refer to a generator iterator in some contexts. In cases where the intended meaning isn’t clear, using the full terms avoids ambiguity.
An object created by a generator function.
Each yield temporarily suspends processing, remembering the location execution state (including local variables and pending try-statements). When the generator iterator resumes, it picks up where it left off (in contrast to functions which start fresh on every invocation).
An expression that returns an iterator. It looks like a normal expression followed by a for clause defining a loop variable, range, and an optional if clause. The combined expression generates values for an enclosing function:
>>>>>> sum(i*i for i in range(10)) # sum of squares 0, 1, 4, ... 81 285
A function composed of multiple functions implementing the same operation for different types. Which implementation should be used during a call is determined by the dispatch algorithm.
See also the single dispatch glossary entry, the functools.singledispatch() decorator, and PEP 443.
A type that can be parameterized; typically a container class such as list or dict. Used for type hints and annotations.
For more details, see generic alias types, PEP 483, PEP 484, PEP 585, and the typing module.
The mechanism used by the CPython interpreter to assure that only one thread executes Python bytecode at a time. This simplifies the CPython implementation by making the object model (including critical built-in types such as dict) implicitly safe against concurrent access. Locking the entire interpreter makes it easier for the interpreter to be multi-threaded, at the expense of much of the parallelism afforded by multi-processor machines.
However, some extension modules, either standard or third-party, are designed so as to release the GIL when doing computationally intensive tasks such as compression or hashing. Also, the GIL is always released when doing I/O.
Past efforts to create a “free-threaded” interpreter (one which locks shared data at a much finer granularity) have not been successful because performance suffered in the common single-processor case. It is believed that overcoming this performance issue would make the implementation much more complicated and therefore costlier to maintain.
A bytecode cache file that uses the hash rather than the last-modified time of the corresponding source file to determine its validity. See Cached bytecode invalidation.
An object is hashable if it has a hash value which never changes during its lifetime (it needs a __hash__() method), and can be compared to other objects (it needs an __eq__() method). Hashable objects which compare equal must have the same hash value.
Hashability makes an object usable as a dictionary key and a set member, because these data structures use the hash value internally.
Most of Python’s immutable built-in objects are hashable; mutable containers (such as lists or dictionaries) are not; immutable containers (such as tuples and frozensets) are only hashable if their elements are hashable. Objects which are instances of user-defined classes are hashable by default. They all compare unequal (except with themselves), and their hash value is derived from their id().
An Integrated Development and Learning Environment for Python. IDLE is a basic editor and interpreter environment which ships with the standard distribution of Python.
An object with a fixed value. Immutable objects include numbers, strings and tuples. Such an object cannot be altered. A new object has to be created if a different value has to be stored. They play an important role in places where a constant hash value is needed, for example as a key in a dictionary.
A list of locations (or path entries) that are searched by the path based finder for modules to import. During import, this list of locations usually comes from sys.path, but for subpackages it may also come from the parent package’s __path__ attribute.
The process by which Python code in one module is made available to Python code in another module.
An object that both finds and loads a module; both a finder and loader object.
Python has an interactive interpreter which means you can enter statements and expressions at the interpreter prompt, immediately execute them and see their results. Just launch python with no arguments (possibly by selecting it from your computer’s main menu). It is a very powerful way to test out new ideas or inspect modules and packages (remember help(x)).
Python is an interpreted language, as opposed to a compiled one, though the distinction can be blurry because of the presence of the bytecode compiler. This means that source files can be run directly without explicitly creating an executable which is then run. Interpreted languages typically have a shorter development/debug cycle than compiled ones, though their programs generally also run more slowly. See also interactive.
When asked to shut down, the Python interpreter enters a special phase where it gradually releases all allocated resources, such as modules and various critical internal structures. It also makes several calls to the garbage collector. This can trigger the execution of code in user-defined destructors or weakref callbacks. Code executed during the shutdown phase can encounter various exceptions as the resources it relies on may not function anymore (common examples are library modules or the warnings machinery).
The main reason for interpreter shutdown is that the __main__ module or the script being run has finished executing.
An object capable of returning its members one at a time. Examples of iterables include all sequence types (such as list, str, and tuple) and some non-sequence types like dict, file objects, and objects of any classes you define with an __iter__() method or with a __getitem__() method that implements sequence semantics.
Iterables can be used in a for loop and in many other places where a sequence is needed (zip(), map(), …). When an iterable object is passed as an argument to the built-in function iter(), it returns an iterator for the object. This iterator is good for one pass over the set of values. When using iterables, it is usually not necessary to call iter() or deal with iterator objects yourself. The for statement does that automatically for you, creating a temporary unnamed variable to hold the iterator for the duration of the loop. See also iterator, sequence, and generator.
An object representing a stream of data. Repeated calls to the iterator’s __next__() method (or passing it to the built-in function next()) return successive items in the stream. When no more data are available a StopIteration exception is raised instead. At this point, the iterator object is exhausted and any further calls to its __next__() method just raise StopIteration again. Iterators are required to have an __iter__() method that returns the iterator object itself so every iterator is also iterable and may be used in most places where other iterables are accepted. One notable exception is code which attempts multiple iteration passes. A container object (such as a list) produces a fresh new iterator each time you pass it to the iter() function or use it in a for loop. Attempting this with an iterator will just return the same exhausted iterator object used in the previous iteration pass, making it appear like an empty container.
More information can be found in Iterator Types.
CPython implementation detail: CPython does not consistently apply the requirement that an iterator define __iter__().
A key function or collation function is a callable that returns a value used for sorting or ordering. For example, locale.strxfrm() is used to produce a sort key that is aware of locale specific sort conventions.
A number of tools in Python accept key functions to control how elements are ordered or grouped. They include min(), max(), sorted(), list.sort(), heapq.merge(), heapq.nsmallest(), heapq.nlargest(), and itertools.groupby().
There are several ways to create a key function. For example. the str.lower() method can serve as a key function for case insensitive sorts. Alternatively, a key function can be built from a lambda expression such as lambda r: (r[0], r[2]). Also, operator.attrgetter(), operator.itemgetter(), and operator.methodcaller() are three key function constructors. See the Sorting HOW TO for examples of how to create and use key functions.
See argument.
An anonymous inline function consisting of a single expression which is evaluated when the function is called. The syntax to create a lambda function is lambda [parameters]: expression
Look before you leap. This coding style explicitly tests for pre-conditions before making calls or lookups. This style contrasts with the EAFP approach and is characterized by the presence of many if statements.
In a multi-threaded environment, the LBYL approach can risk introducing a race condition between “the looking” and “the leaping”. For example, the code, if key in mapping: return mapping[key] can fail if another thread removes key from mapping after the test, but before the lookup. This issue can be solved with locks or by using the EAFP approach.
On Unix, it is the encoding of the LC_CTYPE locale. It can be set with locale.setlocale(locale.LC_CTYPE, new_locale).
On Windows, it is the ANSI code page (ex: "cp1252").
On Android and VxWorks, Python uses "utf-8" as the locale encoding.
locale.getencoding() can be used to get the locale encoding.
See also the filesystem encoding and error handler.
A built-in Python sequence. Despite its name it is more akin to an array in other languages than to a linked list since access to elements is O(1).
A compact way to process all or part of the elements in a sequence and return a list with the results. result = ['{:#04x}'.format(x) for x in range(256) if x % 2 == 0] generates a list of strings containing even hex numbers (0x..) in the range from 0 to 255. The if clause is optional. If omitted, all elements in range(256) are processed.
An object that loads a module. It must define a method named load_module(). A loader is typically returned by a finder. See PEP 302 for details and importlib.abc.Loader for an abstract base class.
An informal synonym for special method.
A container object that supports arbitrary key lookups and implements the methods specified in the collections.abc.Mapping or collections.abc.MutableMapping abstract base classes. Examples include dict, collections.defaultdict, collections.OrderedDict and collections.Counter.
A finder returned by a search of sys.meta_path. Meta path finders are related to, but different from path entry finders.
See importlib.abc.MetaPathFinder for the methods that meta path finders implement.
The class of a class. Class definitions create a class name, a class dictionary, and a list of base classes. The metaclass is responsible for taking those three arguments and creating the class. Most object oriented programming languages provide a default implementation. What makes Python special is that it is possible to create custom metaclasses. Most users never need this tool, but when the need arises, metaclasses can provide powerful, elegant solutions. They have been used for logging attribute access, adding thread-safety, tracking object creation, implementing singletons, and many other tasks.
More information can be found in Metaclasses.
A function which is defined inside a class body. If called as an attribute of an instance of that class, the method will get the instance object as its first argument (which is usually called self). See function and nested scope.
Method Resolution Order is the order in which base classes are searched for a member during lookup. See The Python 2.3 Method Resolution Order for details of the algorithm used by the Python interpreter since the 2.3 release.
An object that serves as an organizational unit of Python code. Modules have a namespace containing arbitrary Python objects. Modules are loaded into Python by the process of importing.
See also package.
A namespace containing the import-related information used to load a module. An instance of importlib.machinery.ModuleSpec.
Mutable objects can change their value but keep their id(). See also immutable.
The term “named tuple” applies to any type or class that inherits from tuple and whose indexable elements are also accessible using named attributes. The type or class may have other features as well.
Several built-in types are named tuples, including the values returned by time.localtime() and os.stat(). Another example is sys.float_info:
>>>>>> sys.float_info[1] # indexed access 1024 >>> sys.float_info.max_exp # named field access 1024 >>> isinstance(sys.float_info, tuple) # kind of tuple True
Some named tuples are built-in types (such as the above examples). Alternatively, a named tuple can be created from a regular class definition that inherits from tuple and that defines named fields. Such a class can be written by hand or it can be created with the factory function collections.namedtuple(). The latter technique also adds some extra methods that may not be found in hand-written or built-in named tuples.
The place where a variable is stored. Namespaces are implemented as dictionaries. There are the local, global and built-in namespaces as well as nested namespaces in objects (in methods). Namespaces support modularity by preventing naming conflicts. For instance, the functions builtins.open and os.open() are distinguished by their namespaces. Namespaces also aid readability and maintainability by making it clear which module implements a function. For instance, writing random.seed() or itertools.islice() makes it clear that those functions are implemented by the random and itertools modules, respectively.
A PEP 420 package which serves only as a container for subpackages. Namespace packages may have no physical representation, and specifically are not like a regular package because they have no __init__.py file.
See also module.
The ability to refer to a variable in an enclosing definition. For instance, a function defined inside another function can refer to variables in the outer function. Note that nested scopes by default work only for reference and not for assignment. Local variables both read and write in the innermost scope. Likewise, global variables read and write to the global namespace. The nonlocal allows writing to outer scopes.
Old name for the flavor of classes now used for all class objects. In earlier Python versions, only new-style classes could use Python’s newer, versatile features like __slots__, descriptors, properties, __getattribute__(), class methods, and static methods.
Any data with state (attributes or value) and defined behavior (methods). Also the ultimate base class of any new-style class.
A Python module which can contain submodules or recursively, subpackages. Technically, a package is a Python module with a __path__ attribute.
See also regular package and namespace package.
A named entity in a function (or method) definition that specifies an argument (or in some cases, arguments) that the function can accept. There are five kinds of parameter:
-
positional-or-keyword: specifies an argument that can be passed either positionally or as a keyword argument. This is the default kind of parameter, for example foo and bar in the following:
def func(foo, bar=None): ...
-
positional-only: specifies an argument that can be supplied only by position. Positional-only parameters can be defined by including a / character in the parameter list of the function definition after them, for example posonly1 and posonly2 in the following:
def func(posonly1, posonly2, /, positional_or_keyword): ...
-
keyword-only: specifies an argument that can be supplied only by keyword. Keyword-only parameters can be defined by including a single var-positional parameter or bare * in the parameter list of the function definition before them, for example kw_only1 and kw_only2 in the following:
def func(arg, *, kw_only1, kw_only2): ...
-
var-positional: specifies that an arbitrary sequence of positional arguments can be provided (in addition to any positional arguments already accepted by other parameters). Such a parameter can be defined by prepending the parameter name with *, for example args in the following:
def func(*args, **kwargs): ...
-
var-keyword: specifies that arbitrarily many keyword arguments can be provided (in addition to any keyword arguments already accepted by other parameters). Such a parameter can be defined by prepending the parameter name with **, for example kwargs in the example above.
Parameters can specify both optional and required arguments, as well as default values for some optional arguments.
See also the argument glossary entry, the FAQ question on the difference between arguments and parameters, the inspect.Parameter class, the Function definitions section, and PEP 362.
A single location on the import path which the path based finder consults to find modules for importing.
A finder returned by a callable on sys.path_hooks (i.e. a path entry hook) which knows how to locate modules given a path entry.
See importlib.abc.PathEntryFinder for the methods that path entry finders implement.
A callable on the sys.path_hook list which returns a path entry finder if it knows how to find modules on a specific path entry.
One of the default meta path finders which searches an import path for modules.
An object representing a file system path. A path-like object is either a str or bytes object representing a path, or an object implementing the os.PathLike protocol. An object that supports the os.PathLike protocol can be converted to a str or bytes file system path by calling the os.fspath() function; os.fsdecode() and os.fsencode() can be used to guarantee a str or bytes result instead, respectively. Introduced by PEP 519.
Python Enhancement Proposal. A PEP is a design document providing information to the Python community, or describing a new feature for Python or its processes or environment. PEPs should provide a concise technical specification and a rationale for proposed features.
PEPs are intended to be the primary mechanisms for proposing major new features, for collecting community input on an issue, and for documenting the design decisions that have gone into Python. The PEP author is responsible for building consensus within the community and documenting dissenting opinions.
See PEP 1.
A set of files in a single directory (possibly stored in a zip file) that contribute to a namespace package, as defined in PEP 420.
See argument.
A provisional API is one which has been deliberately excluded from the standard library’s backwards compatibility guarantees. While major changes to such interfaces are not expected, as long as they are marked provisional, backwards incompatible changes (up to and including removal of the interface) may occur if deemed necessary by core developers. Such changes will not be made gratuitously – they will occur only if serious fundamental flaws are uncovered that were missed prior to the inclusion of the API.
Even for provisional APIs, backwards incompatible changes are seen as a “solution of last resort” - every attempt will still be made to find a backwards compatible resolution to any identified problems.
This process allows the standard library to continue to evolve over time, without locking in problematic design errors for extended periods of time. See PEP 411 for more details.
See provisional API.
Nickname for the Python 3.x release line (coined long ago when the release of version 3 was something in the distant future.) This is also abbreviated “Py3k”.
An idea or piece of code which closely follows the most common idioms of the Python language, rather than implementing code using concepts common to other languages. For example, a common idiom in Python is to loop over all elements of an iterable using a for statement. Many other languages don’t have this type of construct, so people unfamiliar with Python sometimes use a numerical counter instead:
for i in range(len(food)): print(food[i])
As opposed to the cleaner, Pythonic method:
for piece in food: print(piece)
A dotted name showing the “path” from a module’s global scope to a class, function or method defined in that module, as defined in PEP 3155. For top-level functions and classes, the qualified name is the same as the object’s name:
>>>>>> class C: ... class D: ... def meth(self): ... pass ... >>> C.__qualname__ 'C' >>> C.D.__qualname__ 'C.D' >>> C.D.meth.__qualname__ 'C.D.meth'
When used to refer to modules, the fully qualified name means the entire dotted path to the module, including any parent packages, e.g. email.mime.text:
>>>>>> import email.mime.text >>> email.mime.text.__name__ 'email.mime.text'
The number of references to an object. When the reference count of an object drops to zero, it is deallocated. Reference counting is generally not visible to Python code, but it is a key element of the CPython implementation. Programmers can call the sys.getrefcount() function to return the reference count for a particular object.
A traditional package, such as a directory containing an __init__.py file.
See also namespace package.
A declaration inside a class that saves memory by pre-declaring space for instance attributes and eliminating instance dictionaries. Though popular, the technique is somewhat tricky to get right and is best reserved for rare cases where there are large numbers of instances in a memory-critical application.
An iterable which supports efficient element access using integer indices via the __getitem__() special method and defines a __len__() method that returns the length of the sequence. Some built-in sequence types are list, str, tuple, and bytes. Note that dict also supports __getitem__() and __len__(), but is considered a mapping rather than a sequence because the lookups use arbitrary immutable keys rather than integers.
The collections.abc.Sequence abstract base class defines a much richer interface that goes beyond just __getitem__() and __len__(), adding count(), index(), __contains__(), and __reversed__(). Types that implement this expanded interface can be registered explicitly using register().
A compact way to process all or part of the elements in an iterable and return a set with the results. results = {c for c in 'abracadabra' if c not in 'abc'} generates the set of strings {'r', 'd'}. See Displays for lists, sets and dictionaries.
A form of generic function dispatch where the implementation is chosen based on the type of a single argument.
An object usually containing a portion of a sequence. A slice is created using the subscript notation, [] with colons between numbers when several are given, such as in variable_name[1:3:5]. The bracket (subscript) notation uses slice objects internally.
A method that is called implicitly by Python to execute a certain operation on a type, such as addition. Such methods have names starting and ending with double underscores. Special methods are documented in Special method names.
A statement is part of a suite (a “block” of code). A statement is either an expression or one of several constructs with a keyword, such as if, while or for.
In Python’s C API, a strong reference is a reference to an object which is owned by the code holding the reference. The strong reference is taken by calling Py_INCREF() when the reference is created and released with Py_DECREF() when the reference is deleted.
The Py_NewRef() function can be used to create a strong reference to an object. Usually, the Py_DECREF() function must be called on the strong reference before exiting the scope of the strong reference, to avoid leaking one reference.
See also borrowed reference.
A string in Python is a sequence of Unicode code points (in range U+0000–U+10FFFF). To store or transfer a string, it needs to be serialized as a sequence of bytes.
Serializing a string into a sequence of bytes is known as “encoding”, and recreating the string from the sequence of bytes is known as “decoding”.
There are a variety of different text serialization codecs, which are collectively referred to as “text encodings”.
A file object able to read and write str objects. Often, a text file actually accesses a byte-oriented datastream and handles the text encoding automatically. Examples of text files are files opened in text mode ('r' or 'w'), sys.stdin, sys.stdout, and instances of io.StringIO.
See also binary file for a file object able to read and write bytes-like objects.
A string which is bound by three instances of either a quotation mark (”) or an apostrophe (‘). While they don’t provide any functionality not available with single-quoted strings, they are useful for a number of reasons. They allow you to include unescaped single and double quotes within a string and they can span multiple lines without the use of the continuation character, making them especially useful when writing docstrings.
The type of a Python object determines what kind of object it is; every object has a type. An object’s type is accessible as its __class__ attribute or can be retrieved with type(obj).
A synonym for a type, created by assigning the type to an identifier.
Type aliases are useful for simplifying type hints. For example:
def remove_gray_shades( colors: list[tuple[int, int, int]]) -> list[tuple[int, int, int]]: pass
could be made more readable like this:
Color = tuple[int, int, int] def remove_gray_shades(colors: list[Color]) -> list[Color]: pass
See typing and PEP 484, which describe this functionality.
An annotation that specifies the expected type for a variable, a class attribute, or a function parameter or return value.
Type hints are optional and are not enforced by Python but they are useful to static type analysis tools, and aid IDEs with code completion and refactoring.
Type hints of global variables, class attributes, and functions, but not local variables, can be accessed using typing.get_type_hints().
See typing and PEP 484, which describe this functionality.
A manner of interpreting text streams in which all of the following are recognized as ending a line: the Unix end-of-line convention '\n', the Windows convention '\r\n', and the old Macintosh convention '\r'. See PEP 278 and PEP 3116, as well as bytes.splitlines() for an additional use.
An annotation of a variable or a class attribute.
When annotating a variable or a class attribute, assignment is optional:
class C: field: 'annotation'
Variable annotations are usually used for type hints: for example this variable is expected to take int values:
count: int = 0
Variable annotation syntax is explained in section Annotated assignment statements.
See function annotation, PEP 484 and PEP 526, which describe this functionality. Also see Annotations Best Practices for best practices on working with annotations.
A cooperatively isolated runtime environment that allows Python users and applications to install and upgrade Python distribution packages without interfering with the behaviour of other Python applications running on the same system.
See also venv.
A computer defined entirely in software. Python’s virtual machine executes the bytecode emitted by the bytecode compiler.
Listing of Python design principles and philosophies that are helpful in understanding and using the language. The listing can be found by typing “import this” at the interactive prompt.
TKT GLOSSARY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING (ELT) TERMINOLOGY
The words in this glossary are in alphabetical order and are for all the TKT modules. Candidates preparing for any one module
should make sure that they are familiar with all the words and phrases in the glossary. Candidates for all modules are also
expected to be familiar with the Cambridge English: Preliminary (PET) Vocabulary List.
The words and phrases included in the TKT Glossary are not intended to provide a full or complete list of English language
teaching terminology. This glossary includes words and phrases for teaching knowledge connected to language, language use
and the background to and practice of language teaching and learning as assessed in TKT.
Words which are in bold are explained in the glossary.
Terms included in the Appendix are for use in TKT: KAL (Knowledge About Language) only.
A separate glossary is available for candidates preparing for TKT: CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning).
Abbreviation noun
A short form of a word or phrase; e.g. in addresses, Rd is an abbreviation of Road. See contraction.
Abstract adjective
Connected to thoughts and ideas rather than real objects, situations or actions. A text can be abstract and we use abstract words
to express things like thoughts (e.g. believe), feelings (e.g. love) or ideas (e.g. beauty). Words for things that cannot be seen or
touched are abstract words. See concrete.
Academic adjective
Things which are connected with education or connected with studying in schools, colleges or universities. For example, in school,
maths is an academic subject; playing football is not.
Access verb, accessible adjective (material)
To be able to find and to use materials for lessons. For example, teachers can access materials such as games and songs from the
internet. Materials which are easy to find and to use are accessible.
Accuracy noun
The ability to do something without making mistakes. Accuracy is the use of correct forms of grammar, vocabulary, spelling and
pronunciation. In an accuracy activity, teachers and learners usually focus on using and producing language correctly. See fluency.
Achievement noun, achieve verb, achievable adjective
Something you succeed in doing usually by making an effort; something done successfully, e.g. Sarah worked hard and passed her
exam. This was an achievement. Something which is achievable for learners is something they can succeed in.
Achievement test: see test.
Acknowledge verb
To show that you have seen or understood something, e.g. the teacher acknowledged the learner’s answer by looking at him and
saying ‘Yes’.
Acquire verb, acquisition noun (language acquisition)
To learn a language without studying it, just by hearing and/or reading it and then using it. This is the way people usually learn
their first language. See exposure, pick up (language).
Action rhyme noun
A classroom activity used mostly with young learners which includes words and sentences which end in the same sound. For
example ‘One, two, three, touch your knee.’ Learners say the rhyme and perform the actions. See Listen and do/make/draw.
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Activate previous knowledge phrase
To get learners to think about and to say what they know about a topic. Teachers activate learners’ previous knowledge when they
are preparing learners to read or listen to a text. For example, a teacher could prepare learners for a text about cooking by asking
learners what kind of food they can cook. Research has shown that when learners’ previous knowledge is activated, reading and
listening comprehension is increased. See arouse/ generate/stimulate interest.
Active role phrase
Taking part and being involved and interested in something. When learners think about their own learning and what their own
needs are and try to do things themselves to learn more, they are taking an active role in their learning. See passive role.
Active voice noun
In English grammar, there are active forms and passive forms. In an active sentence, the subject of the sentence does the action,
e.g. active voice: The captain (the subject) scored the winning goal. The passive voice would be: The winning goal was scored by
the captain. See passive voice.
Activity-based learning noun
An approach to learning by doing activities and focusing on the activity rather than focusing on grammar and vocabulary. Learners
do an activity in groups; e.g. they solve a problem, draw or paint a picture or make or build something. The rules of language used
in the activity are looked at either after the activity or not at all. An activity-based learning approach is more common with schoolaged children.
Activity book: see book.
Adapt verb (material)
To change a text or other material, so that it is suitable to use with a particular class. For example, a teacher thinks a text in
his/her coursebook is too long and/or too difficult for his/her learners. He/she adapts the material by removing some of the more
difficult paragraphs.
Adjective noun
An adjective describes or gives more information about a noun or pronoun, e.g. a cold day.
A comparative adjective compares two things, e.g. He is taller than she is.
A demonstrative adjective shows whether something is near or far from the speaker, e.g. this (near) book is interesting,
that window (not near) is open.
An –ing / –ed adjective describes things or feelings. An –ing adjective describes things or people, e.g. The book is very
interesting. An –ed adjective describes feelings, e.g. I am very interested in the book.
A possessive adjective shows who something belongs to, e.g. It’s my book.
A superlative adjective compares more than two things, e.g. He is the tallest boy in the class.
Adverb noun
An adverb describes or gives more information about how, when, where, how much or how well something is done, e.g. he
worked quickly and well.
Affix noun and verb, affixation noun
A letter or letters added to the beginning or end of a word to make a new word, which can be a different part of speech from the
original word, e.g. interview, interviewer; ‘er’ is an affix added to interview to make the new word interviewer. Affixation is the
process of adding letters at the beginning (prefix) or end of a word (suffix) to make a new word. See prefix, suffix.
Aids noun
Aids are the things that a teacher uses in a class, e.g. handouts, pictures, flashcards. When teachers plan lessons they think about
what aids they will need to help learners understand things more easily. See visual aid.
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Aim noun
What the teacher wants to achieve in the lesson or in the course.
The main aim is the most important aim; e.g. the teacher’s main aim in a lesson could be to teach the present perfect
simple or develop listening skills.
A stage aim is the aim or purpose of a stage, step or short section of a lesson, e.g. to provide controlled practice of the
present perfect simple or to develop listening for gist.
A subsidiary aim is the secondary focus of the lesson, less important than the main aim. It could be the language or skills
learners use in order to achieve the main aim of the lesson, or a skill or language area which is practised while the teacher
is working on achieving the main lesson aim.
A personal aim is what the teacher would like to improve in his/her teaching, e.g. to reduce the time I spend writing on the
whiteboard.
Analyse verb, analysis noun
To examine or think about something in detail in order to understand it or get to know it better; e.g. to analyse language is to
study the form of the structure and to examine why it is being used in this way in this situation. Teachers also analyse learners’
style (see learning style) or performance.
Anticipate problems phrase
When teachers are planning a lesson, they think about what their learners might find difficult about the lesson so that they can
help them learn more effectively at certain points in the lesson. For example, a teacher preparing to teach the word vegetable
thinks that learners will have difficulty pronouncing the word so he/she plans some ways of helping learners to say the word.
Teachers also think about how learners’ previous learning experience may affect their learning in a specific lesson.
Antonym noun
The opposite of another word, e.g. hot is an antonym of cold. See synonym.
Apostrophe: see punctuation.
Approach noun, Method noun
A particular way or a system for doing something. When teaching a language, there are different ways or systems teachers can
use, each based on a belief or a theory about the best way to learn a language. Teachers choose an approach/method which fits
in with the beliefs they have about language learning and language teaching. For example, teachers who believe that learners
should be able to communicate in the language they are learning choose approaches/methods which include speaking and
listening activities. There are many different approaches/methods used for English language teaching. See content and language
integrated learning ‘CLIL’, communicative approach, guided discovery, lexical approach, presentation, practice, production (PPP),
test-teach-test, task-based learning.
Appropriacy noun, appropriate adjective (language)
Language which is suitable in a particular situation; e.g. it might be appropriate to say Hi in one situation but Good morning in
another. See inappropriate, formal language, informal language, register.
Arouse, generate, stimulate interest phrase
To get learners interested in a task or topic, teachers try to arouse their interest, e.g. by asking them what they know about the
topic or getting them to share ideas about the topic. In doing this, teachers help their learners to be better prepared to begin a
task. See activate previous knowledge.
Art and craft activity noun
A classroom activity in which (younger) learners make something with their hands, such as an origami animal or a mini-book.
Learners often follow instructions from a teacher or a coursebook in order to make the item.
Article noun
Articles are used before nouns. There are two types of article: the is the definite article and a/an is the indefinite article.
Sometimes we use the definite article before a noun (I was in the sitting room), sometimes we use the indefinite article (I heard a
noise) and sometimes we use no article (I was at (-) home).
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Ask for clarification phrase
To ask for an explanation of what a speaker means, e.g. What do you mean? See clarify, clarification.
Aspect noun
Aspect is a way of looking at verb forms without looking specifically at the time of the action or event. When we talk about the
time of an action or event, we talk about tense. Aspect is about the way speakers view events, e.g. whether the event is long or
short, whether it is complete or not, whether it is repeated or not, whether it is connected to the time of speaking or not. There
are two aspects in English, the continuous/progressive aspect and the perfect aspect. The continuous/progressive aspect may
describe an action that is in progress at a particular time. See tense.
Assessment noun, assess verb
To discover, judge, or form an opinion on learners’ ability, achievement, proficiency or progress either formally or informally.
Continuous assessment
A type of assessment which does not involve a final examination. Some or all of the work that learners do during a course
is marked by the teacher on a regular basis and these marks go into the calculation of the final grade given to learners.
Continuous assessment may include regularly assessing learners’ written work; assessing their listening, reading and
speaking skills; talking to learners; observing them in class; looking at self-assessments and thinking about learners’
classroom performance.
Diagnostic assessment
A type of assessment aimed at finding out – diagnosing – what language and skills weaknesses or strengths learners have.
Teachers use this information to inform their future lesson planning. See teacher roles.
Formal assessment
When a teacher assesses learners and then gives them a formal report or grade, to say how successful or unsuccessful
they have been See informal assessment.
Formative assessment
When a teacher uses formal and informal assessment and information on learners’ progress during a course to give
learners feedback on their learning or to change their teaching. See summative assessment.
Informal assessment
When a teacher decides whether a learner is doing well or not, or whether a course is successful or not, by evaluating
learners by thinking about their strengths and weaknesses and thinking about their progress rather than setting a test or
writing an official report. See formal assessment.
Objective assessment
When the opinion or judgement of the person marking a test is not needed to assess learners. The questions in the
test/assessment have one correct answer. Objective assessment takes place when marking tasks such as multiple-choice
questions or true/false questions because the marker does not need to decide if the answer is right or wrong as there are
clear correct or incorrect answers. See subjective assessment.
Peer assessment
When learners give their opinions on each other’s language or work. See self-assessment.
Performance assessment
This involves teachers thinking about learners’ classroom performance to assess how well learners communicate during
specific tasks by checking learners’ performance against criteria. Teachers can see if learners have achieved the purpose of
the task by using the criteria.
Portfolio assessment
This is used for formative assessment and also continuous assessment. It consists of a collection of learners’ work done
over a course or a year which shows development of their language and skills.
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Self-assessment
When learners assess themselves, they decide how good they think their progress, learning or language use is. See peer
assessment.
Subjective assessment
When the opinion of the person marking a test is needed to make a decision on the quality of the work being assessed.
Subjective assessment takes place when marking, for example, stories, compositions, interviews, conversations. The
person marking the test makes a judgement about whether the work is good or not. Subjective assessment can be made
more reliable by using assessment criteria. See objective assessment, assessment criteria.
Summative assessment
A type of assessment done at the end of a course where the focus is on learners receiving a grade for their work rather
than receiving feedback on their progress. See formative assessment.
Assessment chart, assessment profile noun
A chart designed by the teacher and used for diagnostic purposes. The chart includes learners’ names and assessment criteria. The
teacher uses it to record comments on learners’ progress and achievement in English. The comments are based on observation of
learners working during class time, and/or on samples of written work done for homework. See chart, pupil profile chart.
Assessment criteria noun
The qualities against which a learner’s performance is judged for assessment. For example, assessment criteria for judging
learners’ writing may be: accuracy of grammar, use of vocabulary, spelling and punctuation, organisation of ideas.
Assessor: see teacher role.
Assumptions noun
When teachers think about what they believe their learners will or will not know or how they will behave in a particular lesson.
For example, a teacher plans to teach the present simple using the context of jobs and daily routines. The teacher may make the
assumption that learners will know basic job vocabulary (because he/she has already taught it) and so knows he/she will not need
to spend time in the lesson presenting these words.
‘At’ symbol: see punctuation.
Attention span noun
How long a learner is able to concentrate at any one time. Some learners have a short attention span and they cannot
concentrate for as long as other learners do. When teachers prepare lessons they think about how long activities will take and
about whether their learners will be able to concentrate for as long as it takes to complete the activity.
Attention spread noun
This is about teachers giving equal attention to all of the learners in the class. This can involve encouraging quieter learners to
participate by asking them to contribute an answer and ensuring that more enthusiastic learners do not dominate.
Audio script: see tapescript, transcript.
Auditory learner: see learning style.
Authentic material noun
Written or spoken texts which a first language speaker might read or listen to. They may be taken from newspapers, radio, the
internet etc. The language in the texts is not adapted or made easier for learners or the language learning process.
Authenticity: see authentic material.
Autonomy, autonomous: see learner autonomy.
Auxiliary verb: see verb.
Awareness: see language awareness and raise awareness.
Base form of a verb: see verb.
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Base word: see root word.
Behave verb, behaviour noun
The way we do things; to be polite or rude, to be noisy or quiet. Examples of good behaviour are being polite and respecting each
other. See discipline.
Bilingual dictionary: see dictionary.
Block noun
A small object, often made of wood, with straight sides. Some teachers give learners coloured blocks for use in listen and make
activities.
Board game noun
A game played by two or more players on a board using dice. Players throw the dice and move around squares on the board. By
writing different instructions in the squares, teachers can use board games for controlled language practice or oral fluency; e.g.
the teacher writes daily routines such as eat breakfast in the squares. When a learner lands on a square, they say a daily routine
using the present simple (e.g. I eat breakfast at .).
Book noun
An activity book or workbook contains extra practice activities and is often used for homework. It usually accompanies a
coursebook.
A coursebook or textbook is used regularly by learners in the class. It usually contains grammar, vocabulary and skills work
and follows a syllabus. A coursebook unit is a chapter of a coursebook.
A teacher’s book accompanies the coursebook, and contains teaching ideas, audio scripts and answers to coursebook
activities.
Brainstorm noun and verb
To quickly think of ideas about a topic and also possibly note them down. This is often done as preparation before a writing or
speaking activity; e.g. before learners write a description of their city they make a list of all the positive and negative adjectives
they know to describe places.
Brochure: see leaflet, realia.
Build rapport: see rapport.
‘Can Do’ statements noun
Sentences that describe learners’ language use or an aspect of it on a scale of proficiency, e.g. This learner CAN express simple
opinions or requirements in a familiar context.
Capital letter noun
A letter of the form and size used at the beginning of a sentence or a name, e.g. They went to Spain last year.
See punctuation.
Categorise verb, categorisation noun, category noun
To put things into the group to which they belong. For example, learners might categorise a list of different foods into groups such
as fruit and vegetables.
Chant noun and verb
To repeat a phrase, sentence, rhyme, verse, poem or song, usually with others, in a regular rhythm. Teachers use chants to
practise pronunciation and to help learners remember vocabulary.
Chart noun
Information in the form of diagrams, lists or drawings often placed on the classroom wall for learners to use. Common examples
are lists of irregular verb forms or drawings illustrating the meanings of prepositions.
Checking understanding: see concept questions, concept checking.
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Checklist noun
A list of things that a learner or teacher needs to focus on or consider. Examples could include assessment checklist, resources
checklist, lesson planning checklist.
Choral drill: see drill.
Chunk noun
Any pair or group of words commonly found together or near one another, e.g. phrasal verbs (get on), idioms (it drives me crazy),
collocations (make the bed), fixed expressions (How do you do?). See lexical unit.
Clarify verb, clarification noun
. To make clear what you mean, e.g. to repeat something using clearer words or say something again in a clearer way. See
ask for clarification.
. Clarify language. When teachers focus on form, meaning and pronunciation in a lesson to help learners understand the use
and rules of target language. For example, showing learners that the past perfect is made of had + the past participle, that
it’s used for an earlier past action and telling them that had can be written ’d is clarifying language.
Class dynamics: see group dynamics.
Class profile, learner profile noun
A description of the learners and information about their learning, including their age, ability, strengths and weaknesses in
language and skills.
Classroom management noun
The things teachers do to organise the classroom, the learning and the learners, such as organising seating arrangements,
organising different types of activities, and managing interaction patterns.
Clause noun
A clause generally consists of a subject and a finite verb connected to the subject and sometimes other things, e.g. an object. A
clause can be a full sentence or a part of a sentence.
Main clause
When the teacher arrived, the learners stopped talking.
Subordinate clause
When the teacher arrived, the learners stopped talking.
Relative clause
The learners who were sitting near the front stood up.
Clip, DVD clip, video clip noun
Part of a video or DVD of a film or TV programme that can be used in class. Teachers might choose to use a DVD clip to present
new language.
Closed pairs: see pairs.
Closed question noun
A question which leads to a yes/no answer or another very short response, e.g. Did you come to school by bus? Yes. What did you
have for breakfast? Toast. See open question.
Cloze test noun
A task-type in which learners read a text with missing words and try to work out what the missing words are. The missing words
are removed regularly from the text, e.g. every seventh word. A cloze test is used for testing reading ability or general language
use. It is different from a gap-fill activity, which can focus on practising or testing a specific language point and particular words
connected to the language point are removed from the text. See gap-fill.
Clue noun
A piece of information that helps someone to find the answer to a problem; e.g. a teacher could give the first letter of a word
he/she is trying to elicit as a clue to learners to help them find the word.
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Cognitive adjective (processes)
The mental processes involved in thinking, understanding and learning, e.g. recognising, analysing, remembering, problem solving.
Coherence noun, coherent adjective
When ideas in a spoken or written text fit together clearly and smoothly, and so are logical and make sense to the listener or
reader. Teachers help learners to be coherent by getting them to plan what they will include in a text before they write it.
Cohesion noun, cohesive adjective
The way spoken or written texts are joined together with grammar or lexis, e.g. conjunctions (Firstly, secondly), topic related
vocabulary, pronouns (e.g. it, them, this).
Cohesive device noun
A feature in a text which provides cohesion (joins texts together), e.g. use of vocabulary about the topic throughout a text, of
sequencing words (then, next, after that, etc.), of pronouns (he, him, etc.), of conjunctions (however, although, etc.).
Collaborate verb, collaborative adjective
To work together. Learners often collaborate in class when carrying out tasks which typically involve working together on
planning, creating, discussing, evaluating, etc.
Collective noun: see noun.
Collocation noun, collocate verb
Words which are regularly used together. The relation between the words may be grammatical, for example when certain
verbs/adjectives collocate with particular prepositions, e.g. depend on, good at, or when a verb like make or do collocates with a
noun, e.g. do the shopping, make a plan. Collocations may also be lexical when two content words are regularly used together,
e.g. We went the wrong way NOT We went the incorrect way.
Colloquial adjective
Language normally used in informal conversation but not in formal speech or writing, e.g. Give Gran a ring, OK?
Comma: see punctuation.
Common noun: see noun.
Communicative activity noun
A classroom activity in which learners need to talk or write to other learners to complete the activity, e.g. a role play.
Communicative approach(es) noun
An approach to teaching and practising language which is based on the principle that learning a language successfully involves real
written and spoken communication rather than just memorising a series of rules. Teachers using communicative approaches try to
focus on meaningful communication by providing activities for learners to do which involve practising language in real life
situations. For example, to practise should and shouldn’t, learners give each other advice about the best way to improve their
English. See Grammar–Translation method.
Comparative adjective: see adjective.
Complain verb, complaint noun
To say you are not pleased about something; to say something isn’t good. For example, learners sometimes complain if they are
given too much homework or a teacher might focus a lesson on writing letters of complaint.
Complex adjective
Complicated, not simple; e.g. some English grammar is easy to understand, some grammar is more complex.
Complex sentence noun
A sentence containing a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses, e.g. The learners stopped talking (main clause) when
the teacher arrived (subordinate clause).
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Compliment verb
To say something is nice, to give praise; e.g. a teacher might compliment a learner on a good story they wrote.
Components noun (of a lesson plan)
The different parts of a lesson plan, e.g. aims, procedure, timing, aids, interaction patterns, anticipated problems, assumptions,
timetable fit, personal aims.
Compound noun
Nouns, verbs, adjectives or prepositions that are made up of two or more words and have one unit of meaning, e.g. assistant
office manager, long-legged.
Compound noun: see noun.
Comprehension noun
Understanding something which is spoken or written. Teachers give learners comprehension tasks to help them understand
listening and reading texts or to assess understanding.
Concept noun
Idea or meaning; e.g. the concept of You should go to the doctor is giving advice.
Concept questions noun, concept checking verb
A concept question is a question asked by the teacher to make sure that a learner has understood the meaning of new language,
e.g. teaching the new grammatical structure ‘used to’, using the example He used to live in Paris concept question – Does he live in
Paris now? Answer – No.
Concept checking is the technique of asking concept questions or using other techniques to check that learners have understood
the meaning of a new structure or item of vocabulary.
Concrete adjective
Relating to real objects, situations or actions. Words can be concrete, e.g. words for real objects like clothes, food, animals which
can be seen or touched, or they can be abstract, e.g. believe, love. See abstract.
Conditional noun (forms)
A verb form that is used for a possible or imagined situation. Grammar books often mention five kinds of conditionals:
Zero conditional – is used when we talk about something that is always true if another action takes place, e.g. If it rains, the
ground gets wet.
First (Type ) conditional – is used for present or future possible or likely situations, e.g. I will come if I can.
Second (Type ) conditional – is used for present or future situations which the speaker thinks are impossible or unlikely,
e.g. I would play for West Ham United if they asked me.
Third (Type ) conditional – is used for past situations that cannot be changed, e.g. I would have seen her if I had arrived
earlier (but I didn’t so I couldn’t).
Mixed conditional – is used when the speaker wants to talk about different time frames in one sentence, e.g. If I’d arrived
on time, I wouldn’t have to wait now. ‘If I’d arrived’ is about the past and ‘I wouldn’t have to wait’ is about the present.
Confidence noun, confident adjective
The feeling someone has when they are sure of their ability to do something well. Teachers often do activities that help learners
to feel more confident about their own ability.
Conjunction noun, connector noun
A conjunction (or connector) is used to connect words, phrases, clauses or sentences, e.g. I like tea but I don’t like coffee because
it’s too strong for me.
Connected speech noun
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, e.g. Is he busy /ɪzibɪzi/. See
linking, weak forms.
Connector: see conjunction.
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Consolidate verb, reinforce verb
To do something again in order to allow learners to understand and remember it more completely. For example, learners can
consolidate a grammar point by doing extra practice. See review, revise.
Consonant noun
. A sound in which the air is partly blocked by the lips, tongue, teeth etc., e.g. /θ/ in ‘thing’, /b/ in ‘boy’. See diphthong and
vowel.
. Any letter of the English alphabet which represents consonant sounds, e.g. d /d/, c /k/.
Consult verb
To get advice or information from someone or something; e.g. teachers and learners might consult a dictionary or grammar book.
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) noun
An approach in which learners are taught a non-language subject such as science or geography through a target language. Subject
content and language are interrelated. For example, in Spain, teaching young learners science in English and using science
material in English so that learners can think about and then communicate their ideas about science in English.
Note: A separate glossary is available for candidates preparing for TKT: CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning).
Content-based instruction noun, content-based learning noun
An approach to teaching, traditionally associated with the US and Canada, in which non-native speakers, often from minority
language groups, learn about a topic or a subject through the target language. For example, migrant children in the US studying
science using English only in class and using English material. The children develop their English and learn about science at the
same time.
Context noun
. The situation in which language is used or presented; e.g. a story about a holiday experience could be used as the context
to present and practise past tenses. Photographs can help to provide a context for a magazine article.
. The words or phrases before or after a word in discourse which help someone to understand that word, e.g. I drove my van
to the town centre and parked it in the car park. We know that van must be some kind of vehicle because the words drive
and park provide a context. See deduce meaning from context.
Contextualise verb
To put new language into a situation that shows what it means, e.g. when teaching the past simple tense showing learners a series
of pictures of a family holiday that went wrong. See set the scene, set the context.
Continuous assessment: see assessment.
Contraction noun
A shorter form of a group of words, which usually occurs in auxiliary verbs, e.g. you have = you’ve; it is = it’s.
See abbreviation.
Contrast verb
To compare the differences between two things, e.g. talking about the differences between China and France.
Contrastive stress: see stress.
Contribute verb, contribution noun
To give or add something; e.g. in the classroom, learners can contribute to a discussion by taking part and giving their ideas.
Contributor: see teacher role.
Controlled practice: see practice.
Convey meaning phrase
To show, express or communicate meaning. Teachers focus on conveying meaning when they present new language.
Co-operation noun, co-operate verb, co-operative adjective
Working together and helping each other. In some group work activities learners co-operate to find the answer or solve a
problem.
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Core noun and adjective
The most important, central or most basic part of something. The core of a word is the main part of a word from which other
words can be made; e.g. like is the core of the words unlike, dislike, likes. See root word, base word.
Correct verb, correction noun
Teachers helping learners to make what they write or say better or right.
Echo correction – When learners make a mistake, the teacher repeats the mistake with rising intonation encouraging
learners to correct themselves, e.g.
Learner: He don’t like it.
Teacher: Don’t?
Learner: He doesn’t like it.
Finger correction – A way of drawing attention to where a learner has made a mistake. The teacher counts out the words a
learner has said on her fingers. The fingers represent words and the teacher can show clearly in which word (finger) the
mistake was made. A teacher may use finger correction to show that a mistake has been made with word or sentence
stress, word order, grammar, pronunciation of sounds etc.
Peer correction – When learners correct each other’s mistakes, perhaps with some help from the teacher.
Self-correction – When learners correct language mistakes they have made, perhaps with some help from the teacher.
See ignore (errors).
Correction code noun
A series of symbols a teacher may use to mark learners’ writing so that they can correct mistakes by themselves, e.g. P =
punctuation mistake, T = tense mistake.
Counsellor: see teacher role.
Countable noun: see noun.
Coursebook: see book.
Coursebook unit: see book.
Criteria: see assessment criteria.
Criticise verb
To say what you don’t like about something; to say what you think is bad or wrong about something. Teachers might criticise a
book that they don’t like.
Cross reference noun
A note that tells the reader of a book to go to another place in the book to get more information; e.g. in a dictionary entry for
early it might say: Early – arriving before the planned time. OPP LATE. This is a cross reference showing the reader that there is
information about the opposite of the word early in another entry.
Crossword puzzle noun
A word game in which learners complete a grid. Learners write the answers to clues in the squares on the grid. It is often used to
review and consolidate vocabulary.
H O T Across . Not cold . …… dinner (verb) . Verb to be: I am, You ……
O O Down . The place you live. . Preposition. . You wear this.
M
E A T
I
A R E
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Cue card, prompt card noun
A card on which there is/are (a) word(s) or (a) picture(s) to prompt or encourage learners to produce particular language, often
during a controlled practice activity or drill; e.g. a teacher presenting I like + ing / I don’t like + ing could have a number of picture
cue cards with different activities (swimming, reading etc.). Learners have to respond to the cue card using I like + swimming or I
don’t like + swimming. See flashcard.
Curriculum noun
The subjects which make up an educational programme; e.g. maths, science and English are subjects on most school curriculums.
They are taught differently in different contexts and in different cultures. See syllabus.
Decline, refuse an invitation phrase
To say that you will not accept an invitation, e.g. I’m sorry but I can’t come to your party.
Deduce meaning from context phrase
To guess the meaning of an unknown word or phrase by using the information in a situation and/or around the word to help, e.g. I
drove my van to the town centre and parked it in the central car park. We know from the sentence that van must be some kind of
vehicle because you drive it and park it.
Definition noun, define verb
An explanation of the meaning of a word, e.g. in a dictionary.
Demonstrate verb
To show how something is done or how something works. Teachers often demonstrate how an activity should be carried out by
doing an example of the task with the learners in open class before the students do it themselves.
Demonstrative adjective: see adjective.
Demonstrative pronoun: see pronoun.
Demotivate: see motivation.
Dependent preposition: see preposition.
Detail noun, read for detail, listen for detail phrase
To listen to or read a text in order to understand most of what it says; e.g. learners listening for detail to someone talking about a
their last holiday would have a task to listen for where the holiday was, when it was, how long it was, what things the person did
etc. See gist, global understanding.
Determiner noun
A determiner is used to make clear which noun you are talking about, or to give information about quantity, examples are words
such as the, a, this, that, my, some, e.g. That car is mine.
Develop skills phrase, skills development phrase
To help learners to improve their listening, reading, writing and speaking ability. Teachers do this in class by providing activities
which focus on skills development; e.g. learners read a text and answer comprehension questions. See skills.
Developmental error: see error.
Diagnostic test noun, diagnose verb: see assessment, test.
Diagnostician: see teacher role.
Dialogue noun
A conversation between two or more people, e.g. John: Hello Sarah. How are you? Sarah: I’m fine, thanks, and you? John: Fine.
Dice noun
Small blocks of plastic or wood with six sides and a different number of spots on each side. They are used
in board games.
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Dictation noun, dictate verb
An activity which involves the learners writing down what the teacher reads aloud. Learners can also write down what another
learner reads aloud. Dictation helps learners to practise listening, writing and spelling. See picture dictation.
Dictionary noun
A bilingual dictionary uses translation from one language into another language for definitions and examples.
A monolingual dictionary uses only the target language for headwords, definitions, examples etc.
A thesaurus is a type of dictionary in which words with similar meanings are grouped together.
Differentiate verb, differentiation noun
To make or see a difference between people and things. In teaching, this can have a special meaning relating to dealing with
mixed ability or mixed level learners in one class. The teacher can provide different tasks, activities, texts or materials for different
learners in the class according to their ability. See mixed ability, mixed level.
Diphthong noun
Diphthongs are vowel sounds. They are a combination of two single vowel sounds said one after the other to produce a new
sound; e.g. /aɪ/ as in ‘my’ is pronounced by saying /æ/ and /ɪ/ together. There are eight diphthongs in English. See consonant and
vowel.
Direct object: see object.
Direct speech, direct question noun
The actual words someone says, e.g. He said, ‘My name is Ron.’ or ‘What do you mean, Sue?’, asked Peter.
See indirect question, reported speech, statement, question.
Discipline noun and verb, maintain discipline phrase
The system of rules used to keep control of learners in the classroom; e.g. a teacher might maintain discipline by asking learners
to stop chatting and listen to his/her instructions.
Discourse noun
Spoken language or written language in texts, e.g. groups of sentences which are spoken or written.
Discriminate verb, discrimination noun, distinguish verb
To identify the difference between two or more things; e.g. sound discrimination is hearing the differences between sounds,
particularly minimal pairs, e.g. not/lot; ship/sheep.
Distract verb
To prevent someone from concentrating on doing something, for example talking to someone when they are trying to read a
book.
Dominate verb, dominant adjective
To have a very strong influence over what happens. If a particular learner is dominant in class, then other learners get less chance
to participate actively. If a teacher dominates, the lesson is teacher-centred.
Draft noun and verb
A draft is a piece of writing that is not yet finished, and may be changed. A writer drafts a piece of writing – that is, they write it
for the first time but it is not exactly as it will be when it is finished and they might change it or have to make corrections.
Teachers encourage learners to begin with a quick first draft so that they can get their ideas down on paper, then go back and
correct and improve the text. See re-draft, process writing.
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Drill noun
A technique teachers use to provide learners with practice of language. It involves guided repetition of words or sentences.
In a choral drill the teacher says a word or sentence and the learners repeat it together as a class.
In an individual drill the teacher says a word or sentence and one learner repeats it.
In a substitution drill the teacher provides a sentence and a different word or phrase which the learner(s) must use (or
substitute) in exactly the same structure, e.g.
Teacher: I bought a book. Pen
Learner(s): I bought a pen.
In a transformation drill the teacher says a word or a sentence and the learner answers by changing the sentence into a
new grammatical structure, e.g.
Teacher: I bought a pen. Didn’t
Learner: I didn’t buy a pen.
Teacher: I went to the cinema. Didn’t
Learner: I didn’t go to the cinema.
DVD clip: see clip.
Dynamics: see group dynamics.
Echo correct: see correction.
Edit verb
To shorten or change or correct the words or content of some parts of a written text to make it clearer or easier to understand;
e.g. learners might edit the first draft of a text they have written to correct the mistakes. See process writing.
Effective adjective, effectiveness noun
Something which works well and produces the result you intended or wanted. Effective classroom management means that the
lesson is well managed and well organised.
Elicit verb
This is a teaching technique. When a teacher thinks that some learners know a piece of language or other information, he/she
asks targeted questions or gives clues to get or prompt them to give the target language or information rather than simply
providing it to the class her/himself. For example, the teacher is teaching words for different vegetables. He/she shows learners a
picture of a carrot and says: What’s this? The teacher does this because he/she thinks some of the learners might be able to say:
It’s a carrot.
Emphasis noun, emphasise verb, emphatic adjective
When special force or attention is given to a word or information because it is important, e.g. I want to start the lesson at SIX
o’clock, not seven o’clock.
Enable verb
To help someone be able to do something; to make something possible. For example, using a correction code when correcting
learners’ writing may enable learners to improve their own work.
Encourage verb, encouragement noun
. To give someone confidence to do something. When a teacher helps learners to succeed by giving them confidence, e.g.
Of course you can do it! You’re doing very well. See confidence.
. To tell someone to do something that you think would be good for them to do, e.g. teachers encourage learners to speak
in class so that they can practise.
Energy levels noun
This is about how much activity and interest there is from learners at different times in the lesson. If learners are busy, interested
and working hard, then the energy levels are high; if learners are bored or tired, then the energy levels are low.
English-medium school noun
A school in a non-English-speaking country, in which all subjects are taught using English.
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Enquire verb
To ask for information, e.g. What time does the train leave?
Entry noun
An item, for example a piece of information that is written or printed in a dictionary about a word, e.g. Easy: /ˈiːzi/ adj. . not
difficult, and not needing much physical and mental effort: an easy job.
Error noun
A mistake that a learner makes when trying to say or write something above their level of language or language processing.
A developmental error is an error made by a second language learner which could also be made by a child learning their
mother tongue as part of their normal development. A second language learner might make the error because they are
applying a rule they have learned that doesn’t work for this particular case e.g. I goed there last week (I went there last
week).
A fossilised error is an error that has become (almost) permanent in a learner’s language and has become a habit.
Fossilised errors cannot easily be corrected. For example, a B learner might habitually not add an ‘s’ when saying third
person singular present simple verbs. Learners at this level do not usually make this mistake, but, for this learner, the error
was not corrected early and it has become habitual. See fossilisation.
A slip. When a learner makes a slip they make a language mistake but they are able to correct themselves, e.g. Learner:
He like ice-cream, I mean, he likes ice-cream.
Establish verb
To discover or get proof of something. Assessing learners can establish the progress they have made.
Evaluate verb, evaluation noun
To assess or decide on the quality, importance or effectiveness of something. Teachers may evaluate learners’ progress or
strengths and weaknesses. Teachers also evaluate their own lessons and think about the things that went well and the things that
they could improve in future lessons.
Exchange verb and noun
. To give something to another person and receive something in return; e.g. learners can exchange books. See swap.
. An exchange is also part of spoken interaction in which one person speaks and another responds to what they said, e.g. an
exchange between a teacher and a learner: Teacher How are you today Tomas? Learner: I’m fine thanks.
Exclamation mark: see punctuation.
Expectation noun
A belief about the way something will happen. Learners often have expectations about what and how they should learn.
Exploit verb (material)
To use material so that you get the best out of it. For example, a teacher could exploit a text fully by using one text a) to teach
vocabulary, b) to develop reading comprehension, c) to start a discussion, d) as a model for a writing task.
Exponent noun
An example of a grammar point, function or lexical set; e.g. Can you open the window, please? is an exponent for making requests.
Exposure noun (to language), expose verb
Exposure to language means being in contact with language by hearing it or reading it. We can learn another language through
exposure to it. We can learn a language without realising we are learning it and without studying it, in the same way that children
learn their mother tongue. Learners can get exposure to language outside the classroom by watching movies in English and
reading books or magazines in English. See acquisition, pick up language.
Express verb
Use words to show what you think, know or feel etc. For example, to express ability, we say, I can swim.
Extension task noun, extend verb, extended adjective
An extension task is an activity which gives learners more practice of target language or the topic of the lesson or provides extra
skills work; e.g. after learners have practised using the past simple by telling each other about their last holiday, they could do an
extension task which involves writing sentences about the holidays they talked about.
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Extensive listening/reading noun
Listening to or reading long pieces of text, such as stories or newspapers. Extensive reading is often reading for pleasure. See
intensive listening/reading.
Extract noun
Part of a text which is removed from an original, longer text. Newspaper articles can be very long, so teachers sometimes choose
just a few of the paragraphs from an article for learners to read in class. This gives learners practice in reading extracts from
authentic material.
Facial expression noun
A person can show how they feel through their face, e.g. smiling, showing surprise.
Facilitate verb, facilitator noun
To make something possible. Teachers facilitate learning by planning and delivering lessons, maintaining discipline in the
classroom and making it easier for learners to learn. See teacher role.
Factor noun
Something which has an effect on the result of a situation or event; e.g. motivation is one of many factors which have an effect on
whether someone learns a language successfully or not.
Fairy story noun
A traditional story written for children which usually involves imaginary creatures and magic, e.g. the Grimms brothers’ fairy
stories like Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel and The Frog Prince.
False friend noun
A word in the target language which looks or sounds similar to a word in the learners’ first language but does not have the same
meaning in both languages. For example, in French, ‘librairie’ is a place where people can buy books. In English, a library is a place
you may go to borrow books rather than somewhere where you buy books (a bookshop).
Feature noun
A feature of something is an interesting or important part or characteristic of it. For example, look at the sentence I can play
tennis. In connected speech, can is pronounced /kən/ – the weak form /ə/ is a feature of this sentence because it’s important to
the way we pronounce ‘can’.
Feedback noun, feed back verb, give, provide feedback verb
. To tell someone how well they are doing. After a test, or at a certain point in the course, teachers might give learners
feedback on how well they are doing.
. Teachers also give feedback after an exercise that learners have just completed; e.g. after learners have done a gap-fill
activity the teacher conducts feedback by asking learners to tell him/her which words they have put in the gaps. He/she
writes the correct answers on the board.
. In addition, learners can give feedback to teachers, and teacher trainers give feedback to trainee teachers about what went
well or less well in their lessons. See peer feedback.
Filler noun
. A short activity between the main stages of a lesson used for reasons such as time management or to provide a change of
pace etc. For example, learners do a word game after a difficult piece of reading before moving on to some grammar work.
. A word or sound used between words or sentences in spoken English when someone is thinking of what to say; e.g. When I
went to London … um … I think it was about … er … years ago. Er and um are fillers.
Finger correction: see correct.
First conditional: see conditional (forms).
First language: see mother tongue, L, L.
First person: see person.
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Fixed expression noun
Two or more words used together as a single unit of meaning. The words in the phrases cannot be changed. For example, by the
way, pleased to meet you, what’s the matter? See chunk, lexical units.
Flashcard noun
A card with words, sentences or pictures on it. A teacher can use these to explain a situation, tell a story, teach vocabulary etc.
See cue card, prompt card.
Flexible adjective
Something or someone that can change easily to suit new situations. Teachers need to be flexible and to be prepared to change
or adapt if the lesson is not going to plan.
Flipchart noun
A pad of large sheets of paper in a frame standing in the classroom, which teachers use for writing on and presenting information
to the class.
Fluency noun, fluent adjective
Oral fluency – being able to speak at a natural speed without stopping, repeating, or self-correcting. In oral fluency
activities, learners are encouraged to focus on communicating meaning and ideas, rather than trying to be correct.
Written fluency – being able to write without stopping for a long time to think about what to write. In a written fluency
activity, learners give attention to the content and ideas of the text, rather than trying to be correct. See accuracy.
Focus on verb, focus noun
To pay attention to something, to notice something, to highlight something; e.g. teachers might focus on words in a text the
learners are reading by giving learners a task which helps them to understand the meanings of the words.
Focus on form phrase
Paying attention to the words/parts of words that make a language structure, or to spelling or pronunciation, e.g. showing
learners that the present perfect simple is made up of have + past participle.
Font noun
The design and size of a set of letters, e.g. this is Georgia ., this is Times New Roman . Teachers choose different fonts on
handouts to make them more attractive for learners.
Form noun
The form of a grammatical structure is the way it is written or pronounced and the parts which combine to make it; e.g. the
present perfect simple (grammatical structure) is made up of have + past participle (this is the form).
Formal assessment: see assessment.
Formal language noun
Language used when speaking or writing to people we do not know well, e.g. using Yours faithfully in a letter of application, rather
than writing All the best. See informal language, register.
Formality (level of): see register.
Formative assessment: see assessment.
Fossilisation noun
The process in which incorrect language becomes a habit and cannot easily be corrected. For example, a B learner might
habitually not add an ‘s’ when saying third person singular present simple verbs. Learners at this level do not usually make this
mistake, but, for this learner, the error was not corrected early and it has become habitual. See error.
Fossilised error: see error.
Freer practice, free practice: see practice.
Full stop: see punctuation.
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Function noun
The reason or purpose for using language, e.g. making a suggestion; giving advice. See functional exponent.
Functional approach noun
An approach to teaching which uses a syllabus based on functions. The syllabus would focus on functions like ‘making suggestions’,
‘giving advice’, ‘making requests’, and would present and practise the language used to express these functions, e.g. Can you …?,
Could you …?, Would you mind …?
Functional exponent noun
Phrases which are used for a particular communicative purpose or function, e.g. Let’s ..., Shall we …, How about ... These phrases
are used to make a suggestion and are functional exponents of the function of suggesting. See function.
Future forms: see tense.
Gap-fill activity noun
An activity in which learners fill in spaces or gaps in sentences or texts. Gap-fill activities are often used for restricted practice or
for focusing on a specific language point, e.g. John _______ to the park yesterday. A gap-fill activity is different from a cloze test,
which can focus on reading ability or general language use. See cloze test.
Generate interest: see arouse interest.
Gerund noun
A form of a verb that ends in –ing and functions as a noun, e.g. I hate shopping.
Gesture noun and verb
A movement of part of the body, which is used to communicate an idea or a feeling; e.g. a gesture for saying goodbye is waving a
hand.
Get learners’ attention phrase
To make learners listen to the teacher after they have been doing group or pairwork, or at the start of the lesson, for example,
the teacher says; Stop everyone now, please, and listen.
Gist noun, global understanding, listen/read for gist, listen/read for global understanding phrases
To read or listen to a text and understand the general meaning of it, without paying attention to specific details – for example,
reading a restaurant review quickly to find out if the writer liked the restaurant or not. See detail, read for detail, listen for detail,
intensive listening/reading, scan, skim.
Give feedback: see feedback.
Glue noun and verb
Glue is used to fix or join things together. For example, children cut out pictures from a magazine and then glue them onto a
poster they are making in class.
Goal, target noun
An aim that a learner or teacher may have; e.g. a teacher’s goal or target might be to help learners become confident speakers.
Grade verb (language)
To use language that is at the correct level for the learners and is not too easy or difficult; e.g. teachers may grade their language
and avoid complicated structures when they give instructions. See graded reader.
Graded reader noun
A book where the language has been made easier for learners. These are often books with stories or novels where the language
has been simplified.
Grammar Translation method noun
A way of teaching in which learners study grammar and translate words and texts into their own language or the target language.
They do not practise communication and there is little focus on speaking. For example, a teacher presents a grammar rule and
vocabulary lists and then learners translate a written text from their own language into the second language or vice versa. See
communicative approach(es).
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Grammatical structure noun
A grammatical structure is a grammatical language pattern; e.g. present perfect simple is a grammatical structure. See form.
Graph noun
A drawing that uses a line or lines to show how two or more sets of numbers relate to each other, e.g.
Greet verb
To say hello and welcome someone, often with words such as Hello, how are you?
Grid noun
A pattern of straight lines that cross each other to make squares, e.g.
Group, class dynamics noun
The relationship between learners in the group or class. Teachers think about group dynamics when they are deciding which
learners should work together in different groups.
Guidance noun, guide verb
Help and advice about how to do something. Teachers give learners guidance with learning, or with doing a task.
Guided discovery noun
An approach to teaching in which a teacher provides examples of the target language and then guides the learners to work out the
language rules for themselves. For example, learners read an article which has examples of reported speech. Learners find the
examples and answer questions about the grammar rules and the meaning of the examples.
Guided writing noun
A piece of writing that learners produce after the teacher has helped them to prepare for it by, for example, giving the learners a
plan or model to follow, and ideas for the type of language to use. See process writing, product writing.
Handout, worksheet noun
A piece of paper with exercises, activities or tasks on it that a teacher gives to learners for a range of reasons during a class or for
homework; e.g. a teacher gives learners a handout with the lyrics of a song made into a gap-fill activity.
Headword noun
A word whose meaning is explained in a dictionary. It usually appears in bold at the top of a dictionary entry, e.g. run verb: to
move using your legs, going faster than you can walk; ‘run’ is the headword.
Hesitation noun, hesitate verb
A pause before or while doing or saying something. Learners often hesitate if they are trying to find the correct words to say,
because they need more time to think.
Higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) phrase
These are cognitive skills such as analysis and evaluation which teachers help (younger) learners develop. Higher-order thinking
skills include thinking about something and making a decision about it; problem solving; creative thinking; thinking about the
advantages and disadvantages of something. For example, in class a teacher asks learners to think about and discuss: How can we
change the design of the building to make it more energy efficient? Higher-order thinking skills involve discussion and decisionmaking. See Lower-order thinking skills (LOTS).
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Highlight verb
. To mark words on paper, on the board or on a computer screen using a colour or underlining so that they are easier to
notice.
. To focus on something so that learners realise it is important, e.g. to highlight a mistake by underlining it.
Homograph noun
A word which is spelled the same as another word but has a different meaning, e.g. It’s close to the river (adverb not far) and
Please close the window (verb shut). See homophone, homonym.
Homonym noun
A word with the same spelling or pronunciation as another word, but which has a different meaning. There are two types of
homonym: homographs, which are words with the same spelling but which have different meanings,
e.g. bit (past form of ‘bite’) and a bit (a little), and homophones, which have the same pronunciation but different spelling and
different meanings, e.g. write and right. See homophone, homograph.
Homophone noun
A word which sounds the same as another word, but has a different meaning and may have a different spelling, e.g. I knew he had
won; I bought a new book. See homograph, homonym.
Hypothesise verb, hypothesis noun
To suggest an explanation for something unknown. For example, The ground is very wet here; it must have rained a lot. Also, to
imagine or suppose, e.g. If I were the president, I’d reduce taxes. See speculate.
Ice-breaker noun
An introductory speaking activity that a teacher uses at the start of a new course so that learners can get to know each other, e.g.
a speaking activity which asks learners to find out about other learners’ hobbies.
ICT / IT (Information [and Communication] Technology) noun
Using computers and digital technology to communicate and store information. Teachers help learners to use technology to
enable them to improve information-processing skills, to explore ideas, to solve problems, to access and surf the internet, to
develop collaborative learning with students who are in other places, to participate in video conferencing. The subject is known as
ICT, the skills used are IT skills, and the lab is known as the IT lab.
Identify verb, identification noun
To recognise somebody or something and be able to say who it is or what it is. For example, a teacher can find out what fruit
vocabulary learners know by giving them pictures of different fruit and asking them to identify the fruit by matching words to the
pictures.
Idiom noun, idiomatic adjective
An unchangeable phrase or expression, in which the meaning of the phrase is different from the meaning of each individual word;
e.g. She felt under the weather means that she felt ill.
Ignore verb (errors)
To choose not to pay attention to something; e.g. a teacher may choose to ignore an error made by a learner in a speaking activity
because he/she wants to help the learner with fluency, not accuracy. See correction.
Illustrate meaning phrase
To show what something means by giving examples or using visual aids. Teachers sometimes use pictures to show learners what
new words mean.
Impede verb
To make it more difficult to do something. For example, listening to a different accent can impede understanding. This means
that listening to a different accent can make listening comprehension more difficult.
Imperative noun
A grammatical structure which we use to give an order or instruction. To make the imperative we use the base form of the verb,
e.g. Turn to . .
Inappropriate adjective (language)
Language which is not suitable in a particular situation; e.g. it is inappropriate to say Open the door, will you? to a stranger; it
would be more appropriate to say: Would you mind opening the door, please? See appropriacy and register.
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Independence: see learner autonomy.
Independent study phrase
Studying without a teacher present or without the teacher monitoring and directing the learning very closely. For example,
learners could carry out research on a topic using reference resources. This could be done at home or with minimum involvement
of the teacher in class.
Indicate verb
To show, point out, make known; e.g. a teacher can indicate that a learner has made a mistake by repeating the mistake with
rising intonation.
Indirect object: see object.
Indirect question noun
An indirect question is used when someone wants to ask something in a more polite way, e.g. I was wondering if you could help
- (indirect question) instead of Could you help me? (direct question). See direct speech and reported speech.
Individual drill: see drill.
Infer attitude, feeling, mood phrase
To decide how a writer or speaker feels about something from the way that they speak or write, rather than from what they
openly say. Teachers might help learners to infer attitude by helping them to understand intonation. For example, learners could
listen to a recording and say if they think the person is happy or sad.
Infer meaning phrase
To understand what someone means even though the words they say might not give all of the information. For example, Oh no!
The clothes! Look at those clouds. Quick! The listener will infer that this means: It’s going to rain and the clothes will get wet.
Hurry and help me to bring them in.
Infinitive: see verb.
Infinitive of purpose noun
This is used to say why something is done, e.g. I joined the course to learn English.
Informal assessment: see assessment.
Informal language noun
Language used in informal conversations or writing, e.g. Hi John. See formal language, register.
Informality (level of): see register.
Information-gap activity noun
A classroom activity in which learners work in pairs or groups. Learners are given a task, but they are given different information
and, to complete the task, they have to find out the missing information from each other. For example, learners work in pairs; one
of the learners has a weather report from Toronto and the other a weather report from Taipei. Learners talk to each other to
exchange information to find out what the weather is like in places they don’t know about.
Information-transfer activity noun
An activity in which learners move information from one source to another, e.g. reading an explanation then completing a
diagram with key words from the explanation.
–ing / –ed adjective: see adjective.
–ing form: see gerund.
Input noun and verb
To provide new information about something. Teachers input new language by providing examples and giving learners
information about it; e.g. teachers can input new vocabulary through a text or by using the board.
Instruct verb, instruction noun
To order or tell someone to do something. Teachers give learners instructions for activities, e.g. Please turn to . and do
exercise .
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Integrated skills phrase
An integrated skills lesson combines work on more than one language skill. For example reading and then writing or listening and
speaking.
Intensifier noun
A word used to make the meaning of another word stronger, e.g. He’s much taller than his brother; I’m very tired.
Intensive course noun
A course which takes place over a short period of time, but which consists of a large number of hours.
Intensive listening/reading phrase
One meaning of intensive listening/reading is listening or reading to focus on how language is used in a text. This is how intensive
listening/reading is used in TKT. See extensive listening/reading, gist, detail.
Interaction noun, interact verb, interactive strategies phrase
Interaction is two-way communication between listener and speaker, or reader and text. Interactive strategies are the ways used,
especially in speaking, to keep people involved and interested in what is said or to keep communication going, e.g. eye contact,
use of gestures, functions such as repeating, asking for clarification.
Interaction patterns noun
The different ways learners and the teacher work together in class, e.g. learner to learner in pairs or groups, or teacher to learner
in open class, in plenary. When teachers plan lessons, they think about interaction patterns and write them on their plan.
Interactive whiteboard (IWB) noun
A special board linked to a computer so that the screen on the computer is shown to the class. Teachers and learners can use it by
touching it or by using an interactive pen. Interactive whiteboards make it possible for teachers to use online resources in class,
such as YouTube clips and online dictionaries.
Interference noun
Interference happens when the learner’s mother tongue affects performance in the target language, especially in pronunciation,
lexis or grammar. For example, a learner may make a grammatical mistake because they apply the same grammatical pattern as
they use in their mother tongue to what they are saying in the target language but the mother tongue grammatical pattern is not
correct in the target language.
Interlanguage noun
While they are learning a new language, learners create their own version of grammatical systems for the new language which
they use as they are learning. Interlanguage is the most recent version of the language that learners create and is made from rules
from their mother tongue and from the rules of the new language. Interlanguage is constantly changing and developing as
learners learn more of the new language.
Interrogative noun
A question form, e.g. What time is it? Where’s the bank?
Intonation noun
The way the level of a speaker’s voice changes to show meaning such as how they feel about something; e.g. 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.
Intransitive verb noun
A verb which does not take a direct object, e.g. She never cried. See transitive verb.
Introductory activity noun
An activity which takes place at the beginning of a lesson. Introductory activities often include warmers and lead-ins which
teachers use to get learners thinking about a topic or to raise energy levels.
Involvement noun
Taking part in an activity, being involved in it. Teachers try to get maximum involvement in activities from learners as this makes
learning more interesting and useful for them.
Irregular verb: see verb.
IT: see ICT.
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Item noun
. A piece of language, e.g. a vocabulary or a grammar item. See lexis.
. The questions (items) in a test to which a learner has to respond, e.g. a question in a multiple-choice test.
Jigsaw listening/reading noun
A communicative listening or reading activity. A text is divided into two or more different parts. Learners listen to or read their
part only, then share their information with other learners so that in the end everyone knows all the information. In this way, the
text is made into an information-gap activity.
Jumbled letters, paragraphs, pictures, sentences, words nouns
A word in which the letters are not in the correct order, a sentence in which the words are not in the correct order, a text in
which the paragraphs or sentences are not in the correct order, or a series of pictures that are not in the correct order. The
learners put the jumbled letters, words, text or pictures into the correct order.
Key word noun, key language noun
A word or type of language in a text which is important for understanding the text. Teachers often teach the key words in a text
before learners read it so that the text is more manageable for them.
Kinaesthetic learner: see learning style.
L noun
L is the learner’s mother tongue or first language; e.g. if the first language a learner learned as a baby is Spanish then the
learner’s L is Spanish. See mother tongue, native speaker, target language.
L noun
L is the learner’s second language. For example, for a Spanish person who learned English as an adult, English is their L, Spanish
is their L. See mother tongue, native speaker, target language.
Label verb and noun
To put the name of an object on or next to the object; e.g. in a vocabulary lesson learners look at a picture of a house and write
the different parts such as window, door, roof, etc. in the right place on the picture.
Language awareness noun
A teacher’s or learner’s knowledge about language; an understanding of the rules of how language works and how it is used.
Teachers need to develop their language awareness so that, for example, they know about and understand different verb tenses
so they can help learners to understand them.
Language frame noun
Forms of support for writing and speaking at word, sentence and text levels or all three. They are types of scaffolding which help
learners to start, connect and develop ideas. For example:
Describing a process from a visual
The diagram shows …
First of all …
Then …
Next …
After that …
Finally …
Language laboratory noun
A room in a school where learners can practise language by listening to recordings or CDs and by recording themselves speaking.
Teachers might use language laboratories to provide learners with an opportunity to work on listening or pronunciation on their
own.
Language resource: see teacher role.
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Layout noun
The way in which a text is organised and presented on a .. Certain texts have special layouts; e.g. letters and newspaper
articles have different layouts – when you look at them, the text is presented differently on the ..
Lead-in noun, lead in verb
The activity or activities used to prepare learners to work on a text, topic or task. A lead-in often includes an introduction to the
topic of the text or task and possibly study of some new key language required for the text or task.
Leaflet noun, brochure noun
A piece of printed paper that gives information or advertises something; e.g. a tourist information office might have a leaflet with
information about local places of interest. See realia.
Learn by heart phrase
To learn something so that you can remember it perfectly. Teachers encourage young learners to learn songs and poems by heart
so that they can say them or sing them without having to read the words. See memorise.
Learner autonomy noun, autonomous adjective, learner independence noun
When a learner can set his/her own aims and organise his/her own study, they are autonomous and independent. Many activities
in coursebooks help learners to be more independent by encouraging them to find out more about things in the book and helping
them to organise their learning, such as by suggesting they keep vocabulary lists. See learning strategies, learner training.
Learner-centred adjective
When learners take part actively in a lesson. When learners are at the centre of the activities and have the chance to work
together, make choices and think for themselves in a lesson. Pair and group activities make lessons more learner-centred. See
teacher-centred.
Learner characteristics noun
The typical things about a learner or learners that influence their learning, e.g. age, L, past learning experience, learning style.
Learner independence: see learner autonomy.
Learner profile: see class, learner profile.
Learner training noun
Using activities which help learners understand how they learn and help them to become more autonomous, independent
learners, e.g. doing an activity which teaches learners to use a dictionary quickly.
Learning centre: see self-access centre.
Learning contract noun
An agreement between the teacher and the learners about their roles and responsibilities. Learner contracts include what the
teacher will do and what the learners will do to create a good classroom experience; e.g. learners agree to respect each other, the
teacher agrees to be supportive, etc.
Learning resources noun
The materials or tools which help learners learn, e.g. books, computers, CDs etc. See aids and reference materials/resources.
Learning strategies noun
The techniques which learners consciously use to help them when learning or using language, e.g. deducing the meaning of words
from context; predicting content before reading.
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Learning style noun
The way in which an individual learner naturally prefers to learn something. There are many learning styles. Three of them are
below.
Auditory learner noun
A learner who remembers things more easily when they hear them spoken. This type of learner may like the teacher to say
a new word aloud and not just write it on the board.
Kinaesthetic learner noun
A learner who learns more easily by doing things physically. This type of learner may like to move around or move objects
while learning.
Visual learner noun
A learner who finds it easier to learn when they can see things written down or in a picture. This type of learner may like
the teacher to write a new word on the board and not just say it aloud.
Less controlled practice: see practice.
Lesson evaluation noun
When teachers think about what went well in a lesson they taught and note things that they could improve in future lessons.
Lesson evaluation can help teachers to improve their teaching.
Lexical approach noun
An approach to teaching language based on the idea that language is made up of lexical units rather than grammatical structures.
Teachers using this approach plan lessons which focus on lexical units or chunks such as words, multi-word units, collocations and
fixed expressions rather than grammatical structures. An example of an activity using a lexical approach would be for a teacher to
ask learners to listen to a text and to note down all of the chunks they hear.
Lexical set noun
A group of words and/or phrases which are about the same topic or subject; e.g. a lexical set on the topic of weather could be:
storm, rain, wind, cloud.
Lexical unit noun
A single word or a group of words which have one unit of meaning. The meaning of the group of words may be different from that
of the individual words in the group. For example, car is a lexical unit which means a type of transport; car park is a lexical unit
which means a place to leave your car; car park attendant is a lexical unit which means a person who looks after cars in a car park.
See chunk, fixed expression.
Lexis noun (also vocabulary), lexical adjective
Individual words or sets of words, e.g. homework, study, whiteboard, get dressed, be on time. Lexical means connected with
words or sets of words. See lexical approach, lexical set, lexical unit.
Linguistic adjective, linguistics noun
Connected with language or the study of language. Studying linguistics includes studying the grammar, discourse and phonology
of a language.
Linking noun
. The way different sounds and words can join with each other in connected speech, e.g. it’s a good day –
/ɪtsəɡʊdeɪ/. See connected speech.
. Joining parts of sentences (phrases and clauses), sentences and paragraphs to make text more cohesive, e.g. I went
shopping, then I went to the gym. I bought a dress and a hat. See cohesive device.
Listen and do/make/draw phrase
A classroom activity where learners listen to the teacher or to another learner and while they are listening they perform an action
(listen and do), make something (listen and make) or draw something (listen and draw). These activities are usually used as
comprehension tasks. See action rhyme and picture dictation.
Listen for detail: see detail.
Listen for gist, global understanding: see gist.
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Listen for mood: see mood.
Literacy noun
The ability to read and write. Teachers of young learners work on developing their learners’ literacy skills by teaching them, for
example, how to form letters and to write on a line.
Logical adjective
Connecting ideas in a sensible way. A lesson is logical if the stages follow an order which makes sense and if one stage leads
clearly and obviously to another.
Lower-order thinking skills (LOTS) phrase
These are skills such as remembering information and understanding information. They are often used in the classroom to check
understanding and to review learning. Lower-order thinking skills usually involve closed questions. See higher-order thinking skills
(HOTS).
Lyrics noun
The words of a song. Teachers sometimes use the lyrics of a song to teach or practise language or for listening comprehension.
Main aim: see aim.
Main clause: see clause.
Main stress: see stress.
Maintain discipline: see discipline.
Management: see classroom management.
Manager: see teacher role.
Mask noun
Something that you wear to cover your face to hide it. Children may wear different masks when they are acting as different
characters in a class activity. See prop.
Matching task noun
A task-type in which learners are asked to pair things together, e.g. match two halves of a sentence, or match a word with a
picture.
Mature adjective, maturity noun
Fully grown or developed. If a learner is mature in attitude, they behave in an adult way. A learner’s maturity (physical, emotional
and mental) influences a teacher’s approaches and/or decisions.
Meaning: see Appendix - Terms used for TKT KAL
Meaningful adjective
. Something which shows the meaning of language. Teachers present language using situations which show learners the
meaning of the language they are learning. These are meaningful contexts. See context.
. An activity can be meaningful if it is useful for learners in the real world outside the classroom or is relevant to them. For
example, a role-play in which learners practise buying things in a shop would be a meaningful activity.
Memorise verb, memorable adjective
To learn something so that you can remember it later; something which is easy to remember is memorable. Learners often try to
memorise new vocabulary they have learned by repeating it to themselves. See learn by heart.
Method: see approach.
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Methodology noun
A word used to describe the way teachers do different things in the classroom, e.g. the techniques they use in classroom
management.
Mime verb and noun
To tell a story or to communicate actions or emotions using only body movements; not using words. Teachers might use mime to
show learners what a word means.
Mind map: see word map.
Mingle noun and verb
A mingle is an activity which involves learners walking round the classroom talking to other learners to complete a task. For
example, learners could mingle to find out what the other learners in the class like doing in their free time.
Minimal pair noun
Two words which are different from each other by only one meaningful sound (or phoneme), e.g. hit /hɪt/;
heat /hiːt/.
Mixed ability, mixed level adjective
The different levels of language or ability of learners studying in the same class. Teachers sometimes prepare different tasks for
different learners in the class so that all of the learners are able to succeed in an activity. See differentiation.
Mixed conditional: see conditional (forms).
Modal verb: see verb.
Model noun and verb
. A clear example of the target language for learners to repeat or write down or save as a record. If a teacher is focusing on
the target language of a lesson, he/she usually chooses a model sentence and writes it on the board. The teacher often
models the language as well, by saying it clearly before getting learners to repeat it.
. To do a whole class example of a task before learners work on their own or in pairs on the task. Teachers do this to show
learners exactly what they need to do in the task.
Monitor verb, self-monitor verb
. To watch and listen to learners when they are working on their own or in pairs or groups in order to make sure that they
are doing what they have been asked to do, and to help them if they are having problems. For example, while learners are
doing a role-play in pairs, the teacher walks around the room listening to them, perhaps noting down errors, and helping
when needed.
. To listen to or read the language you use to check if it is accurate and effective. Teachers do this to make sure that learners
can understand them.
See teacher role.
Monolingual dictionary: see dictionary.
Mood noun, listen for mood, read for mood phrase
The way a person feels at a particular time. To read or listen for mood is to read or listen to a text in order to identify the feelings
of the writer or speaker. Teachers might ask learners to do this as a first comprehension task as it might help learners to get a
general understanding of the text. See infer attitude, feeling, mood.
Mother tongue noun
The very first language that you learn as a baby, which is usually the language spoken to you by your parents.
Also called L or first language. We learn our mother tongue in a different way from the way we learn a second language. See L,
L, native speaker.
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Motivation noun, motivate verb
Feelings of interest and excitement which make us want to do something and help us continue doing it. Learners who are highly
motivated and want to learn English are more likely to be successful.
Demotivate verb, demotivated adjective
To make someone lose motivation. Learners can become demotivated if they feel a lack of progress.
Unmotivated adjective
Without motivation; having no motivation. Learners who do not see a reason for learning a particular subject can be
unmotivated.
Multiple-choice question noun
A task-type in which learners are given a question and three or four possible answers or options. They choose the correct answer
from the options they are given, e.g.
Listen to the weather report. What will the weather be like tomorrow?
A very sunny
B a bit sunny
C not at all sunny
Multiword verb: see verb.
Narrative noun and adjective, narrate verb
. A narrative is another word for a story. Teachers use stories in class to present language and to provide an opportunity for
learners to practise language.
. To tell a story or talk about something that has happened. Teachers often narrate stories to learners in class.
Narrator: see teacher role.
Native speaker noun, non-native speaker noun
Someone who has spoken a particular language since they were a baby, rather than having learned it as a child or adult. For
example, someone whose first language is English is a native speaker of English. The opposite of a native speaker is a non-native
speaker. See L/L and mother tongue.
Natural order noun
Research into how we learn a language has shown that there is an order in which all learners naturally learn grammar items.
Some language items are learned before others; e.g. we learn to add ‘s’ to words to make a plural form before we learn to use
‘the’/‘a’.
Needs noun
The language, language skills or learning strategies a learner still has to learn in order to reach their goals, which are the things
they want personally and professionally which are connected to their learning. For example, a learner might need to have good
speaking skills because they need to talk in English in their job. Teachers try to recognise their learners’ needs so that they can
plan lessons to meet these needs.
Negotiate verb
To discuss with someone to reach an agreement, e.g. If you help me now, I’ll help you next week.
Neutral adjective
A way of speaking or writing that is neither formal nor informal, but in between. This type of language is appropriate for most
situations; e.g. When you meet someone in a formal situation you say, ‘How do you do’ or ‘Hello’. In an informal situation you say
‘Hi’ or ‘Hello’. ‘Hello’ can be used in both formal and informal situations as it is neutral. See formal language, informal language.
Nominate verb
To choose and name one learner to speak or do a particular task. Teachers nominate different learners to give the answers to a
task in order to ensure that more learners get a chance to speak.
Note-taking noun, take notes verb
To take notes means to listen or read and write down ideas from the text in short form. Learners who are preparing to study at
university need to learn note-taking skills.
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Notice verb (language)
Noticing is part of the process of language learning. When learners pay attention to a piece of language in a spoken or written text
they are noticing language. For example, learners read a text and notice that it has many words ending in –ed and then they think
about why the words end this way. Learners are noticing language when they pay attention to the –ed words and think about
their meaning and use.
Noun noun
A person, place or thing, e.g. elephant, girl, grass, school.
A collective noun is a noun for a group of people or things, e.g. the police, the government.
A common noun is a noun that is not the name of a particular person, place or thing, e.g. table, book.
A compound noun is a combination of two or more words, which are used as a single word, e.g. a flower shop, a headache.
A countable noun has both a singular and a plural form, e.g. book books.
A plural noun is more than one person, place or thing and can be regular or irregular, e.g. boys, women.
A proper noun is the name of a person or place, e.g. Robert, London.
An uncountable noun does not have a plural form, e.g. information.
Object noun
This is a noun or phrase that describes the thing or person that is affected by the action of a verb, e.g. I saw Mary in the
classroom. See subject.
A direct object shows who or what is affected by the action of the verb; e.g. He gave the book to me. In this sentence, the
book is the direct object.
An indirect object is an object affected by a verb but not directly acted on; e.g. He gave the book to me. In this sentence,
the book is the direct object and me is an indirect object.
Object pronoun: see pronoun.
Objective noun
Something that you plan to achieve. Lesson objectives are specific learning targets that help achieve a lesson’s aims, e.g. Learners
will be able to understand the gist of the text.
Objective test: see test.
Observe verb, observed lesson noun
To observe means to watch carefully the way something happens. An observed lesson is a lesson that is watched by a teacher
trainer or a colleague. Teacher trainers or colleagues usually discuss the lesson they have observed with the teacher and talk
about the strengths of the lesson and about things that could be improved.
Observer: see teacher role.
Off task adjective
When learners are distracted or not completing an activity in the way the teacher wants them to do it, then they are off task. For
example, a learner is sending a message on their phone instead of doing a reading comprehension task. See on task.
On task adjective
When learners are doing an activity in the way the teacher intended that it should be done, then learners are on task. For
example, all of the learners are involved in completing the gap-fill task the teacher asked them to do. See off task.
One-to-one adjective
A teaching situation which involves only one teacher and one learner. Many one-to-one classes are specialist classes for people
such as business people wanting a course which meets their particular needs.
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Open class, whole class adjective
When the teacher leads the class and each learner is focusing on the teacher, rather than working alone or in groups. When
learners respond, they do so in front of everyone in the class. For example, at the beginning of a lesson, the teacher puts a picture
on the board and asks all of the learners to look at it. He/she then chooses individual learners to describe the picture while
everyone else listens. See plenary.
Open pairs: see pairs.
Open question noun
A question which can lead to a long response, e.g. How did you spend last weekend? Why do you think many people prefer to drive
rather than use public transport?
Open comprehension questions are a task-type in which learners read or listen to a text and answer questions using their own
words.
Open-ended adjective (task, questions)
A task or question that does not have a right or wrong answer, but which allows learners to offer their own opinions and ideas or
to respond creatively, e.g. Why do you think the writer likes living in Paris?
Oral fluency: see fluency.
Oral test noun
A test of speaking ability. Many public exams have reading, listening, writing and speaking parts to their test.
Origami noun
The art of making objects for decoration by folding sheets of paper into shapes. Teachers use origami activities in class, especially
with younger learners, as a way of providing language practice and developing communication skills and listening skills.
Outcome noun
The result of teaching/learning. The teacher intends or aims for a result or outcome in terms of learning at the end of the lesson.
For example, a teacher might aim that the outcome of a role-play will be that the learners will be more confident in speaking.
Over-application of the rule, over generalisation noun
When a learner uses a grammatical rule he/she has learned, but uses it in situations when it is not needed or not appropriate, e.g.
a learner says There were three girls (correct plural form used for most nouns) and two mans. (incorrect plural form – not
appropriate for man).
Overhead projector (OHP) noun
A piece of equipment that makes images appear on a wall or screen. It can be used in a classroom instead of a whiteboard or
blackboard.
Overhead transparency (OHT) noun
The plastic sheet a teacher can write on and use with an overhead projector (OHP). Teachers might write the answers to an
activity on an OHT to show to learners when they have completed a task.
Pace noun, pacing noun
The speed of the lesson. A teacher can vary the pace in a lesson by planning different activities in order to keep the learners’
attention.
Pairs noun
Closed pairs – When learners in the class work with the person sitting next to them but not in front of the class. For
example, learners discuss the answers to a task with the person sitting next to them.
Open pairs – In open pairs, one pair does an activity in front of the class. This technique is useful for showing how to do an
activity and/or for focusing on accuracy.
Paragraph noun and verb
A paragraph is a section in a longer piece of writing such as an essay. It starts on a new line and usually contains a single idea.
When a writer is paragraphing, he/she is creating paragraphs. See topic sentence.
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Paraphrase noun and verb
To say or write something that you have read or heard but using different words. Learners who are preparing to study at
university need to practise paraphrasing so that when they do research they are able to put the ideas they read in books into their
own words.
Part of speech noun
A way of categorising words according to their grammatical function and meaning, e.g. noun, verb, adjective, pronoun, adverb,
preposition, conjunction. Similar to word class. See word class.
Participate verb, participation noun
To take part in something; e.g. when learners participate in a lesson or classroom activity they are involved and active.
Participle (past and present) noun
–ed and –ing forms of the verb; they are used to make tenses or adjectives, e.g. I’m going home (present participle); I haven’t seen
him today (past participle).
Particle noun
A small grammatical word, often an adverb or preposition which does not change its form when used in a sentence; e.g. after is a
particle in the phrasal verb look after.
Passive role phrase
Allowing other people to be in control and accepting what happens without trying to change events. When learners want to be
taught and to learn language without making their own decisions about their needs and the ways they learn, they are taking a
passive role. See active role.
Passive voice noun
In English grammar there are active forms and passive forms. In a passive sentence, something is done to or happens to the
subject of the sentence; e.g. passive voice: The winning goal was scored by the captain, active voice: The captain scored the
winning goal. See active voice.
Past perfect simple, continuous, progressive: see tense.
Past simple, continuous, progressive: see tense.
Peer assessment: see assessment.
Peer feedback noun
Feedback given to a learner by another learner in the class; e.g. learners can give each other feedback on things that are good and
things that can be corrected in a piece of written work. See feedback.
Performance assessment see assessment.
Person noun
First person –
Second person –
Third person –
the person speaking – I (first person singular), we (first person plural)
the person spoken to – you (second person singular and plural)
the person (or thing) spoken about – e.g. he, she, it (third person singular), they (third person plural)
Personal aim: see aim.
Personal pronoun: see pronoun.
Personalisation noun, personalise verb
When a teacher helps learners to connect new words, topics, texts or grammar to their own life; e.g. the teacher shows learners a
picture of people swimming in the sea and asks the learners if they can swim; if they like swimming; if they have ever swum in the
sea. Personalisation makes language more meaningful and keeps learners motivated.
Phoneme noun
The smallest sound unit which can make a difference to meaning e.g. /p/ in pan, /b/ in ban. Phonemes have their own symbols
(phonemic symbols), each of which represents one sound. See phonemic chart.
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Phonemic chart noun
A poster or diagram of the phonemic symbols arranged in a particular order. Below is an example of the International Phonetic
Alphabet or IPA. See phoneme, phonemic symbols, phonemic transcription.
Phonemic symbols noun
The characters we use which represent the different sounds or phonemes, e.g. /ɜː/, /tʃ/, /θ/. Words can be written in phonemic
script (usually the International Phonetic Alphabet or IPA), e.g. /dɒktə/ = doctor. See phoneme, phonemic chart, phonemic
transcription.
Phonemic transcription noun
Phonemic transcription means writing words using phonemic symbols, e.g. writing doctor as /dɒktə/. This is done in dictionaries to
show pronunciation.
Phonology noun, phonological adjective
The study of sounds in a language or languages. When teaching new language, teachers focus on teaching sounds and on other
phonological areas such as stress and intonation.
Phrasal verb: see verb.
Phrase noun
. A group of words which are part of a sentence rather than the whole sentence, e.g. the green car, on Friday morning are
phrases.
. A group of words that together have a particular meaning e.g. By the way, round the corner. See fixed expression.
Pick up phrasal verb (language)
To learn a language without studying it, just by hearing and/or reading and then using it. This is the way we learn our first
language. See acquisition, exposure.
Picture dictation noun
A classroom activity in which the teacher describes a scene or an object and learners draw what they hear. The activity can also
be for learners to describe a scene or an object and other learners draw what they hear, perhaps in pairs; e.g. learner A describes
and learner B draws. See listen and do/make/draw.
Picture story noun
Stories that are shown in pictures instead of words. Teachers use picture stories to present language or for providing practice of
language; e.g. learners saying what happened in a series of pictures of a story which took place in the past can practise past
tenses.
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Pie chart noun
A pie chart shows information in a circle which is divided into sections. Each section represents a quantity. Teachers use pie
charts to help learners remember new information by making thinking visual - below is an example.
See Venn diagram.
Placement test: see test.
Planner: see teacher role.
Plenary noun and adjective
Part of a lesson when the teacher discusses ideas with the whole class; for example a plenary could be held at the end of a lesson
when the teacher might assess learning by asking learners to review what has been learned. See open class.
Plural noun: see noun.
Portfolio noun
A collection of work that a learner uses to show what he/she has done during a particular course. A purposeful document,
regularly added to, that may be part of continuous assessment. See portfolio assessment.
Portfolio assessment: see assessment.
Possessive adjective: see adjective.
Possessive pronoun: see pronoun.
Possessive ‘s’ and whose pronoun
Ways of showing or asking who something belongs to, e.g. Whose book is it? It’s Sue’s.
PowerPoint noun
A computer program which is used during presentations to show pieces of text, diagrams, drawings, videos or other images.
Teachers use PowerPoint in the same way that they use a board in class to show learners pictures, questions and answers for a
task, texts or explanations.
Practical activity noun
An activity which involves or simulates real events, situations, actions or experiences. For example, learners role-play taking
something they bought, which doesn’t work properly, back to a shop.
Practice noun
Controlled practice, restricted practice
When learners use the target language repeatedly and productively in situations in which they have little or no choice of
what language they use. The teacher and learners focus on accurate use of the target language. For example, teaching the
present simple: John gets up at ., he has breakfast, he gets dressed etc. The teacher says each sentence and learners
repeat them, then they practise the same sentences in pairs.
Less controlled, freer practice, free practice
When learners use the target language but have more choice of what they say and what language they use. For example,
when practising the present simple learners talk to each other about their daily routines.
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Praise verb
To tell someone they have done well, e.g. That ’s excellent. Well done!
Prediction noun, predict verb
Using your experience or knowledge to say what you think will happen in the future. Prediction is a technique or learning strategy
learners can use to help with listening or reading. Learners think about the topic before they read or listen. They try to imagine
what the topic will be or what they are going to read about or listen to, using clues like headlines or pictures accompanying the
text or their general knowledge about the text type or topic. This makes it easier for learners to understand what they read or
hear.
Prefix noun
A prefix is a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a word to make a new word, e.g. clear – unclear. See affix and
suffix.
Preposition noun
A word used before a noun, pronoun or gerund to connect it to another word, e.g. He was in the garden.
Dependent preposition – Many nouns, verbs and adjectives are followed by a particular preposition. These prepositions
are dependent prepositions, e.g. interested in, depend on, bored with.
Present perfect simple and continuous, progressive: see tense.
Present simple and continuous, progressive: see tense.
Presentation noun, present verb
. When the teacher introduces new language. Teachers present new language, sometimes by using the board and speaking
to the whole class, or they might use a text which includes the new language for their presentation. See guided discovery
approach, Presentation, Practice and Production (PPP).
. When learners give a talk to their class or group; e.g. a learner does some research and prepares a PowerPoint
presentation about a subject he/she is interested in.
Presentation, Practice and Production (PPP) noun
An approach to teaching new language in which the teacher presents the language using a situation, gets learners to practise it in
exercises or other controlled practice activities, and then asks learners to use or produce the same language in a communicative
and less controlled way. For example, teaching the present simple, John gets up at ., he has breakfast, he gets dressed etc. The
teacher shows learners pictures of a person (John) doing these things and shows a calendar to show the learners that the person
(John) does these things every day (this is the presentation stage). The teacher checks learners understand the meaning (routine)
then gets learners to repeat example sentences, in open class then in pairs (the practice stage). Finally, the learners talk to each
other about their daily routines (the production stage).
Pre-teach verb (vocabulary)
Before introducing a text to learners, the teacher can teach key vocabulary from the text which he/she thinks the learners do not
already know and which they need in order to understand the main points of a text. For example, if learners are going to listen to
a weather report, before they listen they match pictures of different weather to words for different types of weather (cloudy,
sunny, foggy, etc.). The teacher is pre-teaching key words from the text.
Primary stress: see stress.
Prioritising: see ranking activity, rank ordering.
Problem-solving activity noun
Learners work in pairs or groups to find the solution to a problem. For example, learners are given a problem situation such as a
town centre with too much traffic and they talk together to think of solutions to the problem. Problem-solving activities usually
help to develop oral fluency.
Procedure noun
A set of actions that describes the way to do something. Teachers write lesson plans and provide details of exactly what is going
to happen in each stage of a lesson; e.g. learners practise the language of complaints in a role-play in pairs. The details of the
different actions are the procedures of the lesson.
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Process verb and noun
. To think actively about new information in order to understand it completely and be able to use it in future. Learners
need to analyse and think about what a piece of new language means, how it is used and how it is formed, and perhaps
see how it fits with their own language. When learners have a better understanding of these things they may be better
able to use the language correctly.
. The series of actions which are taken to achieve a result, for example preparing a grammar lesson, might involve the
process of researching and analysing a language point, choosing an approach to teach it, finding materials, and then
writing a lesson plan.
Process writing noun
An approach to writing, which thinks of writing as a process which includes different stages of writing such as planning, drafting,
re-drafting, editing, proofreading. See guided writing and product writing.
Product writing noun
An approach to writing which involves analysing and then reproducing models of particular text types. For example, learners read
a restaurant review, analyse the way it is written, then produce their own review. See guided writing and process writing.
Productive skills noun
In language teaching we talk about the four skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing. Speaking and writing are productive
skills because learners produce language. Reading and listening and not productive skills. See receptive skills.
Proficiency noun, proficient adjective
Being able to do something very well, e.g. speaking English. Learners who practise speaking can become more proficient.
Proficiency test: see test.
Profile: see class profile, learner profile.
Progress test: see test.
Project work noun
An activity which focuses on completing an extended task or tasks on a specific topic. Learners may work in groups to create
something such as a class magazine. Learners sometimes do some work by themselves, sometimes outside the classroom.
Prompt verb and noun
To help learners think of ideas or to remember a word or phrase by giving them a part of it or by giving another kind of clue.
When a teacher suggests a word that the learner hasn’t remembered, e.g.
Learner: I want to …… in an office.
Teacher: Work?
Learner: Yes, I want to work in an office.
A teacher can also use a word prompt to correct a learner, e.g.
Learner: He don’t like that.
Teacher: Grammar.
Learner: Sorry – he doesn’t like that. See elicit.
Prompt card: see cue card.
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Pronoun noun
A word that we use instead of a noun.
A demonstrative pronoun is used instead of a noun to show something or point to something. This, that, these, those are
demonstrative pronouns, e.g. Those are my shoes.
An object pronoun is used instead of an object noun. Me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them are object pronouns, e.g. I gave
him the book.
Personal pronouns are words, which are used instead of the name of a person. I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they are
personal pronouns, e.g. She’s Spanish.
A possessive pronoun is used instead of a noun and shows something belongs to someone, Mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours,
yours, theirs are possessive pronouns, e.g. the house is mine.
A reflexive pronoun is used when the object of a sentence is the same person or thing as the subject of the sentence.
Reflexive pronouns end with self or selves: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves, e.g.
He cut himself.
A relative pronoun introduces a relative clause. Who, which, that, whose, whom are relative pronouns, e.g. the book which
I’m reading is interesting.
Proofread verb
To read a text in order to check whether there are any mistakes in spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. Teachers encourage
learners to proofread their homework and correct their mistakes before they hand it in. See process writing.
Prop noun
An object used by actors performing in a play or film. Teachers may give learners props to use when they are doing a role-play in
class. See mask.
Proper noun: see noun.
Provide feedback: see feedback.
Punctuation noun
The symbols or marks used to organise writing into clauses, phrases and sentences to make the meaning clear.
Apostrophe noun ’ ’ is added to a singular noun before an ‘s’ to show that something belongs to
someone, e.g. Mae’s house. An apostrophe is also common in contractions, e.g. He’s
(He is or He has).
‘at’ symbol noun @ used instead of ‘at’ in email addresses, e.g. john@yahoo.com
Comma noun , used to separate items in a list or to show where there is a pause in a sentence, e.g.
I bought some apples, oranges, bananas and lemons. When I went to the market, I
met my friend.
Exclamation mark noun ! written after a sentence to show excitement, surprise or shock, e.g. Be careful!
Full stop noun . used at the end of a sentence, e.g. I like chocolate.
Question mark noun ? used at the end of a question, e.g. How are you?
Speech marks noun ‘x’ written before and after a word or a sentence to show that it is what someone said,
e.g. John said ‘My favourite subject is music’.
Pupil profile chart noun
A table or diagram used by teachers to record learners’ performance and progress in different skills during a course. Pupil profile
charts help teachers to monitor learners’ progress and to evaluate needs. See chart, assessment chart/assessment profile.
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Puppet noun
A model of a person or animal often made of paper or cloth, which a teacher or learners can move by putting their hand inside.
Puppets are often used when teaching young learners.
Quantifier noun
A word or phrase such as much, few or a lot of which is used with a noun to show an amount, e.g. I don’t have much time; I have a
lot of books about music.
Question mark: see punctuation.
Question tag, tag question noun
A phrase that is added to the end of a sentence to make it a question, or to check that someone agrees with the statement just
made, e.g. It’s very cold, isn’t it? It isn’t very far, is it?
Raise awareness phrase
To help learners to start to understand something that they may not already know by focusing on it. For example, if you teach
learning strategies, it can raise learners’ awareness of how to learn.
Range noun
A number of different things which are of the same type. For example, teachers can use a range of activities in their lessons such
as a discussion activity, a role-play activity, multiple choice questions, or a gap fill activity. We also use range when we talk about
learners’ language. For example, when a learner uses many different adjectives in a description of her town we say she has ‘a
good range of adjectives’ whereas when a learner uses just a few adjectives again and again when describing her town we say that
she has ‘a limited range of adjectives’.
Ranking activity, rank ordering activity, prioritising activity noun, prioritise verb, rank verb
Putting things in order of importance. In the classroom, a prioritising or rank-ordering activity is a communicative activity in which
learners are given a list of things to rank (put in order of importance). It involves discussion, agreeing/disagreeing and negotiating.
Rapport noun, build rapport phrase
The relationship between the teacher and learners. Teachers try to build or create good rapport and to have a good relationship
with their learners because it makes the classroom a better place for learning.
Rationale noun
The reason for doing something, e.g. the rationale for pre-teaching vocabulary before learners read a text is to help learners read
the text more easily. When teachers plan a lesson, they think about a rationale for activities and procedures.
Read for detail: see detail.
Read for gist, global understanding: see gist.
Read for mood: see mood.
Realia noun
Real objects such as clothes, menus, timetables and leaflets that can be brought into the classroom for a range of purposes. For
example, teachers might bring in different clothes to teach learners the words for those clothes (shirt, skirt, trousers etc.).
Recall verb and noun
To remember, bring something back into the mind; e.g. in a test, learners might have to recall vocabulary they learned the week
before.
Recast verb, reformulate verb, reformulation noun
To reword a sentence or phrase to improve it, e.g. when a teacher corrects what a learner has said by repeating the sentence
correctly, but without drawing the learner’s attention to the mistake. This is usually the way parents ‘correct’ their young
children’s language mistakes.
Learner: I am not agree.
Teacher: Oh, you don’t agree. Why not?
Receptive skills noun
In language teaching we talk about the four skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing. Reading and listening are receptive
skills because learners receive language; they do not have to produce language. See productive skills.
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Recycle verb
To focus on words or structures that have been taught before, for revision and more practice. Coursebooks often recycle
vocabulary and structures in later units that has been presented in early units.
Re-draft verb
When a piece of writing is changed with the intention of improving it. A writer’s first draft may be re-drafted. Many teachers
encourage learners to write a first draft quickly to get their ideas down on paper, then to go back and re-draft the text, correcting
mistakes and improving the text. See draft, process writing.
Refer to phrasal verb, reference noun
. To be about something or to be connected with something; e.g. the past simple refers to an event in the past.
. To look at something for information or to ask for information; e.g. learners can refer to a dictionary to find out what a
word means or they can refer to their teacher for advice.
Reference materials noun, reference resources noun
The materials which teachers and learners can use to find or check information, e.g. grammar books, dictionaries and online
teaching resources.
Reflect on teaching, learning phrase
To think about a lesson after teaching it or to think about learning in order to decide what worked, what did not work, and how to
improve teaching/learning in the future.
Reflective adjective (teachers)
Teachers who look back on the lessons they have taught and think about what worked and what did not work, in order to
improve their teaching.
Reflexive pronoun: see pronoun.
Refuse an invitation: see decline an invitation.
Register noun
The formality or informality of language used in a particular situation. Formal register or formal language is language which is used
in serious or important situations, e.g. in a job application. Informal register or informal language is language used in relaxed or
friendly situations, e.g. with family or friends. Register may also refer to language which is specific to a particular group, e.g.
technical register, scientific register. See formal, informal.
Regular verb: see verb.
Reinforce: see consolidate.
Relative clause: see clause.
Relative pronoun: see pronoun.
Relevance noun, relevant adjective
A connection with a situation or the subject you are thinking about or discussing. For example, verbs and tenses are relevant to
grammar.
Repeat verb, repetition noun
To say something again. Teachers get learners to repeat words and phrases so that learners can practise pronunciation of new
language and so that they can learn language patterns. See drill.
Report back phrasal verb
When a learner tells the whole class what was discussed in groupwork or pairwork. For example, after a group discussion on using
the internet, one of the learners in each group tells the whole class the main points mentioned in their group.
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Reported speech, statement, question noun
Reported speech is used when we want to say what someone else said (to report what was said). When we say what someone
else said we do not repeat the exact words because it is necessary to make some grammatical changes such as changing the
pronoun and the verb tense, e.g. Sarah said she was sorry. Sarah’s exact words were: I’m sorry. See direct speech, question and
indirect question.
Reporting verb: see verb.
Request noun and verb, make a (polite) request phrase
To ask someone (politely) to do something, e.g. Please could you open the window?
Resources: see aids, reference materials, learning resources.
Response noun, respond verb
An answer or reaction to something someone says such as a laugh, a smile or saying something. Teachers and learners respond to
each other in class by answering each other’s questions (Teacher: How are you all today? Learner: Fine thanks), by commenting
on things that are said (Learner: I’m going to paint a picture. Teacher: That’s a good idea.) or by using gestures or facial
expressions.
Restricted practice: see practice.
Review noun and verb
When a learner, often guided by the teacher, looks again at language that has already been taught in order to remember this
language better. Teachers may choose to review vocabulary or grammatical structures in the classroom in order to help learners
consolidate the language or to prepare for a test. See revise.
Revise verb, revision noun
. In British English usage revise means to study again something you have learned, to prepare for an exam. For example, a
teacher might advise learners to revise the vocabulary they have learned before a weekly test. Americans use review for
this. See review.
. Revise also means to look again at a piece of writing to correct it or improve it. For example, teachers encourage learners
to revise their homework before handing it in. See edit.
Rhyme noun and verb
. Words that sound similar because they have the same ending, e.g. hat, cat.
. A song or poem with words that sound the same at the end of each line, e.g.
I believe I can fly.
I believe I can touch the sky.
Rhythm noun
The rhythm of speech is the way that some words in a sentence are emphasised or stressed to produce a regular pattern, e.g. If I
were YOU, I’d go by BUS.
Role-play noun and verb
A classroom activity in which learners are given roles to act out in a given situation, e.g. a job interview role-play where one
learner is the interviewer and the other learner is the interviewee. Role-plays are usually done in pairs or groups.
Root word, base word noun
The main word or part of a word from which other words can be made by adding a prefix or suffix; e.g. help is the root or base
word of helpful, unhelpful and helpless. See core.
Routine noun
Something which is done regularly such as a teacher setting writing homework every Friday. Teachers try to develop some
routines in the classroom, e.g. always asking learners to record new words with their meaning and an example sentence. This
helps learners to feel settled, safe and more relaxed.
Rubric noun
Written instructions for an exercise, activity or task in a test; e.g. for a multiple-choice task the rubric might be: For questions – ,
choose the best option (A, B or C) to complete each of the statements.
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Scaffolding noun
Scaffolding is the temporary support that teachers (and parents) give to learners to help them to do a task, solve a problem,
communicate or understand. Scaffolding can be through the use of teacher language to help learners understand language and
use of language, e.g. using language at the learners’ level; asking questions; using gestures and actions when speaking; using L
when necessary. Scaffolding can also be through the use of teaching strategies, e.g. providing language models or prompts; using
substitution tables and language frames. Scaffolding is temporary support which is gradually taken away so that learners can
eventually work without it.
Scan verb
Reading a text to look for specific information and paying no attention to everything else in the text, e.g. looking for a word you
want to know the meaning of in a dictionary. See detail, gist, global understanding, skim.
Scheme of work noun
A basic plan of what a teacher will teach for a number of lessons. Its aim is to try to ensure that lessons fit logically together, to
give the teacher clear goals and to try to ensure a balance of language, skills, topics and activities over a number of weeks or
months.
Schwa noun
The /ə/ sound is called the schwa. It is a feature of many weak forms, e.g. /kən/ in I can play tennis.
Script noun
. A set of letters used for writing a particular language, e.g. Arabic script, Cyrillic script, Roman script.
. The written version of the words of spoken language, e.g. the words heard during a listening activity. See audioscript,
transcript.
Seating arrangement, seating plan noun
The way the learners sit in the classroom, e.g. in rows, in a circle around the teacher, in groups around different tables. Teachers
sometimes make a seating plan of where the learners should sit in the classroom.
Second conditional: see conditional (forms).
Second person: see person.
Secondary stress: see stress.
Self-access centre, learning centre noun
A place with learning resources such as books, computers, CDs and DVDs where learners can study by themselves.
Self-assessment: see assessment.
Self-correction: see correction.
Self-monitor: see monitor.
Sentence completion activity noun
A task-type in which learners are given parts of a sentence, e.g. the beginning or the end, and are asked to complete the sentence,
using specific target language, e.g. to practise using –ing forms: At the weekend,
I love … ; In the evenings, I enjoy … .
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Sentence dominoes noun
A pair or group game in which learners match half-sentences, in order to make full sentences. They do this by taking turns to join
dominoes which, in the context of language teaching, are typically single pieces of paper with two half-sentences on them, at
either end of other dominoes; e.g.
The second half of one card and the first half of another card form a sentence (e.g. I went to bed at midnight). As the game
continues, learners develop a line of sentences.
Sentence level phrase
When we study language, we can study words, sentences or whole texts. When we study words in a text we are studying
language at word level; studying sentences in a text is studying language at sentence level and when we study whole texts we are
studying language at text level. Studying a text at sentence level means looking at the language features of sentences in a text and
looking at how the sentences are made – for example looking at the use of imperative forms, use of relative clauses, use of
punctuation. See word level and text level.
Sentence starter, sentence stem noun
The beginning of a sentence which learners then complete orally or in writing. A type of scaffolding strategy to help learners make
sentences, e.g. I like …… , I love …… .
Sentence stress: see stress.
Sentence transformation activity noun
A task-type in which learners are given a sentence and a prompt, and have to make a second sentence, which means the same as
the first, using the prompt, e.g.
It’s too cold to play tennis.
It ______________ to play tennis. (enough)
It isn’t warm enough to play tennis.
Sequence noun and verb, sequencing activity noun
A sequence is a series of things which follow each other in a logical order. Learners can sequence pictures in a story, i.e. put them
in order.
Set a question, set a task, set a test phrase
To give learners a question to answer, e.g. an essay question such as: Is living in a big city better than living in a small town? To
tell learners what to do in a task, e.g. find the meaning of these five words in your dictionary. To give learners a test to do; e.g.
many teachers set a weekly test for learners to find out how well the week’s work has been understood.
Set the scene, set the context phrase
To explain or discuss the topic or situation of something learners will read, hear, talk or write about, so that learners understand
the topic or situation before they begin their task. For example, before playing a recording of a conversation between two people,
a teacher might tell learners who the people are on the recording, where they are and what they are talking about. This prepares
learners for the listening and it means they are better able to understand what the people are saying.
Settler noun
An activity used to quieten and calm children perhaps done after a more lively activity. For example, a piece of copying or quiet
drawing or colouring in. See stirrer.
Silent letter noun
A letter in a word which is written but which is not pronounced, e.g. in thumb, the letter b is a silent letter.
Silent period noun
The time when learners who are beginning to learn a first (or second) language prefer to listen (or read) before producing the
language; e.g. babies have a silent period when they listen to their parents before starting to try to speak themselves.
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Simplify verb, simplification noun
To make something easier. Simplifying language or tasks is a common scaffolding strategy, for example.
Singular noun: see noun.
Situational presentation noun
A way of presenting new language through a simple story or situation. The teacher may use pictures or other aids to help him/her
create the situation, For example, a teacher is teaching If I were you I’d… for giving advice. The teacher shows learners a picture of
a young man. He/she tells the learners that this is John and that John has a job interview tomorrow. The teacher says that John
needs the learners’ help, He wants to know what he should and shouldn’t do during the interview to be successful and get the
job. The teacher asks learners for their ideas, such as wear a suit, be on time, smile and be friendly etc. Then the teacher asks how
they can tell John these things. He/she helps the learners to say: If I were you, I’d wear a suit; If I were you, I’d be on time, etc.
Then the learners practise the different sentences in open class, then pairs. Situational presentations are part of the Presentation,
Practice, Production (PPP) approach.
Skills noun
The four language skills are listening, speaking, reading and writing. See develop skills, subskills, receptive skills, productive skills.
Skim verb
To read a text quickly to get a general idea of what it is about – e.g. reading a description of a city to find out if it sounds like
somewhere you’d like to visit. See detail, gist, global understanding.
Slip: see error.
Smiley noun
A picture of a happy face ☺. Teachers can use a smiley to point out good features of learners’ written work. Learners can use a
smiley to indicate strengths or progress in their own English, or to show features of a lesson they enjoyed.
Solution noun, solve verb
An answer to a problem. When teachers are planning a lesson, they think about what their learners might find difficult about the
lesson (anticipated problems) and they think about how they can solve those problems. Lesson plans include anticipated problems
and solutions.
Specific adjective
Involving one particular thing or one type of thing; e.g. teachers might talk about teaching a specific language point. This means
that they are teaching one particular language point, e.g. If I were you, I’d … for giving advice.
Specify verb (aims)
To explain or describe something in a clear and exact way. Teachers specify lesson aims in their lesson plans. Aims are specified at
the beginning of a lesson plan for the lesson as a whole and for individual stages in the lesson.
Speculate verb
To guess something based on information you have; e.g. the teacher shows learners a picture with two men wearing suits sitting
at a desk. He/she asks learners to guess what the men are doing. Learners say: they might be having a meeting, it might be a job
interview etc.
Speech marks: see punctuation.
Stage, step noun
A section of a lesson. Lessons have different stages or steps such as lead-in, presentation, controlled practice, etc.
Stage aim: see aim.
Step: see stage.
Sticker noun
A label with a picture or message on it that has glue on the back of it. Teachers may use stickers to keep things on the classroom
wall or on the board.
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Stimulate discussion phrase
To encourage learners to talk about something, to help them with ideas and information which they can use in a discussion. This
can be done in different ways such as through a text or a picture.
Stimulate interest: see arouse interest.
Stirrer noun
A lively activity teachers use to activate children in class – for example, a mingle or an action game. See settler.
Story corner noun
A permanent space in the classroom where learners can tell each other stories or sit quietly and read stories. Teachers sometimes
use story corners to encourage children to be more independent by allowing them to choose which activity they would like to do.
Storyboard noun
This shows the events in a story, sometimes with speech and thoughts or short text.
Storybook noun
A book with stories for children. Teachers might read stories from storybooks to children in class and encourage children to read
storybooks themselves.
Stress noun and verb
Pronouncing part of a word (syllable) or part of a sentence louder and longer than other parts, e.g. VEGetable, I LOVE baNAnas.
Some parts of words and sentences are stressed and some are unstressed.
Contrastive stress is used when we compare or contrast and involves stressing the word we are comparing or contrasting,
e.g. It was my AUNT who bought the car (not my uncle) or My aunt bought the CAKE (not the biscuits)!
Primary, main stress
Some sentences and longer words may have more than one part stressed, These words and sentences have a primary or
main stress which is the part that is loudest and longest. For example, pronunciation – prəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən. The main stress is
on the /eɪ/ part of the word. The primary or main stress on a word is marked in the dictionary with e.g. prəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən.
Secondary stress is stress on a syllable or word in a sentence which is less strong than the primary (main) stress, e.g.
/prəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ has the primary or main stress on /eɪ/ and the secondary stress on /ˌnʌn/. Secondary stress is marked in
the dictionary with e.g. prəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən.
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.
Word stress is about which syllable of a word is pronounced louder and longer – e.g. umBRELLa /ʌmˈbrelə/.
Strong form noun
In connected speech many words are not pronounced fully. For example, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, pronouns and conjunctions
are usually not pronounced fully and are not stressed. When these words are pronounced fully and are stressed to make a point
they become strong forms; e.g. ‘can’ is often pronounced in its weak form /kən/: I can (/kən/) speak French, but it can be
pronounced in its strong form, e.g. I don’t speak Italian but I can (/kæn/) speak a little Spanish in an emergency. See weak form.
Structural approach noun
A way of teaching which uses a syllabus based on grammatical structures, e.g. present simple, present continuous, past simple. The
order in which the language is presented is usually based on how difficult it is thought to be. See functional approach.
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Student talking time (STT) phrase
This is about the time learners spend speaking in a lesson. See Teacher Talking Time (TTT).
Subject noun
This is the noun or phrase that goes before the verb to show who is doing the action in an active sentence,
e.g. John plays tennis every Saturday, or who or what the action is done to in a passive sentence, e.g. The food was cooked
yesterday. See object.
Subjective test: see test.
Subject–verb agreement phrase
When the form of the verb matches the person doing the action of the verb, e.g. I walk, he walks. If a learner writes I walks, then
it is wrong because there is no subject–verb agreement.
Subordinate clause: see clause.
Subsidiary aim: see aim.
Subskill noun
Each of the four language skills can be divided into smaller subskills that are all part of the main skill; e.g. identifying text
organisation is a subskill of reading; identifying word stress is a listening subskill. See detail, gist, global understanding, scan, skim.
Substitution drill: see drill.
Substitution table noun
A grid giving a choice of grammatical forms:
I
You go Do you
go by car? He/she/it goes to work by car. Does he/she/it
We
You
They
go Do you/they
Suffix noun
A suffix is a letter or group of letters added at the end of a word to make a new word, e.g. good goodness. See affix and prefix.
Summary noun, summarise verb
To take out the main points of a long text, and rewrite or retell them in a short, clear way. Learners preparing to study at
university need to practise summarising skills.
Summative assessment: see assessment.
Summative test: see test.
Superlative adjective: see adjective.
Supplementary material noun, supplement verb and noun
The books and other materials which teachers can use in addition to a coursebook, e.g. pronunciation practice materials.
Supportive adjective, unsupportive adjective
Providing help or encouragement. The opposite of supportive is unsupportive, which is not being helpful and encouraging.
Effective teachers create a supportive atmosphere in their classes by encouraging learners to help each other and to ask others
for help.
Survey noun
An activity in which learners find out information from others by asking questions or using questionnaires in order to practise
speaking skills and/or specific language. For example, learners might conduct a survey to find out how often their classmates use
the internet.
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Swap verb
To change one thing for another; e.g. in class a teacher could ask learners to swap partners so that they can work with someone
different. See exchange.
Syllable noun
A part of a word that usually contains a vowel sound, e.g. pen = one syllable; teacher = two syllables – teach/er; umbrella = three
syllables – um/brell/a.
Syllabus noun
This describes the language and skills to be covered on a course, and the order in which they will be taught. The content of a
syllabus will be based on the writer’s beliefs about language learning. See curriculum.
Syllabus fit noun
The syllabus is the language and skills work planned for a whole course. Syllabus fit is how a particular lesson fits in with the
syllabus or the whole course; e.g. a teacher might decide to include a week of work on storytelling because in the syllabus there is
work on past tenses and storytelling is a useful way for learners to learn and practise past tenses. See timetable fit.
Sympathise verb
To say something which shows that you understand and care about someone’s problem. For example, a teacher might say Oh
dear, what a shame to sympathise with a learner who isn’t feeling well.
Synonym noun
A word which has the same, or nearly the same, meaning as another word; e.g. nice is a synonym of pleasant.
Tag question: see question tag.
Take notes: see note-taking.
Take risks phrase
To do something without knowing if the result will be good or bad. When learners take risks they experiment with language and
try using structures and vocabulary they may not have used before to see if it works. This is a natural part of their language
development.
Tapescript, audio script, transcript noun
The written version of the words learners hear when doing a listening activity. These can often be found in a teacher’s book or at
the back of the learner’s book.
Target: see goal.
Target language noun
. The language which is the focus of the lesson or a part of the lesson. It could be grammar, lexis, functions or pronunciation,
e.g. the present perfect, or vocabulary for parts of the body, or giving advice.
. The language being studied (often called the L). If learners are studying English then English is the target language.
Target language culture phrase
The traditions and culture of the country whose language is being studied. For example, a learner studying Japanese might want
also to learn about things like Japanese festivals, Japanese food, Japanese music etc.
Task noun
An activity that learners complete. For example, problem-solving activities or information-gap activities are tasks. Task may also be
used as another word for activity. See Task-Based Learning (TBL).
Task-based learning (TBL) noun
An approach to teaching in which the teacher asks learners to do a task which has an achievable result. The task the teacher gives
is the type of task people might do in real life and which involves communicating with other learners. For example, learners might
be given the task of planning the opening of a new restaurant in their town. They then have to decide where the restaurant
should be, what kind of food it will serve, how big it will be, how expensive etc. While doing the task, learners use language to
prepare a report on their decisions. When they have completed the task and their report, the teacher may ask them to think
about the language they used while doing the task, but the main focus for learners is on the task itself.
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Task-type noun
A set of questions or an activity that are all of one kind, e.g. multiple choice, gap-fill, matching.
Teacher-centred adjective
When the teacher leads activities in the classroom, usually from the front of the class with the learners’ attention on him/her. In
teacher-centred parts of the lesson the teacher might be explaining something to the learners or asking individual learners
questions or asking learners to repeat models or giving instructions. If a lesson is thought to be too teacher-centred it means that
learners are not being given opportunities to work together, to practise, share experiences or think for themselves. See learnercentred.
Teacher role noun
This is about the different jobs a teacher can have in a class and the different ways a teacher can manage the classroom and the
learners; e.g. a teacher can choose to take a controlling role, giving directions or instructions at the front of the class or to take a
less controlling role, monitoring learners as they work.
Teacher roles in the classroom:
Assessor noun
Assessing learners’ performance, behaviour, effort and contribution. Evaluating learners’ performance, behaviour and
contribution. Testing learners’ progress and level. Providing feedback on work, progress, behaviour and contribution.
Contributor noun
Contributing ideas or information other than language, e.g. participating in discussions.
Counsellor noun
Giving learners advice on difficulties they may have outside of their language class. Showing understanding of issues
learners bring to the classroom from outside.
Diagnostician noun
Diagnosing and evaluating learners’ needs and difficulties.
Facilitator noun
Developing learner autonomy. Helping learners to access resources. Providing opportunities for individual learning.
Language resource noun
Clarifying language. Correcting learner language. Consolidating learner language. Contextualising language. Eliciting
language. Explaining language. Modelling language. Checking understanding of language. Personalising language. Providing
language input.
Manager noun
Managing the learners, the lessons and procedures in the classroom, e.g. controlling the group dynamic, deciding on
interaction patterns, demonstrating tasks and activities, building rapport, encouraging learners, giving instructions,
motivating learners, maintaining discipline, responding to classroom problems as they happen.
Monitor/Observer noun
Monitoring, observing and collecting information about learner performance, behaviour, contribution, effort and progress.
Keeping a written record of learners’ work.
Narrator noun
Narrating stories and things that have happened.
Teacher roles outside the classroom:
The teacher also has roles to play outside the classroom. Before a lesson, the teacher has to plan activities which may involve
anticipating problems and suggesting solutions; deciding on a methodology for lessons; designing and adapting texts and materials
for lessons; preparing texts and tasks for learners; selecting materials and texts for lessons. After a lesson, the teacher
may reflect on his or her own performance. Reflecting on learner's progress and performance may take place after several
lessons.
Teacher’s book: see book.
Teacher talking time (TTT) noun
This is about the time the teacher spends talking in a lesson. See Student Talking Time (STT).
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Tense noun
A form of a verb which shows when something happens, e.g. in the past, present or future.
Future with going to
I’m going to visit my aunt on Sunday. It’s going to rain.
Future with present continuous
He is meeting John for dinner at eight tomorrow.
Future with present simple
The plane leaves at . next Saturday.
Future with will (or shall)
It will be lovely and sunny tomorrow
Past continuous, progressive
I was watching TV all evening.
Past perfect continuous, progressive
I had been studying for three hours so I felt tired.
Past perfect simple
After I had phoned Mary, I went out.
Past simple
I went on holiday to France last year.
Present continuous, progressive
I am working in London now.
Present perfect continuous, progressive
I have been studying for three years.
Present perfect simple
I have known him for a long time.
Present simple
He drives to work every day.
Test noun and verb
A formal assessment of a learner’s language.
An achievement test is used to see how well learners have learned the language and skills taught in class. Achievement
tests are often at the end of term or end of the year and test the main points of what has been taught in that time.
A diagnostic test is used to identify problems that learners have with language or skills. The teacher diagnoses or finds out
the language problems learners have. It can also be used to diagnose or find out about learner strengths. Diagnostic tests
help the teacher to plan what to teach, or what not to teach, in future.
An objective test is a test which has only one correct answer (for each question) and is marked without using the
examiner’s opinion, e.g. true/false questions, multiple-choice questions. There is a clear right or wrong answer.
A placement test is used at the beginning of a course in a language school in order to identify a learner’s level of language
and find the best class for them.
A proficiency test is used to see how good learners are at using the target language. The contents of a proficiency test are
not chosen according to what has been taught, but according to what is needed for a particular purpose, e.g. English for
hotel receptionists, English for studying at university, English for general communication. Cambridge English: First and
IELTS are examples of proficiency tests.
A progress test is used during a course in order to assess the learning up to a particular point in the course. Teachers
might set progress tests weekly or in the middle of a course.
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A subjective test is a test in which the examiner’s opinion and judgement is used to decide on the quality of the answer.
There isn’t just one correct answer. There may be many different answers which are correct. Types of subjective test are,
for example; written stories, compositions, interviews, conversations. Subjective tests can be made more reliable by using
assessment criteria. See assessment criteria.
A summative test is used at the end of a course. The focus is on the mark or grade given and feedback is not usually
provided. See formative assessment.
Test–teach–test noun
An approach to teaching new language. The teacher asks learners to do a task to see how well they know a certain piece of
language (this is the first test stage). The teacher then presents the language which is new for the learners (the teach stage).
Finally the teacher asks the learners to do another task using the new language correctly (this is the second test stage). This way
of teaching target language can be helpful if the teacher thinks the learners may already know some of the target language. It
helps the teacher diagnose what the learners need to learn so that he/she can focus only on this in the teach stage.
Text level phrase
When we study language, we can study words, sentences or whole texts. When we study words in a text we are studying
language at word level, studying sentences in a text is studying language at sentence level, and when we study whole texts we are
studying language at text level. Studying a text at text level means looking at the discourse features in a text – for example, in a
written text looking at cohesion and cohesive devices (how the text is linked) and coherence (how the parts of the text fit
together). See sentence level, word level.
Text structure noun
The way a text is organised. For example, an essay typically has an introduction, a main section and a conclusion.
Text type noun
Different types of texts, each of which has specific features such as layout and use of language. These features make them part of
a recognisable type of text; e.g. letters, emails, news reports are different text types.
Textbook: see book.
Theme noun, thematic adjective
The main subject of a conversation, a text or a lesson; e.g. a lesson might be based on the theme of happiness.
Thesaurus: see dictionary.
Third conditional: see conditional (forms).
Third person: see person.
Time expression noun
A word or phrase that indicates time, such as after, last weekend, e.g. I will meet you after the lesson.
Timeline noun
A diagram that shows learners the relationship between tense and time. It is often used in language teaching to present the use of
a new tense or to correct learners when they use tenses wrongly, e.g.
Past Now Future
Present perfect tense See tense.
Timetable fit noun
Teachers plan timetables which provide details of the lessons they will teach in the near future. Timetable fit is about how a
lesson fits logically into the sequence of lessons in a timetable; e.g. a lesson where learners talk about their last holiday goes after
a lesson in which the past simple was presented and before a lesson where learners write about their last holiday.
Timing noun
The likely time different activities or stages in a lesson plan should take. When teachers plan lessons, they think about how long
each activity will take and they usually write this on their plan.
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Topic noun
The subject of a text or lesson, e.g. food, travel, houses, are all topics.
Topic sentence noun
A sentence that gives the main point or subject of a paragraph. This is usually the first sentence in a paragraph.
Total Physical Response (TPR) noun
A method or approach to teaching in which the teacher presents language items in instructions and the learners have to do exactly
what the teacher tells them; e.g. the teacher says: Stand up and the learners stand up; the teacher says: Walk to the window and
the learners walk to a window in the classroom.
Trace verb
To copy a letter or a picture by putting transparent paper (paper you can see through) on top of it and following the lines with
your pencil. This is an activity that teachers do with young learners which helps them to learn to write and to draw.
Train verb
To teach someone to do a particular job or activity. For example, John trains people to sing. It also means to study or learn to do
something. For example, I trained to be a teacher.
Trainee noun
Someone learning to do a particular job or activity. For example, a trainee teacher is someone learning to be a teacher.
Trainer noun
Someone whose role is to teach people how to do something, e.g. a particular job. For example, a teacher trainer trains people to
become teachers.
Transcript: see tapescript.
Transformation drill: see drill.
Transitive verb noun
A verb which takes a direct object, e.g. She wrote a letter. See intransitive verb.
True/false question noun
A task-type in which learners read or listen to a text and decide whether statements are correct (true) or not correct (false).
True/false questions can be used as comprehension tasks or as a speaking activity in which learners say if they think sentences are
right or not and why they think so.
Turn noun, turn-taking noun
When someone speaks in a conversation this is called a turn. Speaking and then allowing another person to speak in reply is called
‘turn-taking’. Teachers teach learners language they can use in turn-taking, e.g. What do you think? Do you agree with John?
Tutorial noun
When a teacher talks to a learner individually or to a small group of learners to discuss their learning and give feedback on their
progress in class. The teacher can use tutorials as a way of keeping learners interested and motivated.
Uncountable noun: see noun.
Unmotivated: see motivation.
Unstressed: see stress.
Unvoiced sound noun
To produce an unvoiced sound, no voice is used, e.g. /p/ in pad, /t/ in tomorrow. No movement or vibration can be felt in the
throat. See voiced sound.
Used to verb
A structure that shows something happened habitually in the past but does not happen now, e.g. I used to live in London, but now
I live in Paris.
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Utterance noun
A complete unit of speech in spoken language. An utterance can be shorter than a sentence, e.g.
A: When’s he coming? B: Tomorrow. C: Oh!
‘When’s he coming?’ is an utterance and ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘Oh’ are both utterances.
Varieties of English phrase
English is spoken as a first or second language in many countries around the world, but the English spoken may be slightly or
significantly different in each country or in different parts of one country; e.g. different vocabulary or grammar may be used. An
example of this is the English spoken in the USA and that spoken in the UK.
Variety noun, vary verb
To introduce different things such as different types of activities or tasks, language skills, interaction patterns, pacing or timing into
a lesson. Teachers try to include variety in their lessons, so that learners stay interested.
Venn diagram noun
A drawing of circles that cross over each other showing the similarities and differences between two or three objects, people,
concepts, places. They are also used to show a whole set of items and a sub-set of those items, e.g.
See pie chart.
Verb noun
A word used to show an action, state, event or process, e.g. I like cheese; He speaks Italian.
An auxiliary verb is a verb used with other verbs to make questions, negatives, tenses, etc.; e.g. be, do, have; He has gone
home.
The base form of a verb is the infinitive form of a verb without ‘to’, e.g. go, sit, look.
The infinitive form is the base form of a verb with ‘to’. It is used after another verb, after an adjective or noun or as the
subject or object of a sentence, e.g. I want to study, It’s difficult to understand.
An irregular verb does not follow the same pattern as regular verbs. Each irregular verb has its own way of forming the
past simple and past participle, e.g. go went (past simple) gone (past participle).
A modal verb is a verb used with other verbs to show ideas such as ability or obligation or possibility. They include can,
must, need, will, should, e.g. I can speak French, but I should study even harder.
A multiword verb/phrasal verb is made up of a verb and one or more particles (adverbs and/or prepositions). The
meaning of a multiword verb is not the same as the meaning of the individual verbs and participles that make it. One
multiword verb may have more than one meaning, e.g. Get your coat on and then we can leave (wear); How are you
getting on with that job? (progressing).
A regular verb changes its form by adding –ed in the past simple and past participle, e.g. walk walked.
A reporting verb is a verb such as tell, advise, suggest used in reported speech to report what someone has said, e.g.
Jane advised John to study harder.
Verb pattern noun
The form of the words following a verb, e.g. He advised me to get there early = advise + object pronoun + infinitive; I love travelling
= love + –ing word.
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Version noun
A particular form of something in which some details are different from an earlier or later form of it; e.g. a written text may have
different versions; two people might tell a different version of the same story.
Video clip: see clip.
Visual aid noun
A picture, a diagram or anything else learners can look at which can help teachers illustrate form or meaning. See aids, realia.
Visual learner: see learning style.
Visualise verb, visualisation noun
To form a mental picture of something. Visualisation can help learners to remember new words or can be used for creative storytelling. A classroom activity where learners close their eyes and create mental images.
Vocabulary: see lexis.
Voiced sound noun
To produce a voiced sound, the voice is used, e.g. /b/ in bad, /d/ in dentist. Movement or vibration can be felt in the throat.
Vowels in English are voiced. See unvoiced sound.
Volunteer noun and verb
To offer to do something without being asked; e.g. a learner who offers to help the teacher in class, for example by handing out
books or cleaning the board without being asked or told to do it, volunteers for these jobs.
Vowel noun
. A sound in which the air is not blocked by the tongue, lips, teeth etc., e.g. /i:/ (eat), /ə/ (about), /e/ (egg), /ʌ/ (fun).
Movement or vibration is felt in the throat because the voice is used. See consonant and diphthong.
. In the alphabet, the letters a, e, i, o, u are vowels. They represent the vowel sounds. See consonant.
Wait time noun
The time that teachers wait in order to give learners time to respond to questions rather than expecting an immediate response.
Learners need wait time to process the questions they are asked and to think of an answer.
Warmer noun, warm up phrasal verb
An activity that often involves movement, which a teacher uses at the beginning of a lesson to give the class more energy.
Warmers can also be used to introduce the topic of the lesson. For example, the topic of the lesson is Watching TV. The teacher
asks learners who watch a lot of TV to move to stand near the door of the classroom, learners who watch a little TV to stand near
the board, and learners who don’t watch any TV to stand at the other side of the classroom. See energy levels, lead-in.
Weak form noun
In connected speech, if a word is unstressed, the weak form of vowels is used. Words which do not carry important information in
sentences are usually unstressed and their vowels are pronounced as weak forms – words such as prepositions, articles,
conjunctions and auxiliary verbs, e.g. I can (/kən /) speak Italian. It’s the (ðə) best film ever. The sound /ə/ is called the schwa. See
strong form.
Wh-question noun
Wh-questions start with a wh-word (except for How which is known as a Wh-question). Wh-questions begin with who, whom,
what, which, whose, how, why, where, when. Wh-questions expect information in reply, not just yes or no, e.g. Where do you live?
I live in France. See Wh-word.
Wh-word noun
Wh-words introduce wh-questions and indirect questions. Wh-words include who, whom, what, which, whose, how, why, where,
when. See Wh-question.
Whole class: see open class.
Word bank noun
A list of key words learners need to know in order to understand a text or to talk about a topic. Teachers might use a word bank to
pre-teach vocabulary for a text, or they might provide learners with a word bank to use while they are reading a text as a way of
supporting their reading.
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Word boundary noun
Where one word ends and the next one begins, e.g. the word boundary in ice cream is the place between the e in ice and the c in
cream. Word boundaries are important in connected speech because we might drop a letter or join words together at a word
boundary. See connected speech, linking.
Word class noun
One of the grammatical groups into which words are divided depending on their use, such as noun, verb and adjective. Similar to
part of speech. See part of speech.
Word family noun
A group of words that come from the same root or base word, e.g. economy, economist, economic. See root word, base word.
Word level phrase
When we study language, we study words, sentences or whole texts. When we study words in a text we are studying language at
word level, studying sentences in a text is studying language at sentence level, and when we study whole texts we are studying
language at text level. Studying a text at word level means looking at the language features of words in the text. For example,
looking at the part of speech, the spelling, the register etc. of words in a text. See sentence level, text level.
Word map, mind map noun
A diagram which is used to make a visual record of vocabulary on the same topic, e.g.
Word prompt: see prompt.
Word snake noun
A reading or writing activity involving words written in the shape of a snake. Each new word begins with the first letter of the
previous word, e.g. dog→ giraffe→ elephant→ tiger. This activity is often done with younger learners.
Word stress: see stress.
Wordsearch noun
A grid in which each square contains a letter of the alphabet. Words are hidden in the grid and learners have to find them, e.g.
O L A R M
C H E E K
H I Y G N
I S E B E
N O S E E
Work out phrasal verb (language)
When learners try to understand how and why a particular piece of language is used or how it is formed. For example, learners
read a text with different past tenses, then look at the example sentences in the text and work out how the different tenses are
used and how they are formed. See deduce meaning from context.
Workbook: see book.
Worksheet: see handout.
Written fluency: see fluency.
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Appendix
TKT KAL Terminology
Acronym noun
A set of letters representing the first letters of two or more words, usually of a name or title. The letters are pronounced as a
word not individual letters, e.g. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) radar (radio detection and ranging). N.B. Acronyms are
different from initialisms such as BBC, CD where the letters are pronounced as letters not words. See initialism.
Adverbial adjective
A word, phrase or clause acting as an adverb; e.g. in the sentence She cut the paper as carefully as she could, the underlined part
is an adverbial clause.
Affricate noun
A sound produced by stopping the air flow then releasing it with friction, e.g. /tʃ/, /dʒ/.
Alveolar (ridge) noun
The ridge at the top of the mouth between the teeth and the hard palate. Several sounds, e.g. /t/, /d/, are made in this area.
Anaphoric reference noun
Reference to something that occurs earlier in the text; often achieved through use of pronouns or lexical chains; e.g. in the text
Singapore is on the sea. It shares a border with Malaysia, ‘It’ refers back to Singapore. See cataphoric reference and exophoric
reference.
Assimilation noun
When a sound in connected speech changes because of a neighbouring sound; e.g. in the sentence He grew up in Britain, the /n/
in ‘in’ is likely to be assimilated to /m/ resulting in /ɪmbrɪtn/.
Back-channelling verb
When a listener signals understanding, surprise, agreement etc. to a speaker as the speaker is speaking. This is done by using
gestures such as nodding, making a noise like uh-huh, or using words and phrases like I see.
Bilabial noun or adjective
A sound produced with both lips, e.g. /p/, /b/.
Cataphoric reference noun
Reference to something that occurs later in the text; often achieved through use of pronouns or lexical chains; e.g. in the sentence
That’s what it is – a nuisance, ‘That’ refers forward to ‘nuisance’. See anaphoric reference, exophoric reference.
Causative passive noun
A use of the passive to express the idea of making something happen, e.g. She got her car washed; They had their house painted;
the causative is commonly expressed with the verb ‘get’ or ‘have’. See passive voice.
Complement noun
Words or phrases that complete the meaning of another word or a sentence; e.g. in the sentence He gave the man a ticket, ‘the
man a ticket’ is the complement. In Jane was unavailable, ‘unavailable’ is the complement.
Connotation noun
The associations of a word. These associations may come from a situation, person or culture; e.g. ‘garlic’ – in some contexts garlic
is thought of as health-giving and tasty; in others it is thought of as smelly and overpowering. Because connotations are often
subjective, they are not easy to learn. This example is terribly specific and is also cross-cultural. Connotation also explains the
difference between words like ‘thin’ and ‘slim’ which have the same meaning but one has a positive connotation and the other a
negative connotation.
Consonant cluster noun
Two or more consonant sounds occurring together at the beginning or end of a syllable, e.g. /ks/ in /eksəsaɪz/ (exercise) is a twoconsonant cluster; /str/ in /strɒŋ/ (strong) is a three-consonant cluster.
Content word noun
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A word which carries the main meaning; often contrasted with function words which mainly do a grammatical job and carry little
meaning; e.g. in the sentence ‘The postman was carrying a very big bag.’ the content words are postman, carrying, very, big, bag.
Content words are usually nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs. See function word.
Co-ordinating conjunction noun
Conjunctions which link two main clauses or two other grammatical units which have the same grammatical status; ‘and’ and ‘but’
are examples of co-ordinating conjunctions – e.g. He was keen but lazy; He played football and tennis. See conjunction.
Declarative form, declarative question noun
The declarative form refers to the form of a sentence/utterance/clause that is used to make statements and give information, e.g.
I’ve opened the door. A declarative question is a question with the grammar of a statement but said with intonation that shows it
is a question, e.g. You’re on the train?
Delexicalised verb noun
Verbs which have little or no meaning on their own but when they are joined with other words they have many different
meanings. Delexicalised verbs can be joined with prepositions to make multiword verbs, e.g. get can be joined with up, on, in, off
(get up, get on, get, in, get off). They can also combine with nouns e.g., make the bed and do the washing.
Denotation: see meaning.
Dental adjective and noun
Involving the teeth. Dental sounds (/ð/, /θ/) are made with the teeth.
Discourse marker noun
A word or phrase that signals what kind of information will follow or tells us about information which has just been given; e.g. in
the sentence She was interested in many subjects, for example, food technology. ‘for example’ signals that an example will follow.
In the sentence By the way, they’ve become good friends. ‘by the way’ signals that the remark gives additional information which
is different or marks a contrast to the previous information.
Dynamic verb noun
Verbs referring to actions, events or bodily sensations and that express some kind of action. They can be used in the
progressive/continuous form, e.g. His leg is hurting him; They’re eating their supper; It’s changing shape.
Elision noun
When a sound is left out in connected speech because it is followed by a similar sound; e.g. in he gave up politics the /p/ in ‘up’ is
likely to be elided: /hiːɡeɪvʌpɒlətɪks/.
Ellipsis noun
When a word, phrase or clause is left out in discourse because it is unnecessary for conveying meaning; e.g. in the sentence They
made a big effort and ended up winning the prize, ‘they’ is left out before ‘ended up’ because it is clear what the subject of this
verb is.
Exophoric reference noun
Reference to something that is outside the text; often achieved through pronouns or demonstrative adjectives; e.g. in the
sentence Pass me that piece of paper, will you? ‘that’ is exophoric, referring to something in the speaker’s surroundings. See
anaphoric reference, cataphoric reference.
Figurative: see meaning.
Finite verb noun
There are two types of verb: finite verbs and non-finite verbs. A finite verb shows person, number and tense; e.g. in the sentence
He goes away, laughing, ‘goes’ shows tense (present simple) and number and person (he) whereas ‘laughing’ shows neither. See
non-finite verb.
Fricative noun and adjective
A sound produced by creating friction in the air flow, e.g. /f/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/, /ð/.
Fronting noun
Putting part of a sentence or utterance in a non-standard position at the beginning of a sentence/utterance, usually to emphasise
the topic, e.g. That music, I can’t stand it.
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Function word noun
A word with little semantic meaning that is included in a sentence or utterance mainly to help form its grammatical structure and
convey its grammatical meaning; e.g. in the sentence Bill was spending the evening at home, ‘was’, ‘the’ and ‘at’ are function
words. See content word.
Glottal stop noun
A plosive sound produced by stopping air as it passes through the throat then releasing it quickly and represented by the
phonemic symbol /ʔ/. In English it sometimes replaces other sounds, especially /t/, e.g. /wɒʔ
/ (what), /lɪ
ʔ
l/ (little).
Gradable/ungradable adjective/adverb noun
A gradable adjective or adverb can be measured in degrees. Non-gradable adjectives or adverbs cannot be. Examples of gradable
adjectives are exciting, solid, interesting. They can be qualified by words such as more, rather, quite which show degree. Examples
of ungradable adjectives are perfect, alive, salaried.
Hyponym noun
A hyponym describes a relationship between words. Hyponyms are words that are examples of a particular type or category, e.g.
potatoes, carrots, peas are hyponyms of vegetables; chair, table, sofa are hyponyms of furniture.
Hypothetical adjective
Something which can be imagined or suggested; improbable; impossible e.g. If they’d been here, you could have met them; If only
I had more time.
Initialism noun
A set of letters representing the first letters of two or more words where the letters are pronounced as letters, not as a word,
such as BBC, DVD. N.B. Initialisms are different from acronyms such as NATO or Radar, where the letters are pronounced as words
not letters. See: acronym.
Intrusion noun, intrusive w, j, r noun
Used to describe a feature of connected speech in which an extra sound (/w/, /j/ or /r/ in English) is added at a word boundary to
make for smoother linking between separate words; e.g. when we say you are, there is an intrusive w between ‘you’ and ‘are’:
/juːwɑː/.
Labio-dental noun and adjective
A sound produced using the lower lips and the upper teeth e.g. // and /v/.
Lexical chain noun
A series of words connected to each other through a topic and which in discourse serve to provide cohesion, e.g. shop shop
assistant counter sale.
Literal: see meaning, denotation.
Meaning noun
What a word expresses. There are several kinds of meaning.
Denotation noun
The dictionary definition of a word, e.g. a chair is a piece of furniture with legs and we use it to sit on. See Literal.
Figurative adjective
An imaginative meaning of a word, e.g. he put all his heart into his new job – ‘heart’ has the figurative meaning of making a
lot of effort.
Literal adjective
The original or basic meaning of a word rather than an imaginative or poetic meaning, e.g. the literal meaning of heart –
the organ in your chest that sends blood around your body. See denotation.
Pragmatic adjective
The meaning given to an utterance by the situation in which it occurs; e.g. would you mind keeping quiet said by a teacher
to a student is likely to have the pragmatic meaning of a command rather than an enquiry about willingness.
Semantic adjective
The meanings of words and how they are connected to one another, e.g. as synonyms, antonyms.
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Modifier noun
A word which adds further meaning to a noun phrase; e.g. in the sentence I’d like to try on that leather coat in the window,
‘leather’ and ‘in the window’ are modifiers.
Morpheme noun
The smallest unit that has meaning in a language. A morpheme is a base word or an affix; e.g. carefully contains three morphemes:
care, –ful, –ly; walked contains two: walk, –ed.
Nasal noun and adjective
A sound produced by air passing through the nose, e.g. /ŋ/, /m/.
Non-finite verb noun
There are two types of verb: finite verbs and non-finite verbs. A non-finite verb does not show person, number or tense. Infinitives
and present/past participles are non-finite verbs, e.g. the infinitive (He needed to have a holiday), the present participle (Not
understanding the question, he gave the wrong answer). See finite verb.
Noun phrase noun
A single word or a group of words that act as the subject, object or complement in a sentence or utterance. It usually contains a
noun and words occurring before or after the noun that modify it; e.g. in the sentence The tall shy-looking girl on the right is my
sister. the underlined words make up noun phrases.
Palate noun, palatal adjective
The palate is the roof of the mouth. Sounds can be produced on the hard palate or the soft palate (velum), e.g. /j/, /k/.
Parallelism noun
The repetition of grammatical structures within a text, e.g. Enjoy the ride; have a great time (imperative + object).
Plosive noun and adjective
A sound produced by blocking air, then releasing it suddenly. This creates a popping sound e.g. /p/, /t/, /g/.
Pragmatic: see meaning.
Qualify verb
Used in grammatical descriptions to refer to words that limit the meaning of something; e.g. in the phrase ‘The young student
sitting at the end of the row’, the underlined words qualify ‘student’.
Reduced relative clause noun
A relative clause in which the relative pronoun and possibly the auxiliary verb have been left out; e.g. in the person I saw on the
bus, ‘who’ is left out (the person who I saw on the bus); in the house hit by the storm, ‘which was’ is left out (the house which was
hit by the storm).
Repair strategy noun
An utterance which corrects or modifies what has just been said e.g. Can you tell me where I can, um, send, um, I mean, post this
letter? Using Um and I mean are this learner’s repair strategy.
Rhetorical question noun
A question that does not expect or require an answer, and is often used to create interest, e.g. Where have I put my keys? Do you
know how many people in the world like ice-cream?
Semantic: see meaning.
Semi-modal noun
A verb which has a modal meaning but does not have all the grammatical features of modal verbs. Examples of semi-modals are
ought to, be able to, used to.
Separable phrasal verb noun
A phrasal verb in which the particle can be separated from the verb, e.g. He looked up a word. / He looked a word up. See phrasal
verb.
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State (stative) verbs noun
Verbs which describe a state or situation rather than an action, e.g. to want, to contain. They tend not to be used in the
progressive/continuous.
Style noun
A characteristic way of conveying information, e.g. humorous, journalistic, casual, business-like.
Subordinating conjunction noun
A conjunction that links a main clause with a subordinate clause, e.g. though, while, because.
Substitution noun, substitute verb
Replacing words, phrases or clauses in discourse with another word or words to achieve cohesion; e.g. in the sentence Bill is going
to university next year, and Jim is too, ‘too’ substitutes for ‘going to university next year’.
Superordinate noun
The name for a category or a type of thing; e.g. vehicle is the superordinate for car, bus, train, bike etc.; job is the superordinate
for postman, teacher, computer scientist, politician etc.
Syntax noun
The way words are arranged and joined together into sentences; e.g. we say it’s a blue bag not it’s bag a blue.
Velar adjective
The adjective from velum (the soft palate).Velar sounds are made by moving the tongue towards the velum. Examples of these
sounds in English are: /k/, /g/.
Verb phrase noun
The part of a sentence containing a main verb and any other verbs that qualify it, e.g. He must have heard me; Those fantastic
things couldn’t have been made by machine.
Verbs of perception noun
Verbs for the senses or emotions, e.g. hear, see, smell, taste, feel. These verbs follow distinctive grammatical patterns.
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