UAE TLS English Subject Test key terms

The smallest unit of sound that can change a word's meaning in a language, such as the difference between /p/ and /b/ in 'pat' and 'bat'.

Two words that differ by only one sound in the same position, like 'ship' and 'sheep', used to test whether a learner can hear and produce a contrast.

The ability to notice and work with the individual sounds inside spoken words, for example blending sounds together or removing the first sound from a word.

Converting written letters into the sounds they represent so that a printed word can be recognised and pronounced, a core skill in early reading.

Reading quickly to get the general idea or gist of a text without attending to every detail, often used before closer reading.

Reading rapidly through a text looking only for specific information such as a date, name or number, ignoring everything else.

The overall main idea or general meaning of a spoken or written text, as opposed to its specific details.

Working out meaning that is not stated directly by using clues in the text together with the reader's or listener's own knowledge.

The way sentences and parts of a text are linked together so it reads as a connected whole, often through pronouns, conjunctions and repeated words.

The quality that makes a text logically organised and easy to follow, with ideas arranged in a clear and sensible order for the reader.

A cohesive device in which a word such as a pronoun points back or forward to another word or phrase, for example 'she' referring to a previously named person.

A sentence, usually at the start of a paragraph, that states the paragraph's main idea and signals what the rest of the paragraph will develop.

A group of related sentences developing one main idea, set apart from other groups by a line break or indentation in written text.

The level of formality or style of language chosen for a particular situation, such as formal writing for a report versus casual speech with friends.

The attitude or feeling a writer or speaker conveys through word choice and structure, for example humorous, serious, critical or sympathetic.

The habitual pairing of words that native speakers naturally use together, such as 'make a decision' rather than 'do a decision'.

A fixed expression whose meaning cannot be worked out from the individual words, such as 'break the ice' meaning to start a conversation.

A verb combined with a particle such as 'up', 'off' or 'out' that together carry a meaning, for example 'give up' meaning to stop trying.

The grammatical form of a verb that shows the time of an action or state, such as present, past or future, often combined with aspect.

The grammatical feature of a verb that shows how an action relates to time, such as whether it is ongoing (progressive) or completed (perfect).

The rule that a verb must match its subject in number and person, so a singular subject takes a singular verb form.

A helping verb such as 'can', 'must', 'should' or 'might' that expresses ability, obligation, possibility or permission alongside a main verb.

A helping verb such as 'be', 'have' or 'do' used with a main verb to form tenses, questions, negatives or passive constructions.

A sentence structure in which the object of the action becomes the subject, as in 'The report was written by the team'.

A group of words containing a subject and a verb, which may stand alone as a sentence or form part of a larger sentence.

A clause that describes a noun and is introduced by a word like 'who', 'which' or 'that', as in 'the book that I read'.

A word such as 'and', 'but', 'because' or 'although' that joins words, phrases or clauses and shows the relationship between them.

A verb form ending in '-ing' that is used as a noun, for example 'Swimming is good exercise' or 'I enjoy reading'.

The base form of a verb, usually preceded by 'to', as in 'to run', which can function as a noun, adjective or adverb in a sentence.

A pre-writing activity in which learners freely generate and list ideas on a topic before selecting and organising them for a piece of writing.

The stage of writing in which ideas are put into continuous text for the first time, with attention to content rather than perfect accuracy.

Comments and suggestions that learners give one another on their work, often guided by a checklist, to help improve a draft before final revision.

Ongoing assessment used during learning to check understanding and guide teaching, rather than to assign a final grade.

Assessment carried out at the end of a unit, term or course to measure what learners have achieved and to report or certify results.

A scoring guide that lists the criteria for a task and describes levels of performance, helping markers judge work consistently and fairly.

The effect that a test has on teaching and learning, which can be positive when the test encourages good classroom practice or negative when it narrows the curriculum.

Temporary support a teacher provides, such as models, prompts or sentence frames, that is gradually removed as learners gain independence.

The gap between what a learner can do alone and what they can achieve with help from a more knowledgeable person, where learning is most effective.

Adapting tasks, materials or support to meet the varied needs, levels and learning styles of students within the same class.

A listening approach in which learners use background knowledge and context to predict and understand the overall meaning before focusing on individual words.

A listening approach that builds understanding from small units such as sounds and words up to larger stretches of speech and overall meaning.

A visual diagram that places a central idea in the middle and branches out to related ideas, useful for planning speaking or writing.