AEPA ESL (NES ESOL 507) key terms

The smallest unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a language, such as the /p/ and /b/ in pat and bat. English has roughly forty-four.

The smallest unit of language that carries meaning. Free morphemes can stand alone, as in book; bound morphemes must attach to other forms, as in the plural -s or the prefix un-.

The branch of linguistics that studies how words are built from smaller meaningful parts, including inflection, derivation, and compounding. Teachers use it to explain word families and academic vocabulary.

The study of a language's sound system: which sounds exist, how they pattern, and which combinations are permitted. Learners' first-language sound rules often shape their second-language pronunciation.

Two words that differ by only one sound in the same position, such as ship and sheep. Teachers use such pairs to check whether students can hear and produce a target contrast.

The rules governing how words combine into phrases and sentences in a language, including word order and agreement. Syntax errors often reveal a learner's first-language patterns.

The study of the literal meaning of words, phrases, and sentences, including relationships like synonymy and antonymy. It differs from pragmatics, which concerns meaning shaped by context and speaker intent.

The study of how context, social relationships, and speaker intent shape meaning, including politeness, turn taking, and implied messages. English learners may misread indirect requests or humor even with strong grammar.

A word in two languages that descends from a common source and looks and means something similar, as English family and Spanish familia. Cognates are a powerful vocabulary bridge but include false friends.

Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills: the everyday, context-rich conversational language learners pick up relatively quickly, often within one to three years of exposure. It does not indicate readiness for grade-level academic reading and writing.

Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency: the decontextualized, cognitively demanding language of textbooks, lectures, and tests. It typically takes five to seven years to develop to grade level and must be taught explicitly.

Spoken or written language that is slightly beyond a learner's current level but made understandable through context, visuals, gestures, repetition, and explanation. It is a core condition for second-language acquisition.

The emotional and motivational factors-anxiety, low confidence, disinterest-that can block learners from taking in language they otherwise could understand. Lowering it means creating a supportive, low-stress classroom.

A stage in early second-language acquisition when a learner understands more than they can produce and chooses to speak very little. Forced early production can raise anxiety; supported listening time is usually more productive.

The evolving, rule-governed language system a learner builds between the first language and the target language. It changes over time and produces predictable errors that reflect current hypotheses, not carelessness.

The point at which a learner's incorrect or non-native feature stops changing despite continued exposure and instruction, often in pronunciation or grammar. It is more likely when learners get little corrective feedback.

The influence of a learner's first language on the second, which can support learning (positive transfer, such as cognates) or produce errors (negative transfer, such as Spanish adjective order in English).

The claim that the brain is most receptive to language learning before puberty, so learners who begin later are less likely to reach native-like pronunciation and fluency.

The alternating use of two or more languages within a conversation, sentence, or phrase. It can serve social, cognitive, and communicative purposes and is not evidence of confusion.

Sound features that extend beyond single consonants and vowels-stress, rhythm, intonation, and pitch. They carry much of English meaning and are often harder for learners than individual sounds.

The vocabulary, grammar, and discourse conventions students need to read, discuss, and write about school content, including transition words, technical terms, and sentence structures typical of textbooks.

A teaching approach in which grade-level content is taught in English with deliberate supports-visuals, modified speech, modeled tasks-so that English learners can access the curriculum while developing language.

The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol, an eight-component lesson-planning and observation framework covering preparation, background building, comprehensible input, strategies, interaction, practice, delivery, and review.

Temporary, gradually removed supports-sentence frames, graphic organizers, modeled examples, guided practice-that let learners complete tasks they could not yet do independently.

A statement of the language students will use or learn during a lesson-specific vocabulary, sentence structures, or functions-written separately from the content objective and visible to students.

Ongoing, low-stakes checks during instruction-questioning, exit tickets, quick writes-that show what students understand now so the teacher can adjust the next steps.

An end-of-unit, end-of-course, or end-of-year measure, such as a test or project, that judges how much learning has occurred against a standard, usually after instruction.

A scoring guide that lists criteria and describes levels of performance, often from beginning to advanced, so students and teachers share clear expectations for a task.

A purposeful collection of a student's work and reflections gathered over time, used to show growth, effort, and achievement rather than a single test score.

A teacher's written record of a student's oral reading, noting accurate words, errors, and self-corrections, used to judge fluency, strategy use, and appropriate text difficulty.

A comprehension-first method in which the teacher gives commands and students respond with physical actions, linking language to movement and reducing early pressure to speak.

Structured small-group work in which students depend on one another to complete a task while each is individually accountable, giving English learners frequent, meaningful interaction.

A change in how a test is administered or responded to-extra time, a glossary, read-aloud directions-that removes language barriers without changing the knowledge being measured.

The gradual process of adapting to a new culture while keeping one's own, including learning norms, values, and social practices. Its pace affects a student's comfort and engagement in school.

Confusion, stress, or irritability caused by unfamiliar cultural rules and routines, often following an initial honeymoon phase and easing with time, support, and friendships.

Instruction that uses students' cultural knowledge, experiences, and communication styles as resources, and that examines the teacher's own assumptions and the materials' cultural biases.

The practical skills, knowledge, and social networks families and communities hold, such as cooking, repair work, or storytelling, which teachers can draw on to make instruction meaningful.

A 1974 U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that providing non-English-speaking students the same instruction as everyone else can deny equal educational opportunity; districts must help them access the curriculum.

A 1981 federal case establishing a three-part test for English learner programs: grounded in sound educational theory, implemented with adequate resources, and evaluated for effectiveness.

A questionnaire given at enrollment that asks which languages a student uses and hears at home; responses trigger screening and possible English learner identification.