WACE Tamil Second Language ATAR key terms

The skill of hearing spoken Tamil and extracting meaning, main ideas, and detail from announcements, conversations, and broadcasts, often with unfamiliar vocabulary or regional accents.

The skill of reading Tamil texts such as articles, letters, and notices to identify purpose, audience, tone, and specific information, including implied meaning between the lines.

Interpreting meaning from visual Tamil texts such as posters, film clips, advertisements, or websites, where images, layout, and text combine to communicate a message.

The central point or overall message a text conveys, which a reader or listener must identify before summarising or evaluating the supporting details around it.

A brief restatement of a text's essential points in your own words, omitting examples and repetition while keeping the original meaning and order of ideas accurate.

Specific facts, names, numbers, or examples within a Tamil text that support the main idea and are often tested through short-answer questions in the examination.

Media such as film, television, posters, and social media images that use visual elements alongside Tamil language to inform, persuade, or entertain an audience.

Producing spoken Tamil in conversations, discussions, and presentations, requiring control of pronunciation, intonation, register, and appropriate vocabulary for the situation.

Composing coherent Tamil texts such as letters, reports, and essays, organising ideas logically and applying correct grammar, spelling, and paragraph structure for the intended reader.

A structured piece of writing with an introduction, developed body paragraphs, and a conclusion, presenting and supporting a position on a topic with reasons and examples.

A written message to a person or organisation, either informal to friends and family or formal to officials and businesses, each with its own conventions of address and closing.

The way sentences in a paragraph are organised around one controlling idea, using linking words and progression so the reader can follow the argument smoothly.

The level of formality in language, ranging from casual spoken Tamil among friends to formal written Tamil for official purposes, chosen according to audience and context.

Polite, standard Tamil used in official writing, news, and public speaking, avoiding slang and contractions and often using honorific pronouns and respectful verb forms.

Everyday spoken Tamil that differs from written standard forms in pronunciation, word endings, and vocabulary, common in conversation, film dialogue, and informal messages.

Grammatical forms in Tamil that show respect to the person addressed or discussed, typically using plural verb endings and titles for elders, teachers, and officials.

Words or phrases such as 'ஆனால்', 'எனவே', and 'அதனால்' that link sentences and paragraphs, showing contrast, cause, result, or addition in speaking and writing.

A spoken exchange in which participants express views, respond to others, and manage turns, requiring skills such as interrupting politely, agreeing, disagreeing, and seeking clarification.

A personal view or judgement about a topic that is not automatically true, distinguished from fact by being supported with reasons and evidence rather than presented as certain.

A statement that can be verified as true or false through evidence, distinguished in text analysis from opinions, which reflect personal beliefs and cannot be proven objectively.

Information such as examples, statistics, quotations, or expert views used in a Tamil text to support a claim and to persuade the reader or listener to accept it.

A reasoned line of thought in which a claim is presented and backed by evidence, often anticipating counterarguments, and which the reader must evaluate for strength and logic.

An opposing view that challenges a stated argument, which a skilled speaker or writer acknowledges and answers in order to strengthen the persuasiveness of their own position.

The reason a text was created, such as to inform, persuade, entertain, instruct, or warn, which shapes its language choices, structure, and tone.

The particular group of readers or listeners a text is designed for, whose age, background, and interests influence the vocabulary, register, and content the author selects.

The attitude an author expresses toward the subject or reader, such as humorous, critical, sympathetic, or neutral, conveyed through word choice, sentence length, and punctuation.

A subtle difference in meaning, feeling, or emphasis carried by a word or phrase, which a careful reader must detect to interpret the author's attitude accurately.

The technique of influencing an audience's beliefs or actions through emotional appeals, logical reasoning, or credible authority, often analysed in advertisements and opinion articles.

Deliberately biased or misleading information spread to promote a cause or viewpoint, often using loaded language, repetition, and selective facts that readers must identify critically.

An unfair preference for or against something shown in a text through one-sided selection of facts, loaded words, or omission of opposing views, which affects reliability.

The degree to which information in a text can be trusted, judged by the author's credentials, the currency of sources, balance of views, and consistency with other evidence.

The shared customs, values, festivals, foodways, and social expectations of Tamil-speaking communities, whose knowledge helps interpret texts and communicate appropriately.

Understanding how cultural values such as respect for elders, family obligation, and hospitality shape Tamil communication, including indirectness, politeness, and appropriate topics of conversation.

Differences in Tamil according to region, social group, or context, including Sri Lankan and Indian varieties and dialect words, which affect how a text is understood and produced.

A word adopted into Tamil from another language, such as English or Sanskrit terms common in modern media, technology, and administration, often adapted in spelling and pronunciation.

A style of Tamil that avoids loanwords in favour of native roots, used in some literary, academic, and official contexts, and contrasted with everyday mixed speech and writing.

Expressions such as simile, metaphor, and idiom that convey meaning beyond literal words, common in Tamil poetry, song lyrics, and persuasive writing, and needing interpretation.

A short traditional Tamil saying that expresses a widely held truth or moral, often used in argument and storytelling, whose meaning depends on cultural knowledge rather than literal reading.