Québec Sec 5 FSL Enriched (635-520) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Turn-taking repair move

A strategy used when communication breaks down: paraphrasing your own idea, asking a targeted clarification question, or restating the partner's point to confirm understanding before continuing.

Back-channelling

Short verbal signals such as right, mm-hm or I see that show the listener is following the speaker. They keep conversation flowing without taking a full turn.

Stalling phrase

A fixed expression like That's a good question, let me think, used to hold the floor while planning the next idea instead of falling silent during oral interaction.

Hedging in discussion

Softening a claim with modal or approximating language (I'd say, roughly, it seems to me) so that opinions sound negotiable and polite rather than absolute.

-ed ending pronunciation rule

The past ending is /t/ after voiceless sounds (asked), /d/ after voiced sounds (played), and /ɪd/ only after verbs ending in /t/ or /d/ (wanted, needed).

Sentence stress

The pattern of stressing content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives) while reducing function words, which makes spoken English intelligible and conveys the important information.

Register and contractions

Contractions and idioms mark informal speech or writing; full forms and modal hedging mark formal situations. Choosing between them is a register decision, not a grammar error.

Topic sentence

The first sentence of a paragraph stating its controlling idea. It tells the reader what the paragraph proves and is followed by supporting reasons or examples.

Cohesion versus coherence

Cohesion is surface linking through pronouns, repetition and connectors; coherence is the logical unity of ideas. A text needs both to be judged well organized.

Comma splice

Two independent clauses joined only by a comma. It must be repaired with a full stop, a semicolon, or a coordinating conjunction such as but or so.

Formal letter closing

Yours sincerely when the recipient's name is known, Yours faithfully when it is not. Both are followed by a comma and your full name beneath.

Nominalization for formal style

Turning a verb or adjective into a noun (they decided becomes the decision was made) to create a more impersonal, formal register in reports and letters.

Editing pass order

Revise content and organization first, then sentence structure, then grammar and agreement, and finally spelling and punctuation, so structural problems are fixed before surface polish.

Skimming versus scanning

Skimming is a fast read for gist, main idea or tone; scanning is a targeted search for a specific detail such as a date, name or figure.

Inferential question

A comprehension question whose answer is not stated directly but must be built by combining two or more details given in the text.

Irony

A device in which the stated words mean the opposite of the intended meaning, often to criticize or amuse. Tone and context signal it, not the literal words.

Foreshadowing

A hint early in a narrative about events that will happen later. It builds tension and makes later developments feel prepared rather than arbitrary.

Inverted pyramid

A news structure placing the most important information first, then details in decreasing importance, so readers get the core facts immediately.

Tone versus purpose

Purpose is the author's aim, stated as a verb (to inform, to persuade); tone is the attitude conveyed, stated as an adjective (critical, nostalgic, neutral).

Pronoun reference tracking

Finding what a pronoun or demonstrative points to by locating the nearest preceding noun phrase that fits both the grammar and the meaning of the passage.

Reinvestment

Transferring the content, ideas and language of a source text into a new task with a different form, audience or purpose, rather than copying its sentences.

Paraphrase techniques

Changing word class, substituting synonyms, reversing clause order, and merging or splitting sentences, while keeping technical terms that have no accurate equivalent.

Summary procedure

Identify the controlling idea, select two or three key supports, delete examples and repetition, then rewrite in your own words using a reporting frame.

Plan-monitor-evaluate cycle

A strategy sequence: plan the task, audience and format before producing; monitor while producing; evaluate the result against criteria and revise.

Attribution frame

A reporting phrase such as according to the text or the article argues that, used to credit a source idea before adding your own position.

Present perfect versus past simple

Present perfect links a past action to the present or leaves the time unstated; past simple reports a finished action with a stated past time.

Third conditional form

If + past perfect, would have + past participle. It describes an unreal past situation and its imagined result, which did not actually happen.

Reported speech backshift

When reporting, present becomes past, will becomes would, and can becomes could; time and place words shift unless reporting is immediate.

Defining relative clause

A clause identifying which person or thing is meant. It takes no commas and may use that; removing it would change the sentence's core meaning.

Non-defining relative clause

A clause adding extra information, set off by commas, which cannot use that. It can be removed without changing the sentence's basic meaning.

Passive voice formation

Be plus past participle, with the object promoted to subject. Use it when the agent is unknown, obvious or unimportant, keeping the original tense.

French-influence errors

Frequent first-language transfers to check: informations for information, actually used for currently, I am agree for I agree, and a missing third-person -s.