KARTET Paper 2 key terms

The gradual growth of a child's thinking, memory, attention and problem-solving ability from infancy to adolescence. Piaget described it as moving through sensory-motor, pre-operational, concrete operational and formal operational stages.

Vygotsky's term for the gap between what a learner can do alone and what the learner can do with help from a more capable person. Instruction is most effective inside this gap.

Temporary support a teacher or peer gives a learner to complete a task too hard to do alone. The support is gradually withdrawn as the learner becomes competent.

A view of learning holding that learners actively build knowledge by connecting new experiences to what they already know, rather than receiving facts passively. Teaching therefore starts from learners' existing ideas.

The drive to do something because the activity itself is interesting, satisfying or personally meaningful, not because of external rewards or punishments. It is linked to curiosity, autonomy and sustained engagement in learning.

Awareness and regulation of one's own thinking: knowing what one understands, choosing strategies, monitoring progress and correcting errors. Teachers build it through think-alouds, self-questioning and reflecting on how a task was solved.

The variations among learners in ability, pace, interest, language, background and temperament. Recognising them leads teachers to adapt tasks, materials and support instead of teaching in one uniform way.

An approach where all children, including those with disabilities or from marginalised groups, learn together in ordinary classrooms with adapted teaching, materials and assessment, rather than being separated into special settings.

A school assessment approach covering scholastic and co-scholastic areas that uses ongoing classroom evidence, not only term-end examinations, to describe a child's progress and guide further teaching.

A theory describing moral judgement as developing through preconventional (reward and punishment), conventional (social approval and rules) and postconventional (universal principles) levels, each with two stages. Development is not fixed to age alone.

Ongoing, low-stakes assessment used during teaching to find out what learners understand and to adjust instruction. Feedback is specific and immediate, unlike end-of-term tests that mainly grade and rank.

Listening, speaking, reading and writing: the four language skills. Listening and speaking are oral and usually develop first; reading and writing are literacy skills. Effective language teaching integrates all four rather than drilling grammar alone.

The smallest unit of sound that can change meaning in a language, such as the difference between /p/ and /b/ in 'pat' and 'bat'. Phonemes are sounds, not written letters.

The smallest unit of meaning in a word. 'Unhappiness' contains three: un- (not), happy and -ness. Free morphemes can stand alone; bound morphemes must attach to another morpheme.

The rules of a language for arranging words into phrases and sentences, covering word order, agreement and sentence structure. Syntax is separate from meaning: a sentence can be grammatical yet meaningless.

The ability to use a language appropriately and effectively in real situations, combining grammar and vocabulary with fluency and awareness of audience, purpose and social context. It is the central aim of communicative language teaching.

Reading quickly to get the general idea or gist of a text, for example to decide whether an article is relevant. The eye passes over details instead of reading every word.

Reading quickly through a text to locate one specific piece of information, such as a date, name or number, while ignoring everything else. It does not require understanding the whole passage.

The ability to understand and use two languages, ranging from basic classroom competence to full fluency. In Indian schools it is common and can support learning when the home language is used alongside the school language.

Alternating between two or more languages within a conversation or lesson, often to explain a difficult idea or to connect with learners. In classrooms it can be a teaching resource rather than a sign of confusion.

Understanding a text by using prior knowledge, expectations and context to predict meaning, rather than decoding letter by letter. It works alongside bottom-up decoding of words in fluent reading.

The natural, largely unconscious process by which a child learns the mother tongue at home through interaction, without formal instruction. It contrasts with learning a second language mainly through schooling.

Studying learners' errors to identify the patterns behind them, such as overgeneralising a grammar rule, rather than treating every error as carelessness. It helps teachers plan targeted feedback and reteaching.

The view that a classroom with many home languages is an asset: children's languages can be used to explain concepts, compare structures and build confidence, instead of being banned in favour of one school language.

The idea that every subject teacher is also a language teacher, because learners must read, write and discuss subject-specific texts. It calls for teaching subject vocabulary and text structures explicitly.

An intuitive understanding of quantity, magnitude and relationships among numbers, including estimation and mental computation. Children with number sense can judge whether a written answer is reasonable.

The principle that a digit's value depends on its position in a numeral: in 3,047 the 3 means three thousands and the 4 means four tens. It underlies written calculation, decimals and the base-ten system.

A general problem-solving strategy or rule of thumb, such as drawing a diagram, working backwards or guessing and checking, that guides a solver without guaranteeing an answer. Polya described several for mathematics.

The process of justifying mathematical claims using definitions, patterns and logical steps rather than examples alone. It includes conjecturing, generalising and proving, and is a stated aim of school mathematics.

A systematic way of investigating questions by observing, forming a testable hypothesis, designing a fair test, collecting and analysing data, and drawing conclusions that may later be revised.

A testable statement predicting a relationship between variables, worded so that evidence can support or reject it. 'Plants grow faster in sunlight' is a hypothesis; a guess that cannot be tested is not.

A factor deliberately kept the same across all trials of an experiment, so that any change in the outcome can be attributed to the variable being tested rather than to other influences.

A teaching approach where learners investigate questions, often their own, through exploration, data collection and discussion, with the teacher guiding rather than lecturing. It develops reasoning, curiosity and scientific attitudes.

Any concrete resource used to support learning, such as charts, models, manipulatives, flashcards, videos or local objects. Good material makes abstract ideas visible and is chosen for a specific learning objective.

A community of living organisms interacting with one another and with non-living components such as soil, water, air and sunlight in a defined area. Energy flows through it and matter is recycled.

A change in which a substance's form, size or state changes but its chemical identity does not, such as melting ice or dissolving sugar. It is usually reversible and no new substance forms.

A change producing one or more new substances with different properties, such as rusting iron, burning paper or souring milk. It is usually difficult to reverse and often involves energy change.

A push or pull that can change an object's speed, direction or shape. Force is measured in newtons and always arises from an interaction between two objects.