Ceneval EGAL-EIN - Licenciatura en Enseñanza del Inglés key terms

The ability to use language appropriately and effectively in real situations, combining grammatical knowledge with social rules, discourse conventions, and strategies for keeping communication going.

An approach in which lessons are organized around meaningful interaction and real purposes for using English, rather than around isolated grammar rules or memorized dialogues.

A lesson design in which learners complete a meaningful, outcome-oriented task using English, with language focus and correction coming after or alongside the task rather than before it.

A lesson framework that moves from teacher explanation of a language point, to controlled exercises, to freer learner use of the same language in a communicative activity.

Temporary support a teacher provides-such as models, prompts, sentence frames, or visuals-so learners can complete a task they could not yet do alone, then gradually withdrawn as competence grows.

The gap between what a learner can do independently and what the learner can accomplish with guidance from a teacher or a more capable peer; instruction is most useful inside this range.

Spoken or written English that learners can understand even though it is slightly beyond their current level, allowing them to acquire new language from context and meaning.

The claim that language acquisition depends mainly on understanding messages slightly above the learner's current level, with grammar rules learned separately and not driving acquisition.

Anxiety, low motivation, or embarrassment that can block learners from taking in and using available English input; lowering it is a common rationale for a relaxed, supportive classroom.

The idea that producing English, especially when learners notice a gap between what they want to say and what they can say, pushes them to refine grammar and vocabulary.

The interactional work speakers do-asking for clarification, checking comprehension, or reformulating-when communication breaks down, which can support language development.

An activity design in which learners hold different pieces of information and must use English to exchange them, creating a genuine reason to communicate.

The balance between producing correct English forms and producing smooth, unhesitating communication; activities are often planned to prioritize one or the other deliberately.

Exercises in which the target language is tightly limited, such as substitution drills, gap fills, or repetition, used to build initial accuracy before freer use.

Teacher or peer feedback on incorrect English, which may be immediate or delayed, explicit or implicit, depending on whether the goal is accuracy or fluency.

A subtle correction in which the teacher repeats a learner's incorrect utterance in a corrected form without explicitly pointing out the mistake.

A learner's current, evolving system of English, which follows its own internal patterns and may contain errors that reflect development rather than carelessness.

The persistence of an incorrect or nonstandard language feature in a learner's English despite instruction and exposure, often because it still communicates successfully.

The influence of a learner's native language on English, which may help learning (positive transfer) or produce interference such as pronunciation or word-order errors.

The comparison of a learner's first language with English to predict which features will be easy and which may cause interference and errors.

The field studying how people learn a language other than their first, including the roles of input, interaction, instruction, age, motivation, and individual differences.

A learner's readiness to speak English voluntarily in class or real situations, shaped by confidence, anxiety, group climate, and perceived competence.

Preferred ways a learner tends to process information, such as visual, auditory, or kinesthetic preferences, often used to argue for varied classroom presentation modes.

The capacity of students to set goals, choose strategies, monitor progress, and take responsibility for their own English learning beyond the classroom.

Deliberate techniques learners use to understand, remember, and use English, such as guessing from context, note-taking, or planning a spoken turn.

Adjusting content, task difficulty, materials, or expected output so learners at different proficiency levels can work on the same topic with appropriate challenge.

Ongoing checks of learning during instruction-such as questioning, quizzes, or observation-used to adjust teaching rather than to assign a final grade.

Evaluation at the end of a unit, term, or course that measures achievement against objectives and typically results in a grade or certification decision.

The effect a test has on teaching and learning, which can be positive when the test reflects real language use or negative when it narrows instruction to test formats.

A scoring guide that lists criteria and describes levels of performance, used to make judgments about writing, speaking, or projects more consistent and transparent.

The extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure, such as whether a speaking test actually assesses spoken communicative ability rather than memorized phrases.

The consistency of a test's results across raters, occasions, or item sets, so that scores are not dominated by chance or scorer variation.

A six-level scale (A1 to C2) describing language proficiency in terms of what learners can do, widely used for curriculum planning and describing course levels.

A learning objective phrased as something students will be able to accomplish in English, such as describing a past trip or writing a short formal email.

The process of setting objectives, sequencing activities, anticipating problems, and preparing materials and timing so a class has a clear, coherent structure.

Distinct abilities used in reading, such as skimming for gist, scanning for specific details, and inferring meaning from context or text structure.

Using prior knowledge, expectations, and context to interpret a text or spoken message, as opposed to decoding it piece by piece from the smallest units.

Building understanding from smaller units-sounds, letters, words, and syntax-up toward overall meaning, important for decoding unfamiliar language.

The smallest distinctive unit of sound in a language; English has phonemes that contrast meaning, such as the vowel sounds in ship and sheep.

Two words that differ in only one phoneme, such as ship/sheep or bit/beat, used to practice hearing and producing contrasts that may be difficult for learners.

Writing speech using symbols that represent sounds rather than spelling, usually between slashes, so that pronunciation can be shown unambiguously.