OAE ESOL 121 key terms

Everyday conversational language used in social, face-to-face situations. It develops within a few years of exposure and is often fluent-sounding, which can hide gaps in academic language.

The language students need to understand and produce school content: abstract vocabulary, complex sentences, and text-based reasoning. It typically takes five to seven years or more to develop in a second language.

The vocabulary, grammar, and discourse patterns used to teach and learn subject matter, including terms like compare, evidence, and hypothesis. It is more formal and abstract than everyday conversation.

A learner's overall ability to understand and use a language across listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Proficiency is usually described in levels rather than as simply fluent or not fluent.

Statements describing what learners at a given proficiency level are able to do, such as introducing themselves or explaining a process. Teachers use them to plan instruction and monitor growth.

The influence of a learner's native language on the second language. Transfer can help when patterns are similar and cause errors when they differ, for example in word order or sounds.

The evolving rule system a learner builds between the first and target language. It is systematic but temporary, and errors often reflect active hypothesis testing rather than carelessness.

A method of comparing a learner's native language with the target language to predict where learning will be easy or difficult. It explains some errors but cannot account for all of them.

The study of learner errors to identify their sources and patterns. It distinguishes systematic errors that show gaps in knowledge from slips that the learner can self-correct.

The persistence of an incorrect language feature after learners have had ample exposure and instruction. It often occurs when errors do not block communication and receive no corrective feedback.

Spoken or written language that is slightly beyond the learner's current level but made understandable through context, visuals, and repetition. Understanding the message drives language growth.

An emotional barrier that can rise when learners feel anxious, embarrassed, or unmotivated, reducing how much input they take in. A supportive classroom lowers this barrier.

The idea that producing language, rather than only receiving it, pushes learners to notice gaps and refine accuracy. Speaking and writing tasks therefore support language development.

The view that negotiating meaning during conversation promotes acquisition. When communication breaks down and learners repair it, they receive useful feedback and adjusted input.

Teaching grade-level content in English while adapting language demands so English learners can access it. Lessons combine subject objectives with explicit language objectives.

A widely used framework for sheltered instruction built on components such as preparation, building background, comprehensible input, interaction, and review. It guides planning and delivery for English learners.

Temporary supports that help learners complete tasks they could not yet do alone, such as sentence frames, visuals, or modeled steps. Supports are gradually removed as competence grows.

The range of tasks a learner can accomplish with guidance but not yet independently. Instruction is most effective when aimed at this range rather than at what is already mastered.

The pause a teacher allows after asking a question or after a student begins to answer. Longer pauses give English learners time to process and formulate responses.

A statement of the language students will use or practice during a lesson, such as explaining a process using sequence words. It is paired with the content objective.

A statement of the subject-matter knowledge or skill students should gain in a lesson, such as identifying causes of a historical event. It is distinct from the language objective.

Adjusting content, process, or product to match learners' readiness, interests, and language needs. For English learners it may involve leveled texts, flexible grouping, or choice in how to show learning.

Ongoing checks during instruction that reveal what students understand and what needs reteaching. Examples include exit tickets, questioning, and observation of student talk.

An evaluation at the end of a unit or period that measures achievement against standards. Results are typically used for grading or reporting rather than for immediate instructional adjustment.

Changes in how a student accesses instruction or demonstrates learning without altering what is being measured. Examples include extended time, read-aloud directions, or a bilingual glossary.

Changes that alter the content, level, or expectations of what a student is taught or assessed on. Unlike accommodations, they change the standard being measured.

A test that measures a student's English listening, speaking, reading, and writing levels, often to identify English learners or to determine when they exit services. Results guide placement and support.

Information given to learners about errors in their language use. It may be explicit correction, recasts, clarification requests, or prompts, and it helps learners notice form.

A response that restates a learner's incorrect utterance correctly without directly pointing out the error. For example, the teacher replies, 'Yes, he went home,' after the student says 'he goed home.'

The ability to hear and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words, such as blending or segmenting them. It is a foundation for decoding and spelling in English.

Awareness of the sound structure of language, including syllables, rhymes, and individual sounds. It is broader than phonemic awareness and develops through oral activities.

Instruction in the relationship between letters and the sounds they represent. It supports decoding and spelling, especially for learners whose first language uses a different writing system.

Using letter-sound knowledge to translate written words into spoken words. Fluent decoding frees attention for comprehension.

Reading text accurately, at an appropriate rate, and with expression. Fluent readers recognize words automatically, which allows them to focus on meaning.

Constructing meaning from text by combining vocabulary, background knowledge, and strategies. English learners may decode well yet struggle because of limited vocabulary or unfamiliar cultural references.

Words in two languages that share a similar form and meaning, such as 'family' and 'familia.' Teaching cognates builds vocabulary quickly, though false cognates must be flagged.

A three-level classification of words: basic everyday words, high-frequency academic words useful across subjects, and technical terms specific to a discipline. Instruction often targets Tier 2 and Tier 3 words.

A teaching approach in which students respond to spoken commands with physical actions. It links language to movement and is useful for building listening comprehension with beginners.

The practice of drawing on a learner's full language repertoire, including the home language, to make sense of content and communicate. It treats bilingualism as a resource rather than a problem.