TESOL Certificate flashcards

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

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound that can distinguish meaning in a language; /p/ and /b/ contrast in 'pat' and 'bat', showing they are separate phonemes.

Minimal pair

Two words differing in only one phoneme in the same position, such as 'ship' and 'sheep'; used to establish phonemic contrast and diagnose listening difficulties.

Collocation

The habitual co-occurrence of particular words, as in 'heavy rain' rather than 'strong rain'; a lexical relationship rather than a grammatical rule.

Tense versus aspect

Tense locates a situation in time and in English is marked inflectionally as present or past; aspect shows how it unfolds, as perfect or progressive.

Cohesion

The surface-level links that tie a text together, achieved through reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction and lexical reiteration or collocation.

Interlanguage

The learner's own developing language system, rule-governed and systematic yet distinct from both the first language and the target language (Selinker).

Affective filter

Krashen's metaphor for emotional factors such as anxiety, low motivation or low self-confidence that can block learners from taking in comprehensible input.

Fossilization

The persistence of non-target forms in a learner's interlanguage despite continued exposure and instruction, typically marked by a plateau in development.

Comprehensible input i+1

Krashen's claim that acquisition occurs when learners understand input slightly beyond their current level, containing structures they have not yet acquired.

Output hypothesis

Swain's proposal that producing the target language forces learners to process grammar syntactically and reveals gaps that input alone may not expose.

PPP cycle

A linear lesson model in which the teacher presents a language item, learners practise it in controlled exercises, then use it in freer production.

Task-based language teaching

An approach in which learners complete meaningful tasks with a non-linguistic outcome; explicit language focus follows the task cycle rather than preceding it.

Audiolingualism

A behaviourist method relying on habit formation through repetition and substitution drills, with errors prevented and the first language avoided.

Communicative competence

The grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic knowledge needed to use language appropriately, not merely accurately, as modelled by Canale and Swain.

Zone of proximal development

Vygotsky's gap between what a learner can do alone and what they can do with skilled support; it is the theoretical basis for scaffolding.

Main aim

The single most important learning outcome a lesson is designed to achieve, normally stated as what learners will be able to do by the end.

Concept checking question

A short, closed question asked after presenting meaning to confirm understanding, for example 'Is it finished now?' after the past simple.

Authentic materials

Texts and tasks produced for real communication rather than for language teaching, such as menus, timetables, news articles and podcasts.

Backward design

A planning model that identifies desired results first, then acceptable evidence of learning, and only then designs the learning activities (Wiggins and McTighe).

IRF exchange

The typical classroom sequence of teacher initiation, learner response and teacher follow-up described by Sinclair and Coulthard, where the third move often dominates.

Wait time

The pause a teacher allows after asking a question; three to five seconds typically produces longer answers and more volunteers.

Instruction checking question

A question asked immediately after setting a task to confirm learners know what to do, rather than whether they understand the target language.

Teacher talking time

The proportion of lesson time the teacher speaks; high amounts reduce learner practice, though some teacher talk supplies useful comprehensible input.

Interaction pattern

The way talk is organised in class - teacher to whole class, pair, group or individual - which largely determines how much each learner speaks.

Formative assessment

Ongoing assessment carried out during learning to inform teaching and give feedback, as opposed to summative assessment that measures achievement at the end.

Washback

The effect a test has on teaching and learning; positive when it encourages worthwhile classroom activity, negative when it narrows or distorts the curriculum.

Recast

An implicit corrective move in which the teacher reformulates a learner's incorrect utterance correctly without explicitly pointing out that an error occurred.

Error versus mistake

An error reflects a gap in the learner's knowledge and is systematic; a mistake is a performance slip the learner can self-correct given attention.

Reflection-in-action

Schön's term for thinking critically while teaching is happening, allowing moment-to-moment adjustment; it contrasts with reflection-on-action after the event.

Action research

A cyclical, teacher-led inquiry of planning, acting, observing and reflecting on a question that arises in the practitioner's own classroom.

Peer observation

A colleague observing a lesson to gather data for joint reflection; most useful when the focus is agreed beforehand and feedback is non-judgemental.

Reflective teaching journal

A regular written record of lessons, decisions and puzzles that makes habitual practice visible and provides data for later analysis.