TEFL Glossary

A Levels  (Advanced Levels) are the exams UK school pupils take on leaving school aged 17-18. They usually take three subjects. A student with a good pass at A-level is considered ready to start studying that subject at university. People studying for an A-level in a foreign language are at upper-intermediate level.

A noun which refers to an abstract idea (e.g., peace, love, understanding) rather than something tangible. See concrete noun.

Correct use of a language system in terms of grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. In teaching we are trying to help students achieve both accuracy and fluency.

Accuracy-based activities are classroom (or homework) activities whose main focus is producing, selecting or perceiving correct forms (compare with fluency-based activities).

The process of getting to know a language through exposure to it, rather than through consciously studying it. Young children acquire their first language. A distinction is often made between language acquisition and language learning, though people who are studying a foreign language probably acquire a large proportion of it, i.e., get to know it without consciously studying and memorising it.

A word which describes a noun. E.g., an old man, a difficult question, or my hair is red. .

A word or phrase that describes an adjective, verb, or another adverb. Adverbs express time, manner, place, frequency, or degree, e.g., then, slowly, there, sometimes, extremely. 

Sentence adverbs, or adverbial phrases (such as frankly, honestly, in my opinion) can be used to modify (comment on) whole sentences.

What the teacher intends the students to learn in a lesson.

A sound formed by putting the tip of the of the tongue against the alveolar ridge - at the front of the roof of the mouth,  just behind the the top teeth. (t, d, s, z)

A word in a text (written or spoken) that refers back to an earlier idea in the text.

E.g., I spoke to Charlie this morning. She sounded a bit unhappy.

See also cataphoric reference.

The problems that the teacher predicts (anticipates) might arise in a lesson. The teacher should decide how to deal with these problems when planning the lesson.

 A word which carries the opposite meaning to another (e.g., black/white, fat/thin).

A way of teaching which is informed by certain beliefs about how languages operate and how they are learned. An approach is not as prescriptive as a method, which demands teachers to use particular procedures and techniques in the classroom.

It is a sound usually classed as a consonant (in English), but not a true consonant because there is no complete closure or restriction stopping the flow of air (/r/, /l/, /w/ and /j/). It is also called a semi-vowel. 

Articles are a type of determiners. They are placed before nouns. Broadly speaking, articles help the reader or listener understand which one(s) of a set of things we are talking about. There are three choices of articles: definite: the (Look at the horse), indefinite:a/an (We saw a horse), and no article: (I like horses).

See organs of speech.

A  method of foreign language teaching. See Unit 8.

These are listening or reading texts/materials that were produced for native speakers; they were not originally intended to be used for language teaching.

See freer and free practice.

An auxiliary verb is a verb used in conjunction with a main verb to form tenses, questions and negatives. In English, the primary auxiliary verbs are do, be, and have: Do you like coffee? You are working hard. I haven't been there.

These three verbs can also act as main verbs.

The full name for modal verbs is 'modal auxiliary verbs.' They operate in the same way though the meanings they convey are different.