The TEFL Academy e-Learning

There are activities in which the focus is just on effective communication, for example, debates, discussions and role plays. Although the topic will mean that certain language is more likely to be used, the main aim of these activities is to practise fluency, not to practise particular language items.

It is different from freer practice activities which are designed to practise specific language.

Freer practice is the 'production' part of a new language lesson when students practise using the target language (TL) in a semi-authentic way.  (See also controlled or restricted practice.)

An adverb which indicates how frequently an event or action occurs. e.g. Sometimes, often, usually, always, never.

A consonant formed by partially restricting the flow of air, so there is a kind of friction. (e.g., /s/ and /v/)

Fricatives are also called continuants. They are consonants which are formed through friction (e.g, /f/ and /z/) - the flow of air is partially restricted, but not stopped completely. You can continue saying them until you run out of breath. The second line of consonants in the IPA chart are fricatives.

This word is annoyingly and confusingly used with different meanings in English language teaching.

1. Language functions (also called pragmatic functions) are the things we do with language, such as promising, inviting, giving advice, asking for permission, etc. Exponents are the actual pieces of language used to express that function.

2. When looking at a particular grammatical form which can be used in different ways with different meanings, these different meanings or uses are also called functions. It is very common for tenses to have multiple functions, for example:

a) He will get up early when I am trying to have a lie in.

b) He will get up early tomorrow because he has to catch a train at 7.30.

c) I expect he will get up early tomorrow because he's so excited.

In these examples, the future simple: He will get up serves the functions of expressing a) annoying habit/insistence b) future as fact c) prediction.

It is function in this second sense that is referred to when we talk about teaching the function of new language in a grammar or functional language lesson.

3. Grammatical function can refer to either the grammatical category a word in a sentence belongs to (See Unit 4, Part 1 Parts of speech):

Smoking is bad for you. - Smoking is a noun
They were smoking.  Smoking is a verb.

We had a party on the beach. On is a preposition.

or the role a word or phrase serves in the structure of a clause (see Unit 4, Part 2 Clause structure):

Smoking is bad for you. - Smoking is functioning as a subject.

We had a partyon the beach. - On the beach is a prepositional phrase functioning as an adverbial.