TEFL Glossary

The Silent Way teaching method takes its name from the fact that the teacher is supposed to be almost completely silent. The approach was developed by Egyptian educationalist Caleb Gattengo. The teacher is a facilitator rather than an instructor; s/he sets the students problems,  which they have to solve cooperatively by communicating with each other. There is a strong emphasis on pronunciation and coloured pronunciation charts. Cuisenaire rods are used to prompt students' language.

It is also called the Oral Approach. It is a language teaching approach developed in the mid 20th Century. See Unit 8 for detail.

See four skills.

Skim reading, or skimming is when we look through a text quickly just to get the gist - a general idea of what is being said. For example, imagine you were choosing a book to read in the airport shop shortly before going to catch a flight., you would probably skim through the 'blurbs' on the back covers of the books you are considering. 

See error.

The separate steps in a lesson are usually referred to as lesson stages.

See warmer.

See stative verbs.

They are also called state verbs. These are verbs that describe states rather than actions. They are often verbs which refer to thoughts, feeling and senses (e.g., love, understand, believe, see). These verbs are not usually used in continuous forms as they refer to something which is seen as permanent. When they are used in continuous form, the meaning is often slightly different (compare: I see the flowers with I'm seeing her tonight).

Most verbs are dynamic verbs; they describe physical actions and can be used in continuous forms.