Vocabulary, Terminology, & Abbreviations

Question 1

English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

Answer 1

EAP programs focus on vocabulary and language skills needed to succeed in an all-English academic environment.

Question 2

English Language Learner (ELL)

Answer 2

Used to refer to any student learning English as a second or third language.

Question 3

English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

Answer 3

When we teach EFL, we are teaching English to students in their native country (e.g. Teaching English to Korean students in Korea).

Question 4

English as a Second Language (ESL)

Answer 4

Refers to teaching English to non-native speakers within a country where English is the main language spoken.

Question 5

English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

Answer 5

Refers to any English curriculum designed for a specific industry or trade (e.g. medical/hospitality).

Question 6

L1

Answer 6

Refers to a student’s primary language.

Question 7

L2

Answer 7

Refers to the language the student is learning.

Question 8

Teaching E (TEFL)

Answer 8

Refers to the field of professionals who teach English in a country where English is not the primary language.

Question 9

Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL)

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Answer 9

This refers to the field of professionals who teach English in a country where English is the primary language.

Question 10

TESOL International

Answer 10

Name of the international organization of TESOL instructors.

Question 11

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

Answer 11

A test administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) which is a required exam for admission into many universities in the US and elsewhere. It is designed to assess international students’ level of English for academic purposes.

Question 12

Acceptable Word Method

Answer 12

A procedure for scoring tests in which any response which (a) is grammatically correct, and (b) makes good sense in the context is given full credit as an acceptable answer.

Question 13

Accuracy

Answer 13

Refers to the ability to produce grammatically correct sentences that are comprehensible.

Question 14

Achievement Tests

Answer 14

Assessment instruments or procedures based on the objectives of a course, used to determine how much of the course content students have learned.

Question 15

Acquisition

Answer 15

Picking up a language through meaningful conversation the way children pick up languages. Acquisition will occur when a learned is exposed to meaningful, comprehensible input. It is far superior to learning because it is language that is acquired that is available for fluent, rapid, natural speech.

Question 16

Acquisition-learning Hypothesis

Answer 16

According to Stephen Krashen, adult second language learners can develop second language learning. One method is a conscious study of the forms of language, The other method is acquisition, or just picking up a language the way that children do without conscious attention to forms. Krashen further argues that acquisition is far more beneficial in terms of producing fluent, natural communication in another language. He also asserts that learning cannot change into acquisition.

Question 17

Active Voice

Answer 17

Sentences where the subject is the performer or doer of the action, not the receiver of the action. (e.g. She washed the car.)

Question 18

Activity

Answer 18

A single exercise or game.

Question 19

Additive Bilingualism

Answer 19

When learning a second language does not interfere with the learning of a first language. Both languages are developed.

Question 20

Admissions Tests

Answer 20

An instrument or procedure used to provide information about whether or not a candidate is likely to succeed in a particular program. (aka: screening tests)

Question 21

Affective Feedback

Answer 21

When teachers display signs about how interested they are in trying to understand the student. These signs come in the form of gestures, facial expressions, and intonations.

• Positive affective feedback will encourage the learner to continue even if it is clear that the listener cannot fully understand.
• Negative affective feedback will stop a learner from speaking entirely and raise their affective filter.