TEFL Academy Glossary, Updated
2024/2025.
A-level
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.
abstract noun
A noun which refers to an abstract idea (e.g., peace, love, understanding) rather than something
tangible. See concrete noun.
accuracy-based activities
Accuracy-based activities are classroom (or homework) activities whose main focus is producing,
selecting or perceiving correct forms (compare with fluency-based activities).
acquisition
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.
adjective
A word which describes a noun. E.g., an old man, a difficult question, or my hair is red.
adverb
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.
aims
What the teacher intends the students to learn in a lesson.
alveolar
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)
,anaphoric reference
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.
anticipated problems
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.
antonym
A word which carries the opposite meaning to another (e.g., black/white, fat/thin).
approach
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
approximant
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.
article
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).
Audiolingualism
A method of foreign language teaching
authentic materials
These are listening or reading texts/materials that were produced for native speakers; they were not
originally intended to be used for language teaching.
auxiliary
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.
,bare infinitive
It is usually just referred to as 'infinitive without to,' e.g. 'go' and 'be', rather than 'to go' and 'to be'.
Berlitz Method
A language teaching method developed by Berlitz language schools.
bilabial
A sound formed by putting the two lips together (/p/, /b/ and /m/)
body of the lesson
Generally all lessons should have a warmer-body-plenary structure. The main part of the lesson is the
body. The first and final stages are the warmer (or lead-in) and the plenary. The body is normally further
divided into separate stages.
bottom-up processing
Trying to build up an understanding of a text (written or spoken) by starting with the smallest units -
letters or sounds - and building these up to understand the words and grammatical structures in the
sentences. The reader then tries to understand how the sentences relate to one another and so on. This
process includes decoding and word attack skills.
CAE
Certificate of Advanced English - a Cambridge English examination for students at C1 level.
CALL
Computer Assisted Language Learning
caregiver speech
Caregiver speech is the simple language used to address young children. It is also referred to as child-
directed speech, and it is sometimes called 'motherese.'
cataphoric reference
When a word in a text refers to another one which occurs later in the text. E.g., Because he was feeling
unwell, James decided to go back to bed. Here he refers forward to James.
See also anaphoric reference and exophoric reference.
CBLT
Competency-Based Language Teaching. In this approach, learning goals are defined 'in terms of precise
measurable descriptions of the knowledge, skills, and behaviors students should possess at the end of a
course of study.' (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.141).
CEFR
, Common European Framework of Reference. System used for describing a learner's ability in a second or
foreign language.
choral drilling
Drilling is when students repeat a word or phrase modelled by the teacher to practise pronunciation or
help memorise structure. Choral drilling is the whole class or a group repeating together (in chorus).
chunks of language
A large proportion of the language we produce seems to be memorised 'chunks of language', rather than
original creations generated through combining our grammatical and lexical knowledge. Examples
are the _____er, the _________er (as in the bigger, the better), you must be joking, to cut a long story
short.
classroom contract
An agreement, negotiated with students, on how students should behave.
closed pairs
This is when all the students in a class work in pairs at the same time (compare with open pairs).
closed question
A question which can be answered just with 'yes' or 'no'. To encourage speaking in language lessons, it is
better to use open questions.
cognates
Cognates are words from different languages which have the same origin. (So we recognise them!)
coherence
A coherent text is one in which the ideas are logically linked to form a unified whole.
cohesion
The lexical and grammatical linking used within a text to achieve coherence.
cohesive devices
The means by which a text is made coherent. These include referencing and the use of discourse
markers.
collocate
(of vocabulary) - frequently occur with another word. E.g., freezing collocates with cold
common nouns
All nouns that are not proper nouns.
communicative competence
2024/2025.
A-level
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.
abstract noun
A noun which refers to an abstract idea (e.g., peace, love, understanding) rather than something
tangible. See concrete noun.
accuracy-based activities
Accuracy-based activities are classroom (or homework) activities whose main focus is producing,
selecting or perceiving correct forms (compare with fluency-based activities).
acquisition
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.
adjective
A word which describes a noun. E.g., an old man, a difficult question, or my hair is red.
adverb
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.
aims
What the teacher intends the students to learn in a lesson.
alveolar
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)
,anaphoric reference
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.
anticipated problems
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.
antonym
A word which carries the opposite meaning to another (e.g., black/white, fat/thin).
approach
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
approximant
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.
article
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).
Audiolingualism
A method of foreign language teaching
authentic materials
These are listening or reading texts/materials that were produced for native speakers; they were not
originally intended to be used for language teaching.
auxiliary
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.
,bare infinitive
It is usually just referred to as 'infinitive without to,' e.g. 'go' and 'be', rather than 'to go' and 'to be'.
Berlitz Method
A language teaching method developed by Berlitz language schools.
bilabial
A sound formed by putting the two lips together (/p/, /b/ and /m/)
body of the lesson
Generally all lessons should have a warmer-body-plenary structure. The main part of the lesson is the
body. The first and final stages are the warmer (or lead-in) and the plenary. The body is normally further
divided into separate stages.
bottom-up processing
Trying to build up an understanding of a text (written or spoken) by starting with the smallest units -
letters or sounds - and building these up to understand the words and grammatical structures in the
sentences. The reader then tries to understand how the sentences relate to one another and so on. This
process includes decoding and word attack skills.
CAE
Certificate of Advanced English - a Cambridge English examination for students at C1 level.
CALL
Computer Assisted Language Learning
caregiver speech
Caregiver speech is the simple language used to address young children. It is also referred to as child-
directed speech, and it is sometimes called 'motherese.'
cataphoric reference
When a word in a text refers to another one which occurs later in the text. E.g., Because he was feeling
unwell, James decided to go back to bed. Here he refers forward to James.
See also anaphoric reference and exophoric reference.
CBLT
Competency-Based Language Teaching. In this approach, learning goals are defined 'in terms of precise
measurable descriptions of the knowledge, skills, and behaviors students should possess at the end of a
course of study.' (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.141).
CEFR
, Common European Framework of Reference. System used for describing a learner's ability in a second or
foreign language.
choral drilling
Drilling is when students repeat a word or phrase modelled by the teacher to practise pronunciation or
help memorise structure. Choral drilling is the whole class or a group repeating together (in chorus).
chunks of language
A large proportion of the language we produce seems to be memorised 'chunks of language', rather than
original creations generated through combining our grammatical and lexical knowledge. Examples
are the _____er, the _________er (as in the bigger, the better), you must be joking, to cut a long story
short.
classroom contract
An agreement, negotiated with students, on how students should behave.
closed pairs
This is when all the students in a class work in pairs at the same time (compare with open pairs).
closed question
A question which can be answered just with 'yes' or 'no'. To encourage speaking in language lessons, it is
better to use open questions.
cognates
Cognates are words from different languages which have the same origin. (So we recognise them!)
coherence
A coherent text is one in which the ideas are logically linked to form a unified whole.
cohesion
The lexical and grammatical linking used within a text to achieve coherence.
cohesive devices
The means by which a text is made coherent. These include referencing and the use of discourse
markers.
collocate
(of vocabulary) - frequently occur with another word. E.g., freezing collocates with cold
common nouns
All nouns that are not proper nouns.
communicative competence
