ELT terms - defined and referenced!
Welcome to the NILE ELT Glossary
We hope this is useful for you and your NILE Online course.
(Definitions written by Mary Spratt, edited by Alan Pulverness)
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Wait time |
WarmerA warmer, or warm-up activity, is an activity which takes place at the beginning of a lesson and aims to ‘warm the learners up’ i.e. to get them focussed on and energised for a lesson in general or its specific content. Further reading Malderez, A., Bodsczky, C. (1999) Mentor Courses: A Resource Book for Trainer-Trainers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Scrivener, J. (2012). Classroom Management Techniques. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ur, P. (1992). 5 minute Activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://www.onestopenglish.com/teenagers/skills/warmers/ http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/knowledge-database/warmer
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WashbackThis is a term (in the US more commonly referred to as Backwash) used in testing and assessment to describe the effect on the classroom of tests that the learners will take. Washback may affect e.g. the syllabus, methodology, interaction patterns, attitudes to learning etc., and can be positive or negative. Example In some countries education authorities deliberately introduce new elements into tests so that they will be used in the classroom. In other words they are relying on the washback effect of a test to bring about change in the classroom. Examples of this might be the introduction of speaking tests or the use of tasks in speaking tests. Washback is sometimes known as ‘Backwash’ and is contrasted with ‘Impact’. Further Reading Bachman, L and Palmer, A (1996) Language Testing in Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hamp-Lyons, L (1997) Washback, impact and validity: ethical concerns, Language Testing,14/3. Hughes, A. (1989) Testing for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Messick, S. (1996). Validity and washback in language testing. Language Testing 13/4. Taylor, L. (2005) Key Concepts in ELT: Washback and Impact. ELT Journal 59/2.
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Word classSee Parts of speech |
Word cloudA word cloud is a jumble of words from a text produced by computer by calculating the words’ frequency in the text. Teachers can make their own word clouds by entering texts into a word cloud programme. Word clouds can be used in class to, for example, aid vocabulary learning, revise texts, warm up to reading, listening or discussion lessons, generate ideas for writing lessons etc. Example Here is a word cloud created from the above definition of ‘Word Cloud’:
Further reading http://nikpeachey.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/using-word-clouds-in-efl-esl.html https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2010/02/10/using-word-clouds-in-class-a-lesson-plan/ http://lessonstream.org/2011/01/10/the-blob-on-the-bridge/
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Word familyThis word is used in two different ways. It can refer to words which all derive from the same base word e.g. produce, productive, production, product. Many test items are designed round changing a word in a word family to another in the same family. It also refers to words that share a form in pronunciation, such as the words in many nursery rhymes. Example Here is an example of a test item focussing on changes to base words in word families:
https://elt.oup.com/student/result/engupp/b_vocabulary/unit01/1a?cc=us&selLanguage=en Here is an example of a nursery rhyme based on words with shared pronunciations: Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Further reading http://www.enchantedlearning.com/rhymes/wordfamilies/ https://elt.oup.com/student/result/engupp/b_vocabulary/unit01/1a?cc=us&selLanguage=en Bauer, L. and Nation, P. (1993). Word Families. International Journal of Lexicography 6/4: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/about/staff/publications/paul-nation/1993-Bauer-Word- families.pdf Nation, P. and Waring, R. Vocabulary Size, Text Coverage and Word Lists in in Schmitt; N.and McCarthy, M. , (1997). Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy,Cambridge: Cambridge University Press http://www.fltr.ucl.ac.be/fltr/germ/etan/bibs/vocab/cup.html
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Word formA word form is a lexical term referring to the different forms that derive from a base word (lemma) e.g. take, takes, taking, took, taken from the base word ‘take’. Word form refers to form and not to meaning. Example If you were trying to work out how many vocabulary items a student knows, would you count just the base word or would you count all the different word forms? Further reading Crystal, D (ed.). (1995).The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press. Hirsh, D.; Nation, P. (1992), ‘What Vocabulary Size is Needed to Read Unsimplified Texts for Pleasure?’ in Reading in a Foreign Language 8/2. McCarthy, M. (1996). Vocabulary. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Nation, P. and Waring, R. Vocabulary size, text coverage and word lists:
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WorksheetA piece of paper, or electronic material, which contains tasks, exercises or problems for the learner to complete or solve. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with the term handout, but for some there is a difference as a handout provides materials for reference only rather than activities. Example "The teacher always gave us worksheets for us to try and apply in practice what she had just told us about before." Further Reading Harmer, J. (2012). Teacher knowledge, Harlow: Pearson. Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., Williams, M. (2011). The TKT Course Modules 1, 2 and 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ur, P. (1999). A course in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://www.onestopenglish.com/clil/vocabulary/vocabulary-worksheets/
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