EFL TEACHERS JARGON AND ABBREVIATIONS

Description

Some EFL teachers jargon and abbreviations that can be useful to know if you are studying to be or already are an EFL English teacher.
Óscar Barreiro Doldán
Flashcards by Óscar Barreiro Doldán, updated more than 1 year ago
Óscar Barreiro Doldán
Created by Óscar Barreiro Doldán almost 3 years ago
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Resource summary

Question Answer
EAL English as an Aditional Language (we don't know if it is a second or third language)
EAP English for Academic Purposes
EFL English as a Foreign Language
EIL English as an International Language (to talk about different variaties of English we find around the world)
ELF English as Lingua Franca (as a global language, in case we don't know what language other speakers use)
ELL English Language Learner
ELT English Language Teacher
ESL English as a Second Language
ESP English for Special/Specific Purposes (e.g. technical English, scientific English, English for medical professionals, English for waiters).
TEFL Teachin English as a Foreign Language
TESL Teachin English as a Second Language
YL Young Learners (This can mean under 18, or much younger)
VYL Very Young Learners (early childhood education)
Absolute Beginners Student doesn't have any previous idea about English
Acquisition A natural and unconsious process in wich you are exposed to a language enviroment, so you "learn" it without effort
Assessment The procedures that we use to see if our students are achieving their goals and provides us feedback
Attempt It is a kind of mistake that students make when they want to say something but they have not yet learned the language necessary to express it, but they're trying
Attitude Feelings of the students towards the foreign language, the learning process and their own capacity (self-confidence). Attitudes can be positive or negative and can change.
Background Knowledge The knowledge related to the foreign language that students know before the learning process starts
Brainstorming A technique for the spontaneous gathering of ideas/information in which all the members of the class participate
Bottom-up processing / Inductive learning From the bottom to the top, to build information with little chunks until we get to the general idea
Caretaker Talk / Modified Input / Teacher Talk The type of adapted language we use with our students
Cognate Words that are similar in English and in our mother tongue that means the same (restaurant/restaurante)
Controlled Practice Exercises where the pupils is not free to choose the answer (multiple option answer)
Communicative Competence The ability to use the language in a variety of settings in different situations
CLT Communicate Language Teaching (methodology that says to teach not only the structure of a language, but also the uses and purposes of it in different situations, developing the communicative competence)
Comprehensible Input It is refered to what a student can understand about the language thanks to the context
Content-based instruction Methodology where lessons are organized around topics, themes and/or subjects, rather than language points
Corrective Feedback To correct a mistake that was made by a student. It can be done in different ways, explicit or implicit
CPH Critical Period Hypothesis: Theory that says the best moment to learn a language is when we are young (open window)
Delayed Correction To correct a mistake later on time, not in the moment, in order to not interrupt a conversation, an explanation...
Display Questions Questions to which the asker (teacher) already knows the answer. They are asked in order to the students to display their knowledge
Drilling To make students repeat the same structures over and over again so, even though they don't know all the words, they can use it when needed (Can I go to the toilet, please?). It can be extensive or intensive.
Emergency Ativities Activities we prepare just in case we have more time than we though or we have to change one of them because it doesn't work well
Error A kind of mistake that students cannot self-correct because they don't know that they are making it
Evaluation The procedures that are used to know if students or teachers have reached the goals at the end or the final product
Extra-curricular Activities Activities made after class
False Cognate Also called false friends, two words, one in our mother tongue and the other in English, that are similar in form but not in meaning (library/librería)
Feedback The response we get from an activity, explanation... It is not only a correction, and it is a two way street
Fill-in Exercises / Cloze Procedure Activities that consist on filling the gaps of a sentence with different words, so it is completed
Flash Cards A material that can be useful for students to give a quick answer or response. It consist in different cards with colors or pictures that can be held briefly or "flashed" in front of the class
Fluency The ability to use the language freely and with ease
Formative Assessment A continuous process to assess tasks or a set of tasks, so we can give feedback to our students
Formulaic Patterns or Routines Expressions which are learned as unanalysed whooles or "chunks", maybe by drilling (Today is ... of ...)
Fossilization A mistake that is difficult to correct because it was made so many times we have learned it and it is not easy to change it know (it is fossilizated)
Free Activities Activities where students can give their own answers freely. It gives genuine communication
Genuine Questions Questions we ask when there is a focus on information, so the asker doesn't know the answer (Do you like ...?)
Guided Practice Activities where students have some sort of choice, but the choice of language is limited (e.g. when we can our students to use the verb "can")
Handout The material that is given to our students in order to work with it
Hearing When students can hear you, but don't understand you
Here and Now Activities Very contextualized activities done related to the students' reality
Homographs Pairs or words that are written the same but are pronounced differently, such us "read" (present simple) and "read" (past simple)
Homophones Pairs of words that are written differently, but sound the same, such as "made" and "maid"
Icebreaker Activity used as a warm up. It’s useful to create risk-free atmosphere and promote the students’ confidence (such as a brainstorm)
Immersion Programs Programs where we go to a foreign country in order to learn the language that is spoken
In Service Teachers (Tt) Teachers who are already working in schools, even though they are still learning
Informal Language Learning Setting A setting in which the second language is not taught, but rather, is learned naturally through informal conversations and interactions with native speakers of the language being learned
Input The language which the learner recepts (either written or spoken) in the environment and recieves information of it
Integrative Task A task which focuses not only on the practice of a single area of language or strategy. It has a high degree of authenticity in terms of language and content
Interlanguage The developing of the second language knowledge, that also has traits of the students mother tongue
Jigsaw Any kind of puzzles (cartoon jugsaw...)
L1 and L2 L1 refers to the mother tongue (even though some people have more than one mother tongue), while L2 refers to the second language
Language Learning A concious process of learning a language which occurs when the learner's objective is to learn
Layout It refers to the position of the desks (or tables) inside the classroom
Lesson Plan It helps the teacher to know what to do in a class (prepared by themselves) with quite specific activities
Listening It requires not only to hear, but also to pay attention and understand the message
Metalanguage The language used to describe language items
Minimal Pair Is a pair of words which differ only in the two sounds being focused on (ship, sheep)
Native-like The ability to speak and comprehend a second language at the level of a native speaker
Native Speaker A person who has learned a language from an early age and who has full mastery of that language
Negotiation of Meaning Related to the mediation skill, it is the interaction between speakers where they make changes to adapt to the other
Noisy Activities Activities that provoke noise. A bit of noise is normal in Elementary School, but we have to be careful
OHP Over Head Projector (not used very often nowadays)
Out of Class Learning The learning that is produced not inside the class but outdoors (because of the T.V., an English pen friend,...)
Output What the learner produces, writing or orally, throughout a task or a set of tasks
Out - of - class activities Activities that are done outside the class (clubs, libraries,...)
Pace When a teacher spends a long time introducing a new item, the pace is slow. When a lot of new material is introduced the pace is fast
Paralinguistic Feature A non-linguistic element that can communicate something whitout using words (body language, for example)
Peer Correction A correction done by a peer
Pre service Tt What someone do (study) in order to become a teacher
Processing Dealing with content/information in order to complete a task. It also refers to the operations performed to understand language input and to produce language output
Productive skills The skills where the student gives some sort of output (writing and speaking)
Quiet Activities Activities that do not provoke noise, move or excitement to students
Realia Any kind of material from an English- speaking country that we can bring to class (to make activities, talks,...)
Recall To remember something to our students. Visual aids can be used to make something memorable
Receptive Skills The skills where students recieve any kind of input (listening and reading)
Roleplay An activity where each student has a role to play. Dramatization is involved.
Routines Things that we do regularly, perhaps in each class (Hello! How are you?)
Scanning A reading technique which involves glancing quickly through a text to locate a specific piece of information
Self correction The pupil corrects a mistake by their own. It isn't possible with errors.
Skills This is used in two ways: (i) the four main language skills are listening, speaking, reading and writing (ii) "enabling" skills, which are sub-skills
Skimming A reading technique which involves glancing quickly through the text to get the general topic
SLA Second Language Acquisition
Slip A type of mistake that occurs when students say something that they know it's wrong, but they forgot it at that moment
Software All kind of materials we can use in class
Starters Activities used to start a lesson or begin a task (like icebreakers or warm-up activities)
STT Student Talking Time
Summative Assessment The gathering of information about the results of learning (concerning language, strategies, and attitudinal change) at the end of the project (the final mark)
Target Language (TL) The language that is being learned (in this case, English)
Task The carrying out of an activity/series of activities to achieve a pre-stablished objective
Task Authenticity The level of reality of a task
Teacher Training College The place where someone studies in order to become a teacher
Teacher's workload The amount of work a teacher has
Topic-based Teaching A way of organising the learning process around topics or themes
TTT Teacher Talking Time
TPR Total Physical Response, to learn trough body movements
Universal Grammar Based on Chomsky's theory, says that everyone is born with a set of grammar principles common to all languages
Wh. questions Questions that have a word starting with Wh- (What, when, where, who)
Worksheet A kind of handout where students have too make an activity
Yes/no Questions Polar Questions Questions answerable by yes or not
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