Language Teaching Methodologies and Lesson Planning

Practice flashcards covering language lesson types, objectives, teaching frameworks (PPP, TBLT), skill-specific procedures, and material adaptation techniques.

Language component lesson

A lesson focusing on a specific part of language, such as vocabulary, grammar, or pronunciation.

Language skill lesson

A lesson focusing on practicing one of the four main skills: reading, listening, speaking, or writing.

Receptive skills

The skills of reading and listening.

Productive skills

The skills of speaking and writing.

Integrated skills lesson

A lesson that combines two or more skills, usually pairing one input skill with one output skill.

Lesson objective

A specific, measurable learning outcome that students should achieve by the end of a lesson.

Aim

A broad and general statement of what a teacher intends to achieve in a lesson.

SMART

An acronym for lesson objectives meaning Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

ABCD

An acronym for objective components standing for Audience, Behavior, Condition, and Degree.

Activity aim

The specific purpose of a single activity or stage within a larger lesson.

PPP

A common lesson framework standing for Presentation, Practice, and Production, mainly used for grammar and vocabulary.

MFP

A framework for analyzing target language consisting of Meaning, Form, and Pronunciation.

Meaning (MFP)

What the target language means or how it is used in context.

Form (MFP)

How the target language is structured, spelled, or organized grammatically.

Pronunciation (MFP)

How the target language is spoken, including features like sounds, stress, and intonation.

Controlled practice

An activity where student answers are fixed or limited, such as gap-fills, focusing primarily on accuracy.

Freer practice

An activity where students use the target language more independently to communicate their own ideas.

Realia

Real-life objects used as teaching materials in the classroom to illustrate concrete nouns.

Drilling

A technique where students repeat sounds, words, or sentences to practice and reinforce pronunciation.

Minimal pairs

Pairs of words that differ by only a single sound, such as ship and sheep.

Word stress

The specific syllable in a word that is pronounced with more strength or emphasis.

Sentence stress

The emphasis placed on the most important words within a sentence.

Intonation

The rise and fall of the voice's pitch during speech.

Skimming

A reading sub-skill involving reading a text quickly to identify the main idea or gist.

Scanning

A reading sub-skill involving reading a text quickly to locate specific pieces of information.

Reading for detail

Reading a text carefully to ensure a complete and thorough understanding of the information.

Inference

The ability to understand implied meaning that is not directly stated in a text.

Predicting

Guessing the content of a text or audio before engaging with it, based on titles, pictures, or context.

Fluency

The ability to produce language smoothly, naturally, and with ease.

Accuracy

The correct use of language components, including grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and spelling.

Coherence

The logical organization of ideas in a text that makes it easy for a reader to follow.

Cohesion

The use of grammatical and lexical means, like linking words or pronouns, to connect sentences and ideas.

Drafting

The stage of the writing process where the first version of a text is produced.

Revising

The stage of the writing process focused on improving the content and organization of a text.

Editing

The final stage of the writing process where technical errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation are corrected.

TBLT

Task-Based Language Teaching, an approach where learning revolves around completing meaningful tasks.

Willis' TBLT framework

A sequence consisting of Pre-task, Task cycle (Task, Planning, Report), and Language focus (Analysis, Practice).

Textbook adaptation

The process of changing textbook materials to better suit the specific needs, levels, and context of learners.

Authentic materials

Real-world materials, like menus or news articles, that were not originally created for language teaching purposes.

Meaning-focused input

One of Nation's four strands where learning occurs through reading or listening for meaning.

Meaning-focused output

One of Nation's four strands where learning occurs through speaking or writing for meaning.

Language-focused learning

One of Nation's four strands where students focus directly on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, or form.

Fluency development

One of Nation's four strands which involves practicing familiar language to increase speed and confidence.