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ELT

English Language Teaching

EFL

English as a Foreign Language

ESL

English as a Second Language

ESOL

English for Speakers of Other Language

ELF

English as a Lingua Franca

EAP

English for Academic Purposes

ESP

English for Specific Purposes

BE

Business English

Craft model - Observing and shadowing an experienced teacher

Applied science model - Reading and then applying the gaiend knowledge

Reflective model - Teachers develop professional competence through reflecting on their own practice

Research

The systematic investigation into teaching practices, learning theories, or classroom dynamics to improve educational outcomes

Training

A structured process focused on helping teachers (or students) acquire specific skills or knowledge

Evaluation

The process of judging the quality, value, or effectiveness of a lesson, a teacher’s performance, or a student’s progress against specific criteria or standards

Professional development

The continuous process of learning and increasing skills after one has started working.

Evaluative Observation

An observation of a teacher (often by a supervisor) with the primary goal of assigning a grade or making a formal judgment on their performance

Interpretative observation

Reflective type of observation where the observer looks for the meaning behind what is happening in the classroom

Descriptive observation

The purpose is to give an accurate account of an event or action for which the observer does not modify, assess, jduge or make inferences about what they are observing

Eliciting questions

Used by the teacher to draw information, vocabulary, or grammar rules out of the students, rather than simply telling them

Pre-teaching

Identifying and clarifying difficult vocabulary or grammar points before students start a main activity

Providing a model

Giving students a clear, correct example of the target language or the finished product of a task

Giving instructions

The act of explaining the steps of an activity

Concept checking questions (CCQ)

Short, simple questions used to confirm that students actually understand the meaning of a new word or grammar point

Instruction checking questions (ICQ)

Brief questions used to confirm that students understand what they are supposed to do for an activity

Drilling

A technique where students repeat a word or structure multiple times after the teacher

Monitoring

The practice of a teacher moving around the room while students are working

Realia

Real-life objects brought into the classroom as teaching aids

Controller

A specific teacher role where the teacher is at the front of the class, directing everything that happens

Prompter

The teacher encourages students to participate or helps them when they are "stuck" for words by giving nudges or suggestions without taking over the conversation

Participant

The teacher joins in an activity (like a board game or a debate) as an equal

Resource

The teacher acts as a "walking dictionary" or grammar guide, available for students to consult only when they need specific information during a task

Tutor

A role used during individual or small-group work where the teacher acts as a coach, providing more personalized, long-term guidance and feedback

Deductive learning

The teacher explains the grammar rule first, and then the students practice using it

Inductive learning

Students look at examples of language and try to work out (discover) the rules for themselves

Think-pair-share

Students think about a question alone, they discuss ideas with a partner, they share their findings with the whole class.

SST

The amount of time students spend talking during a lesson

TTT

The amount of time the teacher spends talking

T-SS

Teacher to Students (the teacher is addressing the whole class)

T-S

Teacher to a specific Student

T-S-S

A "chain" interaction where the teacher prompts one student, who then speaks to another

S-T

The student initiated conversation between a student and the teacher, such as in asking questions about a rule or an assignment

S-Ss

One individual student talking to the whole class, such as in telling a story, reciting a poem

Ss/Ss

Students working in small groups, such as practicing conversation, role-playing

S-S

Two students work in pairs such as practicing a dialogue, carrying out an information gap activity

SS

Students doing their work individually such as reading, completing an exercise

S

Individual work

Approach

The theory or philosophy underlying how a language should be taught;

Method

Describes, in general terms, a way of implementing the approach in the class

Linguistic Competence (Grammatical Competence)

The knowledge of the grammatical elements of the language and the ability to use them in speech

Syntax

The study of the rules governing how words are combined to form grammatically correct phrases and sentences

Morphology

The study of the internal structure of words and how they are formed

Lexicon

The entire set of words, idioms, and vocabulary in a language

Phonology

The study of the sound system of a language

Orthography

The conventional spelling system of a language

Actional competence

Competence in conveying and understanding communicative intent

Interpersonal exchange

Communication intended to establish or maintain relationships rather than just exchange facts

Suasion

The act of using language to influence or persuade someone to do something (e.g., requesting, advising, or commanding)

Sociocultural comptence

The speaker's knowledge of how to express messages appropriately within the overall social and cultural context of communication, in accordance with the pragmatic factors related to variation in language use

Social contextual factors

External variables that change how we speak, such as where you are (the setting), who you are talking to (status/power), and why you are talking (purpose)

Stylistic appropriateness factross

The ability to choose the right register (formal vs. informal) for a situation

Cultural factors

The underlying values, beliefs, and traditions that dictate how language is used and interpreted within a specific community

Non-verbal communicative factors

Facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, and even how close you stand to someone (proxemics)

Discourse competence

The ability to understand and express oneself in a given language

Cohesion

Visible, formal links between the parts of a text (pronouns, conjuctions, ellipsis, lexical chains)

Deixis

Words that can't be understood without knowing the context (e.g., "Put that over there now"). Without seeing the speaker, you don't know what "that," "there," or "now" refers to

Coherence

Semantic and pragmatic unity of a text or speech; it is the underlying logical structure that allows a message to be interpreted as a unified, meaningful whole rather than a collection of random sentences

Genre

A specific type of communication with its own "rules" and structure

Conversational structure

The unwritten rules of how we talk, such as how to take turns, how to start a conversation, and how to gracefully end one

Compensatory strategies

The specific tricks used to solve a communication gap, such as circumlocution (describing a word you can't remember, like calling a "refrigerator" the "cold food box")

Stalling

Using "fillers" to buy time to think without losing your turn in the conversation

Self-monitoring

The habit of listening to yourself as you speak and correcting your own mistakes in real-time

Interactional strategies

Techniques used to manage the flow of a conversation, such as checking if the other person understands or asking for clarification

Strategic competence

The knowledge of how to use one's language to communicate intended meaning

Mechanical (controlled)

Highly structured practice where the focus is 100% on accuracy and the form is pre-determined. One correct answer.

Meaningful (semi-controlled)

Has a limited range of correct answers to each question/item. Focus on accuracy in the target language.

Communicative (free)

Allows students to use whatever language they have at their disposal, though if the activity is designed well, it should encourage/enable them to use the target language. Focus on fluency. No correct answers

Roleplay

An oral activity usually done in pairs, whose main goal is to develop students' communicative abilities in a certain setting (during real play, the students’ play themselves)

Interview

An oral activity done in pairs, whose main goal is to develop students' interpersonal skills, student asks questions to gather specific information from another-

Group work

A collaborative activity whose purpose is to foster communication in a larger group setting

Information gap

A collaborative activity, whose purpose is for students to effectively obtain information that was previously unknown to them

Opinion sharing

A content-based activity, whose purpose is to engage students' conversational skills, while talking about something they care about

Scavenger hunt

A activity that promotes open interaction between student, students must move around the room to find specific pieces of information or object

Standardised test

Administered and scored in a consistent manner, measures proficiency across a variety students’ skills

Placement test

Test given by a school to determine the skill level of a student, especially a new student, in order to place them in the correct class

Diagnostic test

Intended to help teachers identify the individuals’ strengths and weaknesses in a given skill to support their students' learning

Formative test

Mid-term tests (low stakes setting), their goal is to provide feedback for the student, so they can improve on their mistakes

Summative test

Final tests (high stakes setting), their goal is to measure how much the student has learned throughout the course

Dynamic assessment

An alternative evaluation method used to identify an individual’s skills as well as their learning potential

Validity

The degree to which a test measures what it is supposed to be measuring

Reliability

The degree to which the result of a measurement, calculation, or specification can be depended on to be accurate

Authenticity

How closely the tested material matches real-world application

Practicality

The test logistics, such as development time, scoring time, feedback delivery and cost

Washback

The impact or influence of assessment on teaching and learning practices, including how assessments shape instructional priorities, methods, and student motivation

Language proficiency

A person's overall ability to use a language to communicate

Language awarnesss

Having an explicit, conscious knowledge of how language works

System

What we know

Skills

What we do

Vocabulary

The collection of individual words in a language and their meanings

Lexis

The collection of individual words in a language and their meanings, but also phrases, collocations (e.g., "do your homework") and idioms

Grammar

The whole system and structure of a language, describe how words change their form and how they are combined into sentences