Longman Dictionary OF LANGUAGE TeACHING &APPLIED Linguistics This best-selling dictionary is now in its 4th edition Specifically written for students of language teaching and applied linguistics, it has become an indispensible resource for those engaged in courses in TEFL, TESOL, applied linguistics and introductory courses in general linguistics Longman This fully revised edition includes over 350 new entries Previous definitions have been revised or replaced in order to make this the most up-to-date and comprehensive dictionary available Dictionary OF Providing straightforward and accessible explanations of difficult terms and ideas in applied linguistics, this dictionary offers: l Nearly 3000 detailed entries, from subject areas such as teaching methodology, curriculum development, sociolinguistics, syntax and phonetics l Helpful diagrams and tables l Cross references, linking related subject areas for ease of reference The Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics is the definitive resource for students Dictionary OF Clear and accurate definitions which assume no prior knowledge of the subject matter LANGUAGE TeACHING &APPLIED Linguistics l Richards Schmidt FOURTH E D I T I O N LANGUAGE TeACHING &APPLIED Linguistics Jack C Richards Richard Schmidt FOURTH E D I T I O N www.pearson-books.com CVR_RICH8255_04_SE_CVR.indd Most Comprehensive Edition Ever - 350 new entries 7/4/10 15:41:31 Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics Longman Dictionary of LANGUAGE TEACHING AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS Jack C Richards and Richard Schmidt Fourth edition PEARSON EDUCATION LIMITED Edinburgh Gate Harlow CM20 2JE Tel: +44 (0)1279 623623 Fax: +44 (0)1279 431059 Website: www.pearson.co.uk First edition published 1985 Second edition published 1992 Third edition published 2002 Fourth edition published in Great Britain in 2010 © Pearson Education Limited 1985, 1992, 2002, 2010 The rights of Jack C Richards and Richard Schmidt to be identified as authors of this Work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 Pearson Education is not responsible for the content of third party internet sites ISBN 978-1-4082-0460-3 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book can be obtained from the Library of Congress All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London ECIN 8TS This book may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, without the prior consent of the Publishers 10 14 13 12 11 10 Typeset in 9.5/12pt Sabon by 35 Printed in Malaysia (CTP-VVP) GUIDE TO THE DICTIONARY related word less common alternative other related entries it may be useful to look up abbreviation for term term explained at its own alphabetical entry part of speech aphasia n aphasic adj also dysphasia loss of the ability to use and understand language, usually caused by damage to the brain The loss may be total or partial, and may affect spoken and/or written language ability There are different types of aphasia: agraphia is difficulty in writing; alexia is difficulty in reading; anomia is difficulty in using proper nouns; and agrammatism is difficulty in using grammatical words like prepositions, articles, etc Aphasia can be studied in order to discover how the brain processes language see also neurolinguistics computer assisted language learning n also CALL the use of a computer in the teaching or learning of a second or foreign language CALL may take the form of a activities which parallel learning through other media but which use the facilities of the computer (e.g using the computer to present a reading text) b activities which are extensions or adaptations of print-based or classroom based activities (e.g computer programs that teach writing skills by helping the student develop a topic and thesis statement and by checking a composition for vocabulary, grammar, and topic development), and c activities which are unique to CALL see also interactive video entry for a less common alternative dysphasia n another term for aphasia entry for an abbreviation CALL n an abbreviation for computer assisted language learning entry for a word explained elsewhere agrammatism n see aphasia terms explained within the entry INTRODUCTION Who is this dictionary for? This dictionary is intended for: • students taking undergraduate or graduate courses in language teaching or applied linguistics, particularly those planning to take up a career in the teaching of English as a Second or Foreign Language or in foreign language teaching • language teachers doing in-service or pre-service courses, such as the UCLES Diploma in Teaching English to Adults • students doing introductory courses in linguistics and related areas • teachers and others interested in the practical applications of language study Why this dictionary? Language teaching and applied linguistics are fields which have their own core subject matter and which also draw on a number of complementary fields of study Among the core subject matter disciplines are second language acquisition, methodology, testing, and syllabus design The complementary fields of study include both the language based disciplines such as linguistics, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics, as well as the education based disciplines such as curriculum development, teacher education, and evaluation The result is that students taking courses in language teaching and applied linguistics encounter a large number of specialized terms which frequently occur in articles, books and lectures This dictionary attempts to clarify the meanings and uses of these terms The scope of the dictionary The dictionary was written for those with little or no background in language teaching or applied linguistics We have given special attention to English, and the majority of the examples in the dictionary are from English, but the dictionary will also be helpful to those interested in other languages Although the dictionary is not intended primarily for those who already have a specialized training in language teaching or applied linguistics, it will serve as a reference book in areas with which they are less familiar It should also be useful to general readers who need further information about the terms which occur in the fields of language teaching and applied linguistics vi Introduction Language teaching and applied linguistics This dictionary includes the core vocabulary of both language teaching and applied linguistics The field of language teaching is concerned with the development of language programmes and courses, teaching methodology, materials development, second language acquisition theory, testing, teacher training and related areas The dictionary includes terms from the following areas of study in the field of language teaching: • • • • • • • • teaching methods and approaches in language teaching curriculum development and syllabus design second language acquisition the teaching of listening, speaking, reading and writing computer assisted language learning teacher education in language teaching English grammar and pronunciation language testing, research methods, and basic statistics The dictionary also includes terms from the field of applied linguistics For the purposes of this book, “applied linguistics” refers to the practical applications of linguistics and language theory and includes terms from the following areas of study: • introductory linguistics, including phonology, phonetics, syntax, semantics and morphology • discourse analysis • sociolinguistics, including the sociology of language and communicative competence • psycholinguistics, including learning theories What the dictionary contains This dictionary contains some 3500 entries, which define in as simple and precise a way as possible, the most frequently occurring terms found in the areas listed above Each term has been selected on the basis of its importance within an area and reflects the fact that the term has a particular meaning when used within that area, a meaning unlikely to be listed in other dictionaries Many of these terms were included in the third edition of this dictionary, but in preparing the fourth edition, a number of items no longer in common use were delated, revisions were made to a number of entries, and some 360 new entries have been added to reflect current usage in language teaching and applied linguistics Our aim has been to produce clear and simple definitions which communicate the basic and essential meanings of a term in non-technical language vii Introduction Definitions are self-contained as far as possible, but cross references show links to other terms and concepts Acknowledgements This edition of the dictionary has been prepared by Jack C Richards and Richard Schmidt We would like to thank those who contributed to earlier editions of this dictionary, particularly Heidi Kendricks, who contributed to the first and second editions, the late John Platt, who contributed to the first and second editions, and the following who gave valuable suggestions to earlier editions: Christopher Candlin, John W Oller (Jr), Lyle Bachman, Graham Crookes, Ken Hylands, Stephen Jacques; and Youngkyu Kim for assistance in the area of testing, research design, and statistics We are grateful to Ms Media Shojaee for suggestions for new items to be included in the fourth edition viii A AAAL n an abbreviation for American Association for Applied Linguistics AAE n an abbreviation for African American English AAVE n an abbreviation for African American vernacular English see African American English ability grouping n in teaching, the placement of students in groups or classes according to their ability in a skill or subject, e.g based on their language proficiency Groups containing students of different ability levels are known as mixed ability groups or heterogeneous groups, while groups composed of students with similar abilities, achievement, etc., are known as homogeneous groups see grouping ablaut n a process by which an inflected form of a word is formed by changes in the vowel of the stem For example, the past tense of sing is sang and the plural of goose is geese aboriginal language n see indigenous language absolute n an adjective or adverb that cannot have a comparative or superlative form For example perfectly and unique already express the idea of “to a maximum degree” and cannot therefore be used with comparative forms as in *most perfectly, or *more unique absolute clause (phrase, construction) n a non-finite adverbial clause or other adverbial construction that is not linked syntactically to the main clause, e.g As far as I can tell, she is not having any problems with the course abstract noun n see concrete noun W wait time n (in questioning) the pause after a teacher has asked a question before a student is asked to respond The effectiveness of questioning is said to be partly dependent on the use of wait time Teachers tend to use insufficient wait time and to either answer questions themselves or call on another student to answer the question Increasing wait time both before calling on a student to respond and after a student’s initial response (i.e before the teacher comments on the response) often increases the length of students’ responses, increases the number of questions asked by students, and increases student involvement in learning washback n also backwash (in testing) the positive or negative impact of a test on classroom teaching or learning In some countries, for example, national language examinations have a major impact on teaching and teachers often “teach to the tests” In order to bring about changes in teaching, changes may have to be made in the tests For example, if the education department in a country wanted schools to spend more time teaching listening skills, one way to bring this about would be to introduce a listening comprehension test component into state examinations The washback would be that more class time would then be spent on teaching listening skills When teaching is found to exert an important effect on testing, this impact is called a reverse washback weak form n see strong form weak interface position n see interface weak verb n see strong verb WebCT n see learning management system webquest n an activity that requires learners to use the Internet in order to complete the task Webquests can extend over an entire course, several classes, or be integrated into a single lesson 634 whole-word method weighting1 n in testing, the relative importance of different skills and language which is assigned in the assessment process weighting2 n also weighted scoring (in testing) determining the number of points to be given to correct responses in a test, when not all of the responses in a test receive the same number of points Such a scoring procedure is known as weighted scoring Wernicke’s area n an area in the posterior section of the left (or dominant) cerebral hemisphere of the brain that is associated primarily with the perception and language processing of spoken words whole-group instruction n instruction in which an entire class is taught together rather than in groups see also grouping whole language approach n also integrated whole language approach an approach to first language reading and writing instruction that has been extended to middle and secondary school levels and to the teaching of ESL and that views language as a “whole” entity Whole language emphasizes learning to read and write naturally with a focus on real communication and is opposed to the idea of teaching the separate components of language (e.g grammar, vocabulary, word recognition, phonics) in isolation Principles of whole language include: Language is presented as a whole and not as isolated pieces The approach is thus holistic rather than atomistic, attempts to teach language in real contexts and situations, and emphasizes the purposes for which language is used Learning activities move from whole to part, rather than from part to whole For example, students might read a whole article rather than part of it or an adapted version of it All four modes of language are used, thus lessons include all four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, rather than a single skill Language is learned through social interaction with others, hence students often work in pairs or groups instead of individually whole-word method n also word method, sight method 635 Whorfian hypothesis a method for teaching children to read, commonly used in teaching reading in the mother tongue, in which children are taught to recognize whole words rather than letter-names (as in the alphabetic method) or sounds (as in phonics) It usually leads to the use of a sentence method, where whole sentences are used Whorfian hypothesis n see linguistic relativity Wh-question n see question wiki n the Hawaiian word for “quick,” used to refer to a website with pages that any user can contribute to and edit, often including text, photos and videos within-subjects design n also repeated measures design an experimental design where each participant serves in more than one experimental condition women’s speech n see gender1 word n the smallest of the linguistic units which can occur on its own in speech or writing It is difficult to apply this criterion consistently For example, can a function word like the occur on its own? Is a contraction like can’t (“can not”) one word or two? Nevertheless, there is evidence that native speakers of a language tend to agree on what are the words of their language In writing, word boundaries are usually recognized by spaces between the words In speech, word boundaries may be recognized by slight pauses see also boundaries, content word, lexeme word association n ways in which words come to be associated with each other and which influence the learning and remembering of words In a word association test, a person is given a word or list of words and asked to respond with another word or words Word associations have been studied in semantics, verbal learning theory and psycholinguistics The following are common associations to words from American college students: 636 word formation word response accident car airplane fly American flag baby child depression recession see also associative meaning word bank n see brainstorming word blindness n another term for dyslexia word boundary n see boundaries word-by-word reading n a type of reading characterized by: in silent reading, a very slow rate of reading with undue concentration on individual words and inability to focus on broader chunks of text, sometimes also accompanied by lip movements in oral reading, a slow and halting style of reading with excessive pausing on individual words and often poor comprehension word class n a group of words which are similar in function Words are grouped into word classes according to how they combine with other words, how they change their form, etc The most common word classes are the parts of speech: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, pronoun, article, demonstrative, conjunction, interjection, etc see also form class, open class word formation n processes used in a language for the creation of new words There are several ways of doing this, including: a the addition of an affix in derivation b the removal of an affix: back formation c the addition of a combining form d the construction of a compound word e the shortening of an old word, as when influenza becomes flu 637 word frequency f the repetition of a word or part of a word: reduplication g the invention of a completely new word, such as the mathematical term googal In addition, other processes are sometimes regarded as part of word formation These include: h the addition of an affix in inflection i the use of words as different parts of speech, as when the noun cap is used as the verb to cap word frequency n the frequency with which a word is used in a text or corpus see also frequency2 word frequency count n also word frequency list see frequency count, frequency1 word list n a list of the basic and most important words in a language or in a register of a language, generally intended for use as a basis for language teaching or for the preparation of teaching materials Word lists are usually based on frequency counts, often supplemented by other measures of the importance of words (see coverage) word method n another term for whole-word method word order n the arrangement of words in a sentence Languages often differ in their word order For example, the past participle occurs in German at the end of the main clause rather than after the auxiliary as in English: Er hat mir das Buch gegeben He has to me the book given “He has given me the book.” In English, the position of a word in a sentence often signals its function Thus, in the sentence: Dogs eat meat the position of dogs shows that it is the subject, and the position of meat shows that it is the object In some languages, including English, a change from the usual word order may often be used to emphasize or contrast, e.g That cheese I really don’t like 638 World Englishes where the object of the sentence is shifted to the beginning see also functional sentence perspective word recognition n see top-down processing word stress n see stress workbook n a book that accompanies a textbook and which contains additional supplementary exercises and activities working memory n a more contemporary term for short-term memory Working memory is thought of as an active system for both storing and manipulating information during the execution of cognitive tasks such as comprehension and learning In the influential model of Baddeley, working memory consists of two storage components and a central executive function The two storage components are the articulatory loop, which holds traces of acoustic or speech-based material for a few seconds (longer if the material is rehearsed, see rehearsal) and the visuospatial sketchpad for the storage of verbal and visual information The central executive is a limited capacity, supervisory attentional system used for such purposes as planning and trouble shooting see also memory workplace language n the specialized type of language used in work settings Workplace language includes, the communication that takes places among workers and between workers and supervisors, the language used in particular occupations and organizations, and both verbal and nonverbal communication The study of workplace language is an aspect of Target Situation Analysis in the design of EAP courses worksheet n see handout World Englishes n a term proposed by Kachru to refer to the fact that there are multiple and varied models of English across cultures and that English is not limited to countries where it has traditionally been regarded as a mother tongue World Englishes thus includes British, American, Australian as well as 639 writer-based prose other mother tongue Englishes but also newer varieties of English that have emerged in countries that were once colonies and dependencies of the United Kingdom or the USA These new Englishes are seen to take their place as legitimate varieties of English fulfilling distinctive functions in pluralistic societies such as Singapore, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Nigeria and Fiji writer-based prose n also egocentric writing see reader-based prose writing across the curriculum n see language across the curriculum writing-centre n a centre on a college or university campus where English-second language students can obtain support in their academic writing assignments Such support may involve peer tuition and feedback by instructors writing conference n (in teaching composition) an activity in which the teacher and a student meet for a short period of time to discuss student writing and different aspects of the composing process (see composing processes) Through regular conferences with students during a writing pro-gramme either in a part of the classroom or elsewhere, the teacher tries to promote awareness of writing strategies, to personalize writing for the student, and to make learners more confident about their writing writing log n see learning log writing-modes approach n a teaching approach in which L2 composition students write paragraphs and essays whose primary purpose is to focus on such organizational modes as definition, comparison-contrast, classification, cause-effect writing portfolios n see portfolio writing processes n the strategies, procedures and decision-making employed by writers as they write Writing is viewed as the result of complex processes of planning, 640 WWW drafting, reviewing and revising and some approaches to the teaching of first and second language writing teach students to use these processes see process approach writing system n a system of written symbols which represent the sounds, syllables, or words of a language The three main types of writing system are alphabetic, based on sounds; syllabic, based on syllables; and ideographic, based on words WWW n the World Wide Web, an information network of text, pictures, and sound to which people have access when they use the Internet World Wide Web software provides interactive multimedia on the Internet 641 X X-BAR syntax n see x-bar theory X-BAR theory n (in universal grammar) an approach to syntax, x-bar syntax, which attempts to show the general principles of language rather than deal with the structures of one particular language The syntax is based on four main lexical categories (see lexical category): verbs, nouns, adjectives and prepositions, which become the heads of phrases, e.g the noun dog becomes the head of the noun phrase The dog with black ears To show the structure within each phrase and within the phrase marker of the whole sentence, constituents are marked N, Nc, Ncc etc (see bar notation) 642 Y Yes-No question n see question young learners n in language teaching, children of pre-primary and primary school age Other second language learner age groups are referred to as adolescent learners, and adult learners 643 Z zero anaphora n a type of anaphora in which a form may be omitted because its referent (see reference) is known or can be guessed For example in: Kim went down town and met Kenji the verb met has a “zero” subject: neither a noun nor a pronoun appears as subject, but the referent “Kim” can be inferred zero article n see article zero morpheme n another term for null morpheme ZISA n abbreviation for Zweitspracherwerb Italienischer und Spanischer Arbeiter, an investigation of the acquisition of German by Italian and Spanish workers zone of proximal development n also ZPG in socio-cultural theory, the distance between what a learner can by himself or herself and what he or she can with guidance from a teacher or a more capable peer The theory assumes that learners use the techniques used during collaborative efforts when encountering similar problems in the future ZPG n an abbreviation for zone of proximal development z score n (in statistics) a standard score expressed in standard deviation units with a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one As the following formula for a z score shows: z= X-< SD where X = a raw score < = the mean SD = the standard deviation, a raw score is expressed in terms of the number of standard deviations it deviates from the mean Thus, a student with a z score -1.0 is one standard deviation below the mean 644