Glossary by Diego Dorantes

Bilinguilism

kale19sid — 2025-06-26 15:56:05 UTC

Bilingualism refers to people who are able to use the four language skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) in a language other than their native one. This can be acquired as a second language or as a foreign language. This can be used as a repertoire to communicate.

Stephen Krashen, Ofelia Garcia

Materials

kale19sid — 2025-06-26 16:08:05 UTC

Materials are everything used to teach and support students to get an effective learning. They can be traditional (e.g., books, magazines) or digital (e.g., presentations, videos).

Good materials must support the course goals, be adaptable to students’ needs, and provide meaningful context.

Brian Tomlinson, Jack C. Richards

Skills

kale19sid — 2025-06-26 16:08:23 UTC

There are four main language skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. These skills give students opportunities to use the target language in meaningful contexts.

They are divided into two types: receptive skills (listening and reading) and productive skills (speaking and writing).

Language skills should be applied according to the context and the learners’ language level.

David Numan, Jack C. Richards

Innatism theory

kale19sid — 2025-06-26 16:08:36 UTC

This theory was first proposed by the philosopher Plato. It refers to the idea that humans have the natural capacity to acquire knowledge innately, without needing direct instruction.

Centuries later, Noam Chomsky applied this idea to language acquisition. According to his theory, all people are born with an innate ability to acquire one or more languages naturally through exposure and interaction, rather than through formal learning.

Plato, Noam Chomsky

Acquisition of a language.

kale19sid — 2025-06-26 16:10:36 UTC

Language acquisition is the process of naturally acquiring a language through daily communication. This is how children learn their first language. The rules of language acquisition are often considered to be innate.

Noam Chomshy, Stephen Krashen

Classroom interaction

kale19sid — 2025-06-26 16:17:29 UTC

This refers to the interaction between teacher and students or among students themselves. In the second language teaching-learning process, classroom interaction focuses on how these exchanges influence L2 acquisition. One of the most common patterns is known as IRF (Initiation–Response–Feedback).

Sinclair and Coulthard.

Linguistic competence

kale19sid — 2025-06-26 16:20:46 UTC

This refers to a speaker's unconscious knowledge of the rules of a language, mainly focusing on grammar. For example, native speakers can hear a sentence they’ve never heard before and still understand it because they know the grammatical system.

After years Dell Hymes said the linguistic competence shouldn't focus just in grammar, the context also is important.

Noam Chomsky, Dell Hymes

Facilitator

kale19sid — 2025-06-26 16:26:27 UTC

This refers to the teacher’s role. As the word suggests, the teacher must facilitate second language learning. The teacher provides students with the necessary resources and support to help them develop their knowledge. Depending on the situation, the teacher may take on different roles, but the main objective is always to facilitate learning.

Harmer, J. - Brown, H. Douglas.

Task-based language teaching

kale19sid — 2025-06-26 16:27:31 UTC

This is a language teaching approach where learning occurs through communicative tasks based on real-life situations.

Tasks should reflect authentic contexts, have clear purposes, and focus on meaning.

David nunan, Rod Ellis

Objectives

kale19sid — 2025-06-26 16:28:00 UTC

Objectives are specific statements that describe what learners are expected to achieve. They are often classified into three domains: "cognitive (knowledge), affective (attitudes), and psychomotor (skills)". To write effective objectives, teachers use Bloom’s Taxonomy, which helps ensure that objectives are clear, measurable, and progressively challenging.

Objectives vary depending on the teaching approach, and they shouldn't be confused with goals, which are broader and more general.

Benjamin Bloom, Jack C. Richards

Approach

tonyhernandez210905 — 2025-06-26 21:18:41 UTC

It refers to the theoretical principles and fundamental ideas about how language is learned and taught. Different types of learning theories can be used.

Richards and Rodgers

Behaviourism

tonyhernandez210905 — 2025-06-26 21:29:36 UTC

It is based on the idea that learning is an observable change in behavior, acquired through the reinforcement of correct responses and the correction of incorrect ones.

Ivan Pavlov and Edward Thorndike

Constructivism

tonyhernandez210905 — 2025-06-26 21:30:48 UTC

Emphasis is placed on meaningful learning through experience, collaboration, problem-solving, and the construction of meaning through interaction with the environment and others. The teacher acts as a facilitator, guiding the learning process rather than simply transmitting information.

Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky

Feedback

tonyhernandez210905 — 2025-06-26 21:31:23 UTC

It is the information that the teacher provides to students about their performance in a task or activity and serves to guide learning and improve future performance.

John Hattie and Helen Timperley

Input

tonyhernandez210905 — 2025-06-26 21:31:57 UTC

Innate capacity, students who receive information at the moment

Stephen Krashen and Jhon B.Carroll

Lesson planning

tonyhernandez210905 — 2025-06-26 21:32:28 UTC

It involves setting clear learning objectives, selecting appropriate materials, and sequencing activities to maximize student learning.

Littlewood and Willis

Method

tonyhernandez210905 — 2025-06-26 21:32:50 UTC

An organized and systematic approach to language teaching and learning, based a particular and specific theories of language acquisition and pedagogical principles

Richards and Rodgers

Observation

tonyhernandez210905 — 2025-06-26 21:34:05 UTC

This allows the teacher to assess comprehension, fluency, accuracy, and other language skills naturally, collecting qualitative data on their performance.

Black and Wiliam

Syllabus

tonyhernandez210905 — 2025-06-26 21:34:35 UTC

Criteria for selection and organization of lingüístic and subject-matter content.

David Littlewood and Wilga Rivers

Technique

tonyhernandez210905 — 2025-06-26 21:35:07 UTC

Refers to a specific method or procedure used to teach or learn a particular aspect of the language.

Techniques are adaptable to the level of the learner and the learning context.

Doug Lemov and Theodore Rodgers