Terminology

Revising ESL terms for teachers; Should you learn language terminology? - for students; Personal experience - Marina Maliar.

Jan 10

COMMON ESL TERMS

Every profession uses its jargon and teachers are not an exception. We need specific words to convey certain meanings and knowing them will save you time, where you would have to say full sentences otherwise. Whether you are new to teaching, have forgotten some words, or simply want to impress your colleagues in the next teachers’ meeting this article is here to help you revise some common ESL terminology!

CCQs

This acronym stands for Concept Checking Questions. The questions you ask your students to find out whether they have understood the concept - usually a word, phrase or rule.
When to use it? When you need to make sure you have got the message across, instead of asking “Do you have any questions?” or “Is everything clear?” (the answer will most certainly be yes or stunned silence, but the truth will be far from it).
How to use it? Ask Yes/No questions to put less pressure on your students. For instance, ask “Do we say when the action happened?” when talking about Present Perfect.

A similar term is ICQs - Instruction Checking Questions, used after explaining the task or instructions. Example: “Do you need to read the whole text?”, “Are you allowed to use the dictionary?”.

CHUNKS

Language chunks are phrases or collocations that are common in the language and are most frequently used by native-speakers. They are important to learn for fluency, because when we speak we tend to turn to conventional phrases instead of making them up on the go.
When to use it? Chunks are an essential part of the Lexical Approach.
How to use it? Focus on collocations when you do reading instead of single words, brainstorm different possible phrases with verbs you are teaching and even common grammatical structures such as “Have you ever” and “If I were you”.

COHERENCE

A common term in writing, this one means that the text is logically sound and well-organised, comprehensible. Cohesive devices are used to link parts of the text and ideas, for example linking words.
When to use it? When you teach writing or speaking skills. These will be relevant not only for students preparing for exams, but for virtually anyone.
How to use it? Provide clear structured plans for answers and essays with a few linking words and opening statements. For higher levels, more complex sentence structures, such as referencing and substitution, may be necessary to allow diversity.

DRILL, DRILLING

When you ask students to repeat what you have said or what they have heard you use drilling. This teaching device is used in pronunciation practice, to let students try out new phrases or sentences and to say new words themselves.
When to use it? After introducing new grammar or vocabulary.
How to use it? The most useful type of drilling is cue-response drill. You show your students a cue by indicating what we want them to say (show a picture or say the beginning of a phrase) and then the students take turns saying it. The cues will change and even students can give each other the cues. Most useful to practice Questions and Answers, third person singular, synonyms and antonyms, verb forms and others.

ELICITING

Before you introduce new aspects of the language, you need to find out what students know about it. Either used for revision, brainstorming or lead-in, eliciting is a powerful tool.
When to use it? At the beginning of the lesson and before teaching new information.
How to use it? Ask students to guess, brainstorm or remember what they already know about the topic. Images, spidergrams and tables can help organise the information you receive.

MINGLING

A type of activity where students walk around the classroom and talk to each other, just like you would at a party.
When to use it? When you want students to interact with each other and practice some language aspects as much as possible. Mingling helps students stretch a bit and breaks the tedious routine of the lesson.
How to use it? Information gap activities and Q/A types of tasks are perfectly combined with mingling. Simply ask your students to write a question and then go around the classroom collecting answers from as many people as possible.

SHADOWING

Speech shadowing is an advanced language learning technique. Students listen to a recording and repeat what is said with as little delay as possible, or “shadow” the speaker.
When to use it? Preparing for international exams such as IELTS or CPE, accent and pronunciation practice, but very rarely used in General English courses.
How to use it? Play a recording or a video and ask the student to copy the accent and intonation of the speaker. You should only use authentic materials with native speakers for this type of practice.

What terms do you usually use in your teaching practice? Did you know all of the above?

SHOULD YOU LEARN LANGUAGE TERMINOLOGY?

Language is the system of using words to communicate with other people. Specialized language has the same function but on a different level. Learning and dominating vocabulary of a domain would give us the opportunity to comprehend specific topics and communicate about them. For instance, for making conversations about politics we need to know the appropriate terms of the context to be able to utilize them in our discussions. If you are interested in reading articles about cinema or art, you first need to know the vocabulary of the domain.

Who requires terminology? Who needs to know about terminology?

The use of terminology starts from very simple occasions in our ordinary life and develops to the higher communicative levels. However, if terminology for non-professionals is an option, for specialists is a necessity!

Terminology plays an important role in the understanding of contexts and specialized texts. Understanding the intricate terminological details of the technical and scientific contexts helps students comprehend what the main message of the document is, and it helps specialists to transmit the content more effectively.

Terminology helps individuals realize the interaction between the units of specialized texts and the whole context which is often a subconscious mechanism of knowledge acquisition. It also develops interest in the formation of new words and terms.

How does terminology assist in improving our proficiencies?

Through studying terminology, specialists understand the function of various term formation mechanisms, how each mechanism affects the meaning and ways to effectively control the use of terminology in textual and oral productions. Translators have to study terminology to learn how terminological resources (i.e. term banks, glossaries, encyclopedic dictionaries, etc.) can be employed to make more consistent and coherent translations. Documentalists rely on the study of terminology to learn how terminological activities affect and improve their knowledge and how can facilitate the classifications, indexing, cataloging and many other tasks in which they are involved principally.

Nevertheless, the study of terminology and the application of the terminology knowledge in our professions is recognized much broader than these above-mentioned examples. It goes much further and involves some specialties that we cannot imagine easily.

How does terminology contribute to language development?

Studying terminology is the foundation of all subject fields. Apart from creating solutions to the terminological difficulties and the challenges many specialists or non-specialists face, it paves the way for the development of the languages and terminology that improves the quality of communications, either internationally or nationally. Without studying terminology, technicians and specialists would probably never realize how important protecting and maintaining a language is for communicative purposes and cultural identity.

Additionally, studying terminology enhances the use of national or local languages by raising awareness about the probable communicative and cognitive challenges the use of foreign languages would bring about.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

I am Marina Maliar, and I’ve been teaching English for about 5 years. Mainly my students were adults, who had learned English at school or university and knew a thing or two about grammar rules. But that doesn’t help them to actually start using it for their own purposes.

Personally, I find teaching linguistic terms unnecessary. Normally students come to my classes to learn how to use English in their everyday life, to learn a new skill that would help them benefit in life more. Their lack of knowledge in this case is an obstacle that limits their freedom and abilities. Numerous terms might become another obstacle, another thing to consider before they start to speak, and this way learners are further and further away from their goal. My motto is - fluency before accuracy. First they start using the language, then they might want to focus on theory. This is why, when I present grammar, I mostly simplify, try to help students see the meaning of the grammar item, come clear with the form and start enriching their speech with the new item. Keeping things practical, implementing the rules and structures soon enough after they were learned, exploring the language through practical usage - this is something that really inspires me.

However, some students are really passionate about languages and linguistics; they are eager to learn grammar from a theoretical point of view. This eagerness is of course a blessing for every teacher, and in this case I would definitely spend more time on discussing language terms. Yet knowing the sophisticated linguistic words and operating the concepts is never compulsory in my classes.

I’m not saying that I avoid teaching terms, but the classroom time is really precious. And frankly speaking, I’d rather spend it helping students master skills, than getting their teeth into theory. It’s practice that makes perfect, not speculation on how to practice correctly.

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