Essential English Language Teaching Terminology

Key Terms Starting with E

• Elicit: To get students to produce language or ideas instead of giving them directly.
• Engaged: When students are interested, focused, and involved in the lesson.
• Engaging: Activities or materials that attract students’ interest and attention.
• Exposure: Contact with the language through listening or reading.
• Extensive listening: Listening for pleasure or general understanding, usually outside class.
• Extensive reading: Reading for pleasure or general information at an appropriate level.
• Extrinsic motivation: Motivation that comes from external rewards or pressures (e.g., exams, grades).

Key Terms Starting with F

• Feedback: Information given to students about their performance to help them improve.
• Fill in: Activity where students complete gaps with correct words or forms.
• Find someone who…: Speaking activity where students ask questions to find classmates who match criteria.
• Fluency: Ability to communicate smoothly without hesitation.
• Follow-up task: Activity done after a main task to extend or reinforce learning.
• Formal operational: Stage of development where learners can think abstractly (Piaget).
• Formative: Type of assessment used to support and improve learning.
• Formative assessment: Ongoing assessment that helps students improve during learning.

Key Terms Starting with G

• Gap fills: Exercises where students complete missing words in sentences or texts.
• Genres: Types of texts or communication (e.g., stories, reports, emails).
• Gist: The general idea or main meaning of a text.
• Graded readers: Books adapted to different language levels for learners.
• Grammar syllabus: A syllabus organized around grammatical structures.
• Grammar-translation: Method focused on grammar rules and translation.

Course and Classroom Materials

• Course: A period of study with a defined syllabus and objectives.
• Coursebook: Book used in class with materials and activities.
• Coursebook dialogues: Conversations in textbooks used for practice.
• Cross-curricular: Connecting different subjects in learning.
• Cue: A prompt that helps students respond or produce language.
• Cue-response drill: Drill where students respond to prompts with correct language.