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CELTATerminology
SubmittedbyHeathon19April,201105:09
IrecallTeachingEnglishhadacollectionofpagesdefiningvariousELTterminology,butIcan'tfinditnow,andI'mnotsurewhichofthefollowingitincluded.SohereIdefine
afewCELTAterms.Inparticular,I'vechosenonesthatIhaveseenteachersforgetormixupthemostoften.Thereareonlyafewhopetheyhelp.Iwouldn'trecommendjust
readingthroughituseitforquickreferenceifyouforgetaparticularterm.Andnothingisinalphabeticalorder,soeitherscanthroughforkeywordsinboldorctrl+Fto
search.meaning,use,function,andconceptIhavetodealwiththesealtogether,becausetheyareessentiallythesamething.Meaning(theMinMPF)isthegeneralterm.
Theother3areuseddifferentlyfordifferenttypesoflanguage:conceptThisisusedtodescribethemeaningofanitemoflexis(vocabulary).Inawayitisthe'definition'ofa
newword.Thatsaid,conceptcanincludealotmorethanasimpledefinitionitincludesconnotations(isitpolite/impolite,positive/negative,etc),howitisdifferentfromits
synonyms(plumpdescribingapersoncanbeasynonymforfatbutsuggestsamoreroundappearance),thetypesofotherwordsitcanbeusedwith,eg.handsomeman,but
beautifulwoman,etc).Also,conceptscanbeconveyedinmanydifferentways.Theeasiestwaytoconveytheconceptfor'apple'forexample,istoactuallyshowsomeonea
realapple.Thesecondeasiestwaywouldbetoshowthemapictureofanapple.Adefinitionwouldbeoneoftheleasteffectiveways.Thiscanalsobeusedtodescribe
manygrammaticalstructuresanditems,butuseisoftenusedforthoseinstead.useThereasonuseisoftenpreferredtodescribethe'meaning'ofgrammaticalstructuresis
thatitiseasiertodescribethemeaninglikethis,forexample,"WeusePresentContinuoustotalkaboutfutureplanswhenthearrangementsforthoseplansweremadeinthe
past".Again,thedefinitionisn'tusuallyenough,andtheconcept/useofgrammaticalstructuresneedstobeconveyedthroughclearsituations(ie.inastoryofsomekind)and
withtheaidoftimelinesifrelevant.functionFunctionisusedintwoways.Thetwodifferentwayscanseemcontrastingattimes,butareactuallycloselylinked.Thefirstisto
describethemeaningoffunctionalexponents(expressionssimilartothoseinatourist'slanguageguidebook).Forexample,thefunctionof"Couldyoupassthesalt,please"
is'makingarequest'andthefunctionof"Iseeyourpoint,but..."is'disagreeing'.Thesecondistodistinguishthemeaningofagrammaticalstructurewhenitisn'tusedin
contextfromwhenithasacontextualisedpurposethatisdifferentfromitsbasicmeaning.Theclassicexampleis"It'sfreezinginhere"whichinbasicmeaningis"astatement
offact"(oneofseveralusesofPresentSimple),butwhenusedintherightsituationcanhavethefunctionof"askingforpermission(toclosethewindow)".Inbothcaseswhen
focusingonfunctionweusuallyusetermsintheingform(aboveyoucansee'makingarequest','disagreeing','askingforpermission'othercommonfunctionsinclude
'apologising','refusingpermission','expressingregrets','threatening','promising',etc).Allthreeoftheseterms,though,refertomeaning.(NOTform,whichistodowiththe
nameofgrammaticalstructures,thespellingofwords,wordorder,verbforms,howthesentenceismadeup,etc)CCQsandICQsThesetwoareverydifferent,buthavea
coupleofthingsincommonandthatcombinedwithlookingsimilar(andevenbeingassessedinthesamesyllabuscriteriaontheCELTA)leadsmostteacherstomixingthem
up.Soheretheyaresidebysidebyverydifferent.CCQstandsforConceptCheckingQuestion.Asseenabove,'concept'istodowithmeaning.CCQsareusedtocheck
understandingofthemeaningofwords,phrases,functionalexpressionsorgrammar.It'simportantnottoovervalueCCQsthough,asitistheconceptcheckingthatisthe
importantpart.Questionsarethemostcommonwaytocheckconcept,butsometimesthereareotherwaystocheckconceptthataremuchmoreeffective(eg.ifteaching
bodyparts,thenthebestwaytocheckunderstandingof'ear'wouldn'tbetoaskquestionslike"Howmanydoyouhave?"(2)and"Aretheyforlisteningortouching?"
(listening),itwouldbetohavetheSsusemime/gesture,"Touchyourears").ICQstandsforInstructionCheckingQuestion.Byinstructionwemean'instructionstoanexercise,
agame,anactivity,etc',ontheCELTAoftenreferredtoastasksetup.ICQsareusedtocheckthatstudentsunderstandhowtodoatask.ICQsshouldbecloselylinkedtothe
typeofactivityandshouldcheckthingsthatstudentsarelikelytodowrong.Theyareparticularlyimportantwhenusingataskthatissimilartoanothertask.Forexample,if
studentsdoalotofopengapfilltasks,andthenyousetaguidedgapfillinwhichtheyhavetochoosewordsfromtheboxbelow,theyareverylikelytoforgettousethebox
below.AgoodICQwouldbe"Canyouuseanywords?"(No.Onlythewordsinthebox.)Similarly,iftheyusuallydowritingtasksalone,butyoudecidetouseapeerwriting
task,thenusetheICQ,"Doyouworkaloneorinpairs?"(inpairs).OthertaskdependentICQsmightincludeQslike:Fora'describethepictureandyourpartnerdrawsit'task,
"Canyoushowyourpicturetoyourpartner?"(no)Fora'Describeyourdailyroutinetask'afterleadinginbytalkingaboutthedailyroutineofacoupleofcelebrities,whose
picturesarestillontheboard,"Doyoutalkaboutyourselforthecelebrities?"(yourself),etc.TTTTeacherTalkingTime.Thisisusuallyusednegatively,tosaytheteacher
talkstoomuch.Lecturingisnotonlytheleastenjoyableapproachtoteaching,it'stheleasteffectivewaytoteach.Peoplelearnbestwhentheyareactivelyinvolvedwhen
theyaredoingthings.Thisistrueinalllearning,butitisevenmoreimportantinlanguageteachingbecause,dependingonthelevelofthestudents,alargeamountofwhat
yousayisnotunderstood.Somtimesitisusedtodescribethetypeofteachertalk,too.Forexample,'gradingofTTT'isn'tnecessarilysuggestingthatateachertalkstoomuch,
justthatwhentheteacherdoestalk,thelevelofthelanguageusedistoohigh/complicatedforthosestudents.EchoEchoisusedtodescribewhenateacherrepeats
somethingastudentsaidfornovaluablereason.Assuch,repeatingduringpronunciationdrillsorrepeatingforthepurposeoferrorcorrectionarenot'echo'.Whenchecking
answerstoatask,elicitingwordsandideasinopenclasswork,chattingwithstudentsinformally,etc,thenrepeatingthemisecho.Compare:T:Whatcolouristhis?S:
Orange.T:Orange,yes,it'sorange.T:Howoldareyou?S:EIGHTyn.T:EighTEEN.Inthefirstitisecho.Intheseconditiscorrection.Echoisproblematicbecause:
1. It'snotnatural.
2. ItmissesagoodopportunitytoraisetheSsawarenesofcommunicationproblemsduetovoice,volume,etc.
3. ItcreatesanatmosphereinwhichSsdon'tneedtolistentoeachother,becausetheyknowtheteacherwillrepeatitanway.
4. Itcreatesafeelingof'nothingisrightuntiltheteacherconfirmsit'.
5. Studentsoftenassumeyouarerepeatingitbecausetheymadeamistake(andiftheydidn't,theymayovercorrectthemselvesandreallymakeamistake).
MPFMeaning,pronunciationandform.Meaningcoverstheconcepts,function,use,etc,ofgrammar,expressions,vocabulary(seemoreonmeaningabove).Forvocabulary
thisfairlyobvious,soherearesomeexamplesforgrammarandexpressions:
"Shecan'tcometothephonebecauseshe'splayingtennis."Totalkaboutatemporaryactionthatisinprogressatthetimeofspeaking.
"I'msureshe'dlovetomeetyou,butshe'splayingtennisthatday."Totalkaboutfutureplansinwhichthearrangementwasmadeatanearliertime.
"Ifyoutouchthat,it'llburnyou."Towarnsomebodynottodosomething.
"IfIgetthejob,I'llbesohappy."Totalkaboutapossiblefutureeventandtheeffectorresultofthatevent.
Don'tforgettherearemanydifferentwaystoconveyconceptincluding:pictures,mimeandgesture,situations,synonyms/antonyms,definitions,timelines,
etc.Pronunciationcoversbasicsounds,pronunciationofwords,sentencestress,connectedspeech,intonation,etc.Formcovershowsomethingiswritten,thetypesofverbs
used,thewordorder,thesentencestructure,etc.Formcoversdifferentthingsforwords,expressionsandgrammaticalstructures,butcanincludethingslike:
spelling
thepartofspeech(noun,verb,adjective,etctransitive/intransitve,countable/uncountable,etc)
typicalcollocationsandcommonsentencepatterns(eg.a+lake/river/pond,the+oceantell+somebodysomething,say+somethingtosomebody,talk+about
something/withsomebody)
theverbform(drive,drives,drove,driven,driving,etc)
thesentencestructure,includingthetechnicalnameandbreakdown(eg.in"She'splayingtennis"theformisPresentContinuouswhichismadeupofsubject+
am/is/are+Vingin"Ifyoutouchthat,it'llburnyou"and"IfIgetthejob,I'llbesohappy"theformisFirstConditionalwhichismadeupofif+subject1+presentsimple,
subject2+will+baseverb)
Don'tforget,thesameformcanoftenhaveverydifferentmeanings:
bank=aplacetogetmoneyorthesideofariver,andthereareotherpossibilitiestoo(eg.abloodbank,don'tbankonsomebodydoingsomething,etc).
"She'splayingtennis"=anactioninprogress,orafutureplan(inwhichthearrangementsweremadeinthepast),andthereareotherpossibilitiestoo(eg."Sheusually
attendspianolessonsTuesdayevenings,butthissummershe'splayingtennisinstead."=anactionthatisrepeatedaroundnow(butisn'tnecessarilyinprogressatthis
moment)).

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CELTATerminology|TeachingEnglish|BritishCouncil|BBC

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Celta(/category/tags/celta)
lexis(/category/tags/lexis)
use(/category/tags/use)
function(/category/tags/function)
concept(/category/tags/concept)
meaning(/category/tags/meaning)
CCQ(/category/tags/ccq)
ICQ(/category/tags/icq)
TTT(/category/tags/ttt)
echo(/category/tags/echo)
MPF(/category/tags/mpf)
MFP(/category/tags/mfp)
terminology(/category/tags/terminology)
technicalterms(/category/tags/technicalterms)
jargon(/category/tags/jargon)

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