TESOL
Backwash effect
"反拨效应"(backwash effect)指语言测试对教与学带来的冲击和影响,同时还指语言测试对课程设置、教育者以及人才培养等所带来不可低估的影响。 有好也有不好。
KSA
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (or sometimes "Attitudes")
annotation
(n.) a critical or explanatory note or comment, especially for a literary work e.g. it could be found with explanatory annotations
Discrete point testing vs. Integrative testing
*Discrete point testing* refers to the testing of one element at a time, item by item. This might, for example, take the form of a series of items, each testing a particular grammatical structure. *Integrative testing*, by contrast,requires the candidate to combine many language elements in the completion of a task. This might involve writing a composition, making notes while listening to a lecture, taking a dictation, or completing a cloze passage. Clearly this distinction is not unrelated to that between indirect and direct testing. Discrete point tests will almost always be indirect,while integrative tests will tend to be direct. However, some integrative testing methods, such as the cloze procedure, are indirect.
test vs. assessment vs. evaluation
*Evaluation* is the assessment of measurement or performance. it involves making qualitative judgments about people or events, and we may use measurements to help us evaluate, but it isn't necessary that we do so. *measurement without a test* In many educational contexts, teachers give grades at various times during the school year to let students, parents and administrators know what progress is being made. For example, the teacher may draw on a number of sources of information, including performance on classroom exercises, homework assignments and out-ofclass projects, to rank students and assign grades. The grades may be letters - A, B, C, and so on - or numbers - 50 per cent, 7/10, etc. - but the act of ordering students along some kind of scale constitutes a type of evaluative measurement, although, again, no test may have been involved
foreward vs. preface vs. introduction
*Foreword* is a short piece of writing found at the start of the book or piece of literature and written *by someone other than the primary author* of the literature. The foreword basically talks about the interaction or relationship between the author of the book and the author of the foreword. A *preface* is a short piece of literature that is *written by the author* of the book or paper himself. It talks about how the story of the book came into being and how the idea of the story came to the author. An* introduction* is the beginning section of a literature written by the author that states the purpose and goals of the writing the literature.
requisite
*adj.* [only before noun] (formal) 必需的;必备的;必不可少的 necessary for a particular purpose She lacks the requisite experience for the job. *noun* ~ (for/of sth) (formal) 必需的事物 something that you need for a particular purpose A university degree has become a requisite for entry into most professions.
Norm-referenced testing versus criterion-referenced testing
*norm referenced*relates one candidate's performance to that of other candidates.We are not told directly what the student is capable of doing in the language. in cases where we learn nothing about how the individual's performance compares with that of other candidates, rather we learn something about what he or she can actually do in the language are said to be *criterion-referenced* while its content might be based on a similar analysis, is not so restricted. The Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency, for instance, has multiple choice grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension components. A candidate's score on the test does not tell us directly what his or her English ability is in relation to the demands that would be made on it at an English medium university. To know this, we must consult a table which makes recommendations as to the academic load that a student with that score should be allowed to carry, this being based on experience over the years of students with similar scores, not on any meaning in the score itself. In the same way, university administrators have learned from experience how to interpret TOEFL scores and to set minimum scores for their own institutions. The fact that these minimum scores can be thought of as criterial for entry does not, however, make the TOEFL criterion-referenced.
over-extension vs. under-extension
*over-extension:* a feature of child's language where the word used to label something is 'stretched' to include things that aren't normally part of that word's meaning for example, a child uses "dog" to mean other 4-legged animals *under-extension:* when children define words more narrowly than adults do for example, a child uses" dog" to only mean her pet dog.
phonetics vs. phonology vs. phonics
*phonetics* is the study of the sounds of human language. This means a classification of all the sounds produced in every language spoken on Earth. The only place phonetics has in language teaching is the consideration of sounds which learners may find difficult due to interference from the sounds of their first language(s). Thinking about the sounds of learners' native languages helps us to make comparisons with the sounds of English, and to work towards a set of target sounds which may cause problems across languages. By contrast, *phonology* is the study of the sounds in a particular language. Every language has its own set of sounds (or phonemes), which can be combined to pronounce any word in that language. By examining the phonology of different languages (as suggested above), we can start to think about why our students have problems producing specific English sounds. A good starting point to start thinking about the sounds of different languages is a Wikipedia search for (language) phonology, e.g. for Cantonese or Spanish. Looking at similarities and differences between the phonologies of different languages can help us to identify issues such as 'L1 transfer', where the sounds in a learner's native language cross over into English, causing meaningful problems for listeners (for example the famous l/r confusion in Japanese and Korean-speakers' English - Japanese phonology contains a phoneme which is somewhere between the English /l/ and /r/ sounds, so there is no meaningful difference if the sound is pronounced as /l/ or /r/. This assumption is transferred to English, meaning that the difference between the words 'long' and 'wrong' may not be automatically produced in the learner's English. Another phonological issue for learners can be the physical complexity of a sound in English which does not exist in the learner's first language. For example, very few languages contain the 'th' sounds in the words 'there' and 'think'. The way these sounds are formed, forcing air through the tongue and teeth (and in the former example, also using the voice) is effortful and can even be seen as rude in some cultures (it involves sticking out your tongue). For this reason, 'th' sounds are often produced as 't' or 'd', or even 's' or 'z' sounds as a way of reducing effort. This is even true in many accents of English, where 'th' becomes 't' or 'd' (Irish, West Indian and Indian English), or 'f' and 'v' (in South-East British English). This way of breaking down sounds and thinking about the different ways they are pronounced in different regions can help us to isolate points to work on in class. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a collection of phonemic (sound) symbols, organised by language, which enables teachers and learners to standardise their pronunciation by identifying and contrasting specific sounds which are present in the language they are studying. On an IPA chart of a specific language, symbols representing the sounds of the language (phonemes symbols) are arranged in such a way as to show how they are pronounced and what features they share. The most useful IPA of English was produced by Adrian Underhill, and condenses the full range of English sounds into the 44 most distinct sounds in English, which can be used to communicate any word understandably to any speaker of English. The main sticking point with phonemic symbols is that many of them do not resemble letters, so learning the IPA requires learners (and teachers) to learn a whole new alphabet in order to accurately relate sounds to spellings. This is a hard task for adults, so this system cannot realistically be used with younger learners who are still getting to grips with the English alphabet itself. Although the word *'phonics*'(自然拼读) sounds similar to the words 'phonetics' and 'phonology, it is actually a system for relating sounds to spellings in order to develop reading and writing skills. The phonics system contains 42 'letter sounds' which relate to the most common spelling patterns in English, and use letter combinations to relate sounds to spellings. These letter sounds should not be confused with the phoneme symbols used in the IPA. Although phonics can be used to teach pronunciation, it is mainly used for 'sounding out' words at early stages of language development for relating sounds and spellings. The main limitation of any system that relates sounds and spellings in English is that a huge number of very common words (which are often taught at early stages) contain very irregular and unpredictable spellings. It is estimated that around 80% of English words have predictable spellings based on how they are spoken, but working from the written word to the spoken form (as happens in reading out loud, or sounding out new words when learning to read) causes significant problems in this area. Silent letters, combinations of letters sounding different to their individual letters (as in wh- questions, ch- and sh- spellings) can be very confusing if addressed from writing into sound.
inform
1 VERB 通知;告知 If you inform someone of something, you tell them about it. They would inform him of any progress they had made... 2 VERB 告发;检举 If someone * informs on a person*, they give information about the person to the police or another authority, which causes the person to be suspected or proved guilty of doing something bad. Somebody must have informed on us... *3 [VN] (formal) 对...有影响 * to have an influence on sth Religion informs every aspect of their lives. e.g. Decisions that we subsequently make about peoples' lives may be informed to a greater or lesser degree by the test performance, but fundamentally the principle is that language test results are always suspect (不可信的) and that all information available should be drawn upon when making language-related decisions.
underlie
1VERB 为...的起因;构成...的基础If something underlies a feeling or situation, it is the cause or basis of it. Try to figure out what feeling underlies your anger e.g. Indirect testing attempts to measure the abilities that underlie the skills in which we are interested.
override
1(以权力)否决,推翻,不理会 to use your authority to reject sb's decision, order, etc. 同义词: overrule The chairman overrode the committee's objections and signed the agreement. 2比...更重要;凌驾 to be more important than sth Considerations of safety override all other concerns. e.g. other information, extenuating circumstances, may override or mitigate the information provided by the test. test要考虑个别学生的特殊情况,比如不舒服,家里有不好的消息导致考试差 3超驰控制,超控(使自动控制暂时失效,改用手工控制) to stop a process that happens automatically and control it yourself A special code is needed to override the time lock
residency vs. residence
A residence is the place one resides, residency is the state or condition of residing somewhere.
insurmountable
ADJ 无法解决的;难以克服的;不可逾越的A problem that is insurmountable is so great that it cannot be dealt with successfully. The crisis doesn't seem like an insurmountable problem. e.g. In fact these reliability problems are by no means insurmountable, as we shall see in Chapters 9 and 10.
orthography
An orthography is a standardized system for using a particular writing system (script) to write a particular language. It includes rules of spelling.
computer adaptvie testing
Computer adaptive testing offers a potentially more efficient way ofcollecting information on people's ability. All candidates are presented initially with an item of average difficulty. Those who respond correctlyare presented with a more difficult item; those who respond incorrectly are presented with an easier item. The computer goes on in this way to present individual candidates with items that are appropriate for their apparent level of ability (as estimated by their performance on previous items), raising or lowering the level of difficulty until a dependable estimate of their ability is achieved. This dependable estimate, which will normally be arrived at after collecting responses to a relatively small number of items, is based on statistical analysis (item response theory) which most language teachers may find daunting but which is presented briefly in Appendix 1. it is perhaps worth noting that oral interviews are typically a form of adaptive testing, with the interviewer's prompts and language being adapted to the apparent level of the candidate.
realia
Concrete objects from the everyday world used during instruction to make input comprehensible. n. 实物教具(用于教学的日常用品)
zone of proximal development
In Vygotsky's theory, the range between children's present level of knowledge and their potential knowledge state if they recieve proper guidance and instruction (the difference between what children can do with assistance and what they can do alone) i+1 和
indirect measurement
Indirect measurement is used routinely in science when an object of interest is too small or inaccessible to measure directly. In a language test, we direct language input at test takers and infer qualities of language ability based on the outcome, or language performance. Language ability is thus rather like the proverbial 'black box,' where we can observe the input - test instructions and questions, for example - and the output - test takers' responses - and then make inferences about the nature of the system that produced the output.
ape
N-COUNT 无尾猿;类人猿;猿Apes are chimpanzees, gorillas, and other animals in the same family. ...the theory that man is descended from the apes. 2VERB 模仿;学...的样子If you ape someone's speech or behaviour, you imitate it. Modelling yourself on someone you admire is not the same as aping all they say or do. e.g. The good test is an obedient servant since it follows and apes the teaching 3PHRASE 怒不可遏;暴跳如雷If someone *goes ape*, they become very angry and upset. When Colonel Harper found out, he would go ape.
phraseology
N-UNCOUNT 用语;措词 If something is expressed using a particular type of phraseology, it is expressed in words and expressions of that type. This careful phraseology is clearly intended to appeal to various sides of the conflict. e.g. She would communicate with an actual pilot (not necessarily fl ying anactual plane) to guide a plane in for a landing, and her performance would be rated for her use of standardised phraseology, pronunciation, fluency and appropriate use of air traffi c control communication procedures.
proficiency test
Proficiency tests are designed to measure people's ability in a language,regardless of any training they may have had in that language. The content of a proficiency test, therefore, is not based on the content or objectives of language courses that people taking the test may have followed. Rather, it is based on a specification of what candidates have to be able to do in the language in order to be considered proficient.This raises the question of what we mean by the word 'proficient' it measures KSA compared to other SLA and native speakers it's a test of general ability, not a specific data that you are measuring, so the TOEFL test would be that type of a test. You 're measuring you against what a native speaker would be or against everybody who's studying english would be Proficiency tests are usually intended to help us make predictions about what learners will be able to do with the language in communicative situations outside the classroom. For example, a test of academic German proficiency can be useful in judging whether a learner has an adequate command of the language to enable her to study history at a university in Berlin
telegraphic speech
Telegraphic speech is the term for a simplified form of speech used during the early stages of language acquisition. In this form of language, sentences are formed of simple word combinations, usually basic nouns and verbs. like "Daddy go" "go car"
direct testing vs. indirect testing
Testing is said to be direct when it requires the candidate to perform precisely the skill that we wish to measure. If we want to know how well candidates can write compositions, we get them to write compositions.If we want to know how well they pronounce a language, we get them to speak. Indirect testing attempts to measure the abilities that underlie the skills in which we are interested. One section of the TOEFL, for example, was developed as an indirect measure of writing ability. It contains items of the following kind where the candidate has to identify which of the underlined elements is erroneous or inappropriate in formal standard English:At first(下划线) the old woman seemed unwilling to accept (下划线)anything that was offered her by my friend and I(下划线).While the ability to respond to such items has been shown to be related statistically to the ability to write compositions (although the strength of the relationship was not particularly great), the two abilities are far from being identical. Another example of indirect testing is Lado's(1961) proposed method of testing pronunciation ability by a paper and pencil test in which the candidate has to identify pairs of words which rhyme with each other.Perhaps the main appeal of indirect testing is that it seems to offer the possibility of testing a representative sample of a finite number of abilities which underlie a potentially indefinite large number of manifestations of them.
syntax n. syntactic
The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language. ( the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences)句法 syntax focuses on word order. Syntax is a subset of grammar and grammar is the entire system of rules
semantics
The branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words, their historical and psychological development, their connotations, and their relation to one another.
Objective testing versus subjective testing
The distinction here is between methods of scoring, and nothing else. If no judgement is required on the part of the scorer, then the scoring is objective. A multiple choice test, with the correct responses unambiguously identified, would be a case in point. If judgement is called for, the scoring is said to be subjective. There are different degrees of subjectivity in testing.
genuine vs. authentic
The notion of genuineness is a property of a spoken or written text and results from the text having been produced in an actual communicative situation. So, a restaurant menu such as the one shown above would be a genuine text, having been produced by the restaurant for the use of hungry diners.and in their response to it would also consider it authentic, authenticity being a quality associated with appropriate response to piece of communication.The diners would scan the menu for something that would satisfy their appetites and order a pleasant meal. Thus, in the restaurant, the menu would be both genuine and authentic.We language teachers, however, might take the menu out of the restaurant for use in our language classroom as a piece of realia for our students to practise ordering food in Japanese. It would still be a genuine menu, but for our students, would their response to it be authentic? Probably not, since they would not be in a restaurant, there would be no hungry diners or servers, no real food to order. From the students' point of view, the setting is a classroom, the participants are a teacher and learners, and the ends involve language learning. So, genuineness travels well, but authenticity is more difficult to achieve.
achievement test
They are of two kinds: *final achievement tests* and *progress achievement tests*. In the view of some testers, the content of a final achievement test should be based directly on a detailed course syllabus or on the books and other materials used. This has been referred to as the *syllabus content approach*. It has an obvious appeal, since the test only contains what it is thought that the students have actually encountered, and thus can be considered, in this respect at least, a fair test. The disadvantage is that if the syllabus is badly designed, or the books and other materials are badly chosen, the results of a test can be very misleading. The alternative approach is to base the test content directly on the objectives of the course. This has a number of advantages. First, it compels course designers to be explicit about objectives. Secondly, it makes it possible for performance on the test to show just how far students have achieved those objectives. This in turn puts pressure on those responsible for the syllabus and for the selection of books and materials to ensure that these are consistent with the course objectives.*Tests based on objectives* work against the perpetuation of poor teaching practice, something which course-content-based tests, almost as if part of a conspiracy, fail to do. It is my belief that to base test content on course objectives is much to be preferred; it will provide more accurate Testing for language teachers information about individual and group achievement,and it is likely to promote a more beneficial backwash effect on teaching.Now it might be argued that to base test content on objectives rather than on course content is unfair to students. If the course content does not fit well with objectives, they will be expected to do things for which they have not been prepared. In a sense this is true. But in another sense it is not. If a test is based on the content of a poor or inappropriate course, the students taking it will be misled as to the extent of their achievement and the quality of the course. Whereas if the test is based on objectives, not only will the information it gives be more useful, but there is less chance of the course surviving in its present unsatisfactory form. Initially some students may suffer, but future students will benefit from the pressure for change. The long-term interests of students are best served by final achievement tests whose content is based on course objectives The reader may wonder at this stage whether there is any real difference between final achievement tests and proficiency tests. If a test is based on the objectives of a course, and these are equivalent to the language needs on which a proficiency test is based, there is no reason to expect a difference between the form and content of the two tests. Two things have to be remembered, however. First, objectives and needs will not typically coincide in this way. Secondly, many achievement tests are not in fact based on course objectives. These facts have implications both for the users of test results and for test writers. Test users have to know on what basis an achievement test has been constructed, and be aware of the possibly limited validity and applicability of test scores. Test writers, on the other hand, must create achievement tests that reflect the objectives of a particular course, and not expect a general proficiency test (or some imitation of it) to provide a satisfactory alternative achievement tests are based on the actual material learners have been studying or upon commonly agreed understandings of what students should have learned after a course of study. measures KSA of material directly taught in the course Such tests caninform administrators, for example, that learners are making adequate progress and that teachers are doing their job
outstrip
VERB 超过;胜过 If one thing outstrips another, the first thing becomes larger in amount, or more successful or important, than the second thing. In the mid-eighteenth century the production of food far outstripped the rise in population... e.g. the demand for education outstrips the government's ability to provide it.
put the cart before the horse
To do things out of the proper order. Starting the fundraiser before we know how much we need is putting the cart before the horse. e,g, language tests are about language ability, not job performance. It is important to keep the horse before the cart: language tests allow us first to make inferences about language ability; secondarily, such inferences may become input, one piece of evidence in a decision-making process that may involve a number of other characteristics, such as industriousness, personality, prior experience, etc.
emulate vs. imitate
VERB (因为钦慕而)仿效,模仿 If you emulate something or someone, you imitate them because you admire them a great deal. Sons are traditionally expected to emulate their fathers. e.gl. We might even imitate the voice of a speaker we wished either to emulate or to ridicule. *emulate vs. imitate :* Imitate means to try to be the same as. Emulate means to try to be as good as or better than. emulation is a higher state of imitation
give and take vs. give or take
give and take=compromise,willingness to accept suggestions from another person and give up some of your own give or take=大约
register
[C, U] (linguistics 语言) (适合特定场合使用的)语体风格,语域 the level and style of a piece of writing or speech, that is usually appropriate to the situation that it is used in The essay suddenly switches from a formal to an informal register.
extemporaneous
[ikˌstempəˈrānēəs] ADJECTIVE spoken or done without preparation. "an extemporaneous speech" e.g. give an extemporaneous lecture
lexicon
[sing.] (linguistics 语言) (某语言或学科、某人或群体使用的)全部词汇 all the words and phrases used in a particular language or subject; all the words and phrases used and known by a particular person or group of people the lexicon of finance and economics 2 [C] (某学科或语言的)词汇表 a list of words on a particular subject or in a language in alphabetical order a lexicon of technical scientific terms 3 [C] (尤指希腊语或希伯来语等古代语言的)词典,字典 a dictionary, especially one of an ancient language, such as Greek or Hebrew
aptitude
a natural ability to do something 同义词: talent She showed a natural aptitude for the work. an aptitude test His aptitude for dealing with children got him the job.
morphology
a study and description of word formation( inflection, derivation and compounding)
longitudinal study
a study that observes the same participants on many occasions over a long period of time
Matalinguistic awareness
ability to objectify language as a process as well as an artifact. ability to think and discuss language awareness of others as listeners and an ability to recognize significant details that indicate changes in speech. basically* knowledge about the language*
Acquisition vs Learning
acquisition: unconscious learning learning: conscious/purposeful/ intentional learning
lexical
adj. (linguistics 语言) 词汇的 connected with the words of a language e.g. lexical items 词项 Language threshold for reading is largely lexical How many words do you need to know in order to read a text? 1)98% of words need to be known for independent reading(optimal threshold) 2)95% of words need to be known for minimally acceptable comprehension(minimal threshold) 3)high frequency words accounts for 80% of running text 4)academic words: 9%-10% of an academic text 5) technical words( words that are very closely related to the topic and subject area of a text) :20-30% of the words in a text 6)low frequency words: there are thousands of these: they form the largest group of words 7)need up to 8000 word families to reach minimal threshold (95%) for comprehension 8)first few thousand words could be learned through explicit/intentional vocab learning 9)remaining words: through implicit/ incidental vocab learning 10)incidental learning can best occur if learners are familiar with at least 95%(but preferably 98% ) of the running words in the input they are focusing on. 11)***How often does a learner need to see a word during reading in order to remember it? 8-10 occurrences!!!
ascend v. ascending adj.
adj. (次序)上升的,渐进的 v. 上升;升高;登高 e.g. In most paper and pencil tests, the candidate is presented with all theitems, usually in ascending order of difficulty.
unbeknownst
adj. 未知的;不为人知的 It is also possible that participants might have different goals unbeknownst to each other - what we refer to as 'talking at cross purposes' - or that the goals are unclear to at least one of the parties involved, resulting in some degree of disfl uency no doubt.
lemma
base + inflected forms
word cline
cline=a continuum with an infinite number of gradations from one extreme to the other sniffle weep cry wail 按程度划分
cloze
cloze完型的,填充测试法的 a cloze test interactive cloze (gap-fill) task
intercultural communication
communication that occurs in interactions between people who are culturally different 跨文化间交流
cooing
early vowel-like sounds that babies produce (babies between 6 to 8weeks)
solicit vs elicit
elicit - to bring out, to extract, draw out (information) from a person by interrogation; solicit - to seek after; to try to find, obtain, or acquire. I think both terms speak of gaining information, but elicit carries a sense of trying to come by information without making it obvious what you are doing or what information you are really seeking, while solicit is just a straightforward request.
placement test
entrance test that measures proficiency for placement in the program
equidistant
equally distant ADJ 等距的 e.g. , the intervals between the units are not alwaysequal along the scale. A number of agencies in the US government use a well-knownlanguage proficiency scale that goes from 'elementary' to 'native' in only five steps. It is much easier to get from elementary to the next level ('limited proficiency') than it is to get from 'full professional proficiency' to 'native proficiency'. The intervals are not equidistant.
not least
especially(强调某一例证或原因)尤其是,特别是 The contemporary phenomenon of motor-car worship is to be explained not least by the sense of independence and freedom that ownership entails. e.g. The view taken in this book, and argued for in Chapter 6, is that criterion-referenced tests are often to be preferred, not least for the beneficial backwash effect they are likely to have.
recapitulation [ˌriːkəpɪtʃuˈleɪʃn]
formal writing for "recap" a concise summary 再现 e.g. A recapitulation under a separate heading would therefore be redundant.
inflected adj. inflection n.
gramatical marker added to n. v. adj. adv that adds meaning to the root. inflection or inflected form is a process of word formation, in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood,and definiteness.
concurrent
happening at the same time并存的;同时发生的 Galerie St. Etienne is holding three concurrent exhibitions The prison sentences will run concurrently. 所判的几个刑期合并执行。
cognate
having a common origin; related linguistically; allied by blood; similar or akin in nature; Ex. cognate languages; N. 同源(词) (of a word) having the same linguistic derivation as another; from the same original word or root( e.g. English is, German ist, Latin est from Indo-European esti)
Morpheme
in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix) the students walked 1 2(s也算一个) 2(ed也算)
holophrastic speech
in the early stages of language acquisition, the young child's use of single words to convey complete thoughts (car, go, daddy) e.g. at the holophrastic stage
formulaic sequences (or expressions)
is a sequence, continuous or discontinous, of words or other elements, which is, or appears to be, prefabricated: that is stored and retrieved whole from memory at the time of use, rather than being subject to generation or analysis by the language grammar examples: behind close doors, see someone to the door, slam the door in your face, through the back door
vocabulary thermometer
laugh (good/pleasant) giggle (neutral) sneer(bad/unpleasant) jeer (negative)
diagnostic test
measures KSA to identify strengths/weaknesses/language level
aptitude test
measures the likelihood of language learning success
negation
noun (formal) 1[C, usually sing., U] 反面;对立面;否定( the exact opposite of sth; the act of causing sth not to exist or to become its opposite This political system was the negation of democracy. 课堂:儿童学No 的时候就在学negation 2[U] 否定;拒绝 disagreement or refusal She shook her head in negation.
stakeholder
noun 1 (某组织、工程、体系等的)参与人,参与方;有权益关系者 a person or company that is involved in a particular organization, project, system, etc., especially because they have invested money in it The government has said it wants to create a stakeholder economy in which all members of society feel that they have an interest in its success. 2. 股东
dyslexia n. dyslexic adj.
noun [U] 阅读困难 a slight disorder of the brain that causes difficulty in reading and spelling, for example, but does not affect intelligence 【派生词】dyslexic adj. He's dyslexic. 他患诵读困难症。 【派生词】dyslexic noun writing courses for dyslexics
corollary [ˈkɔːrəleri]
noun 【不规则形式】 pl. -ies ~ (of/to sth) (formal or technical 术语) 必然的结果(或结论) a situation, an argument or a fact that is the natural and direct result of another one blind jealousy is a frequent corollary of passionate love e.g. if we wish to generalise in other words - we need to have provided the test takers with sufficient contextual information to make it likely that the context they imagined themselves to be a part of is close to the one the test developers intended and the one score users have in mind as they interpret the results as evidence for whatever decisions they wish to make. One corollary to this principle: what really counts in setting up contexts in language tests is not so much the contextual cues provided by the test developers, but rather the test takers' internal interpretations of those contextual cues.
synopsis [sɪˈnɑːpsɪs]
noun 【不规则形式】 pl. synopses (著作、剧本等的)大纲,提要,概要,梗概 a summary of a piece of writing, a play, etc. e.g. 课程每个module的介绍 For each title there is a brief synopsis of the book.
test specifications
planned objectives, features, methods, and structure of a test.a 'blueprint' outlining a procedure for test development Specifications vary in theirform and precision, but generally they indicate the purpose of the test, the number and sequence of test tasks, the format and content of the tasks, the time allowed for completion of the test, and procedures for scoring. 考试大纲
off the peg/rack
ready-made现成的 e.g.They are tailor-made rather than bought off the peg
reliability
reliability in assessment looks at whether the tests we give provide accurate measures of whatever abilities they are designed to measure.
Let the cat out of the bag
reveal a secret
second language(L2) vs. foreign language
second language: speaks a language in a context where that language is widely spoken. 比如一个中国人在英国学英语,英语就是second language 如果一个中国人在中国学英文,英文就是foreign language
simile vs. metaphor
simile明喻 is comparison using "like" or "as"; metaphor暗喻 is a comparison without using "like" or "as" simile: as brave as a lion, crazy like a fox mataphor: Life is a highway. Bill is an early bird
helm [helm]
steering wheel of a ship; position of control n. 舵柄;舵轮 vt. 指挥;给...掌舵; e.g. one might write about yachting by first describing the many pleasures to be enjoyed at the helm of a large craft - the gentle rocking of the waves, the sun, the seabirds, fresh air, and so on - and only come to the dangers of storms and heavy seas towards the end of the piece, particularly if the intent was to encourage more people to go out and buy a yacht.
root vs. prefix vs. suffix vs. affix
subconsciousness sub=prefix ness=suffix conscious=root prefix+suffix= affix
Interlanguage
the language form produced by speakers acquiring a second language that combines linguistic features from both their native and their new languages中介语言
Illocutionary adj. illocution
the real or intended meaning of a speech act 言外之意 what people actually mean e.g. Illocutionary competence 比如你问waiter "Do you have any salt?"This is a simple yes/no question. but you don't expect the waiter answer a"yes" and then walk away. This question is asking the waiter for salt.
Phonics
the study of the sounds of the letters of the alphabet
referent
the thing that a word or phrase denotes or stands for
infinitive
the word "to" plus a verb, usually functioning as a noun, and often as a predicate in a sentence 不定式
keep on toes
to force (someone) to stay alert Our teacher ____ us ____ our ____ by asking questions throughout his lectures. e.g. These serve both to make a rough check on students' progress and to keep students on their toes.
take leave of
to say goodbye to 道别、告辞 e.g. to greet, interact with and take leave of others;
extenuate (v) , extenuation (n) , extenuating (adj)
v. 减轻(罪行、过错);为...找借口;使人原谅; e.g. other information, extenuating circumstances, may override or mitigate the information provided by the test. test要考虑个别学生的特殊情况,比如不舒服,家里有不好的消息导致考试差
relay
verb [VN] ~sth (to sb) 1接转,转送,转发(信息、消息等) to receive and send on information, news, etc. to sb He relayed the message to his boss. Instructions were relayed to him by phone. 2播放,转播(电视或广播讯号) to broadcast television or radio signals The game was relayed by satellite to audiences all over the world. noun 1also relay race 接力赛 a race between teams in which each member of the team runs or swims one section of the race the 4 × 100m relay a relay team the sprint relay短跑接力赛 2接班的人(或动物);轮换者 a fresh set of people or animals that take the place of others that are tired or have finished a period of work Rescuers worked in relays to save the trapped miners. 3中继设备 an electronic device that receives radio or television signals and sends them on again with greater strength a relay station中继站
vocabulary size vs. vocabulary depth (vocabulary knowledge scale)
vocabulary depth is the degrees of knowledge of a word. can use vocabulary knowledge scale to represent a person't vocab depth
measurement
we take note of what learners are able to do and then, based on a theoretical understanding of the components of communicative language ability that would account for the performance, assign a number on a scale describing levels of language ability. We call this a measurement, in an analogy with more familiar forms of measurement, but it is rather different from measuring things like length, weight, degree of acidity, or sound levels. Because we cannot see or otherwise physically encounter language ability directly, we are forced to rely on *indirect measurement*, and all language tests are in fact indirect measures of language ability.
word family
word with inflected forms and derived forms (not compounds)
on high
上级;上面 Now, ofcourse, teachers often complain that the tests their students are given from 'on high'are irrelevant to what goes on in classrooms, and this can certainly be a problem; nevertheless it remains true that well-designed tests, based on a thorough understanding both of test development principles and of the syllabus and curriculum students have been exposed to, can serve as useful devices for comparing students' progress against each other, between students in different classrooms within a school, and between schools, using standards established outside the individual classroom
opaque
不透明的
rhetoric n. rhetorical adj.
修辞 using language to persuade, motivate, or inform an audience via writing or speech. This is also known as the art of discourse. e.g. item 3 assesses test takers' ability to understand rhetorical intent 测试第3题在考"on top of"是在讲更多好处
mitigate
减轻to make milder or softer, to moderate in force or intensity e.g. other information, extenuating circumstances, may override or mitigate the information provided by the test. test要考虑个别学生的特殊情况,比如不舒服,家里有不好的消息导致考试差
graded readers
分级读物 推荐penguin readers 分级书单: librarything.com/series/Penguin+Readers 测试自己读哪个level: readers.English.com/levels 做测试,若正确>18/30(60%)就可以读那个level的书籍
Conjugation
动词变化 the inflection of verbs is called conjugation. Learning Conjugation Rules "Remember when in grade school our teachers had us and the rest of class conjugate verbs? Together we pledged or maybe mumbled, 'I talk, You talk, He/She/It talks, We talk, You talk, They talk.' Whatever language we were learning, at whatever age, conjugation taught us proper use of verb 'tenses,' which in English are time distinctions grouped broadly by past, present, or future; also, each verb had to be connected to a personal pronoun acting as its subject." (Davis) Principle Parts "Conjugation means breaking a verb down into its different forms to show person, number, tense, and voice." "All verbs have three basic forms, which are called their principal parts. From these basic forms, you can make up the tense of any verb. The first principal part is the verb itself. This is the part with which you are most familiar: form, change, discuss. The second principal part is the past tense form. The third principal part is the past participle." Aspects of Finiteness "When you conjugate a verb, you have to cover all three aspects of finiteness: time (that's tense), people (that's person, as in first person, second person, and third person), and quantity (that's number, either singular or plural."
validity
效度 validity, concerns the appropriacy of the inferences made on the basis of test performance. a test is said to be valid if it measures accurately what it is intended to measure.
concept web/ semantic web
教单词可用这个方法 比如教health,然后写出和health 相关的单词,如diet, fitness....
predicate
谓语
phonetic symbols
音标
at variance with
(与...)不一致,相矛盾 Many of his statements were at variance with the facts e.g. if the test content and testing techniques are at variance with the objectives of the course, there is likely to be harmful backwash.