This site is 100% ad supported. Please add an exception to adblock for this site.

Spring comps 2006 TESL 509 Final

Start Studying!

Terms

undefined, object
copy deck
minimal pair
A set of two words that are alike except for one sound, e.g. bet and bat, great and crate.
segmentals
The actual consonant and vowel sounds
suprasegmentals
A suprasegmental is a vocal effect that extends over more than one sound segment in an utterance, such as stress, pitch (intonation and tone), and juncture (pause).
thought groups
chunks of speech separated by pauses which usually represent a meaningful grammatical unit
primary sentence stress
The use of increased length and volume and change in pitch to place special emphasis on a syllable within the word that is the focus of the information being imparted in that thought group. ; More stress is given to a word within a sentence based on the communicative context, usually by increased loudness and length of a stressed syllable, which may bring a rise of pitch as well.
intonation
the rising and falling of pitch within thought groups, melodic line or pitch pattern
rhythm
alternating of longer, stressed and shorter, unstressed syllables
syllable-timed vs. stress-timed languages
syllable timed: Each syllable receives roughly the same timing and length. French and Japanese.

stress-timed: Stresses and beats occur at regular intervals. English.
linking
Linking is a general term for the adjustments speakers make between words in connected speech. “Why don’t you find out?” sounds like: “Why don-chew fine-doubt?”
word stress
English word stress patterns are complex as they depend on several factors: the origin of the word, the part of speech, and affixation.

1. Stress falls more often on the root or base of a word and less on a prefix: beLIEVE, preDICT, comPLAINT, etc.
2. Compund nouns tend to take primary stress on the first element and secondary stress on the second: AIRplane, BUS stop, comPUter disk, etc.
3. Suffixes can either:
a. Have no effect on stress (BEAUTy > BEAUtiful; deLIVER > deLIVerance; etc.)
b. Take the primary stress themselves (many of these are from French):
picturESQUE, trusTEE, enginEER, etc.)
c. Cause the stress pattern in the stem to shift to a different syllable:
PERiod > periODic; Sequence > seQUENtial; etc.)
contextualized minimal pairs
Rather than just distinguishing pen and pan as isolated words, Bowen (1975) embedded these minimal pair contrasts into contextualized sentences and rejoinders:
This pen leaks. The, don’t write with it.
This pan leaks. Then, don’t cook with it.
jazz chants
Jazz Chants are Carolyn Graham's snappy, upbeat chants and poems that use jazz rhythms to illustrate the natural stress and intonation patterns of conversational American English.
TSE
TSE (Test of Spoken English)
The Educational testing Service offers TSE, a test of overall speaking ability, whose scores can screen potential international teaching assistants and health professionals, among other uses.

The 20-minute test is conducted and recorded on audiotape and is composed of 12 speech-act based tasks that are presented in a printed test booklet and on the audiotape. Candidates are given some time to plan what to say, and then given 30-90 seconds to respond to each task. The test answer tapes are scored independently by two trained raters using the five-point TSE rating scale of communicative effectiveness; each point contains descriptions of functional ability, response appropriacy, cohesion and coherence feature, and linguistic accuracy. Results are reported to candidates as a single score on a scale of 20 to 60.
SPEAK
SPEAK (Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit)
The Educational Testing Service also provides institutions with the SPEAK, an “off-the-shelf” version of the TSE, which can be administered and scored by institutional staff.
ACTFL OPI
ACTFL OPI
(American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Oral Proficiency Interview)
The third large scale oral examination administered by ACTFL. The interview can be used to assess the language competence of teachers, workers, and students in a number of languages, including English. The interviewer and a different tester independently rate the tapes by comparing the speech performance with the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines—Speaking which define proficiency at ten levels, from Superior to Novice Low.
prominence
One prominent element, a syllable that is emphasized, usually by lengthening it and moving the pitch up or down.

The prominence element depends on context but generally represents information that is:
1. new – (I got a postcard from Sue.) She’s in MEXico.
2. in contrast to some other previously mentioned information –
(Are you leaving at five thirty?) No, SIX thirty.
3. the most meaningful or important item in the phrase – He’s studying ecoNOMics.
content words
Words that carry more meaning, such as nouns, main verbs, adjectives, and some adverbs
function words
Structure words such as articles, pronouns, auxiliary verbs, and prepositions.
relexicalization
repeating the same words in different forms, and is a means by which speakers develop topics.
language performance vs. language competence
Both terms were coined by Chomsky in 1965.
Language competence refers to the knowledge native speakers have of the use of the language, i.e., the fact NSs master and internalize a system of rules ( or “underlying mental system called Language Acquisition Device), which enables them to transform language structures and to generate hypotheses about new language use.
Language performance has to do with “the way language [is] actually used in social situations” and is considered (by Chomsky) to be “outside the scope of linguistic investigation”.
language event sequence
the language use tasks associated with a given topic or context, and is what the Ss will have to do in that situation/those situations
scripted dialogues
1. Based on the writer’s intuitions or assumptions about what occurs in spoken interactions.
2. Represent spoken exchanges as neat, fully formed, predictable and unproblematic.
semi-scripted dialogues
Created by asking two or more people to perform a particular spoken language interaction that is recorded as they improvise.
unscripted/genuine dialogues
1. Fragmented utterances which are difficult to set out as sentences.
2. Utterances which vary greatly in length.
3. Varied grammatical structures, some of which are incomplete.
4. Overlappings and interruptions rather than distinct turns.
5. Relatively frequent hesitations and back channeling.
6. Informal and idiomatic language.
7. Reference to shared knowledge and understandings of locations and processes.
8. Implied context.
scaffolding
systematic support provided to students to help them in the learning process

high scaffolding: high teacher responsibility and low student responsibility for learning
proficiency assessments
It is to assess a person’s level of language in relation to a specific future use. For example, TSE.
placement assessments
It is to place students into an appropriate level within an institution or an overall course of study. For example, Mt. SAC project for the 560 class, or you can say the interview for private institution.
diagnostic assessments
It is used to identify a student’s strengths and weakness or to diagnose specific learning difficulties which a student may have.
achievement assessments
It is concerned with what a student has learnt in a language course.
progress assessments
It is to determine the strengths and weakness of each student as the learning progresses. It is usually done as the course progresses rather than at the beginning of instruction.
selection assessments
a diagnostic of a person’s level in language for a specific purpose--e.g., Do you know enough English to be an air traffic controller? Taxi driver?
holistic rating scales
rate speaking performances in terms of overall quality/level of ability displayed. Separate scores for different aspects of speaking ability (e.g., vocabulary, pronunciation) are not given. It’s faster and cheaper, but there’s no diagnostic feedback from the Ss’ perspective.
analytic rating scales
- give separate scores to different components of writing. These components can be averaged together or weighted. Analytic rating should be more reliable than holistic, but it’s not as time-efficient.
"trait" scales
tailored to a specific (as compared to “generic”) task (e.g., making a phone call to complain about an item on a bill) and include task-specific characteristics expected of performances at various levels.
false beginner
people who have had some limited experiences of learning English or who have picked up or taught themselves some English
Start Studying!

Deck Info

35

permalink