Pages

Search This Blog

English as a foreign or secnd language

 Terminology and types

The many acronyms used in the field of English teaching and learning may be confusing.

English is a language with great reach and influence; it is taught all over the world under

many different circumstances. In English-speaking countries, English language teaching has

essentially evolved in two broad directions: instruction for people who intend to live in an

English-speaking country and for those who don't. These divisions have grown firmer as the

instructors of these two "industries" have used different terminology, followed distinct

training qualifications, formed separate professional associations, and so on. Crucially,

these two arms have very different funding structures, public in the former and private in

the latter, and to some extent this influences the way schools are established and classes

are held. Matters are further complicated by the fact that the United States and the United

Kingdom, both major engines of the language, describe these categories in different terms:

as many eloquent users of the language have observed, "England and America are two countries

divided by a common language." (Attributed to Winston Churchill, George Bernard Shaw, and

Oscar Wilde.) The following technical definitions may therefore have their currency

contested.

 English outside English-speaking countries

EFL, English as a foreign language, indicates the use of English in a non–English-speaking

region. Study can occur either in the student's home country, as part of the normal school

curriculum or otherwise, or, for the more privileged minority, in an anglophone country that

they visit as a sort of educational tourist, particularly immediately before or after

graduating from university. TEFL is the teaching of English as a foreign language; note that

this sort of instruction can take place in any country, English-speaking or not. Typically,

EFL is learned either to pass exams as a necessary part of one's education, or for career

progression while working for an organisation or business with an international focus. EFL

may be part of the state school curriculum in countries where English has no special status

(what linguist Braj Kachru calls the "expanding circle countries"); it may also be

supplemented by lessons paid for privately. Teachers of EFL generally assume that students

are literate in their mother tongue. The Chinese EFL Journal[1] and Iranian EFL Journal[2]

are examples of international journals dedicated to specifics of English language learning

within countries where English is used as a foreign language.

 English within English-speaking countries

The other broad grouping is the use of English within the Anglosphere. In what theorist Braj

Kachru calls "the inner circle", i.e. countries such as the United Kingdom and the United

States, this use of English is generally by refugees, immigrants and their children. It also

includes the use of English in "outer circle" countries, often former British colonies,

where English is an official language even if it is not spoken as a mother tongue by the

majority of the population.

In the US, Canada and Australia, this use of English is called ESL (English as a second

language). This term has been criticized on the grounds that many learners already speak

more than one language. A counter-argument says that the word "a" in the phrase "a second

language" means there is no presumption that English is the second acquired language (see

also Second language). TESL is the teaching of English as a second language.

In the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, the term ESL has been replaced by ESOL (English for

speakers of other languages). In these countries TESOL (teaching English to speakers of

other languages) is normally used to refer to teaching English only to this group. In the

UK, the term EAL (English as an additional language), rather than ESOL, is usually used when

talking about primary and secondary schools, in order to clarify English is not the

students' first language, but their second or third.[3]

Other acronyms were created to describe the person rather than the language to be learned.

The term LEP (Limited English proficiency) was created in 1975 by the Lau Remedies following

a decision of the US Supreme Court. ELL (English Language Learner), used by United States

governments and school systems, was created by Charlene Rivera of the Center for Equity and

Excellence in Education in an effort to label learners positively, rather than ascribing a

deficiency to them. LOTE (Languages other than English) is a parallel term used in Canada,

Australia, and New Zealand.

Typically, this sort of English (called ESL in the United States, Canada, and Australia,

ESOL in the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand) is learned to function in the new host

country, e.g. within the school system (if a child), to find and hold down a job (if an

adult), to perform the necessities of daily life. The teaching of it does not presuppose

literacy in the mother tongue. It is usually paid for by the host government to help

newcomers settle into their adopted country, sometimes as part of an explicit citizenship

program. It is technically possible for ESL to be taught not in the host country, but in,

for example, a refugee camp, as part of a pre-departure program sponsored by the government

soon to receive new potential citizens. In practice, however, this is extremely rare.

Particularly in Canada and Australia, the term ESD (English as a second dialect) is used

alongside ESL, usually in reference to programs for Canadian First Nations people or

indigenous Australians, respectively.[4] It refers to the use of standard English, which may

need to be explicitly taught, by speakers of a creole or non-standard variety. It is often

grouped with ESL as ESL/ESD.
 Umbrella terms

All these ways of denoting the teaching of English can be bundled together into an umbrella

term. Unfortunately, all the English teachers in the world cannot agree on just one. The

term TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) is used in American English to

include both TEFL and TESL. This is also the case in Canada. British English uses ELT

(English language teaching), because TESOL has a different, more specific meaning; see

above.

 Which variety to teach

It is worth noting that ESL and EFL programs also differ in the variety of English which is

taught; "English" is a term that can refer to various dialects, including British English,

American English, and many others. Obviously, those studying English in order to fit into

their new country will learn the variety spoken there. However, for those who do not intend

to change countries, the question arises of which sort of English to learn. If they are

going abroad for a short time to study English, they need to choose which country. For those

staying at home, the choice may be made for them in that private language schools or the

state school system may only offer one model. Students studying EFL in Hong Kong, for

example, are more likely to learn British English, whereas students in the Philippines are

more likely to learn American English.

For this reason, many teachers now emphasize teaching English as an international language

(EIL), also known as English as a lingua franca (ELF). Linguists are charting the

development of international English, a term with contradictory and confusing meanings, one

of which refers to a decontextualised variant of the language, independent of the culture

and associated references of any particular country, useful when, for example, a Saudi does

business with someone from China, or Albania.


 Systems of simplified English

For international communication several models of "simplified English" have been suggested,

among them:

    * Basic English, developed by Charles Kay Ogden (and later also I. A. Richards) in the

1930s; a recent revival has been initiated by Bill Templer[5]
    * Threshold Level English, developed by van Ek and Alexander[6]
    * Globish, developed by Jean-Paul Nerrière
    * Basic Global English, developed by Joachim Grzega[7]
    * Nuclear English, proposed by Randolph Quirk and Gabriele Stein but never fully

developed.[8]

 Difficulties for learners

Language teaching practice often assumes that most of the difficulties that learners face in

the study of English are a consequence of the degree to which their native language differs

from English (a contrastive analysis approach). A native speaker of Chinese, for example,

may face many more difficulties than a native speaker of German, because German is closely

related to English, whereas Chinese is not. This may be true for anyone of any mother tongue

(also called first language, normally abbreviated L1) setting out to learn any other

language (called a target language, second language or L2). See also second language

acquisition (SLA) for mixed evidence from linguistic research.

Language learners often produce errors of syntax and pronunciation thought to result from

the influence of their L1, such as mapping its grammatical patterns inappropriately onto the

L2, pronouncing certain sounds incorrectly or with difficulty, and confusing items of

vocabulary known as false friends. This is known as L1 transfer or "language interference".

However, these transfer effects are typically stronger for beginners' language production,

and SLA research has highlighted many errors which cannot be attributed to the L1, as they

are attested in learners of many language backgrounds (for example, failure to apply 3rd

person present singular -s to verbs, as in 'he make').

While English is no more complex than other languages like Portuguese, it has several

features which may create difficulties for learners. Conversely, because such a large number

of people are studying it, products have been developed to help them do so, such as the

monolingual learner's dictionary, which is written with a restricted defining vocabulary.

It is important to remember that learning a second language involves much more than learning

the words and the sounds of a language. Communication breakdowns occur not only due to the

more commonly understood syntax and pronunciation difficulties but because when we learn a

language we also learn a culture. What is perceived as right, normal and correct in one

language and culture does not always "translate" into a second language...even when the

vocabulary is understood. Communication breakdowns may occur as a result of cultural

assumptions regarding age, forms of address, authority and respect, touching, eye contact

and other body language, greetings, invitations, and punctuality to name just a few.

In particular, some students may have very different cultural perceptions in the classroom

as far as learning a second language is concerned. Also, cultural differences in

communication styles and preferences are significant. For example, a study looked at Chinese

ESL students and British teachers and found that the Chinese learners did not see classroom

discussion and interaction as important but placed a heavy emphasis on teacher-directed

lectures.[9][10]


 Pronunciation

    * Consonant phonemes

    English does not have more individual consonant sounds than most languages. However, the

interdentals, /θ/ and /ð/ (the sounds written with th), which are common in English (thin,

thing, etc.; and the, this, that, etc.) are relatively rare in other languages, even others

in the Germanic family (e.g., English thousand = German tausend), and these sounds are

missing even in some English dialects. Some learners substitute a [t] or [d] sound, while

others shift to [s] or [z], [f] or [v] and even [ts] or [dz]).

    Speakers of Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Thai may have difficulty distinguishing [r]

and [l]. Speakers of Xiang Chinese may have a similar difficulty distinguishing [n] and [l].

The distinction between [b] and [v] can cause difficulty for native speakers of Spanish,

Japanese and Korean.

    * Vowel phonemes

    The precise number of distinct vowel sounds depends on the variety of English: for

example, Received Pronunciation has twelve monophthongs (single or "pure" vowels), eight

diphthongs (double vowels) and two triphthongs (triple vowels); whereas General American has

thirteen monophthongs and three diphthongs. Many learners, such as speakers of Spanish,

Japanese or Arabic, have fewer vowels, or only pure ones, in their mother tongue and so may

have problems both with hearing and with pronouncing these distinctions.

    * Syllable structure

    In its syllable structure, English allows for a cluster of up to three consonants before

the vowel and four after it (e.g., straw, desks, glimpsed). The syllable structure causes

problems for speakers of many other languages. Japanese, for example, broadly alternates

consonant and vowel sounds so learners from Japan often try to force vowels in between the

consonants (e.g., desks /desks/ becomes "desukusu" or milk shake /mɪlk ʃeɪk/ becomes

"mirukushēku").

    Learners from languages where all words end in vowels sometimes tend to make all English

words end in vowels, thus make /meɪk/ can come out as [meɪkə]. The learner's task is further

complicated by the fact that native speakers may drop consonants in the more complex blends

(e.g., [mʌns] instead of [mʌnθs] for months).

    * Unstressed vowels - Native English speakers frequently replace almost any vowel in an

unstressed syllable with an unstressed vowel, often schwa. For example, from has a

distinctly pronounced short 'o' sound when it is stressed (e.g., Where are you from?), but

when it is unstressed, the short 'o' reduces to a schwa (e.g., I'm from London.). In some

cases, unstressed vowels may disappear altogether, in words such as chocolate (which has

four syllables in Spanish, but only two as pronounced by Americans: "choc-lit".)

    Stress in English more strongly determines vowel quality than it does in most other

world languages (although there are notable exceptions such as Russian). For example, in

some varieties the syllables an, en, in, on and un are pronounced as homophones, that is,

exactly alike. Native speakers can usually distinguish an able, enable, and unable because

of their position in a sentence, but this is more difficult for inexperienced English

speakers. Moreover, learners tend to overpronounce these unstressed vowels, giving their

speech an unnatural rhythm.

    * Stress timing - English tends to be a stress-timed language - this means that stressed

syllables are roughly equidistant in time, no matter how many syllables come in between.

Although some other languages, e.g., German and Russian, are also stress-timed, most of the

world's other major languages are syllable-timed, with each syllable coming at an equal time

after the previous one. Learners from these languages often have a staccato rhythm when

speaking English that is disconcerting to a native speaker.

    "Stress for emphasis" - students' own languages may not use stress for emphasis as

English does.
    "Stress for contrast" - stressing the right word or expression. This may not come easily

to some non-native speakers.
    "Emphatic apologies" - the normally unstressed auxiliary is stressed (I really am very

sorry)
    In English there are quite a number of words - about fifty - that have two different

pronunciations, depending on whether they are stressed. They are "grammatical words":

pronouns, prepositions, auxiliary verbs and conjunctions. Most students tend to overuse the

strong form, which is pronounced with the written vowel.

    * Connected speech

    Phonological processes such as assimilation, elision and epenthesis together with

indistinct word boundaries can confuse learners when listening to natural spoken English, as

well as making their speech sound too formal if they do not use them. For example, in RP

eight beetles and three ants /eɪt biːtəlz ənd θriː ænts/ becomes [eɪtbiːtl̩znθɹiːjæns].

See also: Accent reduction


 Grammar

    * Tenses - English has a relatively large number of tenses with some quite subtle

differences, such as the difference between the simple past "I ate" and the present perfect

"I have eaten." Progressive and perfect progressive forms add complexity. (See English

verbs.)
    * Functions of auxiliaries - Learners of English tend to find it difficult to manipulate

the various ways in which English uses the first auxiliary verb of a tense. These include

negation (e.g. He hasn't been drinking.), inversion with the subject to form a question

(e.g. Has he been drinking?), short answers (e.g. Yes, he has.) and tag questions (has he?).

A further complication is that the dummy auxiliary verb do /does /did is added to fulfil

these functions in the simple present and simple past, but not for the verb to be.
    * Modal verbs - English also has a significant number of modal auxiliary verbs which

each have a number of uses. For example, the opposite of "You must be here at 8"

(obligation) is usually "You don't have to be here at 8" (lack of obligation, choice), while

"must" in "You must not drink the water" (prohibition) has a different meaning from "must"

in "You must not be a native speaker" (deduction). This complexity takes considerable work

for most English language learners to master.
    * Idiomatic usage - English is reputed to have a relatively high degree of idiomatic

usage. For example, the use of different main verb forms in such apparently parallel

constructions as "try to learn", "help learn", and "avoid learning" pose difficulty for

learners. Another example is the idiomatic distinction between "make" and "do": "make a

mistake", not "do a mistake"; and "do a favor", not "make a favor".
    * Articles - English has an appreciable number of articles, including the definite

article the and the indefinite article a, an. At times English nouns can or indeed must be

used without an article; this is called the zero article. Some of the differences between

definite, indefinite and zero article are fairly easy to learn, but others are not,

particularly since a learner's native language may lack articles or use them in different

ways than English does. Although the information conveyed by articles is rarely essential

for communication, English uses them frequently (several times in the average sentence), so

that they require some effort from the learner.

 Vocabulary

    * Phrasal verbs - Phrasal verbs in English can cause difficulties for many learners

because they have several meanings and different syntactic patterns. There are also a number

of phrasal verb differences between American and British English.
    * Word derivation - Word derivation in English requires a lot of rote learning. For

example, an adjective can be negated by using the prefix un- (e.g. unable), in- (e.g.

inappropriate), dis- (e.g. dishonest), or a- (e.g. amoral), or through the use of one of a

myriad of related but rarer prefixes, all modified versions of the first four.
    * Size of lexicon - The history of English has resulted in a very large vocabulary,

essentially one stream from Old English and one from the Norman infusion of Latin-derived

terms. (Schmitt & Marsden claim that English has one of the largest vocabularies of any

known language.) This inevitably requires more work for a learner to master the language.
    * Collocations - Collocations in English refer to the tendency for words to occur

regularly with others. For example, nouns and verbs that go together (ride a bike/ drive a

car). Native speakers tend to use chunks of collocations and the ESL learners make mistakes

with collocations in their writing/speaking which sometimes results in awkwardness.

 Differences between spoken and written English

As with most languages, written language tends to use a more formal register than spoken

language. The acquisition of literacy takes significant effort in English.

    * Spelling - Because of the many changes in pronunciation which have occurred since a

written standard developed, the retention of many historical idiosyncrasies in spelling, and

the large influx of foreign words (mainly from Danish, Norman French, Classical Latin and

Greek) with different and overlapping spelling patterns,[11] English spelling is difficult

even for native speakers to master. This difficulty is shown in such activities as spelling

bees that generally require the memorization of words. English speakers may also rely on

computer tools such as spell checkers more than speakers of other languages, as the users of

these utilities may have forgotten, or never learned, the correct spelling of a word. The

generalizations that exist are quite complex and there are many exceptions leading to a

considerable amount of rote learning. The spelling system causes problems in both directions

- a learner may know a word by sound but not be able to write it correctly (or indeed find

it in a dictionary), or they may see a word written but not know how to pronounce it or

mislearn the pronunciation. However, despite the variety of spelling patterns in English,

there are dozens of rules that are 75% or more reliable.[12]
      For further discussion of English spelling patterns and rules, see Phonics.

 Varieties of English

    * The British Isles, historical home of English, has significant regional language

differences in pronunciation, accent, vocabulary and grammar.
    * The thriving communities of English native speakers in countries all over the world

also have some noticeable differences in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
    * English has no organisation that determines the most prestigious form of the language

- unlike the French language which has the Academie de la langue française, or Spanish

language's Real Academia Española

Teaching English therefore involves not only helping the student to use the form of English

most suitable for his purposes, but also exposure to regional forms and cultural styles so

that the student will be able to discern meaning even when the words, grammar or

pronunciation are different to the form of English he is being taught to speak.


 Exams for learners

See also: Category:English language tests

Learners of English are often keen to get accreditation and a number of exams are known

internationally:[13]

    * Trinity College London ESOL offers Integrated Skills in English (ISE), series of 5

exams, which assesses Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening accepted by academic

institutions in the UK. They also offer Graded Examinations in Spoken English (GESE), series

of 12 exams, which assesses Speaking and Listening and ESOL Skills for Life and ESOL for

Work exams in the UK only.
    * University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations offers a suite of five examinations

including First Certificate in English (FCE), Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) and

Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE)
    * IELTS (International English Language Testing System), accepted by academic

institutions in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and by many in the USA.
    * City and Guilds International ESOL and International Spoken ESOL on demand

examinations available at six levels: Preliminary, Access, Achiever, Communicator, Expert

and Mastery
    * London Tests of English from Pearson Language Tests, a series of six exams each mapped

to a level from the CEFR
    * Secondary Level English Proficiency test
    * TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), an Educational Testing Service product,

developed and used primarily for academic institutions in the USA, and now widely accepted

in tertiary institutions in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and Ireland. The current

test is an Internet-based test, and is thus known as the TOEFL iBT. Used as a proxy for

English for Academic Purposes.
    * TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), an Educational Testing

Service product for Business English
    * TSE - Test of Spoken English
    * TWE - Test of Written English

Many countries also have their own exams. ESOL learners in England, Wales and Northern

Ireland usually take the national Skills for Life qualifications, which are offered by

several exam boards. EFL learners in China may take the College English Test. In Greece

English students may take the PALSO (PanHellenic Association of Language School Owners)

exams.

 The Common European Framework

Between 1998 and 2000, the Council of Europe's language policy division developed its Common

European Framework of Reference for Languages. The aim of this framework was to have a

common system for foreign language testing and certification, to cover all European

languages and countries.

The Common European Framework (CEF) divides language learners into three levels:

    * A. Basic User
    * B. Independent User
    * C. Proficient User

Each of these levels is divided into two sections, resulting in a total of six levels for

testing (A1, A2, B1, etc).

This table compares ELT exams according to the CEF levels:
CEF Level     ALTE Level     NQF Level     City & Guilds Level     London Tests of

English     TCL ESOL GESE     TCL ESOL ISE     UBELT exam     Cambridge ESOL IELTS   

Cambridge ESOL BULATS     Cambridge ESOL BEC     Cambridge ESOL General     Cambridge ESOL YLE
C2     Level 5     Level 3     Mastery     Level 5     Grade 12     IV   

4.0-5.0     7.0+     90-100     n/a     CPE     n/a
C1     Level 4     Level 2     Expert     Level 4     Grade 10,11     III     3.0

-3.5     6.0-6.5     75-89     Higher     CAE     n/a
B2     Level 3     Level 1     Communicator     Level 3     Grade 7,8,9     II   

2.0-2.5     5.0-5.5     60-74     Vantage     FCE     n/a
B1     Level 2     Entry 3     Achiever     Level 2     Grade 5,6     I   

1.5     4.0-4.5     40-59     Preliminary     PET     n/a
A2     Level 1     Entry 2     Access     Level 1     Grades 3,4     0     1.0   

n/a     20-39     n/a     KET     Flyers
A1     Breakthrough     Entry 1     Preliminary     Level A1     Grade 2     n/a   

<1.0     n/a     0-19     n/a     n/a     Movers


 Qualifications for teachers

 Non-native speakers

Most people who teach English are in fact not native speakers of that language. They are

state school teachers in countries around the world, and as such they hold the relevant

teaching qualification of their country, usually with a specialization in teaching English.

For example, teachers in Hong Kong hold the Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers.

Those who work in private language schools may, from commercial pressures, have the same

qualifications as native speakers (see below). Widespread problems exist of minimal

qualifications and poor quality providers of training, and as the industry becomes more

professional, it is trying to self-regulate to eliminate these.[14]
 United States qualifications

Most U.S. instructors at community colleges and universities qualify by taking a Master of

Arts (MA) in TESOL. This degree also qualifies them to teach in most EFL contexts. In some

areas of the United States, nearly all elementary school teachers are involved in teaching

ELLs (English Language Learners, that is, children who come to school speaking a home

language other than English.) The qualifications for these classroom teachers vary from

state to state but always include a state-issued teaching certificate for public

instruction. This state licensing requires substantial practical experience as well as

course work. The MA in TESOL typically includes both graduate work in English as one of the

classical liberal arts (literature, linguistics, media studies) with a theoretical component

in language pedagogy. Admission to the MA in TESOL typically requires at least a bachelor's

degree with a minor in English or linguistics, or, sometimes, a degree in a foreign language

instead.

It is important to note that the issuance of a teaching certificate or license is not

automatic following completion of degree requirements. All teachers must complete a battery

of exams (typically the Praxis subject and method exams or similar, state-sponsored exams)

as well as supervised instruction as student teachers. Often, ESL certification can be

obtained through extra college coursework. ESL certifications are usually only valid when

paired with an already existing teaching certificate. Certification requirements for ESL

teachers vary greatly from state to state; out-of-state teaching certificates are recognized

if the two states have a reciprocity agreement.
[edit] British qualifications

Common, respected qualifications for teachers within the United Kingdom's sphere of

influence include certificates and diplomas issued by Trinity College London ESOL and

University of Cambridge ESOL (henceforth Trinity and Cambridge).

A certificate course is usually undertaken before starting to teach. This is sufficient for

most EFL jobs (see TEFL for an extended discussion of travel-teaching) and for some ESOL

ones. CertTESOL (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), issued by

Trinity, and CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults), issued by

Cambridge, are the most widely taken and accepted qualifications for new teacher trainees.

Courses are offered in the UK and in many countries around the world. It is usually taught

full-time over a one-month period or part-time over a period up to a year.

Teachers with two or more years of teaching experience who want to stay in the profession

and advance their career prospects (including school management and teacher training) can

take a diploma course. Trinity offers the Trinity Licentiate Diploma in Teaching English to

Speakers of Other Languages (DipTESOL) and Cambridge offers the Diploma in English Language

Teaching to Adults (DELTA). These diplomas are considered to be equivalent and are both

accredited at level 7 of the revised National Qualifications Framework. Some teachers who

stay in the profession go on to do an MA in a relevant discipline such as applied

linguistics or ELT. Many UK master's degrees require considerable experience in the field

before a candidate is accepted onto the course.

The above qualifications are well-respected within the UK EFL sector, including private

language schools and higher education language provision. However, in England and Wales, in

order to meet the government's criteria for being a qualified teacher of ESOL in the

Learning and Skills Sector (i.e. post-compulsory or further education), teachers need to

have the Certificate in Further Education Teaching Stage 3 at level 5 (of the revised NQF)

and the Certificate for ESOL Subject Specialists at level 4. Recognised qualifications which

confer one or both of these include a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in ESOL,

the CELTA module 2 and City & Guilds 9488. Teachers of any subject within the British state

sector are normally expected to hold a PGCE, and may choose to specialise in ELT.

 Professional associations and unions

    * TESOL Inc. is Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, a professional

organization based in the United States. In addition, there are many large state-wide and

regional affiliates, see below.
    * IATEFL is the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language,

a professional organization based in the United Kingdom.
    * Professional organisations for teachers of English exist at national levels. Many

contain phrases in their title such as the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT),

TESOL Greece in Greece, or the Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers (SPELT). Some

of these organisations may be bigger in structure (supra-national, such as TESOL Arabia in

the Gulf states), or smaller (limited to one city, state, or province, such as CATESOL in

California). Some are affiliated to TESOL or IATEFL.
    * NATECLA is the National Association for Teaching English and other Community Languages

to Adults, which focuses on teaching ESOL in the United Kingdom.
    * National Union of General Workers is a Japanese union which includes English teachers.
    * University and College Union is a British trade union which includes lecturers of ELT.

 Acronyms and abbreviations

See also: Language education for information on general language teaching acronyms and

abbreviations.


 Types of English

    * BE - Business English
    * EAL - English as an additional language. The use of this term is restricted to certain

countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types.
    * EAP - English for academic purposes
    * EFL - English as a foreign language. English for use in a non-English-speaking region,

by someone whose first language is not English. See the discussion in Terminology and types.
    * EIL - English as an international language (see main article at International English)
    * ELF - English as a lingua franca
    * ELL - English language learner. The use of this term is restricted to certain

countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types.
    * ELT - English language teaching. The use of this term is restricted to certain

countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types.
    * ESL - English as a second language. English for use in an English-speaking region, by

someone whose first language is not English. The use of this term is restricted to certain

countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types.
    * ESOL - English for speakers of other languages. This term is used differently in

different countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types.
    * ESP - English for specific purposes, or English for special purposes (e.g. technical

English, scientific English, English for medical professionals, English for waiters).
    * EST - English for science and technology (e.g. technical English, scientific English).
    * TEFL - Teaching English as a foreign language. This link is to a page about a subset

of TEFL, namely travel-teaching. More generally, see the discussion in Terminology and

types.
    * TESL - Teaching English as a second language. The use of this term is restricted to

certain countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types.
    * TESOL - Teaching English to speakers of other languages, or Teaching English as a

second or other language. See the discussion in Terminology and types.
    * TYLE - Teaching Young Learners English. Note that "Young Learners" can mean under 18,

or much younger.

 Other abbreviations

    * BULATS - Business Language Testing Services, a computer-based test of business

English, produced by CambridgeEsol. The test also exists for French, German, and Spanish.
    * CELTA - Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults
    * DELTA - Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults
    * IELTS - International English Language Testing System
    * LTE - London Tests of English by Pearson Language Tests
    * TOEFL - Test of English as a Foreign Language
    * TOEIC - Test of English for International Communication
    * UCLES - University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, an exam board

 See also
 Language terminology

    * Foreign language
    * Second language
    * Standard Marine Communication Phrases

 General language teaching and learning

    * Applied linguistics
    * Contrastive rhetoric
    * Language education
    * Second language acquisition

 English language teaching and learning

    * Non-native pronunciations of English
    * Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), for an extended discussion of travel-

teaching
    * English Language Institute an educational facility
    * Structured English Immersion, a framework for teaching English language learners in

public schools

 Contemporary English

    * American and British English differences
    * English language
    * English studies
    * International English

 Other

    * Crazy English, an idiosyncratic methodology
    * ILAC - International Language Academy of Canada
    * List of countries by English-speaking population
    * Ruth Hayman - ESL pioneer
    * RoPeCast - an ESL podcast project

[hide]
v • d • e
Education by subject

Agricultural · Art · Bilingual · Chemistry · Language · Legal · Mathematics · Medical ·

Military · Music · Peace · Performing arts · Physical · Physics · Reading · Religious ·

Science · Sex · Technology · Vocational · More...
Education Portal


References and notes

   1. ^ http://www.chinese-EFL-journal.com
   2. ^ http://www.iranian-efl-journal.com
   3. ^ The Basic Skills Agency
   4. ^ Saskatchewan Learning
   5. ^ Cf. Ogden, Charles K. (1934), The System of Basic English, New York: Harcourt, Brace

& Co., and Templer, Bill (2005), “Towards a People’s English: Back to BASIC in EIL”,

Humanising Language Teaching September 2005.
   6. ^ Cf. van Ek, J.A. / Alexander, L.G. (1980), Threshold Level English, Oxford:

Pergamon.
   7. ^ Cf. Grzega, Joachim (2005), "Reflection on Concepts of English for Europe: British

English, American English, Euro-English, Global English", Journal for EuroLinguistiX 2: 44-

64, and Grzega, Joachim (2005), “Towards Global English via Basic Global English (BGE):

Socioeconomic and Pedagogic Ideas for a European and Global Language (with Didactic Examples

for Native Speakers of German), Journal for EuroLinguistiX 2: 65-164, and the press releases

accessible via the Basic Global English website.
   8. ^ Cf. Quirk, Randolph (1981), “International Communication and the Concept of Nuclear

English”, in: Smith, Larry E. (ed.), English for Cross-Cultural Communication, 151-165,

London: Macmillan, and Stein, Gabriele (1979), “Nuclear English: Reflections on the

Structure of Its Vocabulary”, Poetica (Tokyo) 10: 64-76.
   9. ^ McKay, Sharon; Schaetzel, Kirsten, Facilitating Adult Learner Interactions to Build

Listening and Speaking Skills, CAELA Network Briefs, CAELA and Center for Applied

Linguistics, July 2008
  10. ^ Jin, L., & Cortazzi, M. (1998). "The culture the learner brings: A bridge or a

barrier? In M. Byram & M. Fleming (Eds.), Language learning in intercultural perspective:

Approaches through drama and ethnography. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
  11. ^ McGuinness, Diane. (2004). Early Reading Instruction Cambridge: MIT Press 41.
  12. ^ Abbott, M. (2000). Identifying reliable generalizations for spelling words: The

importance of multilevel analysis. The Elementary School Journal 101(2), 233-245.
  13. ^ Sources for this are found at the university websites. Given that there are

thousands of tertiary institutions that accept one or more of these for entrance

requirements, they simply can not be footnoted individually here
  14. ^ "TESOL Certificates. Teaching or Deceiving the EFL/ESL Teaching Profession" by Tom

Davidson, March 2008 volume 2 TESOL Law Journal

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...