Terminology for teachers

Active Construction of Grammar is ...
1. a theory which asserts that language is learned by imitating what we hear
2. a theory which asserts that language learners consistently make and amend hypotheses
3. a theory which asserts that learners need a rich social environment to acquire appropriacy rules
4. a theory which asserts that successful language learning is the acquisition of automatic habits
The sentence: This is a more urban problem., is not acceptable because:
1. urban is ungradable
2. urban is a classifier, not an epithet
3. urban is an epithet not a classifier
4. you can't use an intensifying adverb with this adjective
The sentence: He's an old friend. means that the friendship is long-standing, not that the friend is old. This is an example of:
1. the distinction between inherent and non-inherent adjectives
2. the distinction between epithets and classifiers
3. the distinction between dynamic and stative adjectives
4. the distinction between stative and dynamic verb use
We can say: Her idea was really great. to mean the same as Hers was great idea but not My friend is great to mean My great friend because:
1. in the second case the adjective is non-inherent
2. in the second case the adjective is ungradable
3. predicative use of adjectives does not allow emphasisers
4. this adjective can only be used attributively
In the sentence He didn't seem obviously happy. the word obviously is:
1. a disjunct
2. an adjunct
3. a conjunct
In the sentence Obviously, he wasn't happy. the word Obviously is:
1. a disjunct
2. an adjunct
3. a conjunct
In the sentence Frankly, I don't care for her. the word Frankly is:
1. a style disjunct
2. an adjunct
3. an attitude disjunct
In the sentences The similarity between the sisters is striking. Likewise between the two brothers. the word Likewise is:
1. a disjunct
2. an adjunct
3. a conjunct
4. a conjunction
In the sentence It jumped clean over the fence. the word clean is:
1. a disjunct
2. an adverb
3. an adjective
4. a preposition
In the sentence She scarcely ever argues. the word ever is:
1. a disjunct
2. an adverb
3. an adjective
4. a preposition
The theory of motivation which considers effort, performance and outcome is known as
1. task motivation theory
2. expectancy theory
3. aim theory
4. instrumentality theory
Isolating languages have
1. a low morpheme to word ratio
2. a high morpheme to word ratio
3. a medium morpheme to word ratio
English is
1. a West Germanic language
2. an East Germanic language
3. a Latin language
4. a Celtic language
Romance languages are usually
1. isolating languages
2. agglutinating languages
3. inflecting languages
4. polysynthetic languages
The sentence Water must be at 100 Celsius to boil at sea level. is an example of must signalling:
1. dynamic modality
2. alethic modality
3. epistemic modality
4. deontic modality
The sentence You must do some work. is an example of must signalling:
1. dynamic modality
2. alethic modality
3. epistemic modality
4. deontic modality
The sentence They must be crazy. is an example of must signalling:
1. dynamic modality
2. alethic modality
3. epistemic modality
4. deontic modality
The sentence I can't swim. is an example of can signalling:
1. dynamic modality
2. alethic modality
3. epistemic modality
4. deontic modality
Hard palate, alveolar ridge and teeth are
1. articulators
2. cavities
3. vowel positions
4. consonant types
The sound represented by /w/ is
1. a bilabial consonant
2. a glottal consonant
3. an alveolar consonant
4. a palatal consonant
The sound represented by /v/ is
1. a labio-dental fricative
2. a dental fricative
3. a labio-dental affricative
4. a dental approximant
The aspect in the sentence I have been telephoning every hour for the whole morning. is:
1. iterative
2. continuous
3. progressive
4. durative
Why do we ask, How old is your puppy? rather than How young is your puppy?
1. Because old is the unmarked adjective
2. Because puppy is the unmarked form
3. Because old is more gradable
4. Because young is the neutral adjective
In the sentence I don't have any money., the word any is:
1. a non-assertive form
2. an assertive form
3. a negative determiner
4. a mass pronoun
Which forms all display markedness?
1. bridegroom, duchess, walked, tables
2. bride, duke, came, unhappy
3. short, tall, old, young
4. laptop, chewing, actress, young
In the sentence I got my hair cut., the word got is
1. a modal auxiliary
2. a primary auxiliary
3. a pro-form
4. a secondary auxiliary
In the sentence I am going to have a bath., the word have is
1. a perfect tense marker
2. a primary auxiliary
3. a lexical or main verb
4. a function word
The sentence I had been thinking about it all day. is best described as a(n) __________ aspect form.
1. durative
2. perfective
3. imperfective
4. iterative
The statement So, John works all night and gets everything ready. is an example or
1. progressive aspect, simple form
2. continuous tense form
3. the future in the past
4. commentator speak
In the sentence, Being so overweight, he couldn't run for the bus the clause being so overweight is
1. a non-finite clause
2. a finite clause
3. a gerund and its complement
4. a participial adjective
The statement, Water will boil at 100 degrees refers to
1. current fact
2. futurity
3. habit
4. obligation
The sentence He looks bored all the time is an example of
1. a simple tense form with continuous aspect
2. a simple tense form with simple aspect
3. a perfect aspect form
4. an iterative aspect form
The sentence I was going to take a holiday but there was too much work to do. is best described as __________ .
1. a thwarted prospective aspect
2. two relational tense forms
3. one progressive and one simple tense
4. the unreal intention
The difference between the past simple and the present perfect tenses is
1. Whether something is finished
2. Whether something is relative to another time or not
3. Finite and non-finite forms
4. Imperfect and perfect forms
In the sentence I want those., the word those is
1. in the nominative case
2. in the dative case
3. in the accusative case
4. in the locative case
In the sentence Those are mine., the word mine is
1. a genitive pronoun
2. an accusative pronoun
3. a possessive determiner
4. a genitive noun
In the sentence Good morning, Mary! some languages will change the form of Mary. This indicates
1. the genitive
2. the vocative
3. the dative
4. the locative
In the sentence I received Fred's letter to me., the phrase Fred's letter is an example of
1. a possessive genitive
2. an origin genitive
3. a descriptive genitive
4. a subjective genitive
In the sentence I had him explain it to me. the verb had is
1. a perfect tense marker
2. a causative verb
3. a modal auxiliary verb
In the sentence Without warm weather, the clothes won't dry. the phrase Without warm weather is a circumstance of
1. contingency
2. cause
3. manner
4. location
The sentence It was John who did all the work. is
1. an it-cleft
2. a fronted subject sentence
3. an empty it-sentence
4. a who-cleft
The words skirt and shirt both derive from the same Old English word so they form a
1. pair of cognates
2. a doublet
3. a false friend pair
4. an inter-language synonym
The words administer in English and amministrare in Italian mean the same so they are
1. cognates
2. doublets
3. false friends
4. synonyms
The process or result of grouping a set of words on the basis of their similarity in entering into syntagmatic grammatical relations is
1. colligation
2. collocation
3. synonymy
4. word classification
The learner's error in They delivered me the book is an example of
1. a colligation error
2. a collocation error
3. a case error
4. a paradigmatic error
We can say more happily but not happilier because
1. the adjective takes the periphrastic form in the comparative
2. the adjective takes the inflected form in the comparative
3. the adverb takes the periphrastic form in the comparative
4. the adverb takes the inflected form in the comparative
In the sentence Even though it was raining, we went out., the clause Even though it was raining is
1. concessive
2. conditional
3. adversative
In the sentence Give me the money and I'll buy you a drink., the word and signals
1. coordination
2. condition
3. subordination
4. concession
In the sentence He must go., the word go is
1. a complement
2. a non-finite form
3. a finite form
4. the object of must
The verb form in the sentence One in ten children have too little food. is an example of
1. proximity concord
2. notional concord
3. recessive concord
4. deponent concord
ten bottles sounds like tem bottles in a stream of speech. This is an example of
1. assimilation
2. catenation
3. ellipsis
4. intrusion
In the sentence He didn't spend all his money at once but saved it carefully., the word but is
1. an adversative conjunction
2. a confirmatory conjunction
3. a contrastive conjunction
4. a subordinator
If, speaking from home, someone says, When you turn left into the lane, my house is on the right., the speaker is moving
1. the deictic centre
2. the spatial centre
3. the point of view
4. the personal centre
The difference between The window got broken during the game. and The window was broken so it was cold in the room is one of
1. stative vs. dynamic passive forms
2. passive and active voice
3. the use of the causative got
Why is A house I want to buy. wrong and That house I want to buy. correct?
1. Because nouns cannot be fronted without the definite article
2. Because the fronted noun must be distinguished with a determiner
3. Because the indefinite article is never fronted
4. Because nouns cannot be fronted
What genre is represented by this conventional text staging: Orientation > Record of events > Reorientation > Coda
1. Recount
2. Explanation
3. Narrative
4. Exposition
In French, Polish and Romanian, a postage stamp is literally translated as a stamp postage. This phenomenon is called
1. fronting
2. headedness
3. reversal
4. compounding
Writing It may be arguable that ... instead of The fact is ... is an example of
1. hyperbole
2. hedging
3. downtoning
4. litotes
The words right and write are examples of
1. homophones
2. homographs
3. hyponyms
4. heteronyms
Another word for hypernym is
1. overarcher
2. superordinate
3. supernym
4. hyponym
The words nation, national, nationalise, nationalisation etc. form a
1. lexical set
2. word family
3. lexical field
4. lemma
The words male and female are examples of
1. complementary antonyms
2. converse antonyms
3. gradable antonyms
4. ungradable antonyms
The expressions as blind as a bat and as regular as clockwork are examples of
1. binomials
2. fixed similes
3. fixed metaphors
4. non-compositional idioms
The expressions If only the weather would get warmer and I wish the sea was calmer are examples of
1. optation
2. hortation
3. exhortation
4. cohortation
Verbs such as make and do which sometimes carry little meaning and take their meaning from the following noun are often called
1. desemanticised verbs
2. delexicalised verbs
3. function verbs
4. vacant verbs
The word okoru in Japanese and the word occur in English have similar but not identical meanings so they are
1. false friends
2. false cognates
3. cognates
4. loan words
The word goalman in German, Slovene and Serbo-Croatian means goalkeeper in English. The words are
1. false friends
2. false cognates
3. cognates
4. pseudo-Anglicisms
The term The White House is often used to mean The American government. This is an example of
1. synonymy
2. simile
3. metaphor
4. metonymy
Saying She doesn't believe it will rain instead of She believes it won't rain is an example of
1. negativity
2. reversed negativity
3. double negation
4. transferred negation
In the sentence I don't think stealing in order to eat is wrong., the words stealing in order to eat are an example of
1. phrasal nominalisation
2. clausal deverbalisation
3. post-modification
4. clausal nominalisation
In the expressions a bar of chocolate and a pane of glass we have made the mass noun countable by the use of
1. a classifier
2. a determiner
3. a quantifier
4. a partitive
The words slice, plate, sliver in a slice of cake, a plate of glass, a sliver of metal all denote thinness. They are
1. classifiers
2. typical determiners
3. typical partitives
4. restricted partitives
In the phrase half the cake the word half is
1. a classifier
2. a maucal pronoun
3. a pre-determiner
4. a partitive
The sentence I talked to the woman in the cottage is ambiguous. To understand it we have to focus on
1. the clause constituents
2. the prepositions
3. the word ordering
4. the clauses
In the sentence The meeting started shortly after 6 o'clock., the word shortly is
1. modifying the verb
2. modifying the meeting
3. modifying the prepositional phrase
4. modifying 6 o'clock
In the sentence They dislike each other., the phrase each other is
1. a reciprocal pronoun
2. a reflexive pronoun
3. in apposition to They
4. a demonstrative
In the sentence I think so., the word so is
1. a pro-form
2. a pronoun
3. an adverb
4. a dummy object
In the sentence Perish the thought., the verb, perish, is
1. in the subjunctive mood
2. in the indicative mood
3. an infinitive
4. a non-assertive form
In the exchange
A: I bought a new car.
B: Oh, where?
we have an example of
1. clausal ellipsis
2. nominal ellipsis
3. nominal substitution
4. phrasal ellipsis
Saying Hard a-port instead of Turn sharp left, is a question of
1. register
2. style
3. phrasal synonymy
4. participant roles
The words determined, pig-headed and stubborn have similar meanings. The difference is one of
1. connotation
2. denotation
3. referential meaning
4. collocation
Lozanov is famously connected to
1. Suggestopedia
2. The Silent Way
3. Communicative Language Teaching
4. Community Language Learning
Asher is famously connected to
1. Suggestopedia
2. The Silent Way
3. Total Physical Response
4. Community Language Learning
Gattegno is famously connected to
1. Suggestopedia
2. The Silent Way
3. Total Physical Response
4. Community Language Learning
Chomsky is famously connected to
1. Transformational-generative grammar
2. Structural linguistics
3. The U-shaped learning curve
4. The Natural Approach
Krashen is famously connected to
1. Transformational-generative grammar
2. Structural linguistics
3. The U-shaped learning curve
4. The Natural Approach
Vygotsky is famously connected to
1. The Zone of Proximal Development
2. Structural linguistics
3. The U-shaped learning curve
4. The Natural Approach
Understanding a text by looking at the lexis and grammatical forms is an example of
1. bottom-up processing
2. top-down processing
3. generic knowledge use
4. schema activation
Reading through a text to find the date of the next event is an example of
1. bottom-up processing
2. top-down processing
3. skimming
4. scanning
Listening to an announcement to hear if it concerns your journey is an example of
1. bottom-up processing
2. top-down processing
3. skimming
4. monitoring
Saying something like, It was Tuesday last ... No, I tell a lie, it was Wednesday ... is an example of
1. the use of fillers
2. false starting
3. compensating
4. reformulation
Saying something like, It's the grommet ... the thing that keeps the moisture out ... that is rotten is an example of
1. the use of fillers
2. false starting
3. compensating
4. reformulation
A written test at the end of a lesson to see what has been learnt is an example of
1. summative testing
2. formative testing
3. informal testing
4. proficiency testing
Testing a learner to see what he / she needs to learn is an example of
1. diagnostic testing
2. formative testing
3. informal testing
4. proficiency testing
Getting a student to write an e-mail to see how well they can do it is an example of
1. direct testing
2. indirect testing
3. objective testing
4. achievement testing
A True / False test item is also called
1. an alternate response test
2. a multiple-choice test
3. a structured response test
4. an exclusive test
If the question about a test is Would a candidate get the same result whether they took the test in London or Kuala Lumpur, now or tomorrow? then we are determining
1. reliability
2. validity
3. practicality
4. trustworthiness
If the question about a test is Does the test contain a relevant and representative sample of what it is testing? then we are determining
1. reliability
2. validity
3. practicality
4. trustworthiness
If we can describe exactly what we are testing, the test has good
1. content validity
2. construct validity
3. face validity
4. reliability
This sentence from Star Trek: You are free to execute your laws, and your citizens, as you see fit. is an example of
1. a zeugma
2. a metaphor
3. homonymy
4. synecdoche

Terminology for teachers (please wait a little for the test to load)

Multiple-choice test
ELT Concourse Home Page

Terminology for teachers (please wait a little for the test to load)

Multiple-choice test ELT Concourse Home Page

Multiple-choice test
ELT Concourse Home Page