Applied Linguistics is all about using the results of language study in real life teaching. Linguistics is the formal study of language. When the results of these studies are applied to TEFL at the chalkface, then this is applied linguistics. It is a relatively...
Semantics is the study of meaning. This can include the meaning of individual words and also the way in which their meaning may have changed over time. Meaning in languages is mainly studied by linguists. In fact, semantics is one of the main branches of...
In linguistics, a filler is a sound or word in speaking used by someone to show that they haven't finished speaking yet but are either forming their thoughts into speech or mentally searching for the right word. Common fillers in English are: um - /um/ er - /ə/...
Fluency (or what some people might call Volubility and Loquaciousness) is the ability to speak smoothly and at length about a subject without effort. And if there are pauses, these are to gather thoughts or allow a point to sink in rather than to search for the right...
Look at the picture of Winston Churchill on this page. It's not the man himself but rather a waxwork of him. It's a less rounded, less detailed, copy of the real thing. In essence, this is what Paraphrasing is all about. Simply put it is taking what someone has...
The usual qualifications for newcomers to TEFL are a degree and a TEFL certificate such as the ICAL TEFL Course. These are usually enough to secure a decent job in teaching English as a foreign language. However, after a few years experience, some teachers will...
Converse Terms are pairs of words which refer to the same thing but from opposite sides. Take for example the picture on the right. There is one action taking place here: a balloon is being passed between two people. However, we can describe this action in different...
When we repeat what someone has said before, we usually use say or tell: Jeff said he was never going to eat meat again after that meal! Susan told us the most amusing story about the pigeons in her garden. And with direct speech we almost always use say: "No," said...
Quotation Marks or Inverted Commas (known more informally as Speech Marks) are used in writing to show what someone actually says. They separate actual speech from comment, in other words. John F. Kennedy said, "Change is the law of life. And those who look only to...
Simply put, Interrogative Adjectives are adjectives which modify a noun (like all adjectives do) and also ask a question. These are the interrogative adjectives: what whose which Any sentence which begins with an interrogative adjective is a question: Which coat is...
