Articulation The production of speech sounds in the mouth and throat.
Assessment The process of collecting, analysing and recording information about student progress and achievement to inform future learning and teaching.
Blend i] The process of combining sounds into larger units: clusters, syllables, words. This assists in word recognition when reading.
ii] A combination of two or more consonant sounds, particularly at the beginning and end of words, e.g. bl, str, nt, nd.
Book Conventions The page and book layout – how a book is put together, e.g. title page, contents page, front and back cover.
Collaborative Teaching
Teaching methodology that requires teachers to have equal participation and responsibility in the classroom.
Concepts Of Print The structure and function of written texts. Examples of the structure of English print are: it has spaces between words;
varying word lengths and left to right and top to bottom directionality. The functions of written texts are to convey messages and to provide information that can be converted to speech.
Consonant Digraphs
Two consonant letters representing one sound, e.g. ship, bath, duck.
Context All those things, which influence, act upon and are connected with the language choices made when creating or interpreting texts.
Continuous Assessment
See Formative assessment.
CVC Consonant-vowel-consonant word pattern, e.g. c-a-t = cat.
CVCC Consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant word pattern, e.g. m-i-l-k
= milk.
Directionality The direction that readers read print. English texts usually are read horizontally from left to right and from top to bottom. Chinese texts traditionally are read vertically from right to left, from top to bottom.
Expressive Language
Language that a person uses to produce his/her own speech and writing.
Fiction texts Texts about imaginary people, things or events.
Final Sound A sound at the end of a word, e.g. cat, wash.
Formative Assessment
The practice of building a cumulative profile of student progress and achievement. This usually takes place during day-to-day classroom activities and involves informal interaction and
assessment procedures. It provides a broader profile of the student than formal testing. Formative and summative
assessment complement each other to form a comprehensive profile of student achievement.
Formulaic Expressions
Language which is learned in chunks (e.g. greetings). It often relates to specific contexts (e.g. ordering a meal in a restaurant).
Second language learners usually begin by learning these expressions.
Functional Language
Language needed for communicating with others in a social environment.
High Frequency Words
Words occurring frequently in written or spoken texts, e.g. the, at, I, you.
Illustrations Pictures to go with written or spoken text that explains the content of the text or provides more information, e.g. drawing,
photograph, diagram.
Imitating Copying or mimicking the reading style or speech of others.
Integration The teaching of the language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing in conjunction with each other.
Initial Sound A sound at the beginning of a word, e.g. cat, ship.
Instructional Language
Language used by teachers to facilitate classroom management.
Intonation The rise and fall in the pitch of the voice as well as the degree of loudness placed on different syllables, which adds more meaning to the words being expressed.
Key Words Subject-specific vocabulary.
Letter Clusters Letters that are grouped together, e.g. bl, str, tch, tion, ly.
Literacy The ability to inject one’s own thoughts and intentions into messages received and messages sent, and to transform and then act upon aspects of the world via spoken and written words.
Literacy is using the processes of language authentically.
Literary texts Spoken and written texts that explore and interpret human experience, usually in such a way as to evoke in the reader or listener a reflective, imaginative and/or emotional response.
Literacy Practice Ways of communicating every day through listening, speaking, reading and writing that is influenced by culture, society and identity.
Medial Sound A sound in the middle of a one-syllable word, e.g. cat, beach.
Non-fiction texts Texts about real people, facts and events.
Onset and Rime The separate sounds in a one-syllable word. The onset is the initial consonant or consonant cluster of a word, e.g. sun, chop, strike.
The rime is the part of a one-syllable word that starts with a vowel, and usually has a final consonant, e.g. tea, sun, strike, watch.
Phonics The relationship between sounds and their letters. This assists in word recognition when reading, and with spelling when writing.
Positive
Reinforcement
The rewarding of effort and achievement in order to encourage more of the same in the future.
Pronunciation The way certain sound or sounds are produced and perceived by the hearer, including how the spoken word relates to its written form, e.g. in the word knife the k is not pronounced.
Reading The act of constructing meaning from print using prior knowledge of the world, of language and of the written code.
Rebus A word game or puzzle in which words have to be guessed from pictures or letters that suggest the sound that make them, e.g. R U 18? is a rebus for Are you 18?
Receptive Language Spoken and written language that a person understands.
Retell To read a text and then reconstruct it in a way that reveals the parts of the text that are significant to the reader and the links that the reader makes between aspects of the text.
Rhythm Rhythm is the more or less regular alternation of light beats and heavy beats (stresses) in speech or music. Some poetry uses very regular rhythm patterns.
Segments i] To break a one syllable word into its individual sounds, e.g. c-a-t; ch-ar-c-a-t; g-r-ou-n-d. This assists with reading, and spelling when writing.
ii] To break a one syllable word into onset and rime, e.g. c-at; ch-art; gr-ound. This assists with reading, and spelling when writing.
Story Map A visual representation of the main features of a story. It can be constructed at the end of a reading or be an ongoing process as the story is progressing. It usually has labels.
Sight Words Words that readers recognise at sight. They do not need to decode them using phonics or other reading strategies.
Summative Assessment
The practice of making judgements about student achievement at certain relevant points in the learning and teaching programme, such as at the end of a unit of work, or at the end of a term or year of schooling. Formal assessment activities such as tests, projects and assignments are generally used. Formative and summative assessment complement each other to form a
Syllable A rhythmic unit of speech consisting minimally of one vowel sound and maximally of a vowel sound preceded by and/or followed by a consonant or a consonant cluster. Words with only one unit (cat, fright, jail) are called monosyllabic; words with more than one unit (su/per, cow/ard, pro/duc/tion) are polysyllabic.
Text Any meaningful stretch of language organised to communicate, including written, spoken, visual and electronic forms.
Text Types Texts that have recognisable purposes, predictable structures and language features common to each one. Texts can be literary or non-literary and can be a combination of text types, e.g. a guidebook may contain procedural text (the path or route) and report (information about exhibits).