TEFL/TESOL Certification English Language Systems: Grammar, Lexis, and Phonology Flashcards

24 sample cards from the English Language Systems: Grammar, Lexis, and Phonology deck

Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.

1. How are English consonants classified (the three descriptors)?

   By place of articulation (where, e.g., bilabial, alveolar, velar), manner of articulation (how, e.g., plosive, fricative, nasal), and voicing (whether the vocal cords vibrate — voiced vs voiceless).

2. What is the difference between a monophthong and a diphthong?

   A monophthong is a single, pure vowel sound with no change in quality (e.g., /iː/ in 'see'); a diphthong is a glide from one vowel quality to another within a single syllable (e.g., /aɪ/ in 'my').

3. What is the schwa /ə/, and why is it important in English?

   Schwa is the weak, central, unstressed vowel sound (as in the 'a' of 'about' or 'er' of 'teacher'). It is the most common vowel in English and central to weak forms, rhythm, and natural connected speech.

4. What is 'connected speech' and name three of its key features.

   Connected speech is how sounds change when words run together in natural speech. Key features: linking/liaison (joining sounds across word boundaries), elision (dropping sounds), assimilation (sounds becoming more like neighbours), and weak forms.

5. Define elision and assimilation in connected speech, with an example of each.

   Elision is the omission of a sound, e.g., the /t/ in 'next day' → 'nex day'. Assimilation is a sound changing to resemble an adjacent sound, e.g., 'ten boys' where /n/ becomes /m/ → 'tem boys'.

6. What are 'weak forms' and 'strong forms' of function words?

   Many function words (and, of, to, can, are) have a stressed strong form and an unstressed weak form using schwa. In natural speech the weak form is normal (e.g., 'to' as /tə/), while the strong form is used for emphasis or in isolation.

7. What is word stress and why does it matter in English?

   Word stress is the relative prominence given to one syllable in a multisyllable word (louder, longer, higher pitch). It matters because misplaced stress can impede comprehension and can even change meaning/word class (e.g., 'REcord' noun vs 're CORD' verb).

8. What does it mean to say English is a 'stress-timed' language?

   In stress-timed rhythm, stressed syllables occur at roughly regular intervals, and unstressed syllables between them are compressed (often using weak forms/schwa). This contrasts with syllable-timed languages where each syllable takes roughly equal time.

9. What is sentence stress, and which words are typically stressed?

   Sentence stress is the pattern of prominence across an utterance. Content words (nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs) carrying meaning are normally stressed, while function words (articles, prepositions, auxiliaries, pronouns) are usually unstressed.

10. What is intonation and what are its main communicative functions?

    Intonation is the rise and fall of pitch across an utterance. It signals grammatical function (e.g., statement vs question), attitude/emotion, and information focus, and helps manage discourse (turn-taking, new vs given information).

11. What do rising and falling intonation typically signal in English?

    Falling intonation typically signals completeness, certainty, statements, wh-questions, and commands. Rising intonation typically signals incompleteness, uncertainty, yes/no questions, listing, and inviting a response.

12. What is the difference between an L1-interference and a developmental pronunciation error?

    An L1-interference error stems from transferring the sounds/patterns of the learner's first language (e.g., no /θ/ in L1); a developmental error is a stage many learners pass through regardless of L1. Diagnosis affects which to prioritize and how to remedy.

13. Name techniques for diagnosing and correcting a pronunciation problem.

    Diagnose with minimal-pair discrimination tasks and recorded learner speech. Correct using minimal pair drills, articulatory description/diagrams, modelling and choral/individual drilling, exaggeration, and focused feedback on place/manner/voicing.

14. What is the difference between cohesion and coherence in a text?

    Cohesion is the surface-level grammatical and lexical linking of a text (reference, conjunction, substitution, ellipsis, lexical ties). Coherence is the underlying logical and meaningful organization that makes a text 'hang together' for the reader.

15. Name the main types of cohesive devices.

    Reference (pronouns, 'this', 'the'), substitution (one, do, so), ellipsis (omitting recoverable words), conjunction (however, therefore, and), and lexical cohesion (repetition, synonyms, collocation).

16. What is anaphoric reference? Give an example.

    Anaphoric reference points back to something already mentioned in the text, helping cohesion — e.g., 'Maria arrived late. She had missed the bus,' where 'She' refers back to 'Maria'.

17. What is register, and what three variables (per Halliday) shape it?

    Register is the variety of language appropriate to a context. It is shaped by field (the topic/subject matter), tenor (the relationship between participants and formality), and mode (the channel — spoken or written).

18. How do formal and informal registers typically differ in vocabulary and grammar?

    Formal register favours Latinate vocabulary, full forms, the passive, complete sentences, and impersonality; informal register favours phrasal verbs and shorter Anglo-Saxon words, contractions, ellipsis, and personal pronouns.

19. What is 'appropriacy' in language use?

    Appropriacy is choosing language that fits the social context — the situation, audience, relationship, and purpose — so that it is neither too formal nor too informal. A grammatically correct sentence can still be inappropriate for its context.

20. What is functional language, and how does it differ from grammatical structure?

    Functional language is language organized by what it does — its communicative purpose (e.g., apologizing, inviting, requesting, giving advice). The same function can use different structures, and the same structure can serve different functions.

21. What is a speech act, and what is the difference between its locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary aspects?

    A speech act is an utterance that performs an action. Locutionary = the literal words/meaning; illocutionary = the intended function/force (e.g., a request); perlocutionary = the actual effect on the listener (e.g., they comply).

22. What is the difference between a direct and an indirect speech act? Give an example.

    In a direct speech act, form matches function (imperative 'Close the window' to command). In an indirect speech act, the function differs from the literal form, e.g., the question 'Could you close the window?' functions as a polite request.

23. What is 'genre' in language teaching, and why is genre awareness important for learners?

    A genre is a recognized text type with conventional structure, features, and purpose (e.g., a recipe, business email, narrative, academic essay). Genre awareness helps learners produce and interpret texts that meet the audience's and culture's expectations.

24. How do spoken and written texts typically differ in their linguistic features?

    Spoken texts tend to be more interactive, spontaneous, less lexically dense, with fillers, false starts, ellipsis, and connected speech; written texts are more planned, lexically dense, grammatically complex, and structurally explicit.

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English Language Systems: Grammar, Lexis, and Phonology flashcards FAQ