Who is this dictionary for?
This dictionary is intended for:
• students taking undergraduate or graduate courses in language teaching
or applied linguistics, particularly those planning to take up a career in
the teaching of English as a Second or Foreign Language or in foreign
language teaching
• language teachers doing in-service or pre-service courses, such as the
UCLES Diploma in Teaching English to Adults
• students doing introductory courses in linguistics and related areas
• teachers and others interested in the practical applications of language
study
Why this dictionary?
Language teaching and applied linguistics are fields which have their own
core subject matter and which also draw on a number of complementary
fields of study. Among the core subject matter disciplines are second
language acquisition, methodology, testing, and syllabus design. The
complementary fields of study include both the language based disciplines
such as linguistics, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics, as well as the
education based disciplines such as curriculum development, teacher
education, and evaluation. The result is that students taking courses in
language teaching and applied linguistics encounter a large number of
specialized terms which frequently occur in articles, books and lectures.
This dictionary attempts to clarify the meanings and uses of these terms.
The scope of the dictionary
The dictionary was written for those with little or no background in
language teaching or applied linguistics.
We have given special attention to English, and the majority of the
examples in the dictionary are from English, but the dictionary will also be
helpful to those interested in other languages. Although the dictionary is
not intended primarily for those who already have a specialized training in
language teaching or applied linguistics, it will serve as a reference book in
areas with which they are less familiar. It should also be useful to general
readers who need further information about the terms which occur in the
fields of language teaching and applied linguistics.
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Language teaching and applied linguistics
This dictionary includes the core vocabulary of both language teaching and
applied linguistics. The field of language teaching is concerned with the
development of language programmes and courses, teaching methodology,
materials development, second language acquisition theory, testing, teacher
training and related areas. The dictionary includes terms from the following
areas of study in the field of language teaching:
• teaching methods and approaches in language teaching
• curriculum development and syllabus design
• second language acquisition
• the teaching of listening, speaking, reading and writing
• computer assisted language learning
• teacher education in language teaching
• English grammar and pronunciation
• language testing, research methods, and basic statistics
The dictionary also includes terms from the field of applied linguistics.
For the purposes of this book, “applied linguistics” refers to the practical
applications of linguistics and language theory and includes terms from the
following areas of study:
• introductory linguistics, including phonology, phonetics, syntax, semantics and morphology
• discourse analysis
• sociolinguistics, including the sociology of language and communicative
competence
• psycholinguistics, including learning theories
What the dictionary contains
This dictionary contains some 3500 entries, which define in as simple and
precise a way as possible, the most frequently occurring terms found in the
areas listed above. Each term has been selected on the basis of its importance within an area and reflects the fact that the term has a particular
meaning when used within that area, a meaning unlikely to be listed in
other dictionaries. Many of these terms were included in the third edition of
this dictionary, but in preparing the fourth edition, a number of items no
longer in common use were delated, revisions were made to a number of
entries, and some 360 new entries have been added to reflect current usage
in language teaching and applied linguistics.
Our aim has been to produce clear and simple definitions which communicate the basic and essential meanings of a term in non-technical language.
Definitions are self-contained as far as possible, but cross references show
links to other terms and concepts.
Acknowledgements
This edition of the dictionary has been prepared by Jack C. Richards and
Richard Schmidt.
We would like to thank those who contributed to earlier editions of this
dictionary, particularly Heidi Kendricks, who contributed to the first and
second editions, the late John Platt, who contributed to the first and second
editions, and the following who gave valuable suggestions to earlier editions:
Christopher Candlin, John W. Oller (Jr), Lyle Bachman, Graham Crookes,
Ken Hylands, Stephen Jacques; and Youngkyu Kim for assistance in the
area of testing, research design, and statistics.
We are grateful to Ms Media Shojaee for suggestions for new items to be
included in the fourth edition.
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