Vocabulary – the words which make up our language.
This category of articles is all about these words and how we use them and sometimes how they affect the way in which we teach English.
An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a root (or stem) of a word to form another word. For example, take the word reason and add two affixes: un + reason + able Prefixes and suffixes are common types of affixes. A prefix is an affix which is […]
An abbreviation (from the Latin, brevis, meaning short.) is a shortened form of a word or phrase used almost exclusively in print. For example: LOL = laugh out loud mins = minutes abbrv = abbreviation As you can see, abbreviations are often either the full word shortened or the first […]
A Word A Day is a simple daily email which anyone can sign up to which sends out a word and definition each day which is useful to help enrich and enlarge vocabulary. For TEFL teachers it is ideal; with students it is perhaps better suited to advanced learners. The […]
A semicolon sits half way between a period/full stop and a comma. It has little or nothing to do with a colon, however. It is used instead of a period/full stop when we want to avoid too strong a break between phrases and instead of a comma when we need […]
A Lexical Chunk is a unit of language which is made up of two or more words. Here are a few examples of lexical chunks: Good morning. Nice to see you! What’s the time? Other lexical chunks can include phrasal verbs, idioms, collocations and so on. Lexical chunks are the […]