General terms for Cambridge Delta Module 1
A list of 100 terms and definitions that may appear in Delta Module 1 Paper 1 Task 1, covering a wide range of concepts from grammar to methodology, discourse analysis, and phonology:
Term Definition
Adjacency Pair
Affix
Anaphoric Reference
Aspect
Collocation
Connotation
Context
Cohesion
Cohesive Devices
Comprehensible Input
Competence (Linguistic)
Example/Usage
A conversational structure where two related utterances occur, typically a question and answer. "How are you?" → "I'm good, thanks!"
A morpheme that is added to a root word to change its meaning or grammatical function.
"un-" in "unkown" or "-ing" in "running".
A type of reference where a word (usually a pronoun) refers back to something previously mentioned. John left his keys. He was in a rush. ("He" refers to John).
The grammatical feature that expresses the way in which an action or state is viewed in relation to time.
Words that frequently appear together due to habitual use in a language.
The implied or associative meaning of a word beyond its dictionary definition.
The situation or environment in which language occurs, affecting its meaning.
The grammatical or lexical links between parts of a text that help it hang together.
Words or phrases that help to connect ideas and sentences, contributing to text cohesion.
Language that is just beyond the current level of the learner but still understandable, often used in second language acquisition theories.
The inherent knowledge a speaker has of their language's rules.
Present continuous expresses an action happening now: "She is running."
"Heavy rain", "make a decision", "take a break".
"Home" has a warm, personal connotation, while "house" is more neutral.
In a formal context, "Can you help me?" might be more polite than in an informal one.
Using pronouns to refer back to subjects: "She loves ice cream. It’s her favorite."
However, therefore, in addition, because of
Learners understand "She is reading a book" after being exposed to simpler sentences.
Knowing the difference between "I eat" and "I am eating"
Term Definition
Performance (Linguistic)
Consonant Cluster
The actual use of language in concrete situations, influenced by many factors.
Example/Usage
A speaker might say "I eats" instead of "I eat" due to stress or distractions, though they know the correct form.
Discourse
Discourse Marker
Error
False Cognate
Fluency
GrammarTranslation Method
Hedge
Hyperbole
Idiom
Interlanguage
Intonation
A group of consonants appearing together without intervening vowels.
A unit of language longer than a sentence, encompassing spoken or written communication.
Words or phrases used to manage the flow of discourse.
A mistake in language that arises from a lack of knowledge of the language.
Words that look similar in two languages but have different meanings.
The smoothness and flow of speech, often involving the ability to express oneself naturally without excessive hesitation.
A traditional method of language teaching that focuses on explicit grammar rules and translation exercises.
A word or phrase used to soften or weaken a statement, making it less direct.
Exaggerated language used for emphasis or effect.
A phrase or expression whose meaning cannot be understood from the literal meanings of the individual words.
A transitional state of language proficiency between the learner's native language and the target language.
The rise and fall in pitch while speaking, often used to convey meaning or emotion.
"st-" in "street", "spl-" in "splash"
An entire conversation, news report, or academic essay.
"Well," "so," "anyway," "actually," "you know."
Saying "She go" instead of "She goes"
"Sympathy" in English vs "simpatía" in Spanish.
Being able to speak for an extended period without interruption.
Learning Latin by translating sentences and focusing on grammar rules.
"I think," "Maybe," "It's possible that."
"I've told you a million times!"
"Kick the bucket" meaning "to die."
A learner may say "She have been", mixing correct grammar and errors.
A rising pitch at the end of a sentence: "Are you coming?"
Term Definition
Learner Corpus
Lexis
Metaphor
Metaphor (Extended)
Minimal Pairs
Modal Verb
Monologue
Morpheme
Morphology
A collection of learner-produced texts or speech, used for analysis of errors and language patterns.
Example/Usage
Using a learner corpus to identify common mistakes among beginner students.
The vocabulary of a language, including words, phrases, and expressions. "Book", "run", "idiom"
A figure of speech that describes something by stating that it is something else. "Time is money."
A metaphor that is extended over several lines or sentences, often used in literary works.
"The journey of life is long, winding, and full of obstacles."
Negative Transfer
Pairs of words that differ by only one sound, helping learners practice pronunciation.
Verbs that express necessity, possibility, permission, or ability.
A long speech by a single speaker, often without interruption.
The smallest meaningful unit in a language.
The study of the structure and form of words.
"bat vs "pat", "sheet" vs "shit"
Can, could, should, might, must.
A speaker explaining a topic for an extended period, such as a lecture.
"Un-" in "unhappy" or "-s" to indicate plural in "cats"
Studying how prefixes and suffixes change word meaning.
The influence of a learner's first language on their second language, leading to errors.
A French learner of English might say "I have 25 years", influenced by French "J'ai 25 ans"
Nominalization
Noun Phrase
Onomatopoeia
The process of turning verbs or adjectives into nouns.
A phrase with a noun as its main word, often including modifiers.
"Run" becomes "running", "happy" becomes "happiness"
"The large red book" or "a fast car"
Words that imitate the sounds they describe. "Buzz", "clang", "splash"
Term Definition
Phoneme
Phonological Awareness
Pitch
Pragmatics
Prepositional Phrase
Prosody
Register
Repair
Realia
Recursion
The smallest unit of sound that can distinguish meaning.
The ability to recognize and manipulate sounds at the level of phonemes, syllables, and words.
Example/Usage
The difference between "bit" and "beat" is in the vowel phoneme.
Identifying that "bat" and "mat" differ only in the initial consonant sound.
Relative Clause
The degree of highness or lowness of a sound, important for conveying meaning and emotion.
The study of how context affects the interpretation of language.
The pitch rise in "Are you sure?" indicating doubt or surprise.
Understanding that "Could you pass the salt?" is a polite request, not just a question about ability.
A phrase consisting of a preposition and its object, often used to show relationships. "In the park", "on the table"
The rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech, which help convey meaning and emotion.
The level of formality or informality in language, determined by context and audience.
The process of correcting errors in communication, either by the speaker or the listener.
Real-world objects or materials used in teaching to provide authentic context.
The difference in meaning between "You’re going?" (question) and *"
"Hey" vs "Hello", "Can you help me?" vs "Would you mind assisting me?"
A speaker might say "I have 20 years old" and self-correct to "I am 20 years old."
Using a menu in class to practice ordering food in English.
The process of embedding clauses or phrases within one another to create complex sentences. "I know that she said that she would come."
A clause that gives more information about a noun, usually introduced by a relative pronoun. "The book that I borrowed was interesting."
Term Definition
Repetition
Role Play
Root Word
Schema
The act of repeating a word or phrase, often used for emphasis or clarity.
An activity where learners act out a scenario to practice reallife language use.
The base form of a word, from which other words can be formed by adding prefixes or suffixes.
A mental framework that helps people organize and interpret information.
Segmentation
Semantic Field
Sentence Stress
Syllable
Subordinate Clause
Example/Usage
"I can do it. I can!"
A student might role-play ordering food at a restaurant, practicing vocabulary and expressions.
"Read" is the root word of "reader" and "reading".
Understanding the structure of a restaurant menu, which helps learners predict types of items.
The ability to break speech into smaller units, such as syllables or words. "Im-pact", "be-tween"
A group of words related in meaning, often used to convey a particular topic or theme.
The emphasis placed on certain words in a sentence to convey meaning.
Words related to weather: rain, clouds, sunny, storm
In "I love tea," the stress is often on "love", whereas in "I LOVE tea," the stress is on "tea"
A unit of pronunciation that forms the basic building block of words. "Ta-ble", "Beau-ti-ful"
A clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence, usually introduced by a subordinating conjunction.
"Although it was raining" in "Although it was raining, we went for a walk."
Speech Act
A communicative act that conveys meaning and intention, such as requests, apologies, or promises.
Stress
The emphasis placed on particular syllables or words in speech.
"Can you help me?" (request), "I promise I'll call you later."
In "reCORD" vs "REcord", the stress is on different syllables depending on whether it’s a noun or verb.
Term Definition
Substitution
Syllabic Consonant
Replacing one element in a sentence with another to avoid repetition or for emphasis.
A consonant that forms its own syllable, often in unstressed syllables.
Task-Based Learning
Tense
Theme
Topic Sentence
Transitive Verb
A learning approach that focuses on using language to complete meaningful tasks rather than focusing solely on grammar or vocabulary.
The grammatical feature that expresses when an action or event occurs in time.
The topic or subject of a sentence or discourse, often emphasized by sentence structure.
A sentence that introduces the main idea of a paragraph or section of text.
A verb that requires a direct object to complete its meaning.
Understatement
Verb Phrase
Example/Usage
Using "one" to replace "book" in "I want that book. I'll take the one."
The "n" sound in "button" can function as a syllabic consonant.
Vowel Reduction
A figure of speech where the importance or magnitude of something is deliberately reduced.
A phrase that includes a main verb along with its auxiliary verbs.
The process by which vowels in unstressed syllables become shorter or less distinct.
Vowel Shift
A systematic change in the pronunciation of vowels over time.
Planning a holiday using travel-related vocabulary and structures.
Present tense: "She sings."; Past tense: "She sang."
In "The teacher helped me," "The teacher" is the theme.
In a paragraph about vacation, "Summer vacations are a time for relaxation" might be the topic sentence.
"She ate the cake." ("ate" is transitive because it needs "the cake" to make sense).
"It’s just a scratch", when referring to a large hole in the wall.
"has been working" in "She has been working all day."
The "a" in "banana" is reduced in unstressed syllables.
The Great Vowel Shift in English led to changes in vowel pronunciation, such as "bite" becoming pronounced with a long "i" sound.
Term Definition
Word Family
Word Stress
Zero Conditional
Nominalization
Quantifiers
Causative Form
A group of words derived from the same root, often including different parts of speech.
The emphasis placed on a particular syllable of a word.
Cleft Sentence
Complex Sentence
Conditional Clause
Example/Usage
"Decide" (verb), "decision" (noun), "decisive" (adjective).
In "DEsert" (noun) vs "deSERT" (verb), stress is placed on different syllables.
A grammatical structure used for expressing general truths or facts. "If you heat water to 100°C, it boils."
The process of turning verbs or adjectives into nouns.
Words used to indicate the quantity of something.
A grammatical structure used to indicate that someone causes someone else to do something.
A structure used to emphasize a particular part of a sentence, often beginning with "It is" or "What."
A sentence containing at least one subordinate clause and one main clause.
A subordinate clause in a conditional sentence, often beginning with "if".
"Run" → "running" or "happy" → "happiness"
"Some", "much", "few", "many", "a lot of."
"She had her hair cut." (caused someone else to cut her hair).
"It was John who broke the window."
"Although I was tired, I stayed up late."
"If it rains, I will stay home."