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ELT acronyms Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

Understanding the acronyms in teaching and learning English

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

Types of English

ELT
English Language Teaching
ESL
English as a second language
Learning English in a coutry where English is the official language
EFL
English as a foreign language
Learning English in a non-En­gli­sh-­spe­aking country
ESOL
English for speakers of other languages
Learners who have learned other languages prior to English, thus English is not their second language learning
ELF
English as a lingua franca
Use of English as a medium of commun­ication between peoples of different languages.
ESP
English for specific purposes
Teaching English for a specific purpose such as business, technical, medical profes­sionals and so on
EAP
English for Academic purposes
A branch of ESP. English for higher education settings
GE
General English
Different from ESP is a common form of the language. It can also be used to differ­entiate from a dialect
EAL
English as an ​addit­ional ​language
Learners who are multil­ingual, thus English might be their third, fourth, etc language
EIL
English as intern­ational language
English as a global language
EIAL
English as an intern­ational auxiliary language
The term was created by Larry E. Smith, who stated that English, other than the first language, is used by nationals of a country to internal commun­ica­tion. He also coined the term World Englishes
AE
American English
ENL
English as a new language
It recognizes that the learners know more than two or three languages. It is the oficial acronym used by the U.S. National Board for Profes­sional Teaching Standards Certif­ication
BrE
British English
CanE
Canadian English
OE
Old English
SAE
Standard American English
EAE
Edited American English
It refers to writing that has been prepared for public­ation in print
SWE
Standard Written English
AAVE
Africa­n-A­merican Vernacular English
RP
Received pronun­ciation
Presti­gious variety of British English spoken without an identi­fiable regional accent. BBC English, the Queen's English, posh accent.

Teachers' Associ­ation

  

Teacher training

CELTA
TKT
Teaching Knowledge Test
Foundation stages
CELT-P
CELT-S
ICELT
Delta
EMI skills
English as a Medium of Instru­ction
It is for university profes­sors, lecturers, tutors and resear­chers whose first language is not English, but who use English to teach students, present academic papers and interact with collea­gues.

Compre­hension Approach

It's an umbrella term, which refers to several method­ologies that emphasize on an unders­tanding of the language rather than speaking. Associated with the linguists Harris Winitz, Stephen Krashen, Tracy D. Terrell and James J. Asher.
See Teaching method­ologies

Teaching method­ologies

CLT
Commun­icative Language Teaching
commun­icate effect­ively; real meaning; learne­r-c­entred; intera­ction
TBL
Task-Based Learning
meaningful tasks; solving a problem
TBI
Task-Based Instru­ction
see TBL
TPR
Total Physical Response
Developed by James Asher; whole body actions; listening; unders­tanding rather than producing
See compre­hension approach
NA
Natural Approach
Developed by Stephen Krashen; little or no importance on error correc­tion, drilling or on conscious learning of grammar rules
See compre­hension approach
CLIL
Content and Language Integrated Learning
Teaching both a subject and the language
CBI
Conten­t-based instru­ction
Learners study a topic or a subject matter using English instead of their native language
ALM
Audio-­Lingual Method
Based on Skinner’s Behavi­orism theory; system of reinfo­rce­ment: Correct behaviour receives positive feedback, while errors receive negative feedback.
DM
Direct Method
No transl­ation
GTM
Grammar Transl­ation Method
transl­ation from target language to native language
SW
The silent way
created by Caleb Gattegno; uses silence as a teaching method
CLL
Community language learning
students work together to develop what aspects of a language they would like to learn

Language Levels

  

Language Learners

NS
Native Speaker
NNS
Non Native Speaker
NNEST
Non-Native English Speaking Teacher
NNL
Non-Native Language
L1
First language, mother tongue
L2
Second Language
SLA
Second Language Acquis­ition
YL
Young Learners
ELA
English language acquis­ition. This is used in case English is not the second language being learned
MT
Mother Tongue
LL
Language Learner
EL
English learners - short for ELL
ELL
English language learners

English language exams

TOEFL
TOEIC
YLE
Young Learners Exam
Exam for children
KET
Key English Test
Able to commun­icate in simple situat­ions.
PET
Prelim­inary English Test
Basic English
FCE
CAE
CPE
Prelim­inary English Test
Cambridge highes­t-level qualif­ication
IELTS
BULATS
BEC
ETS
Educat­ional Testing Service
develops, admini­sters and scores assessment tests
OCR
Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examin­ations
examin­ation board that sets examin­ations and awards qualif­ica­tions

Lesson Organi­zation

PPP
Presen­tation Production Practice
ARC
Authentic Restricted Clarif­ication
ESA
Engage, Study, Activate
OHE
Observe, Hypoth­esize, Experiment
TTT
Test, Teach, Test
STT
Student Talk Time
TTT
Teacher Talk Time
CALL
Comput­er-­Ass­isted Language Learning

Education Technology

F2F
Face-t­o-face
LMS
Learning Management System
MOOC
Massive Open Online Course
PLN
Personal Learning Network
VLE
Virtual Learning Enviro­nment

Teaching Acronyms

TEFL
Teaching English as a Foreign Language
TEFLA
Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Adults
TEIL
Teaching English as an Intern­ational Language
TESL
Teaching English as a Second Language
TESOL
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Language Levels

Miscel­laneous

NLP
Neurol­ing­uistic Progra­mming
COCA
Corpus of Contem­porary American English
OED
Oxford English Dictionary
RSA
Royal Society of Arts. admini­sters a variety of exams
SIOP
Sheltered Instru­ction Observ­ation Protocol. A resear­ch-­based model of instru­ction that help teachers plan and deliver lessons
UCLES
The University of Cambridge Local Examin­ations Syndicate. develop and deliver examin­ations and tests around the world through three exam boards
UDL
Universal Design for Learning is a set of principles for curriculum develo­pment that give all indivi­duals equal opport­unities to learn