Glossary

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

abbreviation
a short form of a longer word, e.g. abbrev. (abbreviation); cttee (committee)

                                           

accountability
the state of having responsibility for something

                                           

acronym
this is a word which is composed of the first letters of the words it refers to, e.g. VAT = value added tax

                                           

adjective
a word which gives more information about a noun, e.g. compatible interface, technical support

                                           

adverb
a word which tells you more about a verb or an adjective, e.g. wireless technology is evolving rapidly, a widely adopted system

                                           

alphabetically
to have a list ordered according to the letters of the alphabet

                                           

annotate
Add an opinion, explanation or query in note form to a text. Abbreviations, symbols and highlighting are often used

                                           

antonym
this is a word which has an opposite meaning to another word, e.g. careless is an antonym of careful

                                           

approximation
The state of being close to the value of something but not the equal or exact quantity or amount (e.g. to make an approximation is to express something in rough terms; not precisely.

                                           

archaic
(words, phrases) which are no longer used today (e.g. thee, thou = 'you')

                                           

article
a word such as a/an (indefinite articles), the (definite article) which has no meaning by itself, and which you use in front of a noun or noun phrase, e.g. a database is the electronic equivalent of an indexed filing cabinet

                                           

aspect
a part of a situation, subject, or problem (e.g. to disagree with several aspects of an argument)

                                           

attribute
To acknowledge (in writing) that a piece of work or an idea is the work of someone else. If you attribute the sources, you can avoid plagiarism

                                           

authoritative
something that you can trust and respect as true and correct

                                           

aversion
To have a dislike for something (e.g. to have an aversion to debt means to dislike owing money)

B

bias
a tendency to support or oppose something in an unfair way by allowing personal opinions to influence your judgment (e.g. the biased reporting of political events)

                                           

bibliographic record (or entry)
Information about a published source. There are conventions governing the kind of information that should be included in a bibliographic record and how it should be set out

                                           

bilingual
involving 2 languages. This might refer to a type of dictionary, for example, in which terms are translated from one language to another, e.g. an English-Chinese dictionary

                                           

brainstorm
to think of all the ideas related to a particular concept or topic by noting them down or saying them aloud in no particular order

C

chunk
a 'chunk' of e.g. listening or reading text, refers to a small section or part of it

                                           

cite
in academic writing, to name or refer to another writer as the source of information in your text

                                           

clicks-and-mortar business
a business "buzzword" term meaning an e-commerce organisation which has both an internet and a physical presence. The opposite idea is a 'pure-play' organisation - one that is purely internet-based.

                                           

coin
to invent new words

                                           

collocation
this term refers to the way in which some words are frequently used together, e.g. you can 'settle a bill' but not 'agree a bill' because agree and bill are not collocations of one another

                                           

colloquial
informal use of language (e.g. the style of speech used socially among friends)

                                           

compilation
a collection of items, such as web links or poems, that have been selected from various sources

                                           

compound
a word or words which consist of other words joined or used together to make a lexical item with its own meaning, e.g. a trade deficit (a noun compound), mass-produced goods (an adjectival compound)

                                           

condense
reduce a text to its key arguments and information. The condensed text is considerably shorter that the original. Notetaking is a way of condensing longer spoken or written texts

                                           

conjunction
a word or group of words that you can use to join together other words or groups of words, e.g. and, however

                                           

concept
a principle or idea about something (e.g. the concept of infinite space)

                                           

concordance
through the use of computer software, take a list of the words used in a book or other work (e.g. The Times newspaper) and give the user information about where the words can be found and in which sentences in the text

                                           

connective
a word or phrase used, for example, to order the different stages of a description of a process, e.g. firstly, next, consequently

                                           

consonance
agreement (abstract noun)

                                           

consonant
one of 21 letters in the English alphabet, namely, 'b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,q,r,s,t,v,w,x,y,z'

                                           

countable noun
a noun which has a plural form; a plural noun can end in '-s' (computers), '-es' (addresses) or sometimes '-ies' (libraries). A few have irregular endings, e.g. 'analysis' and 'analyses'

                                           

counter argument
an argument that opposes another argument by challenging it or giving a different view

                                           

criterion
singular form of criteria

D

data sets
data which is organised or categorised into different groups according to the information they provide

                                           

definite article
the determiner, 'the'

                                           

dependent prepositions
prepositions which go together (or collocate) with other words (verbs, nouns and adjectives e.g. interested in)

                                           

determiner
a word which is used before a noun or noun phrase to modify it, i.e. to make clear which particular person or thing is meant or to give information about quantity, e.g. 'the'/'my'/'Liz's'/'this' computer, 'both' computers

                                           

discourse marker
an expression used to highlight a part of speech or portion of a text to a listener or reader. For example, a discourse marker may signal importance

E

elaboration
to add more information about something or explain what has been said

                                           

engage (with)
work with something actively and with interest, e.g. students engage with a topic

                                           

ethical issues
a system of accepted beliefs which control behaviour, especially such a system based on morals (e.g. it is ethically wrong to plagiarise)

                                           

evidence
something that gives proof or reason for believing or agreeing with something

                                           

extracts
parts or pieces of text that have been taken from a single longer text

F

feasible
able to be achieved, possible

                                           

figurative idiom
an idiom whose meaning can be interpreted as a metaphor (e.g. put off = 'postpone')

                                           

formal
describing a style of language suitable for serious or important purposes (e.g. scientific research)

G

genre
a type of text related to its purpose (e.g. a contract designed to state the conditions of a legal agreement)

                                           

gerund
a noun which is made from the 'ing' form of a verb (e.g. Jogging is a good way of keeping fit)

                                           

grammatical idiom
an idiom which includes a function word such as a preposition (e.g. on purpose = 'deliberately')

H

highlight
to attract attention to something or emphasize its importance (e.g. to highlight the main points in an argument)

                                           

hypothesis
an idea or explanation for something that is based on known facts but has not yet been proved

I

idiom
this term is used to refer to a group of words that has a special (or non-literal) meaning, e.g. 'to pull your weight' = to do your fair share of the work like everyone else

                                           

indefinite article
the determiners, 'a/an'

                                           

intonation
this refers to the rises and falls of a person's voice to convey meaning

                                           

intransitive
this term refers to a verb which cannot be followed by a direct object, e.g. 'to fall': the dollar has fallen in value recently

J

jargon
words or expressions used by a profession which other people find difficult to understand (legal jargon)

K

key words
very important words

L

learning object
the smallest individual part of the learning material in this online course; the structure of this course, from the largest to the smallest part is: module - unit- session - learning object

                                           

limitations
refers to the capability of something - what something (e.g. a computer) can do or cannot do

M

minimal
very slight, e.g. It was a terrible crash but amazingly she suffered only minimal injuries

                                           

modal
a verb which is used with another verb to express such ideas as possibility, ability, and necessity, e.g. computers can perform a wide range of tasks

                                           

monolingual
involving one language. This may refer to a type of dictionary, for example, in which definitions are given in the same language as the terms being defined, e.g. a French-French dictionary

                                           

multi-word verb
a combination of a verb and a particle (adverb or preposition) that forms a single unit (e.g. look after)

N

nascent
new and small or undeveloped

                                           

niche
to 'occupy a niche' in research is to do research work in a particular area where previously little or none had been done

                                           

nominalisation
forming a noun from another word part, often a verb or an adjective. Example: 'communication' in the sentence: communication has been established

 

noun
a word which refers to a person (e.g. programmer), thing (e.g. computer), substance (e.g. ink), place (e.g. library) or quality (e.g. length)

                                           

noun phrase
this consists of a noun or pronoun with determiners and/or adjectives and/or adverbs and/or verbs

O

object
the person or thing to which the action described by the verb in a sentence is 'done to' (e.g. 'Cows produce milk.', the object of this sentence is 'milk')

                                           

obsolescence
going out of date

                                           

organising principle
a method of organising the ideas that form the argument of an essay into a logical order. For example, a writer might organise his/her ideas for an essay by order of topic

P

paraphrase
express the same thing using different words

                                           

perspectives
refers to different ways of regarding or thinking about something - points of view

                                           

phonetic alphabet
this is an alphabet which covers all the sounds used in English. There are 44 phonetic symbols for British English

                                           

phrasal verb
this is a verb combined with a preposition or adverb or both which, when used together, take on a different meaning from the individual words, e.g. 'how did the merger come about?' = How did the merger happen?

                                           

plagiarism
plagiarism involves the act of copying another person's words or pretending that their ideas are your own especially in academic written work. You must acknowledge the source when you paraphrase another writer's work

                                           

preposition
a word or group of words which can be placed before a noun or pronoun to show place, direction, source, method etc., e.g. on the hard drive; the printer is next to the computer

                                           

pronoun
a word which replaces a noun, e.g. 'e-learning is different from conventional learning insofar as it does not involve face-to-face interaction'

                                           

proper noun
a name, e.g. John, Hewlett Packard

                                           

proofreading
the activity of reading a piece of written work in its final stages, e.g. an essay, in order to identify and mark errors for correction

                                           

proverb
a short sentence or phrase that expresses a general truth about life (e.g. a stitch in time saves nine = 'to do something now will save much more effort in the future')

                                           

pure idiom
a phrase whose meaning is unrelated to the meaning of its individual words (e.g. kick the bucket = 'die')

Q

qualify
to qualify a statement is to change or modify it in some way, often from a general to a particular meaning or reference

R

redundant
unnecessary

                                           

reflect
Think deeply about something you have done or experienced. Reflecting on what you have learned is a key part of the learning process

                                           

reformulate
change and improve an idea, text or notes after reconsidering it/them. Constantly reformulating your notes in the light of new information helps you to understand them better and keeps your notes in a form that is immediately useful for you

                                           

register
a variety of language related to the occupation of the writer (e.g. legal language used by lawyers)

S

scanning
to read quickly to locate specific information

 

search string
The terms and symbols you enter in an online search engine. Understanding how to form effective search strings is an important skill for academic researchers

                                           

segment
a section or portion into which something is divided

                                           

sentence
one or more clauses (minimum: subject + verb) that form a single unit in writing

                                           

sequential
the order in which a series of related things or events follow each other

                                           

signpost
a word or phrase used in speech or writing to highlight part of the text for the reader or audience; e.g. to introduce the different stages of a talk or lecture - to sum up, let's now consider; to clarify the writer's argument in writing - with regard to..., in conclusion

                                           

skim
to read a text quickly in order to get the gist or general idea.

                                           

slang
very informal words and expressions, unsuitable in formal writing, sometimes associated with specific groups of people (e.g. teenage slang)

                                           

subscriber
a person who pays to use a service, or to receive a magazine or newsletter

                                           

superficial
not detailed - a superficial text would only contain basic or obvious information

                                           

source text
reference to source text in academic writing would be using information in your text which was taken from another text (e.g. by using quotation or paraphrase).

                                           

stress
this refers to the way in which more force is given to certain words in a sentence or to a particular syllable in a word

                                           

study plan
a plan consisitng of a list of your short and long term learning goals including the date by which you aim to achieve them, usually in the form of a grid

                                           

subject
the person or thing that 'does' the action described by the verb in a sentence (e.g. 'Cows produce milk.', the subject of this sentence is 'cows')

                                           

subscriber
a person who pays to use a service, or to receive a magazine or newsletter

                                           

syllable
this word refers to the individual sounds that form a word when it is pronounced; a syllable may be composed of a vowel sound or consonant and vowel sound together

                                           

synonym
this is a word which is similar in meaning to another word, e.g. authentic and real are synonyms

T

template
a document that has a fixed layout (e.g. headings and columns), but with blank spaces so that you can fill in your own content

                                           

tense
refers to the different forms of a verb which signify past, present or future time

                                           

tentative
typically describing a style of academic language in which the writer does not wish to make strong statements which may not be accepted

                                           

terminology
specialist words and expressions that are used to talk about a particular field or subject area

                                           

topic sentence
a sentence in a paragraph that states the topic or subject of the paragraph and the idea(s) it focuses on

                                           

transitive
this term refers to a verb which can be followed by a direct object, e.g. 'to boost something': cheap currencies boost exports

U

uncountable noun
a noun which does not have a countable form e.g. information, research

V

verb
a word which tells you what people or things do and what happens to them, e.g. 'the buttons on a mouse are used to select items at which the mouse points'

                                           

verb phrase
a phrase that consists of a main verb and one or more helping verbs. e.g. 'had gone', 'may have eaten', 'was playing'

                                           

vested interest
a strong interest in something, usually because it could bring you significant benefits

                                           

vowel
one of 5 letters in the English alphabet, namely, 'a,e,i,o,u'

W

weak form
the non-stressed form of a word

                                           

word class (or grammatical class)
this is a term which is used to refer to whether a word is a noun, a verb, an adjective, or a preposition etc