Glossary (ACTFL)

argument a type of discourse that is intended to persuade or convince; because of the polemic nature of argument, one can expect to find a significant number and variety of connectors that facilitate elaboration, detailing, and the incorporation of examples, for a cogent and cohesive organization of ideas.

aspect a verbal category that refers to some characteristic of the activity or state of a verb; indicates if an action or state is viewed as completed or in progress ( I went / I was going), instantaneous or enduring ( The sun came out / The sun was shining), momentary or habitual (They vacationed at the shore / They used to vacation at the shore ). Aspect is often indicated by prefixes, suffixes, infixes, phonetic changes in the root verb, use of auxiliaries.

circumlocution an indirect or roundabout compensation strategy to express a thought or meaning when appropriate lexical items are unknown.

cohesive devices language components that link ideas for seamless flow within and among sentences and paragraphs, such as relative pronouns, pronoun substitutions [subject and object], coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, adverbs of time, subordinate clauses.

distract the native reader errors (misspelling, incorrect grammar, incorrect lexical items, faulty structure) appearing in writing samples that focus the attention of the native language user on the form rather than on the meaning.

elaboration adding more detail and specificity in the exposition of a particular idea.

fluency a flow in the written language as perceived by the reader, made possible by clarity of expression, the acceptable ordering of ideas, use of vocabulary and syntax appropriate to the context, with words, phrases, and idiomatic expressions that go together by common lexical convention.

formal/informal writing features of writing (format, punctuation, choice of vocabulary) that reflect different audiences and purposes for the communication. For example, in informal writing, the use of contractions and colloquialisms, direct discourse, generic vocabulary; in formal writing, the use of honorifics, indirect discourse, specific and thematically appropriate vocabulary. See also tailoring of writing.

functions also called task universals or global tasks, this latter particularly referring to communicative tasks (descriptive, informative, narrative, persuasive, and/or hypothetical writing) that have been identified as the key criteria for a given level of proficiency.

functional writing skills what an individual is able to do with written language, for example, those writing capabilities that are appropriate to satisfy communication needs for specific writing purposes (personal, practical, academic, professional, creative writing, etc.)

generic vocabulary those words and expressions that serve equally well in a variety of categories and contexts. Such vocabulary is readily intelligible to the general public, but does not normally deepen meaning. (See also specialized vocabulary).

low-frequency structures complex language constructions that are seldom utilized or required in a given language in its less formal expression, but often necessary in the most formal types of writing geared to high-level communicative tasks such as persuading and hypothesizing. Examples of such constructions are some compound tenses (She would have thought), the sequencing of tenses (If they had considered the implications, they would have opted for another solution), and compounded subordination (Given the clear and present danger, and in view of the significant loss already suffered by the villagers, the council decided to… ).

non-alphabetic symbols those elements of meaning that appear in both Roman and non-Roman languages that indicate stress, punctuation, syllabification; including ideographs and pictograms Un hombre muy tímido entró; The first- and second-year students are here.

oral discourse a style of language that contains the characteristics of informal spoken language, i.e., redundancy, repetition, fragments, contractions, simple sentences.

paragraph a specific unit of thought that reflects a structural and thematic chronology (beginning, middle, end), usually organized through a group of related sentences that encompass a sense of unity and completeness. Often, and especially in academic formats, the paragraph contains a topic sentence (a clear statement of the principal idea or thesis), and the sentences that follow help explain or contribute to the elaboration of the topic sentence.

paraphrase stating the contents of a passage or text in similar language without quoting the original text or using the language verbatim.

redundancy linguistic and structural components that serve the same purpose within the communication; also superfluous words (a verbatim quotation), repetition (This is my father. I work for my father.), or unnecessary verbiage (Two years ago in 1999, …).

reflective writing written material that is planned and organized through rereading, revising, editing, and rewriting. The writer has time to plan and organize the written material, to be fully involved in the entire writing process. This type of writing is generally necessary to produce texts at high proficiency levels. Writers and most decidedly high-level writers will generally produce higher-level written texts through reflective writing than through spontaneous writing.

specialized vocabulary words, expressions, technical terms, etc., that are meaningful to members of a specific group or field of study or endeavor, but not to the general public. While sometimes referred to as jargon, a specialized vocabulary channels meaning and makes the information more precise, more focused, and at times more profound. (See also generic vocabulary)

spontaneous writing writing that is produced when preparation and production need to occur at the same time; it does not allow sufficient opportunity for revision, rewriting, or editing.

symbol production the production of ideographs or pictograms (as in Chinese, Japanese), or non-alphabetic elements of a given language.

time frames general periods in time: past, present, or future, but not necessarily tenses that indicate those specific times. For example, future time can be indicated by use of the future tense, but also by the present tense: I am going to the movies this afternoon. Likewise, past time can be indicated by use of the present tense: Elle vient de partir; Ella acaba de salir [She has just left].

tailoring of writing selecting language, information, and ideas, and ordering these components, to create a particular effect in the reader, whether to convince or persuade, to incite or anger, to comfort, or to summon support or action, etc. Such tailoring also includes the use of appropriate variables in register, i.e., in expository writing vs. information writing.

verbal markers those morphological, phonological and/or semantic elements that indicate differences in tense [ran / run / have run;hablo / habló (I speak / he spoke)]; person (I eat / He eats); auxiliaries [Elle est sortie hier soir (She went out last night) / Elle a sorti la poubelle (She took the trash can out)]; and aspects of verbs [They ran / They were running].