Glossary

This is an ongoing list of terms used in the many resources consulted for this website. The goal of listing these terms is for teachers to speak the same language and avoid misunderstanding.

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Title	Definition	Source
Inflectional endings	An inflectional ending is a group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning (e.g. -s, -ed, -ing). See suffixes.	from McGraw-Hill's Literacy eHandbook
Long vowel	A long vowel is a vowel sound that is pronounced the same way as the name of the letter itself.	from YourDictionary
Manipulatives	Physical objects that learners can use to help them learn (e.g. flash cards and sentence strips)	from ESL Support Kit page 302
Mature grasp	Also known as 3 finger grasp is the ideal grasp for school.	from OT Mom Learning Activities
Medial vowel	A sound or letter found in the middle of a word (e.g. bag).	from Wikipedia
Onset	The beginning sound or blend of sounds in a word (e.g. c in the word cat).	from A Practical Guide to Teaching ESL Literacy
Parts of speech	One of the types into which words are divided in grammar according to their use (e.g. noun, verb, or adjective).	from Longman Dictionary
Phoneme	A sound in a language, not to be confused with a letter. There are approximately 44 English phonemes (e.g. /s/, /a/, /ch/, and /sh/).	from A Practical Guide to Teaching ESL Literacy
Phonemic awareness	An awareness of the sounds of a language and how they can be combined. Phonemic awareness is one of the greatest predictors of learning to read.	from A Practical Guide to Teaching ESL Literacy
Phonological awareness	Knowledge about the sound system of a language, including rhyme, syllables, and onset and rime. Phonemic awareness is part of phonological awareness.	from A Practical Guide to Teaching ESL Literacy
Phrase	A group of words without a finite verb, especially when they are used to form part of a sentence (e.g. walking along the road).	from Longman Dictionary
Prefixes	A syllable that comes at the front of the word and changes its meaning (e.g. undo)	from Rose Elliot