A continuation of what is without any doubt the longest running and/ or most pointless series in the whole of TEFL. Also the least original, as I learnt when English Droid was reborn. Still, gives us all (especially me) a break from the endless litany of dodgy TEFL course sites…

All these come from The Multilingual Subject*

discourse journals- A place for students to diss the course while practising their English

discourse journals – The opposite of “of course journals”, in which students are asked to blindingly obvious stuff like “I got up”, “I slept at the weekend” and “I like ice cream”

holophrases- Also “hollow phrases”. The learning of sentences to throw into every IELTS writing with little or no thought needed, e.g. “This is a very controversial topic”.

language as symbolic form- From language + as + seems + bollocks + form

learner’s journal- a great way of making learners spend more time reflecting on what they are or aren’t learning than on learning more

lexicalised sentence stems- the correct name for liquorice sticks

liminality – Japanese variation on “rimming”

linguistic code switching- Making up new jargon to make up for the lack of real progress in the field of linguistics

performatives- Drama queens who are both naturals from their first moment in the classroom on the TEFL course and the biggest drains on trainer time

perlocutionary effect – The effect of real coffee on teacher performance

postmodern sociolinguistics- The banishing of the sociolinguistics department to the horrible faux-Greek building in a forgotten corner of the campus, because no one knows where else to stick them

referential meaning- The real meaning of putting loads of references in your article (wanting to get noticed by the people you mention, hoping that it will make up for a lack of original ideas, etc)

semiotics- Semi + idiotic

transcriptions of classroom discourse- A teacher quickly writing an amusing mistake down to share with the other teachers at lunchtime

If you can bear more, click on the ELT Jargon tag below.

*To save more threats of legal action, I should perhaps point out that it is just the jargon that comes from the book, not the definitions…