1.1. The English Language: Some Characteristics
We’re going to explore some characteristics of the English language.
Why would you want to know and understand some characteristics of the English language?
Well, we imagine it’s quite helpful and useful to know, but there are other reasons.
For example, a native-Vietnamese teacher colleague may ask: What is special about the
English language? You need to try and answer this question.
Your colleagues-to-be in some countries may view you as an expert and may think you know
everything about the English language. Again, this type of question may come up in an
advanced class.
We have been in this situation, and it could happen to you. So, absorb this. It will enhance
your knowledge, and it will get you out of a possible tricky situation.
However, there is also another critical reason. There will likely be differences in language
structures in the native/first language of the learners you will be teaching, compared to your
native-English language.
You’ll have grasped the importance of this already if you have studied a foreign language at
school or university. Or if you are a frequent traveller who likes to pick up a bit of the native
language.
1. Fairly Easy To Learn
English is one of the easiest and simplest natural languages in the world.
Of course, it’s all relative. It depends on the learner’s ability and previous language learning
experiences
Nevertheless, it’s fair to say that English is a relatively easy language to learn, understand
and speak when compared to very complex languages such as Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin,
Korean and Japanese.
2. Latin Alphabet
The English language uses the Latin alphabet. It is the most universal, short, and
straightforward alphabet (only the Greek alphabet is shorter and simpler). Also, in English,
the Latin alphabet presents its cleanest form as a true alphabet with only 26 basic letters.
3. Its Simple Inflexion
Inflexion is the name for the extra letters added to nouns, verbs, and adjectives in their
different grammatical forms, e.g., cat, cats; eat, eats; big, bigger.
,English is considered to be a weakly inflected language when compared to, say, French or
Russian. Its nouns have only traces of inflexion (plurals, the pronouns), and its regular verbs
have only four forms, e.g., look, looks, looked, looking.
Even for irregular verbs, there is almost no variation in person (except the 3rd person singular
in the present tense, e.g., I eat, you eat, she eats). The English language can indicate the
relationship of words in a sentence with only the minimum of change in their structure. There
are other languages that do this, but this is a strong characteristic of English.
4. Receptiveness
A significant feature of the English language is its receptiveness to accepting and adopting
words from other languages. Here are a few examples:
From Spanish:
▪ Alligator: from el lagarto meaning the lizard
▪ Cargo: from the verb cargar, meaning to load
From Indian:
▪ Bungalow: from the Hindi word bangla, a type of cottage built for early European
settlers in Bengal.
▪ Jungle: from Hindi jangal, a desert, forest, wasteland, uncultivated ground
From Chinese:
▪ Ketchup: from the Hokkien Chinese term kê-tsiap, a sauce made from fermented fish.
Europeans later added tomato as an ingredient.
▪ Gung ho: it means to show enthusiasm. From a Chinese word, meaning work together.
You can find out the derivation of many common English words
at https://www.etymonline.com.
English has accepted and adopted words from Asian, European, African, Indian, Japanese,
Chinese, and other languages. Also, English has accepted words from classical languages like
Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit.
5. Its (Generally) Fixed Word Order
Another strong characteristic of the English language is its (typically) fixed word order. Most
English sentences (clauses) conform to the SVO word order. This means that the Subject
comes before the Verb, which comes before the Object. Examples:
I (S) bought (V) a new top (O).
She (S) doesn’t like (V) spiders (O).
Why did you (S) do (V) that (O)?
,There are other word orders in English, but the SVO order is by far the most used, making it
easy for learners to grasp.
6. Pronunciation
The pronunciation of English words such as this, thin, clothes, thirteenth, months inevitably
causes problems for learners who do not need to use the tip of the tongue to produce words in
their language.
7. Continuous Tense
Many languages do not have a continuous tense form, so English learners may make mistakes
such as: I had a bath when the phone rang; instead of I was having a bath when the phone
rang.
8. Articles (A, An, The)
The article system is another feature of English grammar that causes some learners enormous
difficulties; mainly, of course, those whose native language does not use articles.
9. Phrasal Verbs
A phrasal verb is an idiomatic phrase consisting of a verb and another item, typically either
an adverb, as in break down, or a preposition, for example, see to, or a combination of both,
such as look down on. (An item is the word for small self-contained pieces of language which
you can teach or practise in a lesson.)
These phrasal verbs are a VERY significant feature of the English language and can cause
severe difficulties for learners. Sentences such as I put it down to the weather, or I made it up
with my sister, are usually gobbledegook to beginner non-native-English speakers.
Unfortunately for the English language learner, phrasal verbs are extremely common in
colloquial (informal, everyday, conversational) English language. We’ll explore these later in
the course.
10. Non-Tonal
English is a non-tonal language.
In tone languages, e.g., Chinese and Vietnamese, pitch (the degree of highness or lowness of
a tone) is used to distinguish word meaning. So, a word said with a high pitch may have a
different meaning from the same word said with a low pitch.
, In English, changes in pitch are used to emphasise or express emotion, not to give a different
word meaning to the sound. It is not surprising that native speakers of tone languages often
have strong accents when speaking English.
11. Sound And Spelling
A final feature of English that causes problems for non-native learners (and some native-
English speakers) is the lack of a connection between word sound and word spelling.
It is difficult for non-native learners of English to predict the pronunciation of English words
they first come across in writing or the spelling of many English words they first hear.
The critical point is that this happens with some of the most common words in the language:
▪ Words containing ough: thought, although, rough,
▪ Words which have different spellings but they sound the same: ate, eight; hear, here;
their, there
▪ Words with silent letters, not pronounced: know, could, hour
▪ Words that look the same but must be pronounced differently: read (present
tense), read (past tense); present (a gift), present (to give to); close (near); close (to
shut)
1.2. Frequently Used Acronyms In The TEFL Environment
2. The TEFL environment is full of acronyms. We have listed some of the frequently used
acronyms. Try and get to grips with these through time.
3. ELT (English Language Teaching) has quite recently come into use as an umbrella term
which aims to include everything in the Teaching English field.
4. TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign
Language) are perhaps the most common terms.
5. TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) is another umbrella term,
similar to ELT. In the USA, Canada and Australia, the term TESOL (Teaching English
to Speakers of Other Languages) is much more widely used than TEFL, but the concept
is much the same.
6. TEYL (Teaching English to Young Learners) is encompassed within TEFL and is
geared, as you would imagine, to teaching young learners of English.
7. TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) is teaching immigrants in English-
speaking countries, though this area is also, confusingly, referred to as TESL. The
learners are studying an ESL (English as a Second Language) course.
8. CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) is an umbrella term for learner-centred,
authentic, and meaningful language acquisition principles that inform the most widely
practiced language teaching approach used in second language learning classrooms
today. It is also referred to as the Communicative Approach. Our course will follow this
approach.
9. L1 is the term used for a learner’s first language (the learner’s native language). If
someone asks you if you allow L1 in the classroom, they are asking if you allow your
learners to use their native language in class.
10. L2 stands for the second language a learner is learning. Your learners’ L2 will be
English.
We’re going to explore some characteristics of the English language.
Why would you want to know and understand some characteristics of the English language?
Well, we imagine it’s quite helpful and useful to know, but there are other reasons.
For example, a native-Vietnamese teacher colleague may ask: What is special about the
English language? You need to try and answer this question.
Your colleagues-to-be in some countries may view you as an expert and may think you know
everything about the English language. Again, this type of question may come up in an
advanced class.
We have been in this situation, and it could happen to you. So, absorb this. It will enhance
your knowledge, and it will get you out of a possible tricky situation.
However, there is also another critical reason. There will likely be differences in language
structures in the native/first language of the learners you will be teaching, compared to your
native-English language.
You’ll have grasped the importance of this already if you have studied a foreign language at
school or university. Or if you are a frequent traveller who likes to pick up a bit of the native
language.
1. Fairly Easy To Learn
English is one of the easiest and simplest natural languages in the world.
Of course, it’s all relative. It depends on the learner’s ability and previous language learning
experiences
Nevertheless, it’s fair to say that English is a relatively easy language to learn, understand
and speak when compared to very complex languages such as Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin,
Korean and Japanese.
2. Latin Alphabet
The English language uses the Latin alphabet. It is the most universal, short, and
straightforward alphabet (only the Greek alphabet is shorter and simpler). Also, in English,
the Latin alphabet presents its cleanest form as a true alphabet with only 26 basic letters.
3. Its Simple Inflexion
Inflexion is the name for the extra letters added to nouns, verbs, and adjectives in their
different grammatical forms, e.g., cat, cats; eat, eats; big, bigger.
,English is considered to be a weakly inflected language when compared to, say, French or
Russian. Its nouns have only traces of inflexion (plurals, the pronouns), and its regular verbs
have only four forms, e.g., look, looks, looked, looking.
Even for irregular verbs, there is almost no variation in person (except the 3rd person singular
in the present tense, e.g., I eat, you eat, she eats). The English language can indicate the
relationship of words in a sentence with only the minimum of change in their structure. There
are other languages that do this, but this is a strong characteristic of English.
4. Receptiveness
A significant feature of the English language is its receptiveness to accepting and adopting
words from other languages. Here are a few examples:
From Spanish:
▪ Alligator: from el lagarto meaning the lizard
▪ Cargo: from the verb cargar, meaning to load
From Indian:
▪ Bungalow: from the Hindi word bangla, a type of cottage built for early European
settlers in Bengal.
▪ Jungle: from Hindi jangal, a desert, forest, wasteland, uncultivated ground
From Chinese:
▪ Ketchup: from the Hokkien Chinese term kê-tsiap, a sauce made from fermented fish.
Europeans later added tomato as an ingredient.
▪ Gung ho: it means to show enthusiasm. From a Chinese word, meaning work together.
You can find out the derivation of many common English words
at https://www.etymonline.com.
English has accepted and adopted words from Asian, European, African, Indian, Japanese,
Chinese, and other languages. Also, English has accepted words from classical languages like
Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit.
5. Its (Generally) Fixed Word Order
Another strong characteristic of the English language is its (typically) fixed word order. Most
English sentences (clauses) conform to the SVO word order. This means that the Subject
comes before the Verb, which comes before the Object. Examples:
I (S) bought (V) a new top (O).
She (S) doesn’t like (V) spiders (O).
Why did you (S) do (V) that (O)?
,There are other word orders in English, but the SVO order is by far the most used, making it
easy for learners to grasp.
6. Pronunciation
The pronunciation of English words such as this, thin, clothes, thirteenth, months inevitably
causes problems for learners who do not need to use the tip of the tongue to produce words in
their language.
7. Continuous Tense
Many languages do not have a continuous tense form, so English learners may make mistakes
such as: I had a bath when the phone rang; instead of I was having a bath when the phone
rang.
8. Articles (A, An, The)
The article system is another feature of English grammar that causes some learners enormous
difficulties; mainly, of course, those whose native language does not use articles.
9. Phrasal Verbs
A phrasal verb is an idiomatic phrase consisting of a verb and another item, typically either
an adverb, as in break down, or a preposition, for example, see to, or a combination of both,
such as look down on. (An item is the word for small self-contained pieces of language which
you can teach or practise in a lesson.)
These phrasal verbs are a VERY significant feature of the English language and can cause
severe difficulties for learners. Sentences such as I put it down to the weather, or I made it up
with my sister, are usually gobbledegook to beginner non-native-English speakers.
Unfortunately for the English language learner, phrasal verbs are extremely common in
colloquial (informal, everyday, conversational) English language. We’ll explore these later in
the course.
10. Non-Tonal
English is a non-tonal language.
In tone languages, e.g., Chinese and Vietnamese, pitch (the degree of highness or lowness of
a tone) is used to distinguish word meaning. So, a word said with a high pitch may have a
different meaning from the same word said with a low pitch.
, In English, changes in pitch are used to emphasise or express emotion, not to give a different
word meaning to the sound. It is not surprising that native speakers of tone languages often
have strong accents when speaking English.
11. Sound And Spelling
A final feature of English that causes problems for non-native learners (and some native-
English speakers) is the lack of a connection between word sound and word spelling.
It is difficult for non-native learners of English to predict the pronunciation of English words
they first come across in writing or the spelling of many English words they first hear.
The critical point is that this happens with some of the most common words in the language:
▪ Words containing ough: thought, although, rough,
▪ Words which have different spellings but they sound the same: ate, eight; hear, here;
their, there
▪ Words with silent letters, not pronounced: know, could, hour
▪ Words that look the same but must be pronounced differently: read (present
tense), read (past tense); present (a gift), present (to give to); close (near); close (to
shut)
1.2. Frequently Used Acronyms In The TEFL Environment
2. The TEFL environment is full of acronyms. We have listed some of the frequently used
acronyms. Try and get to grips with these through time.
3. ELT (English Language Teaching) has quite recently come into use as an umbrella term
which aims to include everything in the Teaching English field.
4. TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign
Language) are perhaps the most common terms.
5. TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) is another umbrella term,
similar to ELT. In the USA, Canada and Australia, the term TESOL (Teaching English
to Speakers of Other Languages) is much more widely used than TEFL, but the concept
is much the same.
6. TEYL (Teaching English to Young Learners) is encompassed within TEFL and is
geared, as you would imagine, to teaching young learners of English.
7. TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) is teaching immigrants in English-
speaking countries, though this area is also, confusingly, referred to as TESL. The
learners are studying an ESL (English as a Second Language) course.
8. CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) is an umbrella term for learner-centred,
authentic, and meaningful language acquisition principles that inform the most widely
practiced language teaching approach used in second language learning classrooms
today. It is also referred to as the Communicative Approach. Our course will follow this
approach.
9. L1 is the term used for a learner’s first language (the learner’s native language). If
someone asks you if you allow L1 in the classroom, they are asking if you allow your
learners to use their native language in class.
10. L2 stands for the second language a learner is learning. Your learners’ L2 will be
English.
