Longman Dictionary of

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GRAMME) a person who has some proficiency in English but not enough
to enable him or her to take part fully and successfully in a class where
English is the only MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION. Such a person is sometimes
said to have limited English proficiency. However, since these students
actually speak two languages, the term “limited English speaker” has
been criticized in recent years for focusing only on their linguistic weaknesses
while ignoring their linguistic strengths. For this reason, in many
places the term has been abandoned in favour of terms such as “ESL
learner” or “bilingual student.”
limited English proficient n
also LEP
sometimes used to describe a MINORITY STUDENT in an English speaking
country, whose English language proficiency is not at the level of native
speakers of English. Special instruction in English is therefore needed to
prepare the student to enter a regular school programme. This term is
considered offensive by some and a more neutral term such as Second
Language Student is preferred.
see also MAINSTREAMING, SHELTERED ENGLISH, SUBMERSION EDUCATION
linear programme n
see PROGRAMMED LEARNING
linear syllabus n
see SPIRAL APPROACH
linguicism
lingua franca n
a language that is used for communication between different groups of
people, each speaking a different language. The lingua franca could be an
internationally used language of communication (e.g. English), it could be
the NATIVE LANGUAGE of one of the groups, or it could be a language
which is not spoken natively by any of the groups but has a simplified sentence
structure and vocabulary and is often a mixture of two or more languages
(see PIDGIN). The term lingua franca (Italian for “Frankish
tongue”) originated in the Mediterranean region in the Middle Ages
among crusaders and traders of different language backgrounds. The
term auxiliary language is sometimes used as a synonym for lingua
franca.
linguicism n
by analogy with “racism” and “sexism” a term proposed by Phillipson to
describe practices, beliefs, policies, etc, that are designed to promote and
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