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PE2379 ch05.qxd 24/1/02 16:06 Page 424<br />

production stage<br />

distinction sometimes made between completed acts <strong>of</strong> communication or<br />

language output (products) and the underlying abilities and skills used in<br />

producing them (processes).<br />

For example: in writing, letters, compositions, and long essays are<br />

examples <strong>of</strong> the products <strong>of</strong> writing. But in order to write a long essay, a<br />

number <strong>of</strong> processes are involved, such as collecting information, notetaking,<br />

outlining, drafting, and revising. These are among the processes <strong>of</strong><br />

writing the essay (the product). Language teaching and the study <strong>of</strong> language<br />

learning are concerned both with products, and with underlying<br />

processes.<br />

production stage n<br />

also transfer stage, free practice<br />

see STAGE<br />

production system n<br />

a programme made up on a set <strong>of</strong> conditional statements <strong>of</strong> the form “if<br />

X, then Y”. For example, part <strong>of</strong> a production system for a language<br />

(English) might have statements such as “If ‘go’ past, then ‘went.’ ”<br />

Production systems were predominant in early attempts to model cognition<br />

and are the basis <strong>of</strong> models such as ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF THOUGHT<br />

(ACT*).<br />

productive/receptive language knowledge n<br />

another term for ACTIVE/PASSIVE LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE<br />

productive skills n<br />

see LANGUAGE SKILLS<br />

productivity n<br />

in MORPHOLOGY, if a process is fully regular and actively used in the creation<br />

<strong>of</strong> new words, this process is considered productive. For example,<br />

the English suffix -ness can be attached to any adjective to make a noun<br />

(e.g. happiness, niceness, gloriousness). This can be contrasted to unproductive<br />

suffixes, which as –th, which only applies to a handful <strong>of</strong> words<br />

(health, wealth, stealth).<br />

see also ACCIDENTAL GAP, BLOCKING<br />

pr<strong>of</strong>essionalism n<br />

in teaching, the status <strong>of</strong> teaching viewed in relation to its functions, their<br />

status and the quality and skill <strong>of</strong> teachers’ work. While characterizations<br />

<strong>of</strong> a pr<strong>of</strong>ession differ, common among them are:<br />

424

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