Glossary of Terms

Program Type

Please note more than one program type can be assigned to an educational resource.

English as a Second Language: an English as a second language program where English is the object of instruction and is taught as a subject in classes which are given for a specified number of minutes per week/cycle.

Enriched ESL: (a Secondary Cycle One ESL programs in Québec) are already confident second language learners. They focus on using English with increasing fluency and accuracy to explore a wide variety of issues and to exploit response, writing and production processes more fully than in Core ESL programs.

In Intensive English a communicative approach focusing on interaction is used and learners learn through activities where they actively use the language. In general, the Intensive English approach is offered at the elementary level (usually grades 5-6) The three characteristics that define Intensive English are:

• an increased amount of time allotted to the teaching of English (40% or more of the total teaching time);
• a concentration of the teaching time or its intensity;
• an enriched curriculum, varied literacy-based teaching strategies or project-based pedagogy.

Adult English: an English as a second language program designed for adult learners which prepares them to use English successfully in academic, non-academic, business or professional environments. INTENSIVE ENGLISH: a type of Adult English program where English is taught for a large proportion of the day for a period of several weeks.

Language Level

• Beginner - Creating/interpreting oral discourse in routine non-demanding contexts of language use; interpreting simple texts; creating simple texts.  (Canadian Language Benchmarks 1 – 4)
• Intermediate - Creating/interpreting oral discourse in moderately demanding contexts of language use; interpreting moderately complex texts; creating moderately complex texts. (Canadian Language Benchmarks 5 – 8)
• Advanced - Creating/interpreting oral discourse in very demanding contexts of language use; interpreting complex and very complex texts; creating complex and very complex texts.  (Canadian Language Benchmarks 9 – 12)

Language Strands

Each resource is described as being used for the acquisition of one or more skills:

• Listening without visual support – resources that include sound clipas that can be used to develop and practice listening skills;


• Listening with visual support – resources that indicate that a mechanism is available for the learner to listen videos or animations with an audio component.


• Reading – resources where the learner has to recognize vocabulary, pick out key words (such as those identifying topics and main ideas), get the main point or the most important information, and/or distinguish the main idea from supporting details.


• Speaken interaction -  resources that include activities that enhance the learner’s ability to interact orally with others;


• Speaken production -  resources that include activities that enhance the learner’s ability to provide provide oral information, descriptions, or arguments and to engage actively in discussions.


• Writing – resources that include activities that enhance the learner’s ability to utilize the correct forms of words, put words together in the correct sequence, and use vocabulary and appropriate style to communicate ideas in written form.