distribution^2 n
the range of positions in which a particular unit of a language, e.g. a
phonemeor a word, can occur is called its distribution.
For example, in English, the phoneme /º/, usually written ng, cannot
occur at the beginning of a word but it can occur in final position, as in
sing. In other languages, /º/ may occur word initially, as in Cantonese
ngoh“I”.
disyllabic adj
consisting of two syllables, e.g. the English word garden /egaf/ +/dcn/.
see also monosyllabic
ditransitive verb n
see transitive verb
divergence^1 n
the process of two or more languages or language varieties becoming less
like each other. For example, if speakers of a language migrate to another
area, the variety of language spoken by them may become less similar to the
variety spoken by those who did not migrate, i.e. there will be divergence.
This has been the case with English spoken in the United Kingdom com-
pared with the varieties of English spoken in the USA, Canada, Australia,
and New Zealand.
see also convergence^1
divergence^2 n
see accommodation
divergent question n
a question that elicits student responses that vary or diverge. For example,
divergent questions may be used when a teacher wishes to compare
students’ ideas about a topic. There are often no right or wrong answers
with divergent questions.
see also convergent question, evaluative question, questioning
techniques, classroom discourse
divergent validity n
another term for discriminant validity
diversity n
in reference to a group of learners or individuals in society, the quality
of including people of many different ethnic, cultural, and linguistic
diversity