2 such practices, procedures, beliefs themselves. One can for example
criticize or praise the methodology of a particular language course.
see also curriculum, syllabus
3 (in research) the procedures used in carrying out an investigation, includ-
ing the methods used to collect and analyze data.
see also experimental method, scientific methodmethods of developmentn
(in composition) the ways in which a paragraph or extended piece of writ-
ing is developed. A number of methods of development are often used
in composing in English, either individually, or sometimes within other
methods of development. These are:
1 Process Method: the writer describes something by breaking a complex
whole down into its different parts and describing them in order.
2 Definition Method: the writer defines a term or object by identifying it
within a general class and then distinguishing it from all other members
of the class.
3 Classification Method: the writer groups people, things or ideas accord-
ing to some principle order, in this way both classifying and explaining
them.
4 Comparison and Contrast Method: the writer describes the similarities
or differences between two sets of items.
5 Cause–Effect Method: the writer describes why things are the way
they are or why something happened, by describing causes and effects.
A cause – effect paragraph is usually developed by inductive reasoning.
metonymy n
see figure of speech
metrical phonologyn
a cover term for several non-linear theories of stress. Instead of seeing
stress as a property of individual segments (vowels), metrical phonology
views stress as a relational property between constituents expressed in
metrical trees.
micro-skillsn
also enabling skills, part skills
(in language teaching) a term sometimes used to refer to the individual
processes and abilities which are used in carrying out a complex activity.
For example, among the micro-skills used in listening to a lecture are:
identifying the purpose and scope of the lecture; identifying the role of con-
junctions, etc., in signalling relationships between different parts of the
methods of development