differences in the size of their vocal cords and the structure of their
vocal tract.pitch range^2 n
variations in height which are used by a speaker or group of speakers in
communication. Whether the pitch range used by individuals in a speech
community is wide or narrow often depends on social or cultural con-
ventions and may be a convention of a whole speech community.
For example, the pitch range of the average Australian when speaking
English is narrower than that of many British English speakers. When
speakers are in certain emotional states, they may either extend their
normal pitch range, e.g. to express anger or excitement, or narrow it, e.g.
to express boredom or misery.
pivot grammarn
a term for a now-discarded theory of grammatical development in first-
language learning. Children were said to develop two major gram-
matical classes of words: a pivot class (a small group of words which were
attached to other words, e.g. on, allgone, more) and an “open class” (e.g.
shoe, milk) to which pivot words were attached. The child’s early grammar
was thought to be a set of rules which determined how the two classes
of words could be combined to produce utterances such as allgone milk,
shoe on.
PLABn
an abbreviation for the Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery, a test of
language aptitude.
placement testn
a test that is designed to place test takers at an appropriate level in a pro-
gramme or course. The term “placement test” does not refer to what a test
contains or how it is constructed, but to the purpose for which it is used.
Various types of test or testing procedure (e.g. dictation, an interview, a
grammar test) can be used for placement purposes.
place of articulationn
there are many parts of the mouth and throat (the oral cavity) that are used
in the production of speech sounds. The main ones for the articulation of
Englishconsonants are:
a the two lips (bilabial), e.g. /p/
b the lower lip touching the upper teeth (labiodental), e.g. /f/
pitch range