post-testn
a test given after learning has occurred or is supposed to have occurred.
A test given before learning has occurred is a pre-test. In teaching, the com-
parison of pre-test and post-test results measures the amount of progress a
learner has made.
postverbal negationn
the use of a negatorfollowing a verb, as in German Ingrid kommt nicht
(Ingrid comes not =Ingrid isn’t coming), where nicht is the negator. Com-
pare preverbal negation, the use of a negator preceding the verb, as in Spanish
Juan no va (Juan not goes =Juan isn’t going), where no is the negator.
postwritingn
see composing processes
poverty of the stimulusn
a term referring to the notion thatuniversal grammar is needed to
explain language learning because the input to learners is so impoverished
that it is insufficient to explain learning. In particular, the input does not
provide learners with negative evidence necessary to avoid or retreat
from incorrect hypotheses.
powern
the probability of correctly rejecting a null hypothesis when it is false,
denoted by 1-b, where bis the probability of a type ii error. It is also the pro-
bability of detecting a real effect, such as a difference or correlation, in a study.
Power studies, in which a preliminary effort to investigate the actual needed
power of a statistical test if an effect is to be detected are not very commonly
carried out in applied linguistics but would be beneficial to the field.
see also type i error, type ii error
power testn
a type of test where every test taker is given sufficient time to complete the
test. The difficulty level of some items on the test is beyond the ability of test
takers so that no test taker is expected to get every item right.
see also speeded test
PPP
an abbreviation forPresentation Practice Production.
a procedure used in traditional British-based language teaching methodology
which refers to three stages in a language lesson, particularly one that is
grammar-based.
PPP