K
Kendall rank-order correlationn
or Kendall’s tau(t)
see correlation
Kendall’s coefficient of concordancen
also Kendall’s W
a measure of the degree of agreementbetween two or more raters when
asked to rank-order a set of data (e.g. a set of 10 essays written by ESL
students), thus called a coefficient of concordance. It ranges in value from
0.00 (i.e. no agreement between the raters) to +1.00 (i.e. perfect agreement
between them) with no negative values. Kendall’s W can examine the relation-
ship between two or more ordinal or rank-ordered variables, whereas the
Spearman’s rank-order correlationis a measure of association only
between two ordinal variables.
Kendall’s tau(t) n
another term for Kendall rank-order correlation
Kendall’s Wn
another term for Kendall’s coefficient of concordance
KET (Key English Test) n
see Cambridge exams
key^1 n
the tone, manner, or spirit in which a speech actis carried out, for example
whether mockingly or seriously. The key chosen would depend on the
situation and the relationship of the speakers to each other. For example,
the statement If you do that I’ll never speak to you againmay be either a
real threat or a mock threat. The signalling of key may be verbal (e.g. by
intonation) or non-verbal (e.g. by a wink, a gesture, or a certain posture).
key^2 n
(in intonation) a level of pitchchosen by the speaker together with an
intonation contour (see tone unit) in order to convey a particular kind of
meaning to the listener.
In English, a difference can be made between high key, mid key, and
low key.
For example, the choice of a high key often signals a contrast as in: