level^3 n
(in testing) a description of the degree of proficiency expected for a test
taker to be placed in a certain position on a scale, such as “beginning”,
“intermediate”, or “advanced”.
see also band
level of comprehension n
1 in reading, a degree of understanding of a text, such as “literal compre-
hension”, “inferential comprehension”, “evaluative comprehension”
2 in testing, the degree of understanding of a text as measured by perfor-
mance on a test.
levels of processing n
see rehearsal
levels of significance n
see statistical significance
level tone n
also register tone
in tone languages, tones that are relatively stable, with nongliding pitch.
see tone^1 , contour tone
lexeme n
also lexical item
the smallest unit in the meaning system of a language that can be dis-
tinguished from other similar units. A lexeme is an abstract unit. It can
occur in many different forms in actual spoken or written sentences, and
is regarded as the same lexeme even when inflected (see inflection).
For example, in English, all inflected forms such as give, gives, given, giving,
gavewould belong to the one lexeme give.
Similarly, such expressions as bury the hatchet, hammer and tongs, give up,
and white paper(in the sense of a government document) would each be
considered a single lexeme. In a dictionary, each lexeme merits a separate
entry or sub-entry.
lexical access n
(in speech production) the retrieval of words from the speaker’s lexicon
(lexicon^4 ). According to psycholinguistic models of speech production,
vocabulary is stored in some form in the speaker’s lexicon and must be
accessed in order to be used during the process of communication.
level