development of language in a speech community as phylogeny. Linguists
are interested in whether the ontogeny of language in the child shows similar
stages to those which a language has gone through in its historical develop-
ment. In other words, they are interested in the famous question whether
ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.open class n
also open set
a group of words (a word class), which contains an unlimited number of
items.
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are open-class words. New words
can be added to these classes, e.g. laser, e-commerce, chatroom.
The word classes conjunctions, prepositions, and pronouns consist of rela-
tively few words, and new words are not usually added to them.
These are called closed classes, or closed sets.
open-ended question n
a test item which allows the person taking the test to answer in his
or her own way, in contrast to questions with limited multiple-choice
possibilities.
open-ended response n
see test item
openings n
strategies speakers use to begin a conversation such as the use of greetings
and small talk.
see also closings,conversational openings
open learning n
also open education
a system for educating adults where normal restrictions on entry to adult
education are removed and where learners receive recognition for previous
experience. Courses are organized flexibly according to the students’ needs.
A number of features distinguish open learning:
a greater accessibility to education than with traditional courses, including
accessibility in terms of academic background, age, time required, phys-
ical location and time constraints
b flexibility in terms of course structure and delivery with a considerable
degree of learner control over pacing, contents, structure and means of
assessment
open class