TSE n
an abbreviation for test of spoken english
T-test n
(in testing and statistics) a quantitative procedure for determining the
statistical significance of the difference between the meanson two sets
of scores.
see also chi-square
T-Unit n
also Minimal Terminable Unit
a measure of the linguistic complexity of sentences, defined as the shortest
unit (the Terminable Unit, Minimal Terminable Unit, or T-Unit) which a
sentence can be reduced to, and consisting of one independent clause
together with whatever dependent clauses are attached to it. For exam-
ple the sentence After she had eaten, Kim went to bed would be described
as containing one T-Unit.
Compound sentences (see complex sentence) contain two or more
T-Units. The study of T-Units in written language has been used in the study
of children’s language development.
turn n
see turn-taking
turn-taking n
in conversation, the roles of speaker and listener change constantly. The
person who speaks first becomes a listener as soon as the person addressed
takes his or her turn in the conversation by beginning to speak.
The rules for turn-taking may differ from one community to another as they
do from one type of speech event (e.g. a conversation) to another (e.g. an
oral test). Turn-taking and rules for turn-taking are studied in conversa-
tional analysis anddiscourse analysis.
see also sequencing^1
TWE n
an abbreviation for test of written english
two parameter model n
see item response theory
two-tailed test n
also non-directional hypothesis
two-tailed test