Communicative competence includes both the knowledge about the language and the knowledge about how to use the language appropriately in communicative situations. There are five main components, namely, linguistic competence, pragmatic competence, discourse competence, strategic competence, and fluency.

Formative assessment is based on information collected in the classroom during the teaching process for the purposes of improving teaching and learning, therefore, it is sometimes termed as classroom assessment as well.

Criterion-referenced test is a test which measures a student’s performance according to a particular standard or criterion which has been agreed upon. The student must reach this level of performance to pass the test, and a student’s score is therefore interpreted with reference to the criterion score, rather than to the scores of other students.

Norm-referenced test is a test which is designed to measure how the performance of a particular student or group of students compares with the performance of another student or group of students compares with the performance of another student or group of students whose scores are given as the norm. A student’s score is therefore interpreted with reference to the scores of other students or groups of students, rather than to an agreed criterion score.

Achievement test refers to a test which measures how much of a language someone has learned with reference to a particular course of study or programme of instruction.

Reliability means a measure to the degree to which a test gives consistent results. A test is said to be reliable if it gives the same results when it is given on different occassions or when it is used by different people.

Validity refers to the degree to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure, or can be used successfully for the purposes for which it is intended. The two most important aspects of validity are content validity and construct validity.

Brainstorming refers to a group activity in which learners have a free and relatively unstructured discussion on an assigned topic as a way of generating ideas. Brainstorming often serves as preparation for another activity.

Information gap: In communication between two or more people，information gap refers to a situation where information is known by only some of those present. In “communicative language teaching”, it is said that in order to promote real communication between students, there must be an information gap between them, or between them and their teacher. Without such a gap the classroom activities and exercises will be mechanical and artificial.

Critical Period Hypothesis refers to the theory that in child development there is a period during which language can be acquired more easily than at any other time. According to the biologist Lenneberg, the critical period lasts until puberty (around age 12 or 13 years), and is due to biological development. Lenneberg suggested that language learning may be more difficult after puberty because the brain lacks the ability for adaptation.

Minimal pairs are pairs of words which have only one sound different from each other.

Mistake refers to a performance error that is either a random guess or a slip of tongue, and it is a failure performance to a known system. Everyone makes mistakes, no matter in a native language or in a foreign language. When a mistake is challenged or given enough attention, it can be self-corrected.

Error has direct relation with the learners’ language competence. Errors do not result from carelessness nor hesitation, but lack of knowledge in the target language. Language errors can ont be self-corrected no matter how much attention is given.

Receptive vocabulary refers to words that one is able to recognise and comprehend in reading or listening but unable to use automatically in speaking or writing.

Productive vocabulary refers to words that one is not only able to recognise but also able to use in speech and writing.

Dictogloss is a type of activity in which the teacher reads out a passage in normal speed for two or three times and students are to note down the words they could catch as they listen as much as possible.