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Terms used in the IRIS database

These lists of terms have been defined by the IRIS team to create a systematic labelling system for instruments and second language research. The terms may give you some ideas for your search. Please note, a search will look for any term that you enter across the whole database, so you are not restricted to these terms.

The lists of terms are modified where appropriate, for example when uploaders provide new labels for their instruments. This list is, therefore, 'organic' in response to feedback from users.

Type Of Instrument

Top Level Term (50) Second Level Term (89) Third Level Term (7)
Analyses    
Assessment criteria    
Code    
  Code for 'R'  
  Other code  
Coding and analysis protocols    
  Analysis protocol  
  Coding  
  Data entry / Transcription  
Coding scheme    
  Formulaic language  
  Meta-analysis assessment  
  Other coding scheme  
Communicative / Interactive task    
  Decision-making / Argumentative task  
  Information exchange  
  Information gap  
  Role play  
  Other task  
Comprehension test    
  Listening  
    Act-out task
    Other
  Reading  
Computer game    
Data    
  Corpus  
  Eye-tracking data  
  Reaction times  
  Scores on measures / tests  
  Transcriptions  
  Written production data  
  Other data  
Dictogloss task    
Discourse completion task    
Elicited imitation protocol / Sentence repetition task    
Gap-fill / Cloze test / Fill in the blank    
Grammar test / Morphosyntax test    
  Productive  
  Receptive  
Grammaticality / Acceptability judgement test    
Instructional / Intervention / Teaching / Training materials    
Interaction protocol    
Interview protocol / schedule    
  Focus group discussion protocol  
Introspective technique / Think-aloud protocol / Self-report    
  Concurrent think-aloud  
  Retrospective think-aloud  
  Other think-aloud  
Lexical decision task    
  Word association task  
Listening / Aural test    
  Listening cloze task  
Metalinguistic knowledge (MLK) test    
Metaphoric competence test    
Non-word repetition test    
Observation protocol / schedule    
Picture    
  Drawing or graphic  
  Photograph  
Picture matching test    
Picture pointing task    
Postprint    
Proficiency test    
Questionnaire    
  Attitude questionnaire  
  Author recognition test  
  Biographical questionnaire  
  Debriefing questionnaire  
  Ethnic/social/cultural identity questionnaire  
  Goal and self-assessment tool  
  Language awareness questionnaire  
  Language background questionnaire  
  Language preferences or dominance questionnaire  
  Learning strategy questionnaire  
  Learning style questionnaire  
  Proficiency questionnaire  
  Self-efficacy questionnaire  
  Other questionnaire  
Reading test    
  Reading aloud / Word naming test  
  Other reading test  
Scale    
  Boredom Scale  
  Burnout Inventory  
  Enjoyment Scale  
  Phubbing Scale  
Script for psycholinguistic techniques    
  ERP paradigm  
  Eye tracking  
    Reading
    Visual world
    Other eye tracking
  fMRI paradigm  
  Priming paradigm  
  Self-paced listening  
  Self-paced reading  
  Semantic categorization task  
  Serial Reaction Task  
  Other script  
Semi match guise test    
Sentence manipulation test    
Speaking test / Oral production test    
  Elicited Oral Production Task  
  Narration / Story retelling  
  Picture description  
  Picture spot the difference  
  Pronunciation test / Pitch accent test  
  Rating guidelines / Criteria  
  Other speaking test / oral production test  
Speech perception and rating    
  Accentedness rating  
  Discrimination task  
  Identification task  
  Transcription task  
  Other speech perception task  
Stimulated recall    
Stimuli for laboratory studies    
  Audio  
  Video  
  Visual  
    Pictorial
    Verbal
Stroop task    
Text editing    
Translation task    
  L1 to L2 (L3, L4, etc.)  
  L2 (L3, L4, etc.) to L1  
  Other combination (e.g. L3 to L2)  
Verbal protocol    
  Diary writing instructions  
  Other verbal protocol  
Video    
Vocabulary test    
  Productive  
  Receptive  
  Other vocabulary test  
Word list    
Working memory test    
  Listening span  
  Operation / Digit span  
  Phonological short term memory  
  Reading span  
  Other working memory test  
Writing test    
Other    

Research Area

Top Level Term (59)
Acquisition
Age
Aptitude
Attrition
Bilingualism
Community or heritage languages
Complexity
Comprehension
Computer-assisted language learning
Corpus linguistics
Cross-linguistic influence
Culture
Discourse
Effectiveness of teaching
Error correction / Corrective feedback
Figurative language (metaphor)
Fluency
Identity
Implicit learning
Individual differences
Interaction
Learner attitudes
Learner silence
Learner strategies
Learning style
Lexicon (vocabulary)
Linguistic identity
Listening
Meta-analysis
Metascience
Morphosyntax (grammar)
Motivation
Multilingualism
Native / Non-native
Phonology
Pragmatic competence
Processing
Production
Proficiency
Pronunciation
Prosody
Reading
Research methodology
Research methods
Sentence processing
Sign language
Speaking / Oral production
Study abroad
Tasks
Teacher cognition
Teacher education
Teaching materials and curriculum (syllabus, textbook design)
Teaching methods (style, approach, technique)
Teaching policy
Testing
Translanguaging
Working memory
Writing
Other

Linguistic Feature

Top Level Term (15) Second Level Term (47)
Animacy  
Figurative language  
  Idiom
  Metaphor
  Metonymy
  Rhetorical features
  Simile
  Other figurative language
Gendered language  
Interfaces  
  Syntax-discourse
Lexis (vocabulary)  
  Closed class
  Collocations/lexical chunks
  Nonwords
  Open class
Morphology  
Morphosyntax (grammar)  
  Articles
  Aspect
  Case
  Determiners
  Gender
  Mood/modals
  Number
  Prefixes
  Pronouns
  Quantifiers
  Suffixes
  Tense
Nonwords  
Phonetics  
  Acoustic
  Articulatory
  Auditory
  Other phonetics
Phonology  
  Codas
  Segmental and suprasegmentals
  Stress
  Syllable
Pragmatics  
  Agreements
  Apologies
  Clarification
  Complaints
  Disagreements
  Greetings
  Promises
  Refusals
  Requests
  Responding to invitations (accepting, declining, etc.)
  Subjunctive mood
Quantifier  
Semantics  
  Discourse
Syntax  
  Interrogatives / Questions
  Part of speech / Agent-patient
  Passive / active voice
  Other syntax
Other  

Data Type

Top Level Term (13)
Closed response format
Coding scheme for meta-analysis
Coding scheme for systematic review
Eye movements (eye tracking)
Judgements
Open response
Oral comprehension
Oral production
Qualitative
Reaction times
Written comprehension
Written production
Other

Participant Type

Top Level Term (30)
Adolescent learners
Adults learners
Artificial language learners
Bilinguals
First language attriters
First language learners
Foreign language learners
Heritage speakers
Immigrants
Institutional administrators
Language assessors
Language users
Migrants
Monolinguals
Native speakers
Not applicable
Parents
Patients
Policy-makers
Primary school
Professional translators
Researchers
Second language learners
Sign language users
Teacher educators / trainers
Teacher trainees
Teachers / lecturers
Teaching Assistants (TAs)
Young learners
Other

Proficiency of Learners

Top Level Term (18) Second Level Term (28) Third Level Term (22)
ACTFL    
  Advanced High  
  Advanced Low  
  Advanced Mid  
  Intermediate High  
  Intermediate Low  
  Intermediate Mid  
  Novice High  
  Novice Low  
  Novice Mid  
  Superior  
Advanced    
Bilingual since infancy    
CFER    
  Basic Speaker  
    Breakthrough or Beginner
    Waystage or Elementary
  Independent Speaker  
    Threshold or Intermediate
    Vantage or Upper intermediate
  Proficient Speaker  
    Effective Operational Proficiency or Advanced
    Mastery or Proficiency
Complete beginner    
Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) English language paper    
Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) English language paper    
Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK)    
IELTS (overall score)    
  Competent User (6)  
  Expert User (9)  
  Extremely Limited User (3)  
  Good User (7)  
  Intermittent User (2)  
  Limited User (4)  
  Modest User (5)  
  Non User (1)  
  Very Good User (8)  
Intermediate    
Intermediate/advanced    
Native    
Near beginner    
Near native    
Oxford Placement Test    
  Basic speaker  
    Breakthrough or Beginner
    Waystage or Elementary
  Independent speaker  
    Threshold or Intermediate
    Vantage or Upper intermediate
  Proficient speaker  
    Effective Operational Proficiency or Advanced
    Mastery or Proficiency
Pre-intermediate    
TOEFL    
  Reading / listening  
    High
    Intermediate
    Low
  Speaking  
    Fair
    Good
    Limited
    Weak
  Writing  
    Fair
    Good
    Limited
Other    

Domain of use of language being learnt

Top Level Term (10)
Academic
Higher Education
Home
Residence abroad
School - language instruction only
School - subject(s) other than language
With friends
With wider family
Work
Other

Funder

Top Level Term (84)
Catalan Government
Academy of Korean Studies
ACTFL Research Priorities Award
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Australian Research Council
Big Lottery / Wellcome Trust
British Academy
British Association of Applied Linguistics
British Council
British Embassy Madrid
Cambridge English Funded Research Programme (Round Eight, 2017–2018)
Canada Research Chairs Program
Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood
CERCLL
China Scholarship Council
CUNY; RF Government Grant ag. № 14.641.31.0004
DÉPARTEMENT DE L'INSTRUCTION PUBLIQUE, DE LA CULTURE ET DU SPORT (DIP) Geneva, Switzerland
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Educational Testing Service
EU 7th Framework Programme Marie Curie Initial Training Networks
European Commission
Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnólogico from the Ministry of Education of Chile (FONDECYT: 1181533); the Canada Research Chairs program (950-231218)
Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnólogico from the Ministry of Education of Chile [1160838]
Fondo National de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnólogico (FONDECYT 11121136)
Fonds du Recherche Société et Culture Action Concertée program
Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO)
Free University Berlin
Fulbright
Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching (HILT)
Hong Kong Research Grants Council
IMinds
IMinds / imec
Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences
Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences
Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology
Japan Society for Promotion of Science
KU Leuven’s Global Minds Doctoral Scholarships provided by VLIR-UOS and the Belgian Development Cooperation
Language Learning
Leverhulme Trust
Lower Saxony Ministry of Education, Germany
Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation
Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (Spain)
Ministry for Science and Culture Lower Saxony, Germany
Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, ROC
National Endowment for the Humanities
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Research. Development and Innovation Office in Hungary (NKFI)
National Science Centre (NCN, Poland)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
National Social Science Foundation of China
National Social Science Fund of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China and Beijing Federation of Social Science Circles
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
Onderwijsontwikkelingsfonds (OOF) KU Leuven
Open Research Area in Europe for the Social Sciences (ORA)
PHC Ulysses (France Ireland)
Quebec Ministry of Education (Fonds Quebecoise de la Recherche sur la Societe et de la Culture
San Diego State University Grants Program
SLCL Research Initiative Grant, UIUC
SNU Foundation (2011)
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
Sociological Initiatives Foundation
Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness
Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (FFI2015-66533-P); the Generalitat de Catalunya (2017 SGR _ 971)
Spanish Ministry of Education and Competitiveness
Spencer Foundation
Swedish Research Council
Swiss National Research Foundation
Swiss National Science Foundation
TESOL International Research Foundation
The British Academy
The University of Texas at Austin - Continuing Student Fellowship
TOEFL
Trinity College London
U.S. Department of Education
University of Connecticut Office of Early College Programs
University of Illinois Campus Research Board
University of Wisconsin Graduate School and Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies; Temple University Provost and Faculty Development Offices; Temple University College of Liberal Arts
USF New Researcher Grant
Utilika Foundation
Victoria University of Wellington
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
Other

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