English Language GCSE
English Language GCSE glossary
44 key terms for English Language GCSE, A to Z, each linked to the topic pages that use it.
A
- Active Listening
- Fully concentrating on, understanding, and responding to a speaker, rather than just passively hearing them.Pearson Edexcel
- Adjacency pair
- A sequence of two related utterances by two different speakers (e.g., Question/Answer, Greeting/Greeting).OCR
- Anecdote
- A short, amusing, or interesting story about a real incident or person.Pearson Edexcel
- Audibility
- The quality of being heard clearly by the entire audience, achieved through appropriate volume and pace.OCR
C
- Connotation
- The ideas, feelings, or associations that a word invokes, in addition to its literal meaning.OCR, Pearson Edexcel
- Cyclical Structure
- A narrative structure where the text ends in the same place, or addressing the same idea, as it began.OCR, Pearson Edexcel
D
- Dialect
- A variety of language that is characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers, often featuring non-standard grammar and regional vocabulary.OCR
- Discourse Marker
- Words or phrases used to connect, organise, and manage what we say or write (e.g., 'Furthermore', 'Consequently').OCR
- Discourse Markers
- Words or phrases used to connect ideas and guide the reader through a text (e.g., 'Furthermore', 'Consequently', 'On the other hand').OCR, Pearson Edexcel
- Double Negative
- A non-standard grammatical construction using two negative words in the same clause (e.g., 'I didn't do nothing').OCR
E
- Elaboration
- The act of adding further detail, new ideas, or extended information beyond what was strictly asked.OCR
- Explicit Information
- Information that is directly and clearly stated in the text.OCR, Pearson Edexcel
F
- Fillers
- Meaningless sounds or words used to fill pauses in speech (e.g., 'um', 'er', 'like').OCR
- Foreshadowing
- A structural device where the writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story.OCR
H
- Hedging
- Language that softens a statement, making it less direct or absolute (e.g., 'sort of', 'perhaps', 'I think').OCR
I
- Imperative Verb
- A verb used to give a command or instruction (e.g., 'Listen', 'Stop', 'Think').OCR, Pearson Edexcel
- Implicit Information
- Information that is suggested or hinted at, requiring the reader to make an inference.OCR, Pearson Edexcel
- In Medias Res
- A structural technique where a narrative begins in the middle of the action, without preamble or introduction.OCR
- Inference
- A conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning; reading between the lines.OCR
J
- Juxtaposition
- The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.OCR, Pearson Edexcel
M
- Minor Sentence
- A sentence that does not contain a main verb, often used for dramatic impact (e.g., 'Silence.').OCR
- Motif
- A recurring image, idea, or symbol that develops or explains a theme.Pearson Edexcel
N
- Narrative Perspective
- The point of view from which a story is told (first, second, or third person).OCR
- Non-Exam Assessment (NEA)
- A component of a course that is assessed internally by teachers rather than through a terminal written exam.OCR
- Non-fluency features
- Characteristics of spontaneous speech that interrupt the flow, such as fillers, false starts, and hesitations.OCR
O
- Omniscient Narrator
- An all-knowing third-person narrator who knows the thoughts and feelings of all characters.OCR, Pearson Edexcel
- Oxymoron
- A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction (e.g., 'deafening silence').Pearson Edexcel
P
- Pacing
- The speed at which a presentation is delivered, including the strategic use of pauses.OCR
- Pathetic Fallacy
- The attribution of human feelings and responses to inanimate things or animals, especially in art and literature (usually weather).OCR
- Pathos
- Language that evokes feelings of pity, sorrow, or sympathy in the reader.OCR
- Pitch
- The highness or lowness of the speaker's voice.Pearson Edexcel
- Prosodic features
- The auditory qualities of speech, including tone, pitch, volume, pace, and emphasis.OCR
R
- Register
- The level of formality or informality in a piece of writing.OCR, Pearson Edexcel
- Repair
- When a speaker corrects themselves mid-utterance.OCR
- Rhetorical Question
- A question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer.OCR, Pearson Edexcel
S
- Semantic Field
- A group of words within a text that relate to the same topic or theme (e.g., 'blood', 'wounds', 'battle' create a semantic field of war).OCR, Pearson Edexcel
- Signposting
- Words or phrases used to guide the audience through the structure of a presentation (e.g., 'Firstly', 'Moving on to').Pearson Edexcel
- Spoken Standard English
- The formal, nationally recognised variety of English grammar and vocabulary, free from regional dialect words or slang.OCR
- Standard English
- The variety of English universally accepted as the conventional form for formal communication, following established grammatical rules.OCR, Pearson Edexcel
- Subject-Verb Agreement
- The grammatical rule stating that a subject and its verb must match in number (singular or plural).OCR
- Syntax
- The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences.OCR, Pearson Edexcel
- Synthesis
- Combining information or ideas from two or more texts to form a new, connected understanding.OCR, Pearson Edexcel
T
- Tone
- The attitude or feeling conveyed by the writer's language choices (e.g., sarcastic, enthusiastic, mournful).OCR
- Tricolon (Rule of Three)
- A series of three parallel words, phrases, or clauses.Pearson Edexcel
Where these terms come from
Each definition is one we publish on a English Language GCSE topic page or study guide. Open a term to see how each exam board words it and which topic it belongs to. For the full course, go to English Language revision or the glossary for every subject.
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