English as a Second Language (Grades K–12)
Subtest 1 Sample Items
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Question 1
1. The Great Vowel Shift that took place during the transition from Middle English to Early Modern English was characterized by:
- systematic alteration of the pronunciation of long vowels.
- gradual deletion of archaic vowel sounds from the phonemic system.
- systematic simplification of approximately 100 vowel sounds to the existing 5 vowels.
- gradual incorporation of foreign vowel sounds into the phonemic system.
Answer to question 1
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0001) The Great Vowel Shift was a phonological process that changed the pronunciation of the long vowels of English. This shift took place primarily between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries and may account for why the spelling of some English words does not match the pronunciation of the words.
Question 2
2. Use the sentences below to answer the question that follows.
- It's time to wake up!
- It's time to wake up?
Phonologically, the two sentences above differ:
- at the phonemic level.
- in voicing.
- at the allophonic level.
- in intonation.
Answer to question 2
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0001) The two sentences shown here differ in that one is an exclamation and one is a question. Since the word order of the two sentences is identical, the phonemes are also the same. However, a speaker's intonation when pronouncing these two sentences is likely to differ. When speaking the first sentence, a speaker's intonation is likely to start high on the word It's, fall on the word time, then rise steadily to the word up and fall at the very end. When speaking the second sentence, a speaker's intonation is likely to be low for most of the sentence and rise only on the last word, up.
Question 3
3. A key difference between spoken discourse and written discourse is that speech typically
contains more:
- reduced forms and fillers.
- conjunctions and other logical connectors.
- descriptive and figurative language.
- complete sentences and complex syntax.
Answer to question 3
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0001) Discourse refers to units of spoken or written language that extend beyond the sentence level. The study of discourse, or discourse analysis, involves examining the various features of oral and written discourse. A comparison of the linguistic features of an oral "text," such as a conversation, to those of a written text, such as a descriptive essay, will reveal that the oral "text" typically contains significantly more reduced forms (e.g., contractions, linked words) and fillers (e.g., extraneous words and expressions) than the written text.
Question 4
4. Which of the following nonsense words would most likely be a verb in English?
- prussily
- yippiness
- framitize
- toluction
Answer to question 4
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0001) The addition
of the derivational suffix -ize typically converts an English noun or adjective
(e.g., drama, sanitary) into a verb (e.g., dramatize, sanitize). If the nonsense
word framitize were an actual English word, it would most likely be a verb because
it contains the suffix -ize.
Question 5
5. A restrictive relative clause, such as the underlined portion in the sentence below,
typically serves which of the following purposes?
The family that lives next door is sponsoring a foreign exchange student from Korea.
- expressing the semantic relationship between two parts of a compound sentence or a complex sentence
- identifying or characterizing essential information about a noun
- supplying additional information that is not essential to the meaning or grammaticality
of the sentence
- defining who or what is receiving the action in a sentence
Answer to question 5
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0001) A relative
clause is a clause that modifies a noun and is usually fronted by a relative pronoun
such as who or that. A restrictive relative clause is a relative clause that restricts,
or limits, the meaning of its head noun and identifies or characterizes which specific
person, place, or thing the sentence is referencing. In the sentence shown here,
the head noun is "family," and the relative clause "that lives next door" identifies
which family the sentence is referencing.
Question 6
6. The following exchange takes place during a science lesson when an ESL teacher conducts
a demonstration on density for English learners.
Teacher: As you can see, the corn syrup sinks to the bottom.
Student: I don't see the sink. (pointing to a sink in the classroom) The sink is over there!
The most likely explanation for this response is that the student is:
- interpreting the meaning of an English idiom literally.
- misunderstanding the meaning of a word that has multiple meanings.
- confusing the phonemes in two phonetically similar words.
- transferring word meanings from the home language to English.
Answer to question 6
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0001) Many English
words have multiple meanings. English learners are often familiar with
the most common meaning of a word but may not be aware that the word has other meanings.
In this exchange, the student appears to be familiar with the word sink as a noun
that refers to a basin for holding water but is not aware of the word's use as a
verb that means "to fall or drop to a lower level."
Question 7
7. An elementary school ESL teacher encourages English learners to develop
proficiency in their home language by speaking it at home and with peers and by
reading and writing in it when possible and appropriate. The teacher's actions best
demonstrate an awareness of the:
- cognitive and academic benefits of bilingualism.
- importance of family involvement in students' learning.
- role of cultural identity in students' adjustment to a new culture.
- phonological and grammatical influence of the home language on English acquisition.
Answer to question 7
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0002) Research has shown that students with high levels of bilingual proficiency demonstrate increased levels of academic and cognitive functioning compared to students with lower levels of bilingual proficiency. For this reason, it is advisable for educators who work with English learners to promote their students' bilingual development to the extent possible. One way for an ESL teacher to accomplish this goal is by encouraging students to practice speaking, reading, and writing in their home language in school and at home.
Question 8
8. A newly arrived English learner with no previous exposure to English has
been receiving intensive instruction in an ESL program for a few months. Although
he is demonstrating progress in his understanding of spoken English, he rarely speaks
in English. Which of the following considerations would be most important to take
into account first when determining how to best support this student's language
development?
- Second-language learners typically develop expressive language skills before they
develop receptive language skills.
- Second-language learners sometimes experience personal or environmental factors that cause them to be inhibited or constrained in language learning.
- Second-language learners often go through a silent period during which they produce
very little oral language.
- Second-language learners may have language disabilities that prevent them from acquiring language following typical stages of language acquisition.
Answer to question 8
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0002) In typical second-language development, learners develop receptive language skills (i.e., listening and reading) before expressive language skills (i.e., speaking and writing). Therefore, in the beginning stages of aural/oral language development, it is normal for an English learner to understand more language aurally than he or she is able to produce orally. This stage is often called the silent period because the learner has limited verbal communication skills.
Question 9
9. Which of the following situations provides a typical illustration of the influence of home-language literacy skills on an English learner's development of English literacy skills?
- A student who has limited literacy skills in the home language is progressing more quickly than expected in English literacy development.
- A student who has strong literacy skills in the home language has difficulty comprehending the academic language structures in English content-area texts.
- A student who reads and writes in an alphabetic home language can decode English words but does not always understand the words' meanings.
- A student who reads and writes in a home language that uses a nonalphabetic script grasps letter-sound correspondences in English relatively easily.
Answer to question 9
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0002) English learners who have developed literacy skills in the home language often transfer those skills to their English literacy development. A student who has learned to read and write in a home language that uses an alphabetic writing system can transfer knowledge of the alphabetic principle and letter-sound correspondence to his or her English acquisition and may develop decoding skills before acquiring full knowledge of English vocabulary.
Question 10
10. According to Cummins' four quadrants model of task difficulty, a standardized achievement
test could best be described as:
- context embedded and cognitively demanding.
- context reduced and cognitively demanding.
- context embedded and cognitively undemanding.
- context reduced and cognitively undemanding.
Answer to question 10
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0002) Jim Cummins, a leading researcher in second-language acquisition, created a model of task difficulty that categorizes various social- and academic-language tasks into four quadrants based on their level of contextualization and cognitive demand. The easier, cognitively undemanding tasks involve social language and can either be context embedded, such as a face-to-face conversation, or context reduced, such as a telephone conversation. The more difficult, cognitively demanding tasks involve academic language and can also be either context embedded, such as a science experiment, or context reduced, such as a chapter from a social studies textbook. A standardized achievement test falls into this last quadrant because it typically contains complex academic language and few contextualized clues to support comprehension.
Question 11
11. Which of the following actions by an English learner illustrates the most effective cognitive strategy for learning and remembering the meaning of a new vocabulary word in English?
- memorizing the dictionary definition of the word
- writing the word repeatedly while pronouncing the word aloud
- relating the word to known words and visual cues
- creating an acrostic mnemonic device with the letters of the word
Answer to question 11
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0002) Cognitive learning strategies (e.g., resourcing, imagery, keyword) are learning strategies that involve direct manipulation of learning materials. An especially useful cognitive strategy for learning and remembering the meaning of a new word is to relate it to familiar words (keyword) and visual cues (imagery). For example, when learning the English word lake, a learner may form a mental image of a lake and relate lake to a similar-sounding word in the home language.
Question 12
12. Which of the following questions would be most important for an ESL teacher to consider when determining whether to address an English learner's grammatical error during a natural speech event such as a conversation or class discussion?
- Is the student aware of the error?
- Does the student make similar errors on a frequent basis?
- Is the student typically receptive to being corrected?
- Does the error interfere with the meaning of the student's message?
Answer to question 12
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0002) A natural speech event such as a conversation or class discussion is usually not the appropriate context in which to provide English learners with frequent corrective feedback, because it tends to interrupt the flow of communication and hinder students' language fluency. However, if a student's meaning is unclear because of a language error, it may be appropriate and necessary to correct the error to ensure that the student's message is communicated clearly.
Use the information below to answer the two questions that follow.
An ESL teacher plans the following lesson for emerging-level English learners.
-
The teacher plays a video clip of three friends having this conversation:
Speaker A: I'm having a birthday party on Saturday. Can you guys come?
Speaker B: Oh, really? I think I can come. I'll ask my mom. Where do you live? What time will it be?
Speaker A: I live close to Woodland Park. I think it starts at 2. I'll tell you tomorrow.
(looking at Speaker C) What about you? Can you come?
Speaker C: I don't know (looking skeptical). What are you going to do? Speaker A: We're going to have a slippery
slide and play with water balloons. We're going to eat pizza and cake, too.
Speaker C: (smiling) Wow! That sounds like fun! I'll be there!
Speaker A: Great!
-
The teacher leads students in a discussion of these questions related to the conversation:
-
What are these friends talking about?
-
Did the first friend accept the birthday party invitation? Did the second friend accept the invitation?
-
What do you think is each friend's reason for going to the party? Why do you think so?
-
The teacher leads students in brainstorming situations that involve invitations.
-
The teacher solicits student input while listing on the board phrases that can be
used to make, accept, and reject invitations under these headings:
Invitations Accepting
an Invitation Rejecting an Invitation
-
Pairs of students role-play situations from Step 3 using phrases from Step 4.
-
Students discuss any communication difficulties or questions they had during the role-play activity.
Question 13
13. The activities in this lesson best demonstrate the teacher's understanding of which
of the following principles of second-language teaching and learning?
- Cultural customs and patterns of thought and communication play a significant role
in classroom interactions.
- Second-language learners can differ widely in their levels of second-language proficiency,
self-confidence, and cultural identity.
- Second-language learners benefit most from receiving language input that is comprehensible but slightly above their current level of proficiency.
- Communicative competence includes not only grammatical competence but also discourse,
sociolinguistic, and strategic competence.
Answer to question 13
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0002) This lesson includes activities that address the various facets of communicative competence. Grammatical competence is addressed in Step 4 when the teacher provides phrases that can be used when discussing invitations. Discourse competence is addressed in Steps 1 and 2 as students watch and answer questions about a conversation between friends. Sociolinguistic competence is addressed in Step 5 when students practice using appropriate phrases by role-playing various situations that involve invitations. Strategic competence is addressed in Step 6 when students reflect on the role-play activity.
Question 14
14. A significant advantage of using a video clip of the conversation in Step 1 of this
lesson is that, compared to an audio recording or a written transcript, video gives
students practice with which of the following language skills?
- processing speech at different rates of delivery
- interpreting nonverbal elements of communication
- recognizing the effects of intonation on a speaker's meaning
- monitoring the effectiveness of various communication strategies
Answer to question 14
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0003) An important advantage of using video in instruction for English learners is that students are able to view speakers' facial expressions, gestures, body language, and eye contact, which is not possible with an audio recording or a written transcript. Being able to view these nonverbal elements of communication helps students interpret a speaker's message and develops their understanding of pragmatic features of language.
Question 15
15. A newly arrived high school English learner is having difficulty adapting to the culture of a U.S. high school. She dresses differently and remains distant from other students, especially groups that include male students. She wants to participate in extracurricular activities but is unable to wear the standard athletic uniforms of sports teams and is uncomfortable joining clubs that include male members. This situation most clearly illustrates the influence of which of the following elements of culture on this student's education?
- social customs and mores
- family structures and functions
- social patterns of communication
- religious rituals and ceremonies
Answer to question 15
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0003) This student most likely comes from a culture in which females are required to dress in certain ways and are restricted from interacting with males outside the family. She clearly feels uncomfortable in the U.S. school culture, where it is common for students to dress in ways that would be unacceptable in her culture and it is considered acceptable for females and males to have close relationships. This situation is an example of how cross-cultural differences in social customs and mores can influence an English learner's education in U.S. schools.
Question 16
16. A newly arrived sixth-grade English learner often speaks out of turn in
class. The student interrupts the teacher to ask off-topic questions and talks with
other students about lesson content while the teacher is speaking or during independent
seatwork. The teacher could address this situation most sensitively by taking which
of the following steps first?
- changing the student's seating to be separate from other students and in close proximity
to the teacher
- arranging a meeting with the student's parents to solicit their help in correcting
the behavior
- determining whether patterns of communication in the student's home culture differ
from those in U.S. classrooms
- implementing with the student a behavior contract designed to reinforce appropriate
classroom behavior
Answer to question 16
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0003) Because this student is new to U.S. schools, he or she may not be accustomed to typical patterns of communication in U.S. classrooms. A teacher working with this student could make the most informed decision about how to address this situation sensitively by first determining if cultural factors are contributing to the student's behavior.
Question 17
17. An elementary school ESL teacher is aware of the link between English learners'
self-esteem and academic achievement and would like to promote students' self-esteem
by validating and affirming their cultural identities. Which of the following strategies
is likely to be most effective in achieving this goal?
- setting equally high expectations for students from different cultural backgrounds
- teaching and modeling positive attitudes toward and respect for diverse cultural
perspectives
- incorporating literature and other resources from students' home cultures into instruction
- learning and using some basic words and phrases in students' home languages
Answer to question 17
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0003) Incorporating literature and other resources (e.g., cultural artifacts, guest speakers) from students' home cultures into instruction communicates to students that their home cultures are respected and valued. If students feel that their cultural backgrounds are appreciated, this can lead to the development of a healthy cultural identity, which in turn can promote their self-esteem and academic achievement.
Question 18
18. The passage of the Bilingual Education Act (Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act) in 1968 most clearly represented which of the following milestones
in the history of federal policy related to the education of English learners?
- prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in the
operation of federally assisted programs
- mandating that students with limited English proficiency meet the same challenging
academic standards required of all students
- providing program funding for students with limited English proficiency who have
special needs
- acknowledging the unique educational challenges of students with limited English
proficiency in U.S. schools
Answer to question 18
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0003) The Bilingual Education Act was first passed in 1968 in the wake
of the 1964 passage of the Civil Rights Act and was in part meant to address civil
rights violations in schools. In 1967, a bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate
to provide assistance to school districts in establishing educational programs for
students with limited English speaking ability (LESA). This led to the proposal
of several more bills, which were combined into Title VII of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act. This act is widely viewed as the first official federal
acknowledgement of the educational needs of English learners.
Question 19
19. Which of the following practices in a culturally diverse school is likely to be most effective in promoting cultural pluralism in the school community?
- sponsoring traditional music and dance presentations by multicultural performers several times a year
- including in the social studies curriculum lessons about each home culture represented in the school
- observing holidays and other celebrations from students' home cultures throughout the year
- incorporating multicultural perspectives into all aspects of the school's curriculum and policies
Answer to question 19
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0003) Cultural pluralism is achieved when diverse groups fully participate in a society while maintaining their cultural differences or diversity. Cultural pluralism is best supported when the social and political institutions of the society establish practices and policies that respect cultural differences and value diversity. The educational practice of incorporating diverse perspectives into all aspects of the school curriculum and policies promotes cultural pluralism.
Question 20
20. A teacher provides scaffolded instruction to English learners in grade-level core content from the general education curriculum along with related English language skills and relevant learning strategies. This scenario best reflects which of the following English learner program models?
- pull-out ESL
- transitional bilingual education (TBE)
- dual language education
- sheltered English immersion (SEI)
Answer to question 20
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0004) Sheltered English immersion (SEI), or sheltered content instruction, is an ESL program model in which English learners' development of grade-level content-area knowledge and skills is the primary goal of instruction, with academic-language development as a concurrent, complementary goal. The teacher uses an array of scaffolding techniques to provide content instruction that is both differentiated according to students' English language proficiency levels and sufficiently challenging to promote students' ongoing English language development.
Question 21
21. A middle school mathematics class that includes English learners at various levels of English language proficiency is currently working on a unit about decimals and percentages. The ESL teacher is helping the mathematics teacher design a variety of activities related to the unit that are differentiated for English learners at the various proficiency levels. According to guidelines and examples in the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards, which of the following activities would be most appropriate for the English learners in the class who are at the developing level?
- sorting percentages of daily vitamin values on food product labels into pre-determined categories with a partner
- following a list of simple written directions to determine percentages of different-colored puzzle pieces with a partner
- using directions written in paragraph form to calculate an unknown total of purchases based on sales tax with a partner
- interpreting written information from various texts to determine the best value from a group of advertised products with a partner
Answer to question 21
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0004) The WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards describe how English learners are able to use language in the domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing to engage with grade-level content at six language development levels. With instructional support such as interaction with a partner, English learners at Level 3 (developing) can access the language of mathematics in order to perform a content task when directions are written primarily in simple sentences and presented in a clear format such as a list.
Question 22
22. Which of the following statements best describes the primary goals of a dual language
program?
- English learners will transition successfully into an all-English instructional environment while receiving academic instruction in the home language.
- English learners will develop English proficiency as they master the content knowledge and skills necessary to achieve grade-level academic standards in English.
- English learners and native-English-speaking students will become bilingual and biliterate, succeed academically, and develop cross-cultural understanding.
- English learners will acquire English, learn academic concepts, and assimilate into U.S. culture through interactions with their native-English-speaking peers.
Answer to question 22
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0004) A dual language, or two-way immersion, program is one in which two language groups are schooled bilingually in the home languages of both groups. In the United States, a dual language program serves language minority students, such as Spanish speakers, and native-English-speaking (language majority) students concurrently. The primary goals of a dual language program are to help both groups learn academic content and gain proficiency in both the minority and majority language, as well as to enhance their understanding of different cultural perspectives.
Question 23
23. Which of the following classroom activities for middle school expanding-level English learners most clearly reflects principles of the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA)?
- viewing a science demonstration that illustrates an important science concept
- creating and performing small-group role-plays based on common social situations
- using manipulatives to practice constructing sentences that contain target grammatical constructions
- learning and practicing a five-step strategy for comprehending and solving mathematical word problems
Answer to question 23
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0004) The Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA) is an instructional model that was designed by Anna Uhl Chamot and J. Michael O'Malley with the goal of guiding students to become successful, independent learners of academic language and content. The program provided educators with resources and training in the methodology, which was implemented in school districts throughout the United States and abroad. The CALLA model continues to inform current best practices in language teaching. A central element of CALLA is explicit instruction in metacognitive, cognitive, and social-affective strategies for learning both language and academic content. Learning and practicing a strategy for comprehending and solving mathematical word problems is an example of a classroom activity that promotes students' use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies to grasp academic concepts.
Question 24
24. During a content-based thematic unit on bald eagles, an ESL teacher has first-grade English learners listen to and discuss books, and view and discuss children's educational Web sites about eagles. The students also design informational posters about eagles and create puppet shows using eagle puppets they have constructed. A primary benefit of the activities in this unit is that this approach:
- builds on students' background knowledge and experiences.
- addresses students' varied learning styles and performance modes.
- encourages authentic, spontaneous interaction among students.
- creates a culturally responsive classroom environment for students.
Answer to question 24
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0004) Different children have different preferred learning styles and performance modes. The unit described here addresses students' varied learning styles by incorporating aural/oral activities (listening to and discussing books), visual activities (viewing Web sites), and kinesthetic activities (constructing and using puppets). The unit also addresses students' preferred performance modes by providing opportunities for them to demonstrate learning through speaking (discussions, puppet shows) and writing/visual representation (posters).
Question 25
25. An ESL teacher learns that an English learner who has been identified as gifted and talented will be joining a fifth-grade class. Which of the following steps would be most helpful for the teacher to take first when determining how to best support this student's language development and academic learning?
- gathering information about the student's past educational experiences, personal
interests, and preferred learning styles
- providing the student with a substantial amount of challenging independent-study
and enrichment materials
- creating opportunities for the student to take on mentoring, tutoring, and teaching roles in the classroom
- conducting action research on the effects of giftedness on English learners' second-language development
Answer to question 25
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0004) Students who are gifted and talented often have exceptional needs and abilities that require individualized attention and instruction. They may be ahead of their peers in cognitive and academic ability and can become bored in the classroom if not sufficiently challenged. When preparing to work with a gifted student, a teacher should first learn about his or her educational experiences, personal interests, and preferred learning styles in order to provide him or her with appropriate enrichment activities that are challenging and motivating and build on his or her strengths.
Question 26
26. When teaching a new unit of study, an ESL teacher regularly asks strategic, guiding questions about key concepts the teacher has introduced and provides opportunities for English learners to discuss the questions in pairs before expecting them to respond to similar prompts independently (e.g., during a whole-class discussion, in a writing assignment, on a quiz). The teacher's practice best demonstrates understanding of how to:
- provide students with immediate feedback.
- scaffold concepts and skills for students.
- connect students' school experiences to everyday life.
- create an inclusive learning environment for students.
Answer to question 26
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0004) Scaffolding is an instructional strategy based on Lev Vygotsky's theory of the zone of proximal development. Vygotsky proposed that learning is facilitated when learners receive instruction that takes into account their current developmental level and provides support structures, or scaffolds, to help them move to the next level. Asking guiding questions and allowing students to talk to each other helps them approach content in focused ways and provides an opportunity for them to process information and ideas through verbal interaction with a learning partner. These scaffolding techniques serve as supports as students learn concepts and skills that they may not be able to grasp through explicit instruction alone. The scaffolds also prepare them to participate more successfully in academic-language tasks related to the content (e.g., whole-class discussions, writing assignments, assessments).
Question 27
27. An ESL teacher is helping fourth-grade English learners with their science
fair projects. First, the teacher explains the purpose of a science fair project
and presents a mini-lesson on the steps involved in completing a project. Next,
the teacher shows students a sample project and uses an example topic to model the
process of developing a project. The teacher then guides students in selecting topics
for their own projects and reviews students' work at each stage of the process,
providing feedback as needed. This approach best demonstrates the teacher's understanding
of which of the following instructional techniques?
- scaffolding academic tasks
- linking new concepts to prior learning
- providing comprehensible input
- modifying language without simplifying content
Answer to question 27
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0004) Scaffolding an academic task for English learners involves providing a sequence of instructional supports, each with an increasing level of student independence. A typical scaffolding sequence includes teacher presentation, teacher modeling, guided student practice, and, finally, student application. This teacher's approach to helping English learners with their science fair projects illustrates each of these elements of a scaffolding sequence.
Question 28
28. An elementary school ESL teacher plans to involve family members in helping prepare English learners for a science unit on seasonal changes. A week prior to the beginning of the lesson, the teacher asks students to have a conversation with their family in the home language about the characteristics of seasonal changes in their country of origin, including any events or celebrations that are associated with the changing of the seasons (e.g., summer or winter solstice, spring or fall equinox). In class, the students draw and annotate pictures of the seasonal changes that they discussed with their family. These activities most effectively facilitate the students' content learning by:
- enhancing their academic-language development in English through the integration of listening and drawing.
- encouraging them to engage in creative and collaborative problem solving related to the content.
- helping them connect new knowledge related to the target content with their cultural background and heritage.
- promoting their access to relevant content through explicit instruction in key English academic-language skills.
Answer to question 28
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0005) A crucial step to content learning is to build and tap into students' background knowledge before introducing new content. In this scenario, the teacher links content (seasons) to students' cultural experiences (seasonal changes and associated events in their country of origin), by asking students to discuss with their families the seasonal changes in their country of origin and then to create annotated pictures based on their discussions prior to engaging in the content lesson. Through this linguistic and cultural connection, new content learning can be anchored and deepened throughout the science unit.
Question 29
29. An elementary school ESL teacher conducts a family literacy workshop for English learners and their families. The teacher engages workshop participants in the following activities on the theme of ladybugs, which are considered a symbol of good luck in the families' heritage culture.
- listening to a storybook about a ladybug
- using finger puppets to learn and recite a simple poem about a ladybug
- painting a rock to look like a ladybug
This approach is likely to be most effective in accomplishing which of the following teacher goals?
- providing opportunities for family members to contribute their knowledge and expertise in the classroom
- recognizing and respecting families' cultural experiences in order to encourage their involvement in the school community
- creating circumstances that empower students and their families to advocate for themselves in the school community
- promoting and supporting the social and political participation of family members in school curriculum and assessment decisions
Answer to question 29
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0005) Research indicates that strong family involvement is one factor that positively affects student academic achievement and attitude toward school. Through the intentional inclusion of literacy-based activities on the theme of ladybugs (which symbolize good fortune to the families attending) as described here, the teacher acknowledges and demonstrates respect toward the cultural heritage of the families. This approach is likely to be most effective in accomplishing the teacher's goal of encouraging family involvement in the school community.
Question 30
30. A general education teacher and an ESL teacher co-teach a second-grade inclusion class that includes expanding- and bridging-level English learners. The teachers would like to engage students in regular small-group cooperative learning activities, which can be particularly challenging for English learners. Taking which of the following approaches to these activities would be the most appropriate way for the teachers to collaborate to support the English learners' success?
- The ESL teacher guides English learners as they work in their own group on cooperative learning activities.
- Both the ESL teacher and the general education teacher monitor cooperative learning groups that include English learners and adjust group composition as necessary.
- The ESL teacher works with English learners on alternative language development activities during cooperative learning activities.
- Both the ESL teacher and the general education teacher provide focused assistance to cooperative learning groups that include English learners.
Answer to question 30
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0005) In the inclusive model of ESL instruction described here, English learners are learning alongside their native-English-speaking peers in a general education classroom, and the ESL teacher and general education teacher are collaborating to serve the English learners in the class. Primary benefits of this approach are that English learners gain access to the general education curriculum and have regular opportunities to hear and produce English for authentic academic purposes. Although cooperative learning activities can be challenging for the English learners due to their level of English proficiency, they can and should be included in these activities. The teachers can best support the English learners' participation by working together to provide groups that include English learners with focused assistance during cooperative learning activities.
Question 31
31. A middle school ESL teacher has arranged to bring English learners on a field trip to the local public library. The purpose of this trip is to familiarize students with the resources available at the library and how to access those resources. Which of the following strategies is likely to best facilitate effective collaboration with library staff in order to promote student learning?
- providing staff members with an itinerary for the field trip
- working with relevant staff members to reserve a designated meeting room for the field trip
- asking a staff member to demonstrate key library procedures for students
- requesting that staff members reserve books in advance for students to browse through
Answer to question 31
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0005) Whenever an ESL teacher involves individuals outside the classroom in instruction for English learners, the teacher should be careful to value and use the expertise of those individuals without causing undue burden on their time or work. In the case of a field trip to a local library, the teacher could best accomplish this goal by asking a staff member to demonstrate for students key library procedures, such as obtaining a library card and locating books on the shelf. This is not likely to put an unreasonable time or work constraint on library staff but would make adequate use of their expertise to support and facilitate students' use of the library and its resources.
Use the information below to answer the two questions that follow.
An elementary school ESL teacher wants to promote family involvement in students' education by offering monthly workshops on topics of interest to family members. At the beginning of the year, the teacher conducts a family survey soliciting feedback on and ideas for possible workshop topics. Given the results of the survey, the teacher designs and implements informal, interactive workshops on a variety of topics related to parenting (e.g., homework support, home—school communication, student testing, school policies and practices, child development, family literacy). The teacher also makes sure to set aside time during each workshop for families to share related information and experiences.
Question 32
32. In addition to building strong home—school relationships, which of the following outcomes is the most important rationale for offering these family workshops?
- soliciting family support for the ESL program
- supporting families by helping them connect with one another
- developing family members' English language skills
- involving families in classroom instruction to support student learning
Answer to question 32
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0005) Family involvement in a student's education is a key factor in that student's school success. Family workshops such as those described here promote family involvement in a number of important ways, like helping families connect with and gain support from other families in similar circumstances. Such connections have been shown to encourage and motivate families to continue attending and participating in school-related activities.
Question 33
33. Which of the following workshop implementation strategies best demonstrates the
teacher's awareness of factors that influence families' involvement in the school
community?
- arranging to provide free child care during the workshops
- providing workshop participants with materials to read ahead of time and bring to
the workshop
- scheduling workshops right after school has been dismissed for the day
- organizing a potluck meal to which workshop participants are asked to contribute a dish
Answer to question 33
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0005) When implementing the type of family workshops described here, a teacher must be sensitive to family circumstances such as job schedules, child-care responsibilities, and socioeconomic conditions that can hinder families' ability to participate in school activities. Providing free child care at the family workshops facilitates families' ability to attend the workshops.
Question 34
34. The primary purpose of the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs® registered 2.0 is to:
- determine students' achievement in ESL classes.
- provide demographic information about students' home languages.
- measure students' level of English language proficiency.
- set specific learning objectives for students in ESL classes.
Answer to question 34
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0006) The WIDA ACCESS for ELLs® registered 2.0 is a language proficiency assessment administered annually to English learners in grades K– to 12 in Minnesota schools to measure English learners' levels of proficiency in using academic language in the domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 results provide information to stakeholders that can be used to inform instruction, measure student progress in English language development, make decisions about exiting learners from ESL services, and evaluate the effectiveness of district-level ESL programs.
Question 35
35. An ESL teacher is working with seventh-grade students on developing a summary of a literary text based on what the text explicitly says as well as on inferences they have drawn from the text. The teacher would like to both determine how well individual students are meeting this objective and enable the students to take more responsibility for their own learning. Which of the following assessments best provides information about the students' progress in content-area learning while fostering their metacognitive awareness of the learning process?
- a response log in which students write a short summary of the text and then respond to teacher prompts about the experience of completing the task
- an exercise in which students hold up short answers to specific teacher questions about the text's plot on individual whiteboards
- an activity that requires individual students to express their knowledge about the text's plot through a means other than writing or speaking (e.g., drawing, movement, dance)
- a class discussion during which students ask each other and respond to open-ended questions related to writing summaries
Answer to question 35
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: A. (Objective 0006) Writing down feelings, questions, and experiences related to completing an academic task makes them visible and serves as concrete documentation of the otherwise internal, invisible process of acquiring knowledge. When teachers prompt students to explore how they learn in addition to demonstrating what they learn, student awareness of the strategies they use to meet challenges increases. Students are also better able to apply the results of their exploration when completing similar academic tasks in the future, which makes them more autonomous learners.
Question 36
36. Students in a third-grade ESL class have completed a unit on a particular habitat and the animals it supports. In order to assess students' content knowledge related to the unit, the ESL teacher is having each student write a paragraph about an animal that lives in the habitat and how it has adapted to survive there. Which of the following scaffolded tasks would be most appropriate for the teacher to ask entering-level English learners to perform to demonstrate what they have learned?
- completing a series of sentence starters and placing them in a logical sequence with the help of a graphic organizer
- filling in the blanks in a cloze paragraph with the help of a word bank and visuals
- producing a paragraph using a rubric that describes the criteria for the assessment
- labeling visuals and arranging them in a concept map that has pre-printed boxes for animal, habitat, and adaptation
Answer to question 36
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0006) Scaffolding of content-area assessments for English learners consists of both defining appropriate expectations for how they will use language to demonstrate knowledge and determining which supports will facilitate their use of that language. According to the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards, entering-level English learners are able to demonstrate content knowledge by producing language at the word and phrase level with the use of visuals. Providing students at this level with a concept map and relevant visuals to label and place on the map is an appropriate and effective way to assist them in demonstrating their understanding of content-area concepts and their relationships.
Question 37
37. A summative, criterion-referenced assessment would be most appropriate to use with an English learner for which of the following purposes?
- determining the student's readiness to exit an English learner program
- determining the student's initial placement in an English learner program
- evaluating the extent to which the student has achieved particular learning standards
- evaluating the student's eligibility for special services, such as gifted and talented
Answer to question 37
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0006) A summative assessment is used at the end of a defined instructional period, such as at the end of an instructional unit, to assess students' learning during that unit of study. A criterion-referenced assessment is used to assess students' achievement of specific learning objectives. An assessment that is both summative and criterion-referenced is likely to be most useful to evaluate the extent to which a student has achieved particular learning standards.
Question 38
38. A group of students new to a school who have been identified as having a home language other than English complete a state-approved, criterion-referenced English language proficiency screener consisting of multiple-choice and open-response questions. Trained district staff score the open-response questions using score keys and rubrics to assess the students' current proficiency levels in oral language and literacy. Which of the following additional strategies would be most effective for an ESL teacher to use to promote the validity of the assessment results?
- conducting an extensive structured oral interview with each student
- observing each student in a variety of formal and informal school settings and situations
- having each student conduct a self-evaluation by checking off items on a list of "I can do" statements
- considering how each student's abilities compare with those of other English learners
Answer to question 38
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: B. (Objective 0006) The open-response section of the language proficiency screening instrument described is an example of a performance-based assessment. This type of assessment, even when standardized, contains variables that may influence outcomes. The use of rubrics and potential inconsistencies in rater training introduce the possibility of some subjectivity in the evaluation of the student responses. Scoring scales used to denote student performance vary in the degree of nuance they convey. A single test administration serves to capture a snapshot of student performance at a particular point in time rather than providing a complete overview of the depth and range of student ability. For these reasons, observing each student in a variety of school settings would help the ESL teacher make more well-rounded judgments to complement and promote the validity of the assessment results.
Question 39
39. An ESL teacher teaches sheltered content to newly arrived English learners from a variety of educational backgrounds. At the end of an instructional unit, the teacher administers a test that consists of true/false and multiple-choice questions. After scoring the test, the teacher feels that many students' performance on the test is not consistent with their understanding of the assessed concepts as demonstrated in class. Which of the following questions would be most important for the teacher to consider first when determining the best action to take in this situation?
- Were students unusually distracted or anxious when taking the test?
- Did students have sufficient time to respond to test questions?
- Were students familiar with the format and language of test questions?
- Did instructional activities used in the unit adequately address test content?
Answer to question 39
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: C. (Objective 0006) Some English learners may have little or no experience responding to restricted-response test items (e.g., true/false, multiple-choice questions), either because they have had limited experience with formal testing or because they come from an educational system that uses different approaches to assessment. An ESL teacher should keep these considerations in mind when designing and administering assessments, and when interpreting assessment results.
Question 40
40. An ESL teacher who teaches sheltered content follows the guidelines below when designing
questions for classroom tests.
- Avoid unnecessary cultural references that are likely to be unfamiliar to students.
- Use simple, straightforward language that is consistent with students' English
language proficiency levels.
- Draw on students' background experiences to the extent possible.
This approach best demonstrates the teacher's understanding of how to:
- promote student's self-assessment skills.
- align classroom assessments with learning standards.
- use assessment to validate students' cultural identities.
- minimize potential bias in classroom assessments.
Answer to question 40
- Answer Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
- Correct Response: D. (Objective 0006) Cultural bias and linguistic bias are two forms of bias that can affect the validity of assessments, especially when used with English learners. Test content that is more accessible to students from a certain cultural background than to students from other backgrounds (e.g., culture-specific idiomatic expressions) is an example of cultural bias. Complex and/or ambiguous language or language constructions that unnecessarily diminish the comprehensibility of test questions (e.g., use of passive constructions) are examples of linguistic bias. Following the guidelines listed here will help a teacher avoid these forms of bias in classroom assessments.