Language Structure, Linguistics, and Literacy

Question 0

What does a sentence consist of?

Answer 0

A sentence consists of one or more clauses.

Ex: Leave the dishes there; I’ll clean up later.

Question 1

Describe syntax?

Answer 1

It is the structure of language: how phrases, sentences,and paragraphs are put together.

Question 2

What is a clause?

Answer 2

A clause is part of a sentence, and must include at least a subject and a predicate.

Question 3

What is an independent clause?

Answer 3

A clause that can stand on its own. It contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought.
Ex: We’ll see you later.

Question 4

What is a subordinate clause?

Answer 4

It is a cause that cannot stand on its own. A clause, typically introduced by a conjunction, that forms part of and is dependent on a main clause.
Ex: because she never showed up

Question 5

What is a phrase?

Answer 5

It is a group of words that form a concept, but cannot stand alone as a sentence.
Ex: her blue dress

Question 6

What is the subject of a sentence?

Answer 6

A subject is a word or group of words defining who or what performs an action or is in a particular state of being.
Ex: The boy jumped from the tree.
Subject: The boy

Question 7

What is the predicate of a sentence?

Answer 7

A predicate is a verb or verb phrase expressing an action performed or a state of being.
Ex: The cat meowed. Predicate: meowed

Question 8

What is a declarative sentence?

Answer 8

A declarative sentence states something, generally a fact, an opinion, or an arrangement of some kind. It ends with a period.
Ex: I prefer vanilla over chocolate.

Question 9

What is an imperative sentence?

Answer 9

An imperative sentence is a command or request that ends with a period or exclamation. There is actually no subject in an imperative sentence because the subject is actually you. It is not written or spoken but implied.
Ex: Answer the phone.

Question 10

What is an interrogative sentence?

Answer 10

An interrogative sentence asks a question. The auxiliary, or helping, verb or verb phrase comes first, then the subject, followed by the main verb or verb phrase. They end in question marks.
Ex: when does his flight arrive?

Question 11

What is an exclamatory sentence?

Answer 11

An exclamatory sentence emphasizes a declarative or imperative statement by using an exclamation point.
Ex: I won the contest!

Question 12

What are the fanboys?

Answer 12

For
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet
So

Question 13

What is a simple sentence?

Answer 13

A simple sentence consists of one independent clause. The only requirement is that it have no dependent clauses, or other independent clauses joined with a conjunction.
Ex: Ron’s younger sister and her new boyfriend did their best to be on time for Ron’s joint birthday and retirement party.

Question 14

What is a compound sentence?

Answer 14

A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses. It is like taking two or more complete sentences and attaching them together with a semicolon or a coordinating conjunction.
Ex: I don’t understand why he’s so angry; all I said was that his story was simplistic and trite.

Question 15

What is coordinating conjunction?

Answer 15

A conjunction placed between words, phrases, clauses, or sentences of equal rank.
Ex: The sun is out, yet it’s cold.

Question 16

What is a complex sentence?

Answer 16

A complex sentence contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. The dependent clauses are linked to the main clause with a subordinating conjunction.
Ex: We won’t know how Dad is doing until the doctor comes out.

Question 17

What is a subordinating conjunction?

Answer 17

It is a conjunction that introduces a subordinate clause. There is a long list of subordinating conjunctions; common ones are: after, until, because, although, since, and while.
Ex: I didn’t think it was necessary to ask permission because I knew you’d say yes.

Question 18

What is a compound-complex sentence?

Answer 18

A compound-complex sentence consists of at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.
Ex: Since my sister returned from her trip, I’ve been trying to plan a night out with her, but she’s always too busy to return my calls.

Question 19

Rules of capitalization?

Answer 19

The first word of a sentence, names and initials of people, titles preceding names, days of the week, months of the year, holidays, continents, countries, states, cities, provinces, the pronoun I, names of languages, and nationalities.

Question 20

List Different uses for commas?

Answer 20

To separate a list of items
To separate phrases and clauses
To separate independent clauses that are connected by one of the fanboys
To introduce a direct quote
To end a direct quote within a framing sentence

Question 21

What are the two proper uses for semicolons?

Answer 21

To separate two equally weighted independent clauses, in place of a period or a comma and one of the fanboys.
To separate groups of words that are internally separated by commas.

Question 22

What are the two uses for colons?

Answer 22

They are to set off a list of words or phrases, used for additional explanation, generally after an independent clause. And, to introduce a direct quote, although commas are more commonly used.

Question 23

What are dashes used for?

Answer 23

Dashes are used occasionally I place of commas, usually when more emphasis is desired.

Question 24

What are parentheses used for?

Answer 24

They are used to add information that is related to the sentence but is non-essential to understanding.

Question 25

How can apostrophes be used?

Answer 25

In a contraction, such as I’m, to indicate that one or more letters have been omitted from a word, and to show possession, generally before the “s” for singular nouns and after the “s” for plural nouns.

Question 26

What is semantics?

Answer 26

It is meaning. Semantics is your understanding of how meaning is constructed, and how words relate to each other.

Question 27

What is etymology and why is it helpful?

Answer 27

Etymology is the study of word origin. Often, English words ( or words that have been adopted into the English language) that originate from the same foreign or ancient language have similar construction. So knowing that the word mezzanine is of Italian origin would help a student spell it correctly. The spelling of a word may also help determine its origin, and that in turn can lead to and understanding of it meaning.

Question 28

What are the differences between denotation and connotation?

Answer 28

Denotation refers to the literal definition of a word, while connotation refers to an implicit meaning. The denotation meaning of a word is found in the dictionary, while the connotative meaning of a word is more likely found on urban dictionary. Connotative meaning of a word is used to elicit some kind of emotional response.

Question 29

What is the decorative meaning of shady?

Answer 29

An area that is blocked from direct light.

Ex: They found a shady corner of the park for their picnic.

Question 30

What is the connotative meaning of shady?

Answer 30

There is a feeling associated with the word: one for concealment, of dishonesty.
Ex: No one really liked Bud; there was something shady about him.

Question 31

What is important to remember when choosing connotation?

Answer 31

Understanding connotation doesn’t just mean determining how a word is used in a sentence. It also means choosing words deliberately in order to evoke a particular emotion. A slight change can change the implicit meaning of a sentence.

Question 32

How is context useful in understanding?

Answer 32

Context is helpful when you’re faced with a word that has more than one definition. Children are taught to look at the whole sentence in order to figure out which meaning of the word is used.

Question 33

Why is learning how to use context clues important?

Answer 33

Using context clues keeps the student actively involved in the reading. When a student comes to an unfamiliar word, they examine the surrounding text to see if they can determine its meaning based on how it is used in the sentence or paragraph.

Question 34

What is pragmatics?

Answer 34

Pragmatics is the study of social language: how people communicate with each other. Pragmatics covers all aspects of social communication, indcluding these concepts.

• Appropriate use of language for a given situation.
• Varying use of language depending on the situation or listener.
• Understanding and using verbal and nonverbal signals, such as body language, facial expressions, volume, tone.

Question 35

What is phonology?

Answer 35

It is the study of sounds and speech patterns: the distinctions between consonant and vowel sounds, and how they are combined to form words.

Question 36

When does phonological development take place?

Answer 36

It is the gradual process in which children develop adult speech patterns. In a child’s early speech, the way a word sounds in his brain isn’t usually what comes out of his mouth. That’s why you’ll hear a small child say tar for car. These kinds of deviations from adult speech are called phonological process.

Question 37

What are phonemes?

Answer 37

They are the smallest units of sounds that convey meaning. Many divide into single letters but others are letter combinations.
Ex: man = /m/ /a/ /n/
Lash= /l/ /a/ /sh/
To know if they should be separated or not think about if the letter sounds don’t change when you say them separately. If separating them changes the sound they make than they would be a letter combination phoneme.

Question 38

What is phonemic awareness?

Answer 38

Phonemic awareness is the understanding that words can be divided into phonemes, and conversely, that phonemes can be blended together to form words.

Question 39

What is morphology?

Answer 39

It is the study of units of meaning in language.

Question 40

What are morphemes?

Answer 40

They are the smallest units of meaning in words. Things like root words, prefixes, suffixes, plurals, verb tense. When you divide a word into morphemes it means dividing it up into its most basic parts. 
One-morpheme words:
- shirt
- love 
- giraffe
Two or more morphemes:
-hats = hat + s
-unbreakable = un + break + able

Question 41

Explain the Alphabetic Principle?

Answer 41

It refers to the basic understanding of letter-sound awareness, which is the first step in learning to read. Alphabetic understanding is the understanding that in printed words, the letters, representing phonemes, are read left to right.

Question 42

What is a grapheme?

Answer 42

It is a term for each of the individual letters and letter combinations that represent the same phoneme.
Ex: /f/ can be represented by f as in fly and as ph as in phone and go as in cough

Question 43

What is orthography?

Answer 43

It is the system of using symbols to represent — in English, it is an alphabetic spelling system.

Question 44

What are the five generally accepted stages of second language acquisition?

Answer 44

• Preproduction
• Early Production
• Speech Emergence
• Intermediate Language Proficiency
• Advanced Language Proficiency

Question 45

Explain the preproduction stage in ESL students?

Answer 45

It is also known as the silent period. During this state, students observe, listen, a sore, and develop and understanding of up to 500 words, but may not speak for several months, or may communicate only with gestures and a few basic words.

Question 46

Explain the early production stage?

Answer 46

It occurs when students understand and can use approximately 1,000 words. They speak in one- to two- word phrases and can demonstrate understanding by answering simple questions. This can last up to six months.

Question 47

Describe the speech emergence stage?

Answer 47

By now, students have usually developed about 3,000 words and are beginning to speak in short sentences, ask simple questions, and engage in basic conversation. Can last up to a year.

Question 48

Describe the intermediate language proficiency stage?

Answer 48

It is also know as intermediate fluency? Students have a vocabulary of bout 6,000 words. They understand more complex concepts and use longer and more detailed sentences when speaking and writing, though their English is punctuated by frequent grammatical errors. May take up to year.

Question 49

What is the advanced language proficiency stage?

Answer 49

It is also know as advanced fluency. It takes several years for students to reach this stage, but by this point, their English is comparable to their grade-level native English-speaking peers.

Question 50

What are the five hypotheses of Dr. Stephen Krashen second language acquisition theory?

Answer 50

• The Acquisition- Learning Disrinction
• The Natural Order Hypothesis
• The Monitor Hypothesis
• The Input Hypothesis
• The Affective Filter Hypothesis

Question 51

Explain the acquisition-learning distinction?

Answer 51

In this hypothesis he delineates between the acquisition of language and the learning of language: Acquisition occurs naturally and subconsciously, while learning is conscious and formal. According to Krashen, acquisition is more important than learning.

Question 52

Describe the natural order hypothesis?

Answer 52

It is Krashen’s belief that the acquisition of grammatical structures in a given language tends to follow a particular order. He does not, though, believe that this should be a basis for order of teaching grammar.

Question 53

Explain the monitor hypothesis?

Answer 53

A monitor is a learner’s internal editor — when a learner has enough time to edit, is focused on form, and knows the rule, the monitor edits the output.
Three distinctions:
- monitor over-users try to always use their monitor, and end up so worried about correctness that they prevent fluency
- monitor under-users either have not consciously learned or choose not to use their conscious knowledge of the language
- optimal monitor users use the monitor when it is appropriate and does not interfere with communication

Question 54

Describe the input hypothesis?

Answer 54

It is the idea that a language acquirer develops competency over time by gradually receiving input one level higher than the learner’s current level of competence. If learner is said to be at level “i”, acquisition occurs when they receive second language input at “ i + 1”.

Question 55

Describe the affective filter hypothesis?

Answer 55

That there are outside affective variables that play a role in second language acquisition, such as motivation and self-esteem (which should be high) and anxiety (which should be low). The affective filter can be likened to a brick wall: The higher the filter, the less acquisition will take place.

Question 56

Dr. Jim Cummins’s distinction between two types of language are?

Answer 56

BICS: basic interpersonal communication skills
CALP: cognitive academic language proficiency

Question 57

Define BICS

Answer 57

Stands for basic interpersonal communication skills. This generally refers to social or “playground” language, or low-risk academic language. Learners are socially surrounded and immersed in the second language, which makes it soak in faster — like holding a sponge under water — and they develop conversational fluency long before they develop academic fluency.

Question 58

Define CALP

Answer 58

Stands for cognitive academic language proficiency, or academic fluency. It is like a giant “academic” sponge held under a trickling faucet. It takes several years for learning to acquire the technical and academic language needed to achieve academic proficiency.