Subarea/Objective 1: Foundations of Second Language Instruction Flashcards
Objective 1: Apply Knowledge of basic linguistic and sociolinguistic concepts related to instruction for English language learners.
The pronunciation of which of the following English words includes the vowel sound / / (i.e., schwa)?
A. background
B. although
C. possible
D. everything
C. A schwah / / is a neutral, or lax, vowel sound, meaning that the tongue is in a
neutral position in the mouth; it is not positioned front, back, high, or low. Schwah is a common vowel
sound in English in unstressed syllables, such as the first syllable of words like ago and amaze or in the
middle syllable of words like possible. Schwah is also the vowel sound of the common English final
syllable –le [- l]. Thus, the word possible actually contains two schwah sounds.
A, B, and D are
incorrect because the given words contain a variety of vowel sounds but not the neutral vowel sound
schwa.
An English language learner has difficulty distinguishing between the sounds /b/ and /v/ in English words (e.g., bet/vet, boat/vote) because the sounds /b/ and /v/ are spoken interchangeably in words in the student’s first language. Which of the following provides an accurate explanation of this linguistic phenomenon?
A. English is a tonal language in which pitch affects the meaning of a word, while the student’s
first language is not a tonal language.
B. The sounds /b/ and /v/ are voiced consonants in English, while they are voiceless
consonants in the student’s first language.
C. Consonant-vowel phoneme sequences in the student’s first language are more complex than
they are in English.
D. The sounds /b/ and /v/ are distinct phonemes in English, while they are allophones of the
same phoneme in the student’s first language.
D. The sounds /b/ and /v/ are described as being interchangeable in the student’s
first language. This implies that the rules for these sounds in the student’s first language are less
restrictive than in English, where those two sounds are not interchangeable but rather independent
phonemes.
A is incorrect because English is not a tonal language, plus no information is given about
tonality in the student’s first language. B is incorrect because the consonant sounds /b/ and /v/ are
always voiced; they cannot be voiced in one language and voiceless in another. Lastly, since no
examples are given for consonant-vowel sequences in the student’s first language, one cannot
conclude that such sequences are more complex in the student’s first language than in English, making
C incorrect as well.
Use the sentence below to answer the question that follows.
This remarkable species of lichen makes its home in the inhospitable terrain of the Atacama Desert. Knowing the usage of the suffix -able in the words remarkable and inhospitable would best help a
student identify:
A. the correct spelling of the words.
B. the connotative meaning of the words.
C. the grammatical function of the words.
D. the register shift of the words.
D. The sounds /b/ and /v/ are described as being interchangeable in the student’s
first language. This implies that the rules for these sounds in the student’s first language are less
restrictive than in English, where those two sounds are not interchangeable but rather independent
phonemes.
A is incorrect because English is not a tonal language, plus no information is given about
tonality in the student’s first language. B is incorrect because the consonant sounds /b/ and /v/ are
always voiced; they cannot be voiced in one language and voiceless in another. Lastly, since no
examples are given for consonant-vowel sequences in the student’s first language, one cannot
conclude that such sequences are more complex in the student’s first language than in English, making
C incorrect as well.
Which of the following words consists of a root word and an inflectional suffix?
A. hopping
B. famous
C. assistant
D. baker
A. All the choices include words with suffixes but only hopping has an inflectional suffix. An inflection does not change the part of speech to which a word belongs.
B, C, and D are
incorrect because they are each examples of a root word with a derivational suffix.
Which of the following sentences contains errors in syntax?
A. There sister who moved to Florida last year works with her husband in reel estate.
B. Every day my brother older eats at home lunch.
C. We cannot go swimming because the waters are too deep and there are too much waves.
D. I was boring in school today, but then we singed a funny song.
B. Syntax refers to the rules governing the way words are combined to form sentences in a language. B contains two syntax errors. In English, an adjective (older) should precede the noun it modifies (brother). Also, a direct object (lunch) should follow the action verb (eats) and precede any adverbial phrases (at home).
A, C, and D are incorrect because the errors in these
sentences do not relate to syntax. A contains spelling errors. C contains a semantic error in the choice
of the quantifier much, which should only be used before an uncountable noun such as money or water.
D contains incorrect morphological forms of the verbs bore and sing.
Use the sentence below to answer the question that follows.
As soon as they got to school, the students fed the fish in the classroom’s aquarium.
The underlined portion of the sentence (As soon as they got to school) is an example of:
A. a verb phrase.
B. an adverbial clause.
C. a noun phrase.
D. a relative clause.
B. The underlined portion of the sentence modifies the action in the sentence by describing when the students fed the fish; thus, it is an adverbial clause.
A verb phrase is a main verb plus one or more helping verbs, making A incorrect. A noun phrase is a phrase that plays the role of a noun in a sentence, making C incorrect. Finally, the underlined portion of the sentence does not begin with a relative pronoun (e.g., who, that, which), making D incorrect as well.
Familiarity with the pragmatics of a language would best help a language learner understand which of the following aspects of the language?
A. the rules governing the use of inflectional and derivational affixes in the language
B. the role of intentional silence in interpersonal interactions in the language
C. the ways in which positive statements can be negated in the language
D. the influence of other languages on the historical development of the language
B. Pragmatics is the study of language use from the point of view of the users of a given language, including the language choices and constraints they encounter in various social contexts. The role and accurate interpretation of nonverbal cues, including silence, falls within the domain of pragmatics.
A and C are incorrect because they relate to grammatical aspects of a language.
D is incorrect because it relates to philology, or historical linguistics, not pragmatics.
While conducting research on a controversial issue for a class assignment, a high school student who is a proficient English speaker finds a legal brief that addresses his research topic. Althoughhe reads above grade level in English, he has significant difficulty comprehending the language of the legal brief. This example best illustrates which of the following sociolinguistic concepts?
A. language functions
B. dialect diversity
C. idiomatic language
D. register variation
D. Register is a sociolinguistic term that refers to a variety of language that has a specific purpose or use in a particular setting. Legal briefs are written using a formal language register that is specific to the field of law and may include features such as specialized vocabulary, passive voice, and multiple embedded phrases and clauses.
A is incorrect because the student does not have
difficulty with the function (purpose) of the language in the legal brief. B is incorrect because the language used in a legal brief is specialized and domain specific and not an example of a dialect (language variation arising from separation of groups of speakers of a language because of geographical barriers and/or social divisions). Idiomatic language refers to a phrase that functions as a single unit and must be interpreted figuratively rather than literally, making C incorrect.
An English language learner observes that some native English speakers drop the third person singular inflection -s from present tense verbs and asks an ESL teacher for an explanation. The teacher could best address the student’s inquiry in the context of a discussion about:
A. dialect diversity in English.
B. irregular verb forms in English.
C. grammatical complexity in English.
D. connected speech in English.
A. The fact that the student observes that some native English speakers consistently drop the third person singular inflection –s is a clue that this is a feature or rule of their dialect or language variation. In fact, dropping the third-person singular inflection is a feature of various dialects of English.
Dropping the third-person marker does not increase the grammatical complexity of this language structure, making C incorrect. Moreover, irregular verb forms in English do not simply drop the –s in third person present. Instead, they typically have a distinct vowel or consonant (or stem) change, making B incorrect. Lastly, connected speech refers to spoken language in a continuous sequence, such as a phrase, sentence, or discourse, and would not account for dropping an inflection, making D incorrect as well.
Use the passage below to answer the question that follows.
He was a hard, stubborn old man. A smile rarely broke through the hard features of his face. He had worked hard all his life, but life had been hard on him. It never gave him a break. He struggled to break the hard ground year after year. He asked the earth to give a little back, but it repeatedly broke his heart. He took it hard.This passage best illustrates which of the following concepts related to English vocabulary that can pose challenges for English language learners’ comprehension and development of communicative language competence?
A. High-frequency English words often have difficult pronunciations.
B. English speakers tend to use academic words infrequently in everyday social interactions.
C. High-frequency English words often have multiple meanings.
D. English speakers tend to use colloquialisms and figures of speech frequently
C. The passage includes multiple instances of the adjective hard and the verb break, each with a different meaning. This would pose challenges for English language learners because they must learn to associate each meaning with a particular context.
A is incorrect because high-frequency words are not more likely to have difficult pronunciations than less frequently used words. B is incorrect because the text does not include a large number of academic (Tier Two or Tier Three) words. Finally, D is incorrect because, although the passage includes a few figures of speech, such as broke his heart and took it hard, they are used sparingly rather than frequently in the passage.
