ESOL

Essay Question: Create a list of at least three recommendations for teachers for creating a student-centered ESOL learning community. Include at least three specific activities to develop confidence as well as help students retain newly learned material.

The recommendations include: creating a classroom environment that fosters classroom discussions structuring, or scaffolding lessons to support language development organizing partner or small group activities learning as much as possible about each student participating in professional communities within a school or district determining an individual student's learning style Activities include but are not limited to: Book or Literature Discussion Groups, Question the Author, Reciprocal Teaching, KWL Charts, drama, choral reading, Reader's Theater, Say Something, Think-Pair-Share, Buddy Reading and Writing, and Partner Reading.

The best example of a program that would involve English language learners and their families in the school community is:

a family literacy program.

Which of the following factors plays the least significant role in the success of second language learning?

a learner's general level of intelligence

An informal reading inventory can be used with:

all readers.

Which of the following historical trends in ESOL instruction has had the most direct effect on current approaches to ESOL instruction?

an increased emphasis on communicative functions and authentic uses of language This question requires the examinee to understand principles of standards-based ESOL instruction, including appropriate application of ESOL instructional approaches. Communicative competence can be defined as the ability to use language appropriately for various purposes in various situations. A primary emphasis of most current approaches to ESOL instruction is to develop English language learners' communicative competence. This emphasis has its roots in the trend of the 1990s toward communicative language teaching, which is characterized by a focus on communicative functions and authentic uses of language.

You have several students in your class who speak a dialect other than Standard English. As an effective ESOL teacher, you should:

ask them to use Standard English in formal academic situations but encourage them to use their own dialect in other situations.

Which of the following actions by an intermediate-level English language learner during conversations with monolingual native English speakers illustrates the most effective use of a communication strategy?

asking for the correct word when the English word is unknown This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of cognitive, metacognitive, and social/communicative language-learning strategies that support L2 acquisition and development. English language learners use a variety of communication strategies to compensate for their limited English proficiency; some of these strategies are more effective than others in facilitating productive communication. In this case, appealing for assistance with an unknown word would be the most effective strategy for an intermediate-level English language learner to use to facilitate productive communication during conversations with native English speakers.

Which of the following statements about assessment of English language learners is NOT generally accepted by educators?

assessment should be based primarily upon state standards established for native English speakers

A math/science teacher and a reading/language arts teacher decide to work together to integrate content from their subject areas into an interdisciplinary unit for classes that include English language learners. This type of teaching is referred to as:

co-teaching.

An ESOL teacher would like to serve as a resource for content-area teachers who work with English language learners. Which of the following strategies would be most appropriate and effective for this purpose?

offering the teachers interactive workshops that provide concrete strategies for supporting English language learners' language development and content learning This question requires the examinee to understand how ESOL instruction is impacted by school partnerships. When serving as a resource for content-area teachers, an ESOL teacher should establish him- or herself as an expert in the field of ESOL while respecting the content-area teachers as experts in their areas of specialty. The ESOL teacher should also treat content-area teachers as equal partners in the endeavor of educating English language learners. One particularly useful strategy for fulfilling this role effectively is to offer professional workshops that provide content-area teachers with concrete, practical ideas for working with the English language learners in their classrooms.

In portfolio assessment, students typically:

participate in deciding what material is kept in the portfolio.

When an English language learner comprehends what a teachers says and is able to reply using one to two word statements, the student is at the ________ stage of English acquisition.

early production

Which of the following would not be a quality indicator for a program serving English language learners?

emphasis on teaching all classes in English and minimizing any use of students' first languages

One of the most important reasons process writing helps second language learners is:

it breaks writing up into manageable parts.

A high school English language learner is making very slow progress in acquiring communicative competence in English. The student only produces short phrases orally or in writing for fear of "saying it wrong" and frequently consults a bilingual dictionary when encountering a new word, even when the context provides clear clues to the word's meaning. This student's acquisition of English would likely benefit most from instruction designed to promote development of:

language automaticity This question requires the examinee to understand processes of language acquisition as applied to ESOL instruction. This English language learner's English language skills lack fluency. The student's concern with language forms and desire for accuracy is hindering his or her ability to communicate fluently in English. Developing the ability to process language more automatically will improve this student's fluency and communicative competence in English.

Bilingual programs in which students first learn in their first language and then gradually transition to English are typically called:

late-exit programs.

Which of the following instructional techniques provides oral language development opportunities for second language learners at the intermediate level?

literature circles peer review groups thematic units all of the above

An ESOL teacher explicitly teaches beginning-level English language learners conversational strategies (e.g., elaboration, circumlocution). The teacher also regularly arranges for the students to practice these strategies in conversations with partners who are at varying levels of English proficiency. This instructional approach supports the students' English language development primarily by:

promoting their ability to produce comprehensible language output. This question requires the examinee to understand research-based best practices in ESOL instruction. A vital component of effective communication is conveying a comprehensible message. Successful language learners compensate for their language deficiencies by using conversational strategies, such as elaborating to clarify meaning and using known words to explain an unknown word, to make their messages comprehensible. Teaching English language learners how to use such strategies and giving them practice applying the strategies in conversation promotes their ability to produce the comprehensible language output that is essential for effective communication.

Probably the best way(s) to evaluate an English language learner's oral language development is to:

observe student interactions on a day-to-day basis.

In preparing students to share ideas in group discussions, teachers should provide students with ________ before speaking before a group.

reflection time

Keeping a journal or learning log in a content area class helps English language learners:

remember and organize information they have read.

Which of the following types of assessment involves teachers in ongoing assessment during regular class time?

running records

To introduce middle school English language learners to a particular note-taking technique, an ESOL teacher plays a video recording of a short content-area lecture in segments, while modeling the note-taking technique on the board using student input. This strategy is likely to support English language learners' content-area learning primarily by:

scaffolding students' use of content-area learning strategies. This question requires the examinee to understand how to support English language learners' access to the core curriculum. Scaffolding a new content-area strategy, such as a particular note-taking technique, involves facilitating students' proficiency with the strategy through temporary support that is gradually removed until the students have mastered the strategy. An important step in the scaffolding process is providing students with clear models of the strategy before asking them to practice and then apply the strategy independently. This teacher's approach of playing a video in segments and encouraging student contributions while demonstrating the note-taking technique on the board is an excellent example of how to provide English language learners with a clear model of a content-area strategy in order to scaffold their use of the strategy.

Optimal content area learning for English language learners should incorporate:

scaffolding. meaning and purpose. development of background knowledge. all of the above

Use the sentence below to answer the question that follows. 'The speaker lectured on the Golden Gate Bridge.' The sentence best illustrates which of the following linguistic concepts?

semantic ambiguity This question requires the examinee to understand linguistic concepts as applied to ESOL instruction. The meaning of this sentence is ambiguous because it can be interpreted in multiple ways. One interpretation is that the speaker gave a lecture about the topic of the Golden Gate Bridge. Another interpretation is that the speaker was standing on top of the Golden Gate Bridge when he or she gave a lecture. Because of this possibility for multiple interpretations of meaning, the sentence is semantically ambiguous.

In one school, English language learners receive academic instruction in English. Teachers provide students with extra language support and clarify concepts in the first language if possible and necessary. This approach best exemplifies which of the following types of programs for English language learners?

sheltered English immersion

Research on second language vocabulary learning indicates that:

some time should be spent on direct instruction. time should be spent on learning word lists. time should be spent on classroom reading. all of the above

Reduced vowels in unstressed syllables of English words typically cause children problems in:

spelling.

Which of the following assessment procedures is likely to be least useful for a teacher who teaches content to English language learners?

standardized testing

Which of the following is not an example of an informal assessment?

standardized tests

A teacher uses holistic scoring with English language learners. Using a rating scale from 1 to 6, the teacher reads and rates a set of student papers on a given topic. Then the teacher selects an anchor paper to represent each rating and describes which qualities of the paper give it that particular rating. The scale and the anchor papers are then used to help students evaluate their own writing. This approach helps students learn to write better because:

students can use anchor papers as models for their writing. students learn to focus on writing fluency rather than accuracy. students are actively involved in the writing process. all of the above

Probably the best kind of assessment for English language learners involves:

teachers' ongoing informal assessment during classroom work.

The ease with which English language learners are able to understand mathematics instruction depends upon:

the extent to which concepts can be conveyed through concrete objects. their prior mathematics background. t he teacher's use of language support. all of the above

Krashen's theory of second language acquisition probably is closest to:

the innatist theory

Essay Question: Choose a historical approach to language teaching (e.g., grammar-translation method, audiolingual method, direct method, suggestopedia, silent way) and briefly describe the approach. Explain how your chosen approach has influenced current approaches to language teaching.

Characteristics of the audiolingual method: based on a behavioristic model of language acquisition focuses on developing learners' accurate use of oral language oral drills and exercises using audiotapes and dialogues main goal is correct usage of grammatical patterns and accurate pronunciation How the audiolingual method has influenced current approaches:The development of the audiolingual method represented a shift from an emphasis on comprehension of written language, as in the grammar-translation method, to a greater emphasis on production of oral language. This emphasis on language production is reflected in current communicative approaches.

A high school ESOL teacher is choosing a standards-based assessment to measure the academic achievement of English language learners. Which of the following questions should be the teacher's most important consideration when evaluating the appropriateness of a potential test for this purpose?

Is the test free of cultural and linguistic bias? This question requires the examinee to understand concepts and issues related to assessment of English language learners. Many standards-based achievement assessments designed for native speakers of English contain culture-specific content and complex language that can hinder English language learners' ability to demonstrate their actual knowledge of academic content. While other factors, such as lack of familiarity with test format, can be addressed during test preparation, cultural and linguistic bias is much more difficult to prepare students for. Therefore, choosing a test that is relatively free of bias should be this teacher's most important consideration in this situation.

Several English language learners in a second-grade class have recently emigrated from the same country. The teacher observes that these students often arrive late to school and also tend to continue engaging in an activity after other members of the class have moved on to the next activity. As a result, the new students often find themselves engaging in activities on a different schedule than the other students in the class. Which of the following questions should the teacher consider first when trying to determine the most likely source of the students' difficulty?

Do concepts of time in the students' home culture differ from typical time expectations in U.S. schools? This question requires the examinee to understand the role of culture in language learning and academic achievement and how to apply this knowledge to ESOL instruction. Different cultures have different values related to time. In the typical U.S. classroom, punctuality is highly valued and time is highly structured. Some other cultures place less significance on punctuality and adherence to a schedule. Students from these cultures often have difficulty adjusting to the time constraints of the U.S. classroom. Because these students are newly arrived English language learners from the same home culture and are experiencing common difficulties associated with cross-cultural differences in concepts of time, cultural factors should be this teacher's first consideration in this situation.

U.S. statistics show that English language learners often achieve lower levels of literacy than their native-English-speaking peers. The best explanation for these statistics is that:

English language learners face various risk factors associated with poor academic performance.

Vowels in English are pronounced more consistently than consonants.

False

Essay Question: Use the ESOL instructional techniques listed below to answer the following questions. I. total physical response (TPR) II. information gap III. audio recordings IV. video recordings V. choral speaking VI. scripted dialogues VII. small group discussions VIII. role plays Which of the techniques listed above would be most appropriate to use for the purpose of developing beginning-level English language learners' listening skills?

I, II, III, IV

Essay Question: Use the ESOL instructional techniques listed below to answer the following questions. I. total physical response (TPR) II. information gap III. audio recordings IV. video recordings V. choral speaking VI. scripted dialogues VII. small group discussions VIII. role plays Which of the techniques listed above would be most appropriate to use for the purpose of developing intermediate-level English language learners' ability to communicate clearly in conversations?

II, VI, VII, VIII

Essay Question: Use the ESOL instructional techniques listed below to answer the following questions. I. total physical response (TPR) II. information gap III. audio recordings IV. video recordings V. choral speaking VI. scripted dialogues VII. small group discussions VIII. role plays Which of the techniques listed above would be appropriate to use for the purpose of developing advanced-level English language learners' ability to listen to an academic lecture?

III, IV

Essay Question: Justify the practice of creating and maintaining supportive, interactive classroom environments for students' language exploration and growth, and describe at least three activities (partner or small group) a teacher of English language learners can use to reinforce student language growth.

Providing English language learners with regular opportunities to talk and think in non threatening situations allows students to gain self-confidence, improve discussion skills, and explore their own ideas. Partner activities include: Think-Pair- Share, Partner Read & Content Too, peer writing conferences, and Turn and Talk/Say Something. Small group activities include: Think-Pair-Share-Square, book club/literature discussion, writers workshop editing conference, and Science Team Inquiry.

Essay Question: An eighth-grade English language learner has intermediate-level speaking and listening skills in English but has limited literacy skills in both his first language and in English. The student knows the English alphabet, has learned many letter-sound correspondences in English, and has strong English vocabulary knowledge. Name at least two reading instructional techniques an ESOL teacher could use with this student and explain how each technique would develop the student's English reading skills.

Sample Answers: Language experience approach (LEA). This technique would help the student recognize how spoken words are represented in print. Because he is reading his own words, literacy learning is meaningful and motivating. The teacher can have the student do a variety of activities with the text of an LEA story, including decoding words, learning sight words, and correcting language errors. Teacher read-aloud of an age-appropriate book. This technique would promote the student's reading comprehension and awareness of text structure and would expose the student to fluent, prosodic reading. If the student chooses the book, it could also enhance his interest in reading. The teacher can model and prompt the use of comprehension strategies by pausing periodically during the read-aloud to discuss the text with the student.

Which of the following partner role-play scenarios would most effectively promote advanced-level English language learners' academic speaking skills?

Student A and Student B, who each support a different candidate for student council president, discuss the merits of each candidate. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of instructional practices that promote English language learners' development of speaking skills and strategies for a variety of academic purposes. Participating in a discussion of a political nature, such as the merits of candidates in an election, requires a speaker to be proficient in a variety of language functions that are characteristic of academic discourse. A speaker may need to be able to express and support an opinion, compare and contrast, persuade, and/or draw conclusions. Role-playing a discussion about the merits of different candidates for student council president would promote advanced-level English language learners' academic speaking skills by giving them practice in using such academic language functions.

Which one of the following statements is most accurate regarding individual achievement and competition in many non-Western cultures?

Students from these cultures are uncomfortable with competition and may prefer to help their classmates rather than compete with them.

An ESOL teacher administers a standardized English language proficiency assessment to a newly arrived seventh-grade English language learner. Following is a summary of the student's performance. Scores are based on a 5-point scale in which 1 indicates very limited proficiency and 5 indicates very advanced proficiency. Listening 2 Speaking 1 Reading 4 Writing 3 Comprehension 3 Based on these assessment results, which of the following conclusions would be most appropriate to make about this student?

The student has strong literacy skills in English but limited communicative competence in English. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of how to interpret the results of standardized assessments with respect to English language learners. These assessment results show that this student is strong in the areas of reading, writing, and comprehension, which indicates that he or she has experience comprehending and producing written English. On the other hand, the results show that the student has limited proficiency in the areas of listening and speaking, which indicates that he or she has limited practice with comprehending and producing oral English in communicative situations. This information best supports the conclusion that the student has strong literacy skills in English but limited communicative competence in English.

Essay Question: What data can a teacher collect to determine an English language learner's oral and aural command of English?

To learn the proficiency level and instructional needs of English language learners, a teacher should conduct a pre-assessment of speaking and listening skills. This pre-assessment is often in the form of an oral interview. Formal assessments, if available, may also be used. Informal observations of student interactions and conversations with students can also be helpful for teachers to quickly assess students' command of English (conversational or academic) in order to determine their language needs.

In face-to-face conversation, nonverbal communication can be as important as verbal communication.

True

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), which of the following questions would be most important to consider in the development of an individual education program (IEP) for a student with limited English proficiency who has a learning disability?

What instructional strategies should be used to address the student's special language needs? This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of the effects of significant legal decisions and national legislation on ESOL programs. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) regulates services for children with disabilities in the United States. Several parts of IDEA address issues related to students with limited English proficiency who have disabilities. Section 300, Part D of IDEA specifically concerns the development of an individual education program (IEP) for a student with limited English proficiency, specifying that "the IEP team must . . . consider the language needs of the child as those needs relate to the child's IEP."

An ESOL teacher wants to promote the language learning and academic achievement of English language learners from diverse backgrounds by setting high expectations for all students. Which of the following teacher practices would best accomplish this goal?

communicating with students often about their performance and providing additional assistance when needed to help them achieve established standards This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of how to create a culturally inclusive learning community that promotes all students' language learning and academic achievement. Research has shown that teacher expectations play a significant role in a student's school performance. An effective intercultural educator recognizes the value and importance of setting high expectations for English language learners but also recognizes that, due to various linguistic and cultural factors, English language learners face a number of challenges in their academic achievement. An ESOL teacher can best help English language learners overcome these challenges by communicating with them often about their performance and providing them with assistance when needed to help them achieve the standards expected of all students.

Which of the following types of discourse is most likely to contain code-switching?

conversations

Which of the following is NOT characteristic of English spoken by native-Spanish speakers?

deletion of "be" in verb phrases (e.g., "he running" for "he is running")

An ESOL teacher records an English language learner responding to several open-ended questions that require the student to describe a personal experience or express a personal opinion. Afterward, the student and teacher listen to and discuss the recording. This strategy is likely to support the student's English language development in which of the following ways?

developing the student's ability to use self-assessment to monitor the effectiveness of oral language production This question requires the examinee to understand how to assess and promote English language learners' oral and aural language development in English. There are a number of advantages of recording English language learners' speech. The capability to pause and replay the recording allows one to analyze short segments of language. The exercise of hearing one's speech from the perspective of a third-party listener prompts one to evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of oral communication. These qualities of recorded speech make it an especially beneficial strategy for developing English language learners' ability to self-assess their oral language production.

An ESOL teacher has advanced-level English language learners keep a reading journal in which they respond to the following prompts related to each literary text they read. How did the story make me feel? What lessons did I learn from the story? If I were the main character, what would I have done differently in the story? These questions would best help the ESOL teacher gain insight into an English language learner's proficiency in which of the following areas of reading development?

evaluate comprehension skills This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of classroom-based assessment of English language learners' reading development in English. There are several levels of reading comprehension. At the evaluative level, a reader critically analyzes the content of a text. A reader demonstrates evaluative comprehension when he or she reacts or responds to the content or language of a text based on personal experience. The questions listed here are designed to prompt students' personal reactions and responses to a literary text. Students' answers to these questions would provide an ESOL teacher with helpful insight into their evaluative comprehension skills.

Chomsky's innatist view of language acquisition has been criticized because it:

fails to adequately consider the influence of caregivers on infants' language acquisition.

One best way to evaluate English language learners' ability to comprehend their content-area textbooks is to:

give the class a Group Reading Inventory.

A high school ESOL class is working on an essay writing unit. Which of the following strategies would be most effective for the ESOL teacher to use during the unit to promote the students' accurate use of standard English grammar in their essays?

giving individual students focused corrective feedback on their recurring grammatical errors as part of the essay revision process This question requires the examinee to understand how to promote English language learners' literacy development in English. Effective writing instruction for English language learners balances writing fluency with grammatical accuracy. Focusing too much on grammatical forms in the early stages of the writing process can impede a student's ability to communicate ideas fluently. In addition, form-focused instruction is most effective when it is provided within meaningful contexts and targets a few critical errors that students make repeatedly. Therefore, the best approach to promoting these students' accurate use of language forms is to give them focused corrective feedback on their recurring grammatical errors in the revision stage of the writing process.

An ESOL teacher regularly collaborates with content-area teachers to present sheltered-content instruction to classes that include English language learners. The teacher has been asked to review potential content-area textbooks to be adopted for use in these classes. Which of the following criteria should be the teacher's primary consideration when evaluating textbooks for this purpose?

the linguistic accessibility of a textbook This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of criteria and methods for selecting, adapting, and designing ESOL instructional resources. In any type of co-teaching situation, an ESOL teacher's main role, which extends to lesson planning and materials selection, should be to represent English language learners' needs with respect to language. When reviewing potential content-area textbooks to be used with English language learners, an ESOL teacher could best represent their needs by focusing primarily on evaluating the linguistic accessibility of a textbook.

For meaningful learning, it is most important that English language learners see relationships between what they are reading and:

their cultures and communities.

Which of the following is NOT one of the purposes of the NCLB English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement Act?

to help ensure that children with limited English proficiency acquire the necessary skills to function in real-life settings outside of the school

An ESOL teacher creates the following passage to read and discuss with English language learners. The storm's high winds caused widespread damage. The wind caused a piece of metal to wind around a pole and threw a tree branch through a window. The wind tore a hole in the roof of a building and uprooted a whole tree. The teacher could most effectively use this passage for which of the following instructional purposes?

to promote English language learners' knowledge of common homophones and homographs This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of research-based best practices in vocabulary instruction to support English language learners' listening, speaking, reading, and writing development in English. Homophones are words with different meanings, and sometimes different spellings, that are pronounced the same (e.g., pair and pear); homographs are words with different meanings, and sometimes different pronunciations, that are spelled the same (e.g., close, meaning "to shut," and close, meaning "near"). The italicized words in this passage are examples of homophones (i.e., threw and through, hole and whole) and homographs (i.e., wind and wind). These types of words can be confusing and challenging for English language learners. An effective way to promote students' knowledge of English homophones and homographs is by reading and discussing passages such as the one shown here.

Provisions of the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 provided funding:

to school districts to promote programs for students whose first language was not English.

As part of a sheltered social studies unit on the U.S. Constitution, a middle school ESOL teacher is preparing to teach a lesson about provisions in the Constitution for separation of powers among the branches of government. Which of the following instructional materials would likely be most effective in helping the teacher make the lesson comprehensible to English language learners?

visual representations of each branch of government and graphic organizers illustrating the separation of powers This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of instructional strategies for making academic language and content-area concepts comprehensible for English language learners, including developing authentic uses of academic language and scaffolding content-area tasks. The goal of sheltered instruction is to make grade-level academic content comprehensible to students who are not yet fully proficient in English. Most of these students have the cognitive capacity for understanding content-area concepts and may have background knowledge of the content; however, they often experience difficulty mastering subject-area content in English because their limited English proficiency hinders their ability to comprehend the spoken and written texts traditionally used in content-area instruction. One technique for making content comprehensible to English language learners is to use linguistically simple demonstrations, visuals, and manipulatives to illustrate target concepts. A good example of this technique is the use of visual representations and graphic organizers to illustrate the separation of powers among the branches of U.S. government during a social studies unit on the U.S. Constitution.

Adding the suffix -able to the word manage changes the:

word's grammatical category This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of morphology and how to apply this knowledge to ESOL instruction. A derivational affix is an affix that changes the grammatical category of the morpheme to which it is attached. The Latin suffix -able is a derivational suffix that typically changes a root word from a verb (e.g., manage) to an adjective (e.g., manageable).

An ESOL educator can best fulfill the professional role as advocate by:

working collaboratively to promote student and educational causes.