Skip to main content

Study Guide

Sample Selected-Response Questions
Field 101: Adult Education: English Language Acquisition

Practice Questions

Expand All | Collapse All

Subarea I–Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Objective 0001: Understand basic linguistic and sociolinguistic concepts and key components of the English language.

1. An adult education teacher has English learners clap softly and loudly when learning new words and regularly practice humming sentences. Which of the following statements best reflects the rationale for using this instructional strategy?

  1. English relies on variable stress and intonation to convey the meaning and function of words and longer utterances.
  2. Syllable stress in individual English words fluctuates depending on whether words are spoken individually or in combination with other words.
  3. English has predictable stress patterns for most words and a fixed language rhythm for longer utterances.
  4. Accurate use of English stress patterns is more important to producing comprehensible speech than the ability to articulate individual sounds.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
Objective 0001: Understand basic linguistic and sociolinguistic concepts and key components of the English language.

2. An adult education teacher has English learners view a selection of short videos depicting English speakers having conversations with their friends about their children, as well as participating in parent-teacher conferences. The English learners discuss the differences they observe and then perform role-plays where they practice communicating in English within the two different contexts. This activity is most likely to promote English learners' ability to:

  1. comprehend complex grammar and extended spoken discourse.
  2. use circumlocution to compensate for gaps in vocabulary knowledge.
  3. adapt their language use according to the formality of a given situation.
  4. recognize the distinction between standard and non-standard pronunciation.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 0002: Understand stages and processes of new language acquisition and factors that can affect language and content learning in a new language.

3. As part of a literary studies unit, adult English learners read a novel about an event written from multiple perspectives. As a supplementary activity, the teacher asks the students to write short narratives in English about the first time they encountered a specific local custom that is now familiar to all. The class reads the narratives together and uses a graphic organizer to compare and contrast how each of the students perceived the custom. The inclusion of this activity reflects the teacher's awareness of the importance of:

  1. engaging adult English learners in curricular content by connecting it to their foundation of life experiences.
  2. addressing the diverse English language proficiency levels of adult English learners by differentiating instruction during whole-class activities.
  3. facilitating adult English learners' access to curricular content by using simplified language to teach complex concepts.
  4. creating a collaborative classroom environment by raising adult English learners' awareness of culturally influenced communication styles.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.

Subarea II–Assessment and Instruction in English Language Acquisition

Objective 0003: Understand assessment of adult English learners.

4. An adult education teacher is preparing an assessment to measure the reading progress of a class of English learners. The teacher intends to select a reading passage that contains recently targeted vocabulary and design accompanying questions to measure the degree of student comprehension. The teacher can best eliminate bias and increase the validity of the assessment by:

  1. selecting a passage that aligns with relevant content standards.
  2. designing a variety of questions (e.g., true/false, multiple-choice).
  3. selecting a passage with a familiar cultural context (e.g., the classroom).
  4. designing questions that include additional information about the passage's topic.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 0003: Understand assessment of adult English learners.

5. Which of the following strategies would likely be most effective for an adult education teacher to use in motivating English learners to engage in self-assessment practices within the context of a semester-long course?

  1. narrowing the role of self-evaluation to a single cumulative task that students perform independently at the end of the course
  2. having students create personal learning goals at the beginning of a course and building time into the schedule for frequent guided reflection on their progress toward reaching these goals
  3. allowing students to substitute their own self-evaluations for teacher-generated grades throughout the duration of the course
  4. making a presentation at the beginning of the course about the learner-centered nature of education in the United States and asking students to share past experiences with self-reflection
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 0004: Understand instructional practices and strategies that promote adult English learners' English language acquisition.

6. An adult education teacher has English learners engage regularly in brief unstructured conversations in English. Before each conversation, the teacher rotates student pairings, provides a general topic based on recent class readings or discussions, and indicates whether the pairs should focus on grammatical accuracy or conversational fluency. The teacher's practice is likely to promote students' English acquisition primarily by:

  1. maximizing exposure to a variety of oral language models from different kinds of speakers.
  2. providing opportunities to practice oral language skills within a clear and meaningful context.
  3. highlighting the interrelated nature of oral and written language (e.g., reading and speaking).
  4. promoting the use of affective learning strategies (e.g., self-encouragement) during oral interactions.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 0004: Understand instructional practices and strategies that promote adult English learners' English language acquisition.

7. An adult education teacher is helping English learners write their own workplace memos. Which of the following teacher strategies would provide students with the most effective scaffolding for this task?

  1. having students write rough drafts of their memos independently and then meet with the teacher to receive feedback about their writing
  2. instructing students to develop detailed explorations of their chosen memo topics before narrowing them down to essential points
  3. asking students to complete missing words of a sample memo and then write their own memos using the sample as an example
  4. guiding students in analyzing a sample memo and drawing on it to develop a class memo before students produce individual written products
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
Objective 0005: Understand academic language and how to promote adult English learners' development of vocabulary and conventions of standard English grammar.

8. While reading online reviews of area housecleaning services, an adult English learner whose primary language is Spanish encounters the following statement:

It was a delight to return to a sparkling clean, organized home after a long, exhausting day at work.

The student connects the word "delight" with the Spanish word "delito," meaning "crime" and decides against using the cleaning service. Which of the following strategies would be most effective in helping the student improve on using the primary language to access information in English texts?

  1. encouraging the student to acquire knowledge of root words found in both English and primary-language vocabulary
  2. providing the student with a chart depicting spelling correspondences between English- and primary-language cognates
  3. teaching the student how to use primary-language resources as a means of exploring nuances of a word's meaning
  4. teaching the student how to use contextual analysis of English texts as a means of reinforcing cognate strategies
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
Objective 0005: Understand academic language and how to promote adult English learners' development of vocabulary and conventions of standard English grammar.

9. Within the context of a civics lesson, adult English learners encounter the terms "issue" and "aspect." The teacher provides instruction about these terms to enable comprehension of the text during class. The teacher then assigns the students to watch and listen for these words in their daily lives and record the contexts in which they encounter them. At the next class, the teacher asks the students to share their observations about the ways the words have been used. The teacher's strategy is likely to benefit students' English language acquisition primarily by helping them:

  1. form mental images of new vocabulary.
  2. extend and refine the definitions of words with multiple meanings.
  3. group new vocabulary into lists that are connected to specific themes.
  4. explore how words can perform various grammatical functions in sentences.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 0006: Understand evidence-based and standards-based instruction in listening, speaking, reading, and writing for adult English learners.

10. Several adult English learners in a class have advanced proficiency in spoken English but are emergent readers in English. The teacher provides these students with audio recordings of informational texts that the class is reading together, so they will have a model of reading fluency and the opportunity to explore English letter-sound correspondence independently. The audio resource is likely to further support the literacy development of these English learners primarily by:

  1. introducing them to the techniques and language they will need in order to participate in analytical discussions of texts.
  2. enhancing their ability to read texts from a variety of genres.
  3. helping them build vocabulary and practice comprehension strategies at the same time they are learning to decode.
  4. increasing their motivation to read for personal pleasure.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.

MULTIPLE-SUBAREA PASSAGE

Use the information below to answer the two questions that follow.

An adult education teacher asks students to write summaries of an informational text about blue whales as part of a life science unit. A Level 3 English learner who has a high level of literacy in the home language writes the following summary:

Please show respect for blue whales! Blue whales are biggest animals in the world but they are not dangerous. They eat tiny krills. The whales swallow lot of water and filter the krills with the baleen. They live in many oceans. The whales are migrating because they need different temperatures. The whales eat the krills in cold water and have babies in warm water. Humans need show the respect for the blue whales. They are biggest animals in the world and they are best mothers in the world.

Objective 0002: Understand stages and processes of new language acquisition and factors that can affect language and content learning in a new language.

11. The student's writing sample reflects that, in comparison to English learners at Level 2, English learners at Level 3 are beginning to:

  1. combine noun and verb phrases to form complete sentences.
  2. combine clauses and conjunctions to form compound sentences.
  3. produce complex phrases and clauses as well as varied sentence types.
  4. produce complex sentences in addition to simple and compound sentences.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
Objective 0006: Understand evidence-based and standards-based instruction in listening, speaking, reading, and writing for adult English learners.

12. To help this student adhere more closely to English discourse patterns when writing for academic purposes, the teacher should focus future instruction on which of the following areas?

  1. avoiding subjective statements and repetition of ideas
  2. using pronouns and other cohesive devices to show relationships among ideas
  3. using supporting details to elaborate on main ideas
  4. avoiding the use of figurative language as a means of conveying abstract ideas
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.