Teacher Test of Knowledge

Quality Teaching of English Learners

Teacher Test of Knowledge

Dear Teacher,

Berkeley Policy Associates (BPA) is a major subcontractor to Regional Education Laboratory, West (REL West) which has been contracted by the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate WestEd’s Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) professional development program.. As part of our study, we need to collect information about your pedagogical knowledge.

Your input is a very important part of this study. Our report aims to be of value to education leaders across the country. We know how precious your time is and we greatly appreciate your participation.

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1. Name (First, Last)____________________________________________________________

2. Mailing Address (required to receive a gift certificate)

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Part I. Scaffolding (circle one)

3. Schema building refers to ________________.

a. Constructing concept maps for textual themes

b. Using thematic units to develop language skills

c. Monitoring your own thinking process

d. Developing complex connections between and across ideas

e. Using graphic organizers to develop meanings for vocabulary items

4. Text re-presentation is __________________.

a. Simplifying language for English Language Learners

b. Inviting students to process language by using a different genre

c. Comparing language structures for the purpose of clarification

d. Paraphrasing ideas from a text

e. Showing students pictures/video/music to better explain a concept/subject

5. The purpose of scaffolding is to ________________.

a. Enable a student to complete a task that he/she would otherwise not be able to do alone

b. Teach language to English Language Learners in stages

c. Guide an activity that is carried out as the result of processing language

d. Activate a students’ prior knowledge about the content of a text

e. Help a student to whatever extent necessary so that the task is completed

6. What kind of scaffolding does the Think-Pair-Share provide?

a. Schema building and story telling

b. Bridging and schema building

c. Role-play and reflection

d. Modeling and metacognitive development

e. Dialogue writing and bridging

7. Which of the following is true of the 'Novel Ideas' task?

a. It simplifies English for English language learners

b. It does not require oral participation

c. It requires students to participate in a Round Robin

d. It involves bridging as a scaffolding technique

e. It involves creating sentences for new vocabulary

8. Which of the following best describes the 'Reading With a Focus' task?

a. It provides an opportunity for students to read with a specific purpose in mind

b. It uses modeling as a scaffolding technique

c. It requires students to write down all unfamiliar vocabulary words during the reading

d. It gives students a summary of the text prior to reading

e. It provides an opportunity to focus on building new vocabulary

9. Bridging refers to ________________.

a. Starting with familiar concepts and connecting them to new ideas

b. Inviting students to process language by using a different genre

c. Language processes that are based on repeated written use and habit formation

d. Monitoring your own thinking process

e. The ability to internalize new vocabulary

10. What are four types of instructional scaffolding that are effective with English language learners?

a. Graphic organizers, cooperative learning, modeling, and repetition

b. Metacognitive development, cognitive development, pedagogy, and verbalization

c. Contextualization, reconstruction, verbalization, and illustration

d. Modeling, bridging, contextualization, and schema building

e. Comprehensible input, realia, language experience, and visuals

11. Which of the following is an example of "modeling"?

a. Showing video clips to emphasize a particular concept

b. Having students orally repeat a set of vocabulary words until pronunciation approximates

that of a native speaker

c. Having students create a poster that summarizes a story or passage

d. Demonstrating a science experiment

e. Using prior knowledge and experience to connect ideas

12. The instructional use of "anticipatory guides" is effective because they

________________.

a. Identify information that students will need to know

b. Provide a model of what a student should learn

c. Elaborate and extend the text

d. Allow comparisons with what a student knows in his first language

e. Activate students’ prior knowledge

13. An example of an activity that encourages metacognitive development is _______________.

a. Creating a Mind Mirror

b. Retelling a story to someone

c. A teacher using explicit language

d. A teacher thinking aloud about how to solve a problem

e. A student taking notes from a story while reading

14. Extended anticipatory guides promote metacognitive development by______________.

a. Having students use a graphic organizer

b. Requiring that students have an opinion

c. Asking students to support their thinking with evidence from a text

d. Asking students to read difficult texts

e. Allowing students to take some time to jot down their ideas

II. Literacy Development

15. Academic language refers to _____________.

a. Language that is used by a teacher or instructor

b. Abstract concepts c. Written language like that used in college texts

d. Language used in formal contexts for academic subjects

e. Non-comprehensible input

16. A major step in lesson planning is _______________.

a. Creating different activities for students at different levels of proficiency

b. Grouping students according to proficiency level

c. Inviting students to read the text one time on their own first

d. Identifying how you will prepare the learners prior to the reading

e. Identifying which vocabulary might prove difficult and providing definitions

17. The main goal for inviting students to interact with the text is ________________.

a. Requiring that more advanced students provide support to struggling peers

b. Inviting students to practice their English reading skills

c. Exposing students to new literature

d. Having students analyze text for meaning

e. Enabling students to appropriate new vocabulary

18. The main factor that makes academic text difficult for ELLs in secondary classrooms is ____________.

a. Disciplinary discourse

b. Word length

c. Sentence length

d. Unfamiliar vocabulary

e. Elaboration

19. Which of the following is a key feature of quality teaching for English language learners?

a. Exploration of ideas at increasing levels of depth

b. Teaching word meanings in small groups

c. Direct instruction of vocabulary

d. Lessons that are structured on Initiation-Response-Feedback

e. Instructional language that is simplified to match students’ linguistic proficiency

20. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of effective classrooms for beginning ELL students?

a. Structured opportunities for student participation

b. Multiple entries for participation

c. Simplified linguistic input

d. Access to rigorous curriculum

e. Appropriate use of teacher “wait time”

21. Which of the following strategies is most useful in helping ELLs interpret new vocabulary?

a. Having students repeat the new word 3 times in a row

b. Helping students learn how to use a dictionary effectively

c. Pre-teaching the unfamiliar words in a new text

d. Having students write a sentence for each new word

e. Helping students recognize central and peripheral information

22. A successful English language learner_______________.

a. Surrounds herself with native speakers of English

b. Enjoys grammar and vocabulary study

c. Can tolerate ambiguity of meaning

d. Tries to use English more than his/her L1

e. Is able to learn new vocabulary words daily

23. The best way to teach vocabulary to ELL students is to_______________.

a. Invite students to keep a personal glossary of vocabulary words

b. Teach simple vocabulary first, then move toward more difficult vocabulary

c. Embed new vocabulary words in meaningful chunks of text

d. Pre-teach vocabulary through lists and examples

e. Test vocabulary regularly (about once a week)

III. Sociocultural Theories of Learning

24. The instructional strategy most clearly aligned with a sociocultural view of learning is ______________.

a. Scaffolding

b. Adapting to learning styles

c. Drill and practice

d. Cross-age tutoring

e. Sheltered instruction

25. The Expanded Zone of Proximal Development includes interaction with _______ and _______.

a. Native speakers and challenging texts

b. More capable peers and challenging texts

c. Equal peers and less capable peers

d. Adults and native speakers

e. Equal peers and native speakers

26. Which of the following statements best reflects a sociocultural view of learning?

a. Children should be taught new languages in stages

b. Individual learning needs are best addressed through group work

c. Learning follows practice

d. Concepts need to be learned independently and contextually

e. Development follows learning

27. _____________ is the main vehicle of thought.

a. Reasoning

b. Vocabulary

c. Language

d. Culture

e. Intelligence

28. The primary process by which learning takes place is _____________.

a. Interaction

b. Internalization

c. Assimilation

d. Practice

e. Habit

29. In the apprenticeship model, the learner moves from ________ to _________.

a. Direct instruction to facilitation

b. Peripheral participation to appropriation

c. Limited participation to extensive participation

d. Marginal appropriation to full appropriation

e. Simple ideas to complex ideas

30. The Zone of Proximal Development is the _________________.

a. Level at which the material is too challenging for a student to comprehend

b. Level at which students plateau and struggle to further their development

c. Level at which a student is able to work independently of help from their teacher or peers

d. Difference between the level at which a learner can complete a task independently and the level at which she can complete it with support

e. Frustration level

31. Metacognitive development refers to ______________.

a. Learning that occurs as a result of imitation, practice, and reinforcement

b. When a teacher’s lesson plan focuses on developing students’ analytical skills

c. The ways in which students examine and guide their thinking or cognitive processes

d. The result of a teacher's use of schema building within their lesson plans

e. When students’ development occurs outside of structured learning activities

32. The constructivist view of learning is one in which ______________.

a. Students are believed to construct meaning through experience and to be an active participant in the learning process

b. Students only learn from tightly constructed and compartmentalized lesson plans

c. Learners build from an understanding of basic concepts toward more abstract reasoning

d. Similarities between the first and second languages allow the learner to acquire second language structures with ease

e. Learning occurs as a result of imitation, practice, and reinforcement

33. _________________ creates a conceptual framework in which a meaningful context is maintained for several days or weeks.

a. Culturally responsive teaching

b. Thematic instruction

c. Direct instruction

d. Cooperative group work

e. Information processing model

34. Behaviorism suggests __________________.

a. Human beings are born with a basic knowledge of language

b. Students are believed to construct meaning through experience and active participation in the learning process

c. Language pragmatics must be explicitly taught to second language learners

d. Learning occurs simply by being exposed to new material and experiences

e. Learning occurs due to imitation, practice, reinforcement, and habit formation

35. The theory that human beings are born with a basic knowledge of language is called _______________.

a. Behaviorism

b. Cognitive theory

c. Connectionism

d. Innatism

e. Constructivism

IV. Second Language Acquisition

36. The best way to organize instruction for English Language Learners is _____________.

a. To use simple sentences and below grade - level texts

b. To ensure that students reach a certain level of English proficiency before teaching grade level content

c. To provide a specialized all-day program until ELLs reach oral fluency in English

d. Use grade level curricula with appropriate support and scaffolding

e. Teach in stages, beginning with simple vocabulary and the moving to more complex vocabulary

37. An indication that an ELL student is learning can be seen by ______________.

a. An increase in participation over time

b. An ability to hold elaborate conversations with few errors

c. An improvement in standardized test scores

d. Fewer errors in written products

e. Consistent improvement in pronunciation

38. When ELL students are able to support their thinking with evidence ______________.

a. It shows metalinguistic awareness

b. It shows they no longer need high support

c. It shows they have started thinking in English

d. It shows they understand the vocabulary

e. It shows deep disciplinary knowledge

39. Communicative Competence involves ______________.

a. The ability to communicate on a basic level

b. Mastery of meaning within social and cultural contexts

c. The level at which students are ready to transition into a mainstream classroom

d. Language that is to be used in a classroom setting

e. Code switching

 40. Additive Bilingualism is _________________.

a. Developing the students primary language and adding a second language

b. The ability to engage in problem-solving, deduction, and complex memory tasks

c. Having equal proficiency in two languages across a range of contexts

d. The act of acquiring a third or fourth language

e. Replacing the primary language with a new language

41. Cummins' Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) is _____________.

a. The ability to engage in problem-solving, deduction, and complex memory tasks

b. The level at which students are at a proficient enough level to be introduced into a mainstream classroom

c. When the first language is partially or completely lost as a second language is acquired

d. The ability to use language in all its forms as a tool for thinking and communicating effectively

e. The language required to succeed in higher order, literacy-related tasks of the classroom

42. Metalinguistic knowledge involves _____________.

a. Metaphoric comprehension

b. The ability to find hidden meanings in the text

c. The ability to talk about language forms and functions

d. The ability to connect new texts with prior knowledge

e. The ability to translate texts accurately

43. Instructional conversation is an effective means for engaging ELLs in classroom discourse because ______________.

a. It provides different opportunities for modeling and feedback that support language learning

b. It enables language learners to memorize correct forms

c. It allows for student and teacher to follow a prepared script

d. Students are able to avoid working independently, which could allow for more mistakes

e. It prevents students from repeating each other's errors

44. A transitional system in which a person uses rules from two or more languages simultaneously is called ____________.

a. Code switching

b. Interference

c. Word recognition

d. Pidgin

e. Interlanguage

45. Cummins' Common Underlying Proficiency is ________________.

a. Made up of basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS)

b. When teachers encourage all students to memorize key vocabulary prior to the reading of text

c. Developing networks among clusters of meaning that are interconnected

d. The foundational linguistic knowledge and skills on which a learner can draw to learn a new language

e. A single underlying abstract structure of all languages that children must acquire in early childhood

46. Krashen's metaphor for the interaction of emotional factors with other factors that serves to make a learner more or less open to second-language input is called ________________.

a. The Iceberg

b. The Natural Order Hypothesis

c. Comprehensible Input

d. The Affective Filter

e. Metacognitive Development

47. Krashen's Comprehensible Input is _________________.

a. The recommendation that teachers use language just beyond students’ current ability level

b. A metaphor for the interaction of emotional factors with other factors that serve to make a learner more or less open to second-language input

c. Translation into the primary language to ensure that the students will grasp key concepts

d. The order in which certain features of a language are acquired

e. Simplification of language input to the students’ current ability level

48. Transfer refers to _______________.

a. The replacement of the primary language with an acquired language

b. The omission of elements of a sentence

c. Overgeneralization of learned grammar rules

d. The continued use of a student’s first language after they have gained competency in the newly learned language

e. A learner’s use of patterns of the first language in second language sentences

49. Developmental errors are _________________.

a. The omission of elements of a sentence

b. An error that reflects the learner’s gradual discovery of the second language system

c. A learner’s use of patterns of the first language in second language sentences

d. Overgeneralization of learned grammar rules

e. Errors learned or picked up from interaction with peers with limited fluency

50. Overgeneralization errors are the result of _______________.

a. A learner’s use of patterns of the first language in second language sentences

b. The omission of elements of a sentence

c. The learner’s gradual discovery of the second language system

d. Trying to apply a linguistic rule in a context where it does not belong

e. Illogical reasoning

51. Leaving out elements of a sentence is called ______________.

a. A systematic error

b. A developmental error

c. An overgeneralization error

d. Language transfer

e. A simplification error