MTLE ESL Subtest #2 (Minnesota)

Which of the following English learners is likely to have the greatest chance of eventually developing accent-free, native-like fluency in English?

• a high school migrant student whose family spends several months of the year in the home country

• a young child whose family recently moved back to the home country after spending several years in the Untied States

• a student in the general education kindergarten class whose family primarily speaks the home language in the home

• an adult who studied English for several years at a foreign language center in the home country prior to moving to the United States

Which of the following classroom situations most clearly illustrates the effect of affective factors on an English learner's English acquisition?

• A student who can communicate fluently in English has difficulty comprehending an academic text.

• A student speaks very little in English for fear of making a mistake and sounding foolish.

• A student who comes from a cultural group with a large representation in the school rarely interacts with native-English-speaking peers.

• A student is often late to class and fails to turn in assignments because of the family's work schedule.

Which of the following ESL teacher practices is likely to contribute most significantly to creating a favorable climate for second-language learning?

• interacting with English learners in ways that show genuine interest in their welfare and high expecations for their achievement

• allowing ELs to complete class activities and assignments in their home language

• adjusting classroom learning and behavior expectations based on English learners' current abilities and language proficiency levels

• providing individual ELs with immediate corrective feedback on their language errors

A high school EL has been attending school in the USA for several years. The student had developed sufficient oral language proficiency to particpate effectively in informal classroom interactions and negotiate instructional settings but is not performing well academically. The student has particular difficulty comprehending textbooks and producing written responses to content-based questions. This situation best illustrates the influence of which of the following factors on English learners' second-language developemnt and academic achievement?

• a level of English proficiency

• family values and expectations

• stages of cognitive development

• learning attitudes and motivation

Children frequently develop native-like pronunciation in a second language with greater ease than adults. The best explanation for this phenomenon is that compared to adults, children tend to:

• have a greater ability to internalize language

• experience less influence from affective factors

• have a larger capacity for abstract thinking

• experience less transfer from the home language

Which of the following student activities conducted as part of a sheltered mathematics unit on statistics and probability is likely to be most effective in making learning meaningful for ELs in a high school math class?

• analyzing charts that depict the probability that a person has various physical characteristics (ex. brown eyes, left-handedness)

• determining the probability of a certain outcome in a game (ex. coin toss; rock, paper, scissors)

• gathering statistical data about their city and comparing the data to another city in the state, nation, and/or world

• conducting research about a particular profession that requires knowledge of statistics and presenting their findings to the class

An EL has been diagnosed with an expressive language disorder. This factor will most likely affect the student's language development in which of the following ways?

• The EL will likely rely on the areas of vocab and syntax when transferring linguistic skills from home language to English

• The EL will likely benefit from receiving the same types of language supports in both English and in the home language

• The EL will likely feel more comfortable delivering an oral message than a written message in both English and the home language

• The EL will likely prioritize academic language learning in English while preferring to use the home language for social interactions.

Periodically throughout the school year, an ESL teacher composes in writing detailed answers to questions such as:

"What are my areas of strength and my areas of need as an educator and an ESL teacher?"

"What areas of need should I target to move forward in my teaching?"

"How can I effectively address these target areas?"

The primary purpose of the teacher's questions and answers is to most likely to:

• use a specific instructional strategy to achieve a specific learning outcome

• lay out a plan for action research to improve instruction techniques

• to engage in self-directed reflection as a form of professional development

• prepare lesson plans for future observations by school administrators

An ESL teacher could best use the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) standards for which of the following purposes?

• assessing English learners' current levels of English language proficiency

• identifying high-priority subject-matter topics to include in instruction for ELs

• selecting effective instructional resources to use with ELs

• determining what skills and abilities are expected of ELs at different levels

An elementary ESL teacher is engaging entering-level ELs in an alphabet book publishing project using an online story writing platform. The teacher structures the project so that each student generates an orignal final product. The teacher guides the students in selecting an image to represent each letter of the English alphabet and writing a few words in English that describe an image. This project uses technological resources to effectively motivate learning primarily by:

• inviting students to connect langage instruction with personal interests

• allowing students to express complex ideas in a low-stakes environment

• inspiring students to conduct further content-area research online

• challenging students to solve problems with authentic contexts