ALTA Competency Exam Questions
with complete solution 2025/2026
affix - correct answer ✔prefix or suffix added to a base word. ex. unhelpful
active learning - correct answer ✔learning in which the learner mentally searches for connections
between new and already known information
allophone - correct answer ✔a variation of a speech sound (/t/ in top, stop, spits, swift)
analytic - correct answer ✔pertaining to instruction or a process that separates WHOLE into its PARTS.
Analytic phonics separates a whole word into its parts so students can deduce the phonics relationships
of the separate orthographic patterns
angular gyrus - correct answer ✔an area of the brain for visual-verbal associations
anomaly - correct answer ✔irregularity; deviation from the common notion of fitness or order
ARD - correct answer ✔advanced reading deck; shows only the letter
auditory discrimination - correct answer ✔Necessary to "break the code" for reading. It involves being
able to perceive the differences between speech sounds and to sequence these sounds into meaningful
words.
base word - correct answer ✔the simplest form of an English word; a word without affixes, such as
spell
, benchmark measures - correct answer ✔progress measurement administered at the end of each
schedule, when students have had enough practice
breve - correct answer ✔a diacritical marking that indicates a short vowel sound
Broca's area - correct answer ✔posterior portion of the frontal lobe that is in charge of phonological
processing and semantics of language. This are in the front left of the brain is responsible for
EXPRESSIVE language - articulating spoken words and analyzing words
Broca's aphasia - correct answer ✔person cannot get the words out but understands
cedilla - correct answer ✔a diacritical mark (,) placed below the letter c to indicate that it is
pronounced as an s
chameleon prefix - correct answer ✔a prefix whose final consonant changes based on the initial letter
of the root (in- changes to ir- before regular, irregular); done for euphony
circumflex - correct answer ✔a diacritical mark (^) placed above a vowel in a combination to indicate
accented syllable
coarticulation - correct answer ✔adjacent sounds often are spoken in such a way that one phoneme
seems to overlap, is changed by, and/or modifies another. Coarticulation is the way the brain organizes
sequences of vowels and consonants, interweaving the individual movements necessary for each into
one smooth whole. In fact, the process applies to all body movement, not just speech, and is part of how
homo sapiens work.
combination - correct answer ✔two letters in a single syllable when one makes an unexpected sound
or stand in an unexpected sequence: ar, er, ir, or, ur, qu, wh
with complete solution 2025/2026
affix - correct answer ✔prefix or suffix added to a base word. ex. unhelpful
active learning - correct answer ✔learning in which the learner mentally searches for connections
between new and already known information
allophone - correct answer ✔a variation of a speech sound (/t/ in top, stop, spits, swift)
analytic - correct answer ✔pertaining to instruction or a process that separates WHOLE into its PARTS.
Analytic phonics separates a whole word into its parts so students can deduce the phonics relationships
of the separate orthographic patterns
angular gyrus - correct answer ✔an area of the brain for visual-verbal associations
anomaly - correct answer ✔irregularity; deviation from the common notion of fitness or order
ARD - correct answer ✔advanced reading deck; shows only the letter
auditory discrimination - correct answer ✔Necessary to "break the code" for reading. It involves being
able to perceive the differences between speech sounds and to sequence these sounds into meaningful
words.
base word - correct answer ✔the simplest form of an English word; a word without affixes, such as
spell
, benchmark measures - correct answer ✔progress measurement administered at the end of each
schedule, when students have had enough practice
breve - correct answer ✔a diacritical marking that indicates a short vowel sound
Broca's area - correct answer ✔posterior portion of the frontal lobe that is in charge of phonological
processing and semantics of language. This are in the front left of the brain is responsible for
EXPRESSIVE language - articulating spoken words and analyzing words
Broca's aphasia - correct answer ✔person cannot get the words out but understands
cedilla - correct answer ✔a diacritical mark (,) placed below the letter c to indicate that it is
pronounced as an s
chameleon prefix - correct answer ✔a prefix whose final consonant changes based on the initial letter
of the root (in- changes to ir- before regular, irregular); done for euphony
circumflex - correct answer ✔a diacritical mark (^) placed above a vowel in a combination to indicate
accented syllable
coarticulation - correct answer ✔adjacent sounds often are spoken in such a way that one phoneme
seems to overlap, is changed by, and/or modifies another. Coarticulation is the way the brain organizes
sequences of vowels and consonants, interweaving the individual movements necessary for each into
one smooth whole. In fact, the process applies to all body movement, not just speech, and is part of how
homo sapiens work.
combination - correct answer ✔two letters in a single syllable when one makes an unexpected sound
or stand in an unexpected sequence: ar, er, ir, or, ur, qu, wh
