TEXAS ESL CERTIFICATION EXAM ACTUAL EXAM
phoneme - ANSWER: smallest unit of sound
Number of phonemes in English - ANSWER: 42-44
Classifications of consonant phonemes - ANSWER: Place of Articulation, Manner of
Articulation, Voiced or Unvoiced
Classifications of vowel phonemes - ANSWER: Tongue Position, Lip position
Phonological awareness - ANSWER: Ability to detect, identify, and manipulate the
various parts of the spoken language: words, syllables, onsets, rimes, and phonemes
Syllable - ANSWER: A word or part of a word that is pronounced as a unit and
contains one vowel sound.
Parts of a syllable - ANSWER: onset and rime. The onset is that part before the
vowel, the rime is the vowel and everything after.
Phonogram - ANSWER: nonlinguistic term for rime (rime is the vowel and everything
after within the same syllable)
Lau vs. Nichols - ANSWER: Decided that the civil rights of students were being
violated when the school did not help them acquire the language of instruction
Plessy vs. Ferguson - ANSWER: (1896) The Court ruled that segregation was not
discriminatory (did not violate black civil rights under the Fourteenth Amendemnt)
provide that blacks received accommodations equal to those of whites.
Meyers vs. Nebraska - ANSWER: U.S. Supreme Court decision protecting the right of
language minority communities to offer private language classes
Brown vs. Board - ANSWER: 1954- court decision that declared state laws
segregating schools to be unconstitutional. Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson
Lau Remedies (1975) - ANSWER: Mandated bilingual education
Castaneda v. Pickard - ANSWER: Court case that determined that segregation of ELL's
only permissible when the benefits of remedying language barriers outweigh
adverse affects of segregation.
ELLs must be evaluated for effectiveness using a set of established criteria.
, Plyer v. Doe - ANSWER: Court case that determined that the 14th amendment
prohibits states from denying a free public education to undocumented children.
Prohibits schools from request of any documentation of legal status.
No Child Left Behind Act (2001) - ANSWER: Requires the states to set standards and
measurable goals that can improve individual outcomes in education.
Requires the states to develop assessments in basic skills to be given to all students
in certain grades.
Represents a dramatic expansion of the federal role in education.
Transitional Bilingual Early Exit Program - ANSWER: ELL's receive a portion of their
content instruction in their first language for 1-3 years
Transitional bilingual late exit program - ANSWER: ELL's receive content instruction
in L1 and L2 for 4 to 6 years.
Dual Language Immersion/ Two-Way - ANSWER: Bi literacy program model that
integrates English proficient students with ELL's. Academic subjects are taught in
both English and the other language.
Dual language immersion/ one way - ANSWER: Bi literacy program model that serves
only ELL's. Academic subjects are taught in L1 and L2
ESL/Content Based Program - ANSWER: ELL's are given ESL support services within
the content areas with an ESL certified teacher
ESL Pullout - ANSWER: ELL's are given ESL support outside of their classroom, then
they return to all English instruction for the rest of the day
Phonology - ANSWER: the study of speech sounds in language
phonics - ANSWER: the study of the sounds of the letters of the alphabet to help
students identify written words
grapheme - ANSWER: the written or printed representation of a phoneme (letters)
Morphology - ANSWER: The study of meaningful parts of words and how they are
put together
morpheme - ANSWER: in language, the smallest unit that carries meaning
Free morphemes - ANSWER: may stand alone as a word
bound morphemes - ANSWER: must be attached to free morphemes but change the
meaning of the word. Prefixes and suffixes
phoneme - ANSWER: smallest unit of sound
Number of phonemes in English - ANSWER: 42-44
Classifications of consonant phonemes - ANSWER: Place of Articulation, Manner of
Articulation, Voiced or Unvoiced
Classifications of vowel phonemes - ANSWER: Tongue Position, Lip position
Phonological awareness - ANSWER: Ability to detect, identify, and manipulate the
various parts of the spoken language: words, syllables, onsets, rimes, and phonemes
Syllable - ANSWER: A word or part of a word that is pronounced as a unit and
contains one vowel sound.
Parts of a syllable - ANSWER: onset and rime. The onset is that part before the
vowel, the rime is the vowel and everything after.
Phonogram - ANSWER: nonlinguistic term for rime (rime is the vowel and everything
after within the same syllable)
Lau vs. Nichols - ANSWER: Decided that the civil rights of students were being
violated when the school did not help them acquire the language of instruction
Plessy vs. Ferguson - ANSWER: (1896) The Court ruled that segregation was not
discriminatory (did not violate black civil rights under the Fourteenth Amendemnt)
provide that blacks received accommodations equal to those of whites.
Meyers vs. Nebraska - ANSWER: U.S. Supreme Court decision protecting the right of
language minority communities to offer private language classes
Brown vs. Board - ANSWER: 1954- court decision that declared state laws
segregating schools to be unconstitutional. Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson
Lau Remedies (1975) - ANSWER: Mandated bilingual education
Castaneda v. Pickard - ANSWER: Court case that determined that segregation of ELL's
only permissible when the benefits of remedying language barriers outweigh
adverse affects of segregation.
ELLs must be evaluated for effectiveness using a set of established criteria.
, Plyer v. Doe - ANSWER: Court case that determined that the 14th amendment
prohibits states from denying a free public education to undocumented children.
Prohibits schools from request of any documentation of legal status.
No Child Left Behind Act (2001) - ANSWER: Requires the states to set standards and
measurable goals that can improve individual outcomes in education.
Requires the states to develop assessments in basic skills to be given to all students
in certain grades.
Represents a dramatic expansion of the federal role in education.
Transitional Bilingual Early Exit Program - ANSWER: ELL's receive a portion of their
content instruction in their first language for 1-3 years
Transitional bilingual late exit program - ANSWER: ELL's receive content instruction
in L1 and L2 for 4 to 6 years.
Dual Language Immersion/ Two-Way - ANSWER: Bi literacy program model that
integrates English proficient students with ELL's. Academic subjects are taught in
both English and the other language.
Dual language immersion/ one way - ANSWER: Bi literacy program model that serves
only ELL's. Academic subjects are taught in L1 and L2
ESL/Content Based Program - ANSWER: ELL's are given ESL support services within
the content areas with an ESL certified teacher
ESL Pullout - ANSWER: ELL's are given ESL support outside of their classroom, then
they return to all English instruction for the rest of the day
Phonology - ANSWER: the study of speech sounds in language
phonics - ANSWER: the study of the sounds of the letters of the alphabet to help
students identify written words
grapheme - ANSWER: the written or printed representation of a phoneme (letters)
Morphology - ANSWER: The study of meaningful parts of words and how they are
put together
morpheme - ANSWER: in language, the smallest unit that carries meaning
Free morphemes - ANSWER: may stand alone as a word
bound morphemes - ANSWER: must be attached to free morphemes but change the
meaning of the word. Prefixes and suffixes
