1
ESL CERTIFICATION EXAM - TEXAS NEWEST EXAM
COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED
ANSWERS (VERIFIED ANSWERS)
Phonetics - (answer)The articulation and perception of speech sounds as
physical objects, the study of how speech sounds are made and perceived.
Phonology - (answer)The study of how a language organizes speech sounds
into a meaningful system
Phonemes - (answer)smallest unit of sound. Occur at point of articulation and
the manner of articulation. There are at least 44 phonemes (sounds) and 26
graphemes (letters).
Allophones - (answer)Sounds that occur in a phonetic environment; word-
initial position, word-final position, word-middle position, etc.
Voicing - (answer)Occurs when our vocal cords vibrate or not because of the
pronunciation of the sounds.
Voiceless - (answer)Produced without vocal cord vibration
Voiced - (answer)Produced with vocal cord vibration
Suprasegmentals - (answer)Organization of sounds into larger units: length,
tone, intonation, and stress.
Length - (answer)Duration of sound; vowel/consonant
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Tone - (answer)The use of pitch (low or high) to convey meaning at the word
level. Tone may be lexical; it might change the meaning of the word.
Intonation - (answer)Distinguishes different kinds of sentences or phrases,
and/or different words. Refers to the rise and fall of pitch over entire
sentences.
Stress - (answer)A prosodic element used to give intensity or emphasis to
certain syllables in a word, or to certain words in a phrase or a sentence. It can
change the meaning of a word.
Morphology - (answer)The system of how words are built or word formation.
Morpheme - (answer)The smallest units of language that carry information
about meaning or function. Cannot be divided into smaller parts.
Free Morpheme - (answer)Can be a word by itself
Bound Morpheme - (answer)Must be attached to another element
Syntax - (answer)The system of how phrases and sentences are built from the
words they contain, and how phrases are combined into larger phrases and
sentences.
Semantics - (answer)The study of meaning of words or the interpretation of
words and sentences.
Denotation - (answer)The dictionary definition of a word
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Connotation - (answer)The implied meaning of a word
Synonym - (answer)Words or expressions that have the same meaning in some
or all contexts
Antonyms - (answer)words that have opposite meanings
Polysemy - (answer)A word that has two or more related meanings
Homophony - (answer)A word in a single form that has two or more entirely
distinct meanings but sound the same.
Idiom - (answer)A set of words or an expression whose meaning is not
predictable from the usual meaning of the words.
Pragmatics - (answer)The system of the use of language in social contexts;
sociolinguistic awareness.
Discourse - (answer)The connected series of utterances produced during a
conversation, story, or lecture.
Lexicon - (answer)The vocabulary of a language. Also refers to the total
inventory of morphemes.
Allomorphs - (answer)The morphemes used to express indefiniteness in
English.
Registers - (answer)Functions and use of social and academic language.
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Language Borrowing - (answer)Words that we borrow from another language
Language interference - (answer)Interference from the first language (negative
transfer)
Phonological differences - (answer)Different pronunciations (accent)
Code-Switching - (answer)When a speaker alternates two or more languages in
the same sentences or between sentences
singular noun - (answer)names one person, place, thing, or idea
plural noun - (answer)names more than one person, place, thing, or idea
count nouns - (answer)Can be counted as one or more, and take an 's' to form
the plural
Non-count nouns - (answer)Cannot be counted
Possessive Nouns - (answer)Shows ownership
collective noun - (answer)names a group of people, placed, ideas or things
Personal pronouns - (answer)Refer to a person
ESL CERTIFICATION EXAM - TEXAS NEWEST EXAM
COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED
ANSWERS (VERIFIED ANSWERS)
Phonetics - (answer)The articulation and perception of speech sounds as
physical objects, the study of how speech sounds are made and perceived.
Phonology - (answer)The study of how a language organizes speech sounds
into a meaningful system
Phonemes - (answer)smallest unit of sound. Occur at point of articulation and
the manner of articulation. There are at least 44 phonemes (sounds) and 26
graphemes (letters).
Allophones - (answer)Sounds that occur in a phonetic environment; word-
initial position, word-final position, word-middle position, etc.
Voicing - (answer)Occurs when our vocal cords vibrate or not because of the
pronunciation of the sounds.
Voiceless - (answer)Produced without vocal cord vibration
Voiced - (answer)Produced with vocal cord vibration
Suprasegmentals - (answer)Organization of sounds into larger units: length,
tone, intonation, and stress.
Length - (answer)Duration of sound; vowel/consonant
, 2
Tone - (answer)The use of pitch (low or high) to convey meaning at the word
level. Tone may be lexical; it might change the meaning of the word.
Intonation - (answer)Distinguishes different kinds of sentences or phrases,
and/or different words. Refers to the rise and fall of pitch over entire
sentences.
Stress - (answer)A prosodic element used to give intensity or emphasis to
certain syllables in a word, or to certain words in a phrase or a sentence. It can
change the meaning of a word.
Morphology - (answer)The system of how words are built or word formation.
Morpheme - (answer)The smallest units of language that carry information
about meaning or function. Cannot be divided into smaller parts.
Free Morpheme - (answer)Can be a word by itself
Bound Morpheme - (answer)Must be attached to another element
Syntax - (answer)The system of how phrases and sentences are built from the
words they contain, and how phrases are combined into larger phrases and
sentences.
Semantics - (answer)The study of meaning of words or the interpretation of
words and sentences.
Denotation - (answer)The dictionary definition of a word
, 3
Connotation - (answer)The implied meaning of a word
Synonym - (answer)Words or expressions that have the same meaning in some
or all contexts
Antonyms - (answer)words that have opposite meanings
Polysemy - (answer)A word that has two or more related meanings
Homophony - (answer)A word in a single form that has two or more entirely
distinct meanings but sound the same.
Idiom - (answer)A set of words or an expression whose meaning is not
predictable from the usual meaning of the words.
Pragmatics - (answer)The system of the use of language in social contexts;
sociolinguistic awareness.
Discourse - (answer)The connected series of utterances produced during a
conversation, story, or lecture.
Lexicon - (answer)The vocabulary of a language. Also refers to the total
inventory of morphemes.
Allomorphs - (answer)The morphemes used to express indefiniteness in
English.
Registers - (answer)Functions and use of social and academic language.
, 4
Language Borrowing - (answer)Words that we borrow from another language
Language interference - (answer)Interference from the first language (negative
transfer)
Phonological differences - (answer)Different pronunciations (accent)
Code-Switching - (answer)When a speaker alternates two or more languages in
the same sentences or between sentences
singular noun - (answer)names one person, place, thing, or idea
plural noun - (answer)names more than one person, place, thing, or idea
count nouns - (answer)Can be counted as one or more, and take an 's' to form
the plural
Non-count nouns - (answer)Cannot be counted
Possessive Nouns - (answer)Shows ownership
collective noun - (answer)names a group of people, placed, ideas or things
Personal pronouns - (answer)Refer to a person
