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AEPA ESL (NES ESOL 507) study materials
AEPA ESL (NES ESOL 507) study resources

AEPA ESL (NES ESOL 507) practice questions

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Question 1Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Which term refers to the smallest unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a language?

  1. Syllable
  2. Phoneme Correct answer.
  3. Morpheme
  4. Allophone

Explanation

A phoneme is a contrastive sound unit: substituting it produces a different word, as with /p/ and /b/ in 'pat' and 'bat'. Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning, while allophones are non-contrastive variants of a single phoneme and syllables are larger phonological units.

Question 2Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

How many morphemes are in the word 'unhappiness'?

  1. Five
  2. Two
  3. Three Correct answer.
  4. Four

Explanation

The word contains three morphemes: the negative prefix un-, the free root happy, and the noun-forming suffix -ness. Affixes are bound morphemes because they cannot stand alone as words.

Question 3Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

What is the canonical word order of a simple declarative sentence in English?

  1. Subject–Object–Verb
  2. Object–Verb–Subject
  3. Subject–Verb–Object Correct answer.
  4. Verb–Subject–Object

Explanation

Unmarked English declarative clauses follow subject–verb–object order, as in 'The boy ate the cake'. Other orders appear only in marked constructions such as questions, passives, or topicalization.

Question 4Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

The word 'bat' meaning a flying mammal and 'bat' meaning equipment used in baseball are best described as:

  1. Synonyms
  2. Polysemes
  3. Homonyms Correct answer.
  4. Antonyms

Explanation

Homonyms are distinct words that share the same form, whether in sound or in spelling; these two 'bat' words are historically unrelated but look and sound alike. Polysemy, by contrast, involves one word with related senses, such as the 'head' of a body and the 'head' of a department.

Question 5Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

In second language acquisition, the 'silent period' refers to a stage in which a learner:

  1. has stopped making progress in the new language
  2. produces only memorized phrases in the new language
  3. comprehends more than he or she produces Correct answer.
  4. refuses to speak because of low motivation

Explanation

During the silent period learners attend to and comprehend the new language without producing much of it, and this stage is generally considered normal and beneficial. Comprehensible input and low-anxiety conditions support the later transition to speech.

Question 6Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Krashen's input hypothesis holds that acquisition is best supported when learners receive:

  1. input focused on explicit grammar rules and drills
  2. input limited to structures already mastered
  3. input delivered only in written form
  4. input slightly beyond the current level Correct answer.

Explanation

Krashen argues that acquisition occurs when learners understand input containing structures just beyond their current competence, often labeled i + 1. The gap is bridged by context and prior knowledge rather than by explicit rule study.

Question 7Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

In Cummins's framework, BICS refers to the language proficiency that:

  1. develops only after several years of schooling
  2. is required for passing standardized content tests
  3. underlies academic reading and writing tasks
  4. supports everyday face-to-face conversation Correct answer.

Explanation

BICS, or basic interpersonal communication skills, is the conversational fluency that typically emerges within one to three years of exposure and is heavily supported by context. Academic language proficiency takes considerably longer to develop and is needed for decontextualized school tasks.

Question 8Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

A behaviorist explanation of first language acquisition emphasizes:

  1. imitation, reinforcement, and habit formation Correct answer.
  2. the child's active construction of grammar rules
  3. an innate language acquisition device
  4. a critical period for neural language development

Explanation

Behaviorism, associated with Skinner, treats language as verbal behavior built up through imitation, reinforcement, and habit formation. Nativist accounts stress innate capacities, and constructivist accounts stress the child's active rule building.

Question 9Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Chomsky's theory of Universal Grammar proposes that children:

  1. are born with innate knowledge of universal principles Correct answer.
  2. learn grammar through corrective feedback from parents
  3. construct syntax only from the input they hear
  4. acquire language mainly by imitating adult speech

Explanation

Universal Grammar holds that children are born with abstract knowledge of principles common to all human languages, which guides them in constructing the grammar of the language they hear. This nativist position contrasts with input-driven and behaviorist accounts.

Question 10Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

The strongest evidence for a critical period in language acquisition comes from findings that:

  1. children learn a second language without any instruction at all
  2. late starters rarely achieve native-like pronunciation Correct answer.
  3. bilingual children reach milestones later than monolinguals
  4. children acquire vocabulary faster than grammar

Explanation

The critical period hypothesis holds that language is most readily acquired within a biologically bounded window usually said to close around puberty. The most robust supporting evidence is that learners who begin after puberty seldom attain native-like pronunciation despite extensive exposure.

Question 11Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

In English, the aspirated [pʰ] of 'pot' and the unaspirated [p] of 'spot' are best described as:

  1. two separate phonemes
  2. allophones of a single phoneme Correct answer.
  3. distinctive segments that contrast meaning
  4. a minimal pair

Explanation

These two phones never contrast in English; they occur in different phonetic environments, so they are allophones of the single phoneme /p/. A minimal pair would require two words distinguished only by that sound, which English does not provide here.

Question 12Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

In the word 'reopened', the prefix 're-' is a:

  1. free, derivational morpheme
  2. bound, derivational morpheme Correct answer.
  3. free, inflectional morpheme
  4. bound, inflectional morpheme

Explanation

The prefix re- cannot stand alone and it modifies the lexical meaning of the base rather than marking a grammatical category such as tense or number, so it is a bound derivational morpheme. Inflectional affixes, in contrast, are grammatical and do not create new lexemes.

Question 13Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Selinker's notion of interlanguage refers to:

  1. a teaching method that avoids the first language
  2. a learner's evolving rule system unlike either language Correct answer.
  3. the permanent loss of the first language in bilinguals
  4. the mixing of two languages within a single utterance

Explanation

Interlanguage is the systematic, developing grammar a learner builds between the first and second language; it has its own rules and is not simply a defective version of the target. It develops through transfer, overgeneralization, and communication strategies.

Question 14Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

A young English learner says 'two childs' instead of 'two children'. In error analysis, this is an example of:

  1. fossilization of an earlier error
  2. a performance slip unrelated to the learner's grammar
  3. overgeneralization of a target-language rule Correct answer.
  4. negative transfer from the first language

Explanation

'Childs' shows the learner applying the regular plural rule to an irregular noun, a developmental error typical of rule overgeneralization rather than first-language influence. Such errors appear even when the first language has no analogous form.

Question 15Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Contrastive analysis predicts that a second language learner's errors are caused mainly by:

  1. differences between the first and second language Correct answer.
  2. insufficient exposure to comprehensible input
  3. the learner's affective filter being too high
  4. universal developmental sequences shared by all learners

Explanation

Contrastive analysis compares the structures of the first and second languages and predicts that differences will produce difficulty and error through negative transfer. Later research showed that many errors stem from developmental processes shared across learners, so contrastive analysis alone is insufficient.

Question 16Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Grice's maxim of quantity directs speakers to:

  1. give only the information required Correct answer.
  2. say only what they believe to be true
  3. stay relevant to the topic under discussion
  4. avoid ambiguity and obscurity of expression

Explanation

The maxim of quantity concerns the amount of information: speakers should be as informative as required but not more so. The maxims of quality, relation, and manner govern truthfulness, relevance, and clarity respectively.

Question 17Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

A speaker says 'It's cold in here' intending a listener to close the window. This utterance is an example of:

  1. a phonological reduction
  2. an indirect speech act Correct answer.
  3. a semantic entailment
  4. a syntactic ambiguity

Explanation

An indirect speech act performs one illocutionary act through the form of another; here a literal statement about temperature functions as a request. The listener recovers the intended force through context and pragmatic inference.

Question 18Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

A bilingual student alternates between Spanish and English within a single conversation with peers. This behavior is known as:

  1. Language transfer
  2. Diglossia
  3. Code-switching Correct answer.
  4. Fossilization

Explanation

Code-switching is the rule-governed alternation between two languages within a conversation or even a single utterance, and it serves social and discourse functions. It reflects bilingual competence rather than confusion.

Question 19Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

The instructional technique of scaffolding is grounded in Vygotsky's concept of:

  1. the critical period
  2. the zone of proximal development Correct answer.
  3. the affective filter
  4. the language acquisition device

Explanation

The zone of proximal development is the gap between what a learner can accomplish alone and what the learner can accomplish with assistance from a more capable other. Scaffolding supplies temporary, gradually withdrawn support within that zone.

Question 20Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

In Krashen's monitor model, 'learning' differs from 'acquisition' in that learning is:

  1. available only to young children before puberty
  2. the source of fluent, spontaneous speech
  3. an unconscious process similar to first language development
  4. conscious knowledge of rules that can edit output Correct answer.

Explanation

Krashen reserves 'acquisition' for the unconscious, implicit process that resembles first language development and drives fluency, while 'learning' is conscious knowledge of rules that can only be used to monitor and edit output. Overreliance on the monitor is said to slow production.

Question 21Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

A Spanish-speaking learner pronounces 'school' as 'eschool'. This error is best explained as:

  1. reduction of a consonant cluster in the target language
  2. vowel epenthesis to fit first-language syllable structure Correct answer.
  3. failure to aspirate a voiceless stop
  4. a substitution of one phoneme for another

Explanation

Spanish syllables rarely begin with /s/ followed by a consonant, so learners often insert a vowel before the cluster, producing 'eschool'. This is epenthesis driven by first-language syllable structure constraints rather than by segment substitution.

Question 22Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Readers often find 'The old man the boats' momentarily confusing because:

  1. the sentence contains an unknown lexical item
  2. the passive voice obscures the agent of the action
  3. the definite article is used twice in a row
  4. readers first parse 'man' as a noun Correct answer.

Explanation

In this sentence 'man' is a verb meaning to staff or operate, and 'the old' functions as its subject. Readers initially assign the far more frequent noun reading to 'man', creating a garden-path effect that forces reanalysis.

Question 23Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

A student converses easily in the hallway but struggles to explain cause and effect in a textbook chapter. In Cummins's terms, the student needs support with:

  1. phonological awareness in the second language
  2. basic interpersonal communication skills
  3. cognitive academic language proficiency Correct answer.
  4. the silent period of acquisition

Explanation

The student already demonstrates conversational fluency, which reflects BICS, but the textbook task is cognitively demanding and context-reduced, requiring academic language proficiency. CALP develops over several years and benefits from explicit instruction in academic registers and text structures.

Question 24Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

According to Krashen, frequent correction of errors during a fluency activity is problematic mainly because it:

  1. replaces acquisition with habit formation
  2. prevents the learner from receiving comprehensible input
  3. causes the learner to fossilize incorrect forms
  4. raises the affective filter and can inhibit acquisition Correct answer.

Explanation

In Krashen's monitor model, correction during communicative activity draws attention to form, increases anxiety, and strengthens the affective filter, which can block intake from being acquired. Error correction is instead placed at the monitoring or editing stage.

Question 25Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

'The dog chased the cat' and 'The cat was chased by the dog' differ in surface structure but share:

  1. the same underlying propositional meaning Correct answer.
  2. identical surface constituency
  3. the same topic-comment structure
  4. the same grammatical subject

Explanation

The two sentences express the same proposition: the dog performed the chasing and the cat received it. They differ in surface structure, grammatical subject, and information packaging, showing that meaning and form are not one-to-one.

Question 26Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Which pair of English consonant sounds differs primarily in voicing?

  1. /m/ and /n/
  2. /s/ and /ʃ/
  3. /p/ and /b/ Correct answer.
  4. /p/ and /t/

Explanation

Voicing refers to whether the vocal folds vibrate during production. /p/ is voiceless and /b/ is voiced, while both are bilabial stops. The other pairs differ mainly in place or manner of articulation.

Question 27Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

The relationship between the phoneme /t/ and its allophones in English is best described as:

  1. separate phonemes that contrast meaning
  2. syllables that receive primary stress
  3. morphemes that carry grammatical meaning
  4. context-dependent variants of one phoneme Correct answer.

Explanation

Allophones are phonetic variants of a single phoneme that occur in predictable phonetic contexts. They do not create meaning contrasts; separate phonemes do.

Question 28Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Which of the following words contains a bound morpheme?

  1. cat
  2. book
  3. run
  4. unhappy Correct answer.

Explanation

A bound morpheme cannot stand alone as a word. In 'unhappy,' the prefix un- is bound because it must attach to a root such as 'happy.'

Question 29Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

The sense relation in which 'vehicle' is the superordinate term for 'car' is called:

  1. homonymy
  2. antonymy
  3. hyponymy Correct answer.
  4. synonymy

Explanation

Hyponymy is a hierarchical lexical relation in which a more specific term (car) is included under a broader term (vehicle). The broader term is the hypernym and the narrower term is the hyponym.

Question 30Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

During the one-word stage, children typically:

  1. use complex embedded clauses with inflectional endings
  2. combine two words into short telegraphic utterances
  3. use single words for whole meanings Correct answer.
  4. apply passive transformations to simple declaratives

Explanation

In the one-word, or holophrastic, stage, a single word such as 'up' can function as a request, comment, or naming. Multiword combinations and complex syntax emerge later.

Question 31Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Which situation best illustrates positive language transfer?

  1. A Japanese speaker struggles with English articles.
  2. A Spanish speaker omits articles because Spanish lacks them.
  3. A Spanish speaker uses articles correctly, as in Spanish. Correct answer.
  4. A learner overgeneralizes the past tense -ed.

Explanation

Positive transfer occurs when first-language knowledge supports second-language performance. Spanish and English both use articles, so the learner's first language can help rather than hinder.

Question 32Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

In an ESL context, learners typically:

  1. have no exposure to native speakers
  2. learn English mainly for foreign exams
  3. study English only in a classroom in their home country
  4. learn English while living in an English-speaking community Correct answer.

Explanation

ESL stands for English as a second language, a context in which English is the dominant community language and learners have daily exposure outside class. EFL contexts usually involve classroom study in a non-English-speaking country.

Question 33Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

The plural suffix -s in 'books' is best classified as:

  1. a lexical root
  2. a free morpheme
  3. an inflectional morpheme Correct answer.
  4. a derivational morpheme

Explanation

Inflectional morphemes mark grammatical information such as number, tense, or case without changing the word's lexical category. The plural -s changes 'book' to 'books' but keeps it a noun.

Question 34Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Which English minimal pair demonstrates that /ɪ/ and /iː/ are separate phonemes?

  1. ship and sheep Correct answer.
  2. book and look
  3. pen and hen
  4. cat and hat

Explanation

A minimal pair differs in one phoneme and has different meanings. 'Ship' /ʃɪp/ and 'sheep' /ʃiːp/ contrast the vowels /ɪ/ and /iː/, showing that the vowels are distinct phonemes.

Question 35Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

How many derivational morphemes are in the word 'unbelievable'?

  1. three
  2. one
  3. four
  4. two Correct answer.

Explanation

'Unbelievable' has the derivational prefix un- and the derivational suffix -able, for a total of two derivational morphemes. The root 'believe' is a free morpheme, not a derivational affix.

Question 36Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

In the sentence 'The teacher gave the student a book,' the phrase 'the student' functions as:

  1. subject complement
  2. object complement
  3. indirect object Correct answer.
  4. direct object

Explanation

In this ditransitive sentence, 'the student' is the recipient and therefore the indirect object, while 'a book' is the direct object. The indirect object typically precedes the direct object.

Question 37Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

A speaker who shifts from informal slang with friends to formal academic English in a presentation is demonstrating:

  1. register variation Correct answer.
  2. language shift
  3. code-switching
  4. dialect divergence

Explanation

Register refers to variation in language according to formality, audience, and situation. Moving from slang to academic English is a change in register rather than in dialect.

Question 38Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

According to Swain's comprehensible output hypothesis, producing language helps learners because it:

  1. makes learners notice gaps Correct answer.
  2. lowers the learner's affective filter significantly
  3. provides unlimited comprehensible input to learners
  4. replaces the need for meaningful interaction

Explanation

Swain argued that output pushes learners to process language more deeply and to notice what they cannot yet express. This noticing can lead them to modify their output and learn.

Question 39Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Fossilization in second language acquisition refers to:

  1. persistent stabilization of non-target features Correct answer.
  2. ability to switch between dialects
  3. natural order of morpheme acquisition
  4. gradual loss of the first language

Explanation

Fossilization describes interlanguage features that stop developing and remain non-target-like over time. It is a persistent stabilization, not mere temporary error.

Question 40Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Additive bilingualism occurs when a learner:

  1. replaces the first language with the second
  2. adds a second language, keeps the first Correct answer.
  3. loses both languages over time
  4. refuses to use the first language

Explanation

Additive bilingualism enriches a learner's repertoire by adding another language while maintaining the first. Subtractive bilingualism, by contrast, can replace or weaken the first language.

Question 41Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

A learner says 'I goed to the store' instead of 'I went.' This is best classified as:

  1. a pragmatic error
  2. an interlingual error
  3. a phonological error
  4. an intralingual error Correct answer.

Explanation

'Goed' results from overgeneralizing the regular past-tense rule within English, so it is an intralingual error. Interlingual errors, by contrast, reflect influence from the first language.

Question 42Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

The word 'there' in 'Put the book there' is an example of:

  1. spatial deixis Correct answer.
  2. temporal deixis
  3. person deixis
  4. discourse deixis

Explanation

Deictic expressions point to contextual information. 'There' indicates a location relative to the speaker, which is spatial deixis.

Question 43Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Which sentence contains a relative clause?

  1. The heavy book on the table is mine.
  2. The book I bought is heavy. Correct answer.
  3. Please buy the heavy book tomorrow.
  4. I bought a heavy book yesterday morning.

Explanation

A relative clause modifies a noun and typically begins with a relative pronoun such as 'that' or 'which.' In 'The book I bought is heavy,' the clause 'I bought' modifies 'book.'

Question 44Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

The affective filter hypothesis suggests that:

  1. output practice is unnecessary for fluency
  2. motivation has no role in acquisition
  3. learners acquire grammar best through drills
  4. negative emotions can block input Correct answer.

Explanation

The affective filter is a metaphorical barrier: anxiety, low motivation, or low self-confidence can prevent comprehensible input from reaching the language acquisition device. A low filter supports acquisition.

Question 45Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

Which English word begins with a consonant cluster that is often difficult for speakers of languages that disallow initial clusters?

  1. computer
  2. street Correct answer.
  3. banana
  4. telephone

Explanation

'Street' begins with the three-consonant cluster /str/, which many languages do not permit in syllable onsets. Speakers of such languages may insert a vowel or simplify the cluster.

Question 46Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

In X-bar theory, the specifier of a phrase is best described as:

  1. the head of the phrase
  2. the complement selected by the head
  3. an optional adjunct that can repeat
  4. the position hosting subjects Correct answer.

Explanation

In X-bar theory, the specifier is the daughter of XP and sister to X'. It typically hosts subjects in inflectional phrases or determiners in determiner phrases. Heads and complements occupy lower structural positions.

Question 47Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

The sentence 'The king of France is bald' is often used to illustrate:

  1. entailment
  2. presupposition failure Correct answer.
  3. conversational implicature
  4. synonymy

Explanation

The definite description 'the king of France' presupposes that a king of France exists. When that presupposition is false, the sentence is said to suffer presupposition failure.

Question 48Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

According to Pienemann's processability theory, learners acquire grammatical structures:

  1. only through explicit instruction
  2. in a fixed, non-skippable sequence Correct answer.
  3. only after native-like pronunciation
  4. in any order depending on motivation

Explanation

Processability theory claims that learners pass through implicational stages as their processing capacity develops, and instruction cannot skip stages. Motivation and pronunciation do not determine this sequence.

Question 49Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

The term 'speech community' refers to:

  1. a group that speaks only one dialect
  2. all speakers of a language worldwide
  3. a classroom of language learners
  4. a group sharing norms for language use Correct answer.

Explanation

A speech community is defined by shared communicative norms and practices, not merely by sharing a language. It can include multiple dialects or registers.

Question 50Foundations of Language and Language Acquisition

In English, the phoneme /l/ has a clear [l] and a dark [ɫ] allophone. Their distribution is best described as:

  1. free variation in all contexts
  2. random variation across speakers
  3. complementary distribution by syllable position Correct answer.
  4. contrastive distribution in minimal pairs

Explanation

Clear [l] typically occurs before vowels in onset position, while dark [ɫ] occurs after vowels or in syllabic positions. Because they do not occur in the same environment, they are in complementary distribution.