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CTEL practice questions

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Question 1Language and Language Development

The English words "ship" and "sheep" differ only in their vowel sounds (/ɪ/ versus /iː/), and substituting one for the other changes the meaning. Word pairs of this kind are called:

  1. allophones
  2. cognates
  3. minimal pairs Correct answer.
  4. homophones

Explanation

A minimal pair is two words that are identical except for one phoneme yet carry different meanings, which demonstrates that the differing sounds contrast as separate phonemes in that language. Because /sɪp/ and /siːp/ differ only in the vowel and mean different things, English treats /ɪ/ and /iː/ as distinct phonemes.

Question 2Language and Language Development

How many morphemes does the word "unhappiness" contain?

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

Explanation

The word divides into the bound prefix un-, the free root happy, and the bound suffix -ness, for a total of three morphemes. Each unit carries meaning and cannot be broken down further without losing that meaning.

Question 3Language and Language Development

In Krashen's theory, language acquisition is best supported when learners receive input that is:

  1. just beyond their current level Correct answer.
  2. offered with no contextual support
  3. pitched at their exact current level
  4. far above their current level

Explanation

Krashen's input hypothesis holds that acquisition occurs when learners understand messages containing structures slightly beyond their present competence, often summarized as i + 1. Input that is too far beyond the learner becomes noise, while input exactly at the current level offers nothing new.

Question 4Language and Language Development

Which statement accurately reflects Cummins's distinction between BICS and CALP?

  1. BICS is the more cognitively demanding, academic register
  2. CALP develops within about one year of exposure
  3. CALP typically takes five to seven years to develop Correct answer.
  4. BICS refers to literacy skills used in content-area classes

Explanation

Cummins described basic interpersonal communicative skills as context-embedded and relatively quick to develop, while cognitive academic language proficiency involves decontextualized, cognitively demanding language and usually requires five to seven years with support. The two differ in cognitive demand and contextual support, not in prestige.

Question 5Language and Language Development

The English form "bank" can refer to a financial institution or to the land alongside a river. This relationship between one form and multiple meanings is an example of:

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

Explanation

Homonymy describes a situation in which a single phonological form carries two or more unrelated meanings, as with "bank." The other terms describe different sense relations: sameness, oppositeness, and category inclusion.

Question 6Language and Language Development

The branch of linguistics that studies how context and speaker intent shape meaning in actual use is called:

  1. how context shapes meaning in use Correct answer.
  2. the analysis of sentence structure
  3. the classification of speech sounds
  4. the historical study of word origins

Explanation

Pragmatics examines how speakers use language in context, including implicature, politeness, and indirect requests, so that the same sentence can accomplish different things in different settings. It is distinguished from syntax, semantics, and phonology by its focus on use rather than form or literal meaning.

Question 7Language and Language Development

Which sequence reflects the typical order of first-language development in young children?

  1. babbling, telegraphic, one-word, multiword
  2. babbling, one-word, telegraphic, multiword Correct answer.
  3. telegraphic, babbling, one-word, multiword
  4. one-word, babbling, telegraphic, multiword

Explanation

Infants begin with cooing and babbling, move to single-word (holophrastic) utterances around the first birthday, then produce telegraphic utterances that omit function words, and finally combine words into fuller multiword sentences. The progression runs from sound play to single words to condensed word combinations to fuller grammar.

Question 8Language and Language Development

A behaviorist account of first-language acquisition emphasizes which set of processes?

  1. the critical period hypothesis
  2. imitation and habit formation Correct answer.
  3. an innate language acquisition device
  4. universal grammar principles

Explanation

Behaviorist theory, associated with Skinner, treats language as learned behavior shaped through imitation, reinforcement, and repetition until verbal habits form. Innatist accounts, by contrast, appeal to biologically based capacities such as universal grammar.

Question 9Language and Language Development

The critical period hypothesis in first-language acquisition holds that:

  1. bilingual children show delayed language milestones
  2. native-like L1 acquisition declines after puberty Correct answer.
  3. adults learn pronunciation more easily than children do
  4. children cannot learn a second language before age five

Explanation

The critical period hypothesis proposes a maturational window, generally ending around puberty, after which acquiring a first language to native levels becomes very difficult. Evidence comes from cases of delayed first-language exposure, where later learners do not reach typical native attainment.

Question 10Language and Language Development

A four-year-old says "I goed to the park" and "I have two foots." In language development, these productions are best understood as:

  1. proof that the child is imitating adult speech
  2. a sign of a language disorder needing referral
  3. a transfer error from the first language
  4. the child is overapplying an internalized rule Correct answer.

Explanation

Overgeneralization errors such as "goed" and "foots" show that the child has extracted a regular pattern (past tense -ed, plural -s) and applies it beyond the irregular forms that do not follow it. This is a normal, temporary phase indicating active rule construction rather than confusion or imitation.

Question 11Language and Language Development

A Spanish-speaking English learner says "I have twenty years" instead of "I am twenty years old." This error is best classified as:

  1. negative transfer from the first language Correct answer.
  2. a developmental error unrelated to L1
  3. overgeneralization of an L2 rule
  4. fossilization

Explanation

Negative transfer, or interference, occurs when a learner applies a pattern from the first language that does not hold in the second; Spanish uses "tener" plus a number of years for age, and that pattern is carried into English. Contrastive analysis predicts such errors by comparing the two systems.

Question 12Language and Language Development

A learner's evolving rule system that draws on both the first and second language while following its own internal logic is known as:

  1. pidgin
  2. interlanguage Correct answer.
  3. register
  4. dialect

Explanation

Selinker's concept of interlanguage describes the systematic, transitional grammar a learner builds between the first and target languages; it is internally consistent and changes as proficiency grows. It is not a reduced contact language or a regional variety of a community's speech.

Question 13Language and Language Development

A student produces grammatically accurate English but speaks to the principal using the same slang and tone used with close friends. According to Canale and Swain's model, the student most needs to develop:

  1. discourse competence
  2. strategic competence
  3. sociolinguistic competence Correct answer.
  4. grammatical competence

Explanation

Sociolinguistic competence is the ability to select language that fits the setting, participants, and purpose, including appropriate register and politeness norms. The student's grammar is already accurate, so the gap lies in matching language to social context.

Question 14Language and Language Development

Which of the following affixes is derivational rather than inflectional?

  1. -est in tallest
  2. -er in teacher Correct answer.
  3. -ed in walked
  4. -s in cats

Explanation

Derivational affixes create new words, often changing the part of speech, as when the verb "teach" becomes the noun "teacher." Inflectional affixes such as -ed, plural -s, and -est only add grammatical information to an existing word without creating a new lexical item.

Question 15Language and Language Development

Spanish "embarazada" means "pregnant," but an English learner assumes it means "embarrassed." Pairs of this kind, which look alike but differ in meaning across languages, are called:

  1. homophones
  2. loanwords
  3. false cognates Correct answer.
  4. cognates

Explanation

False cognates, or false friends, are words in two languages that resemble each other but carry different meanings, making them a frequent source of interference for language learners. True cognates, by contrast, share both form and meaning, as with English "family" and Spanish "familia."

Question 16Language and Language Development

A student writes "Hey, what's up?" in the introduction of a formal science report. The primary problem with this choice is one of:

  1. register Correct answer.
  2. syntax
  3. morphology
  4. phonology

Explanation

Register is the variety of language a speaker or writer selects to fit a particular audience, purpose, and setting; informal conversational language clashes with the expectations of academic writing. The sentence is structurally and morphologically well formed, so the difficulty lies in appropriateness rather than grammar.

Question 17Language and Language Development

A teacher guides a student through a science task the student could not yet complete alone, gradually withdrawing support as the student takes over. This practice is grounded in the concept of:

  1. the zone of proximal development Correct answer.
  2. the critical period for language
  3. the affective filter
  4. universal grammar

Explanation

Vygotsky's zone of proximal development is the range of tasks a learner can accomplish with skilled assistance but not yet independently, and scaffolding within that zone is how new competence is constructed. The teacher's temporary, graduated support is the defining feature of this concept.

Question 18Language and Language Development

According to Krashen's affective filter hypothesis, a high affective filter:

  1. it speeds up academic language growth
  2. it has no measurable effect on acquisition
  3. it limits the intake of comprehensible input Correct answer.
  4. it increases the intake of comprehensible input

Explanation

The affective filter is a metaphorical barrier of anxiety, low motivation, or low self-confidence that can keep comprehensible input from being processed by the language acquisition device. Lowering the filter through a supportive, low-anxiety classroom allows more input to become intake.

Question 19Language and Language Development

A bilingual student moves back and forth between Spanish and English within a single conversation with a peer who shares both languages. This behavior is best described as:

  1. fossilization
  2. the silent period
  3. language loss
  4. code-switching Correct answer.

Explanation

Code-switching is the systematic alternation between two languages within a conversation or utterance, governed by the speaker's communicative purposes and the shared repertoire of the participants. It is a normal feature of bilingual interaction rather than a sign of confusion or deficit.

Question 20Language and Language Development

A newly arrived English learner rarely speaks during the first several months, though she follows directions and responds nonverbally. The most appropriate teacher response is to:

  1. require the student to speak in every class discussion
  2. refer the student for a special education evaluation right away
  3. retain the student in a lower grade until English improves
  4. offer comprehensible input and low-pressure participation Correct answer.

Explanation

Many second-language learners pass through a silent period during which they build comprehension before producing speech, so teachers should supply rich comprehensible input and accept nonverbal and low-stakes participation. Pressuring speech or making placement decisions during this normal stage can raise anxiety without supporting acquisition.

Question 21Language and Language Development

In English, the /p/ in "pin" is pronounced with a puff of air while the /p/ in "spin" is not, yet native speakers hear both as the same sound. This shows that:

  1. aspiration changes the meaning of these words
  2. they are allophones of a single English phoneme Correct answer.
  3. English spelling decides phoneme identity
  4. English has two separate /p/ phonemes

Explanation

Allophones are predictable phonetic variants of one phoneme that occur in different environments; aspiration of /p/ is determined by position and never creates a contrast in meaning in English. Because swapping the two variants does not change word meaning, they belong to the same phoneme.

Question 22Language and Language Development

A Spanish-speaking English learner consistently says "eschool" for "school" and "estreet" for "street." The most likely explanation is:

  1. overgeneralization of an English grammar rule
  2. Spanish syllable structure, which disallows initial /sk/ Correct answer.
  3. a morphological error in word formation
  4. a semantic confusion between two similar words

Explanation

Spanish phonotactics do not permit word-initial /s/ plus consonant clusters, so speakers insert a prothetic vowel, a process called epenthesis, to fit the English word into a permissible syllable shape. This is a phonological transfer effect operating below the level of meaning or morphology.

Question 23Language and Language Development

Krashen's monitor hypothesis proposes that conscious knowledge of grammar rules:

  1. replaces the need for comprehensible input
  2. occurs mainly during the silent period
  3. monitors only output from the acquired system Correct answer.
  4. is the primary route to conversational fluency

Explanation

In Krashen's model, the monitor is the editing function of consciously learned rules, which can inspect and adjust utterances produced by the acquired system but cannot generate fluent speech itself. Monitoring is limited by available time, focus on form, and knowledge of the rule.

Question 24Language and Language Development

Research on cross-linguistic transfer in bilingual learners supports which conclusion?

  1. decoding and comprehension strategies do not transfer
  2. L1 literacy must be suppressed while learning L2
  3. L1 literacy and academic skills can support L2 learning Correct answer.
  4. literacy skills learned in L1 delay L2 literacy growth

Explanation

Findings summarized in Cummins's common underlying proficiency model indicate that literacy, academic concepts, and learning strategies developed in the first language are available to support second-language academic development. Strong L1 literacy therefore tends to facilitate rather than obstruct L2 achievement.

Question 25Language and Language Development

A student who speaks African American English says "He be working" to express habitual action. The most accurate interpretation is that this is:

  1. a regular feature of the student's dialect Correct answer.
  2. a morphosyntactic deficit needing referral
  3. an interlanguage error of a beginner
  4. clear evidence of a language delay

Explanation

African American English marks habitual aspect with "be," a systematic and rule-governed grammatical feature of the dialect rather than a random or deficient form. Distinguishing dialect features from disorder requires knowledge of the dialect's grammar so that students are not misidentified for special education.

Question 26Language and Language Development

A minimal pair in phonology is best described as:

  1. Two words that differ in one sound in the same position and carry different meanings Correct answer.
  2. Two words that share a spelling but are pronounced differently
  3. Two sounds that are predictable, non-contrastive variants of a single phoneme
  4. Two sentences that convey the same meaning with different structures

Explanation

A minimal pair substitutes one phoneme in the same position of otherwise identical words to show that the two sounds contrast in the language, as in 'pat' and 'bat.' The substitution test is the standard evidence that two sounds belong to separate phonemes.

Question 27Language and Language Development

How many bound morphemes are there in the word 'unhappiness'?

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

Explanation

The word divides into un- (a bound prefix meaning 'not'), happy (a free root), and -ness (a bound suffix that forms a noun). Only the prefix and suffix cannot stand alone, so there are two bound morphemes.

Question 28Language and Language Development

Which pair of English consonants is distinguished only by voicing?

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

Explanation

Both /p/ and /b/ are voiceless and voiced bilabial stops, so the only difference between them is whether the vocal folds vibrate. Such pairs allow words like 'pin' and 'bin' to contrast.

Question 29Language and Language Development

Cummins's distinction between BICS and CALP is best described as the difference between:

  1. Everyday conversational fluency and the decontextualized language of academic content Correct answer.
  2. Grammar-focused instruction and meaning-focused immersion
  3. Spoken language and written language in school settings
  4. Receptive skills and productive skills

Explanation

BICS refers to context-embedded, cognitively undemanding conversational proficiency, which typically develops within about two years. CALP refers to context-reduced, cognitively demanding academic language, which usually takes five to seven years to develop.

Question 30Language and Language Development

A 20-month-old calls every four-legged animal a 'doggie,' including cats and horses. In semantic development this pattern is called:

  1. Telegraphic speech
  2. Overregularization
  3. Overextension Correct answer.
  4. Underextension

Explanation

Overextension occurs when a child applies a word beyond its conventional category boundaries, as when 'doggie' covers all four-legged animals. It reflects an early, broad hypothesis about word meaning that narrows with experience.

Question 31Language and Language Development

Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to:

  1. Use context clues to infer the meaning of unfamiliar words
  2. Match printed letters to the sounds they represent
  3. Apply grammatical rules to produce well-formed sentences
  4. Notice and manipulate the individual sounds within spoken words Correct answer.

Explanation

Phonemic awareness is an auditory, oral ability: the learner can isolate, blend, segment, and delete individual phonemes in spoken words. It does not depend on print and is a strong predictor of later decoding success.

Question 32Language and Language Development

Which word contains a consonant digraph that stands for a single phoneme?

  1. Jump
  2. Hand
  3. Ship Correct answer.
  4. Stop

Explanation

In 'ship' the letters 'sh' spell the single phoneme /ʃ/, so the two letters map onto one sound. This makes 'sh' a consonant digraph.

Question 33Language and Language Development

A Spanish-speaking English learner can often infer the meaning of English 'family' from Spanish 'familia' because the two words are:

  1. Homophones
  2. Minimal pairs
  3. Cognates Correct answer.
  4. False friends

Explanation

Cognates are words in two languages that descend from a common source and resemble each other in form and meaning, as 'familia' and 'family' do. Recognizing cognates is a well-supported vocabulary strategy for learners whose first language shares Latin roots with English.

Question 34Language and Language Development

A two-year-old says 'Daddy shoe' to mean 'That is Daddy's shoe.' This omission of function words and inflections is characteristic of:

  1. Underextension
  2. The holophrastic stage
  3. Telegraphic speech Correct answer.
  4. Overregularization

Explanation

Telegraphic speech consists of short utterances that keep content words while omitting articles, auxiliary verbs, and inflectional endings, much like a telegram. It typically appears in the third year of life and shows that meaning is being combined before grammar is fully in place.

Question 35Language and Language Development

A student looks at an open window and says to a classmate, 'It's cold in here,' intending the classmate to close the window. The utterance is best analyzed as:

  1. A conversational repair
  2. An indirect speech act Correct answer.
  3. A display question
  4. A direct request

Explanation

An indirect speech act carries a literal meaning (a statement about temperature) that differs from the speaker's intended function (a request to close the window). The listener must infer the intent from context rather than from the sentence form.

Question 36Language and Language Development

A writer links sentences with transitions such as 'however' and 'in addition' and with pronouns such as 'this idea.' These devices chiefly create:

  1. Register
  2. Cohesion Correct answer.
  3. Syntax
  4. Coherence

Explanation

Cohesion is the surface-level linking of sentences through explicit devices such as transition words, pronoun reference, and repetition. Coherence, by contrast, is the reader's sense that the ideas themselves fit together logically.

Question 37Language and Language Development

An adult who has lived in an English-speaking country for fifteen years still says 'He go to work every day,' and the form no longer changes despite continued exposure and correction. This pattern is best described as:

  1. A transitional stage
  2. An acquisition-order effect
  3. Fossilization Correct answer.
  4. A transfer error

Explanation

Fossilization is the persistent stabilization of a nonnative form in a learner's interlanguage, typically when the learner's communication succeeds without the target form and development stops. The key indicators are long-term stability and resistance to corrective feedback.

Question 38Language and Language Development

A dual-language program helps students maintain and develop their home language while they add English. The outcome is best described as:

  1. Subtractive bilingualism
  2. Receptive bilingualism
  3. Additive bilingualism Correct answer.
  4. Sequential bilingualism

Explanation

Additive bilingualism results when the second language is acquired without loss of the first, so the learner's total linguistic repertoire grows. Programs that support the home language while teaching English are designed to produce this outcome.

Question 39Language and Language Development

A child who acquires Vietnamese and English from birth, hearing both languages regularly at home and in the community, is best described as:

  1. A simultaneous bilingual Correct answer.
  2. An emergent bilingual
  3. A sequential bilingual
  4. A passive bilingual

Explanation

Simultaneous bilingualism refers to acquiring two languages at the same time during early childhood, typically from birth or shortly thereafter. Sequential bilingualism, by contrast, involves learning a second language after a first language is already established.

Question 40Language and Language Development

During a cooperative group task, a listener says, 'Wait, do you mean the bus or the train?' and the speaker restates the message more clearly. This exchange illustrates:

  1. The affective filter
  2. Negotiation of meaning Correct answer.
  3. Comprehensible output
  4. Code-switching

Explanation

Negotiation of meaning occurs when interlocutors signal a comprehension problem and then modify their language, through clarification requests, confirmation checks, or restatements, until understanding is reached. The interaction hypothesis holds that these modifications make input more learnable.

Question 41Language and Language Development

A teacher says, 'Some of you finished the homework.' A student infers that not everyone finished. That inference is best described as:

  1. An entailment
  2. A speech act
  3. A conversational implicature Correct answer.
  4. A presupposition

Explanation

The inference arises from the assumption that speakers give as much information as required, so using 'some' rather than 'all' suggests 'not all.' Because the inference depends on cooperative norms rather than on logical necessity, it is a conversational implicature.

Question 42Language and Language Development

Expressions such as 'the foot of the mountain' and 'the foot of the bed' extend the meaning of 'foot' from the human body. This phenomenon is best described as:

  1. Polysemy Correct answer.
  2. Hyponymy
  3. Antonymy
  4. Homonymy

Explanation

Polysemy describes one word with several related senses that radiate from a core meaning, which is what happens when a body-part term is extended by metaphor to objects. Homonymy, in contrast, involves unrelated words that happen to share a form.

Question 43Language and Language Development

Which sequence correctly orders the stages of second-language acquisition?

  1. Early production, pre-production, intermediate fluency, speech emergence, advanced fluency
  2. Pre-production, speech emergence, early production, advanced fluency, intermediate fluency
  3. Pre-production, early production, speech emergence, intermediate fluency, advanced fluency Correct answer.
  4. Speech emergence, pre-production, early production, intermediate fluency, advanced fluency

Explanation

Second-language learners typically move from a silent pre-production period, to short formulaic utterances in early production, to productive phrases and sentences in speech emergence, and finally to intermediate and advanced fluency. Each stage builds on the previous one, although the pace varies by learner.

Question 44Language and Language Development

A first grader can explain that 'big' and 'large' mean nearly the same thing and can say that 'dog' is made up of three separate sounds. This learner is demonstrating:

  1. Metalinguistic awareness Correct answer.
  2. Pragmatic competence
  3. Syntactic knowledge
  4. Phonological memory

Explanation

Metalinguistic awareness is the ability to treat language itself as an object of reflection, such as judging synonymy or segmenting a spoken word into sounds. It supports both vocabulary learning and early reading development.

Question 45Language and Language Development

'Thrifty' and 'stingy' can describe similar behavior, so a writer's choice between them depends mainly on the words':

  1. Part of speech
  2. Denotation
  3. Phonological form
  4. Connotation Correct answer.

Explanation

Connotation is the emotional or evaluative coloring a word carries beyond its literal meaning: 'thrifty' is approving, while 'stingy' is disapproving. Denotation, the literal referent, is roughly the same for both words.

Question 46Language and Language Development

The strong form of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, known as linguistic relativity, holds that:

  1. All human languages share an underlying universal grammar
  2. The language a person speaks shapes or determines how that person perceives and categorizes experience Correct answer.
  3. Children acquire language mainly through imitation and reinforcement
  4. Language and thought develop along independent, unrelated paths

Explanation

Linguistic relativity claims that the categories encoded in a language influence or even determine habitual thought and perception. Contemporary research tends to support weaker versions, in which language biases attention and memory without fully determining thought.

Question 47Language and Language Development

Swain's output hypothesis differs from Krashen's input hypothesis mainly by claiming that:

  1. Comprehensible input by itself fully accounts for language acquisition
  2. Producing the target language pushes learners to notice gaps and process grammar more deeply Correct answer.
  3. Grammar rules must be taught explicitly before learners attempt to speak
  4. Affective variables such as anxiety determine the rate of acquisition

Explanation

Swain argued that when learners must speak or write, they are pushed to make their meaning precise, which reveals gaps between what they want to say and what they can say. This noticing and reprocessing of form is claimed to promote acquisition beyond what input alone provides.

Question 48Language and Language Development

In Canale and Swain's framework of communicative competence, the ability to organize utterances into a coherent conversation, taking turns and opening and closing appropriately, is called:

  1. Strategic competence
  2. Phonological competence
  3. Discourse competence Correct answer.
  4. Grammatical competence

Explanation

Discourse competence is the ability to connect utterances into coherent, well-organized stretches of spoken or written language, including managing turn-taking and conversation structure. It operates above the sentence level, in contrast to grammatical competence.

Question 49Language and Language Development

In English, 'REcord' (noun) and 'reCORD' (verb) are distinct words that differ only in stress. This shows that:

  1. Suprasegmental features can be phonemic in English Correct answer.
  2. These two forms are homophones
  3. Stress carries no meaning in English
  4. English distinguishes words by vowel length alone

Explanation

Stress is a suprasegmental feature, meaning it extends over more than a single segment. Because shifting stress changes word identity here, stress functions contrastively, or phonemically, in English for such pairs.

Question 50Language and Language Development

The sentence 'Flying planes can be dangerous' is ambiguous because:

  1. The sentence contains a pronoun without an antecedent
  2. The sentence violates a selectional restriction on its verb
  3. One surface sequence corresponds to two different underlying structures: planes that fly, or the act of flying planes Correct answer.
  4. One word in the sentence has two unrelated dictionary meanings

Explanation

Structural ambiguity arises when a single string of words can be parsed with two different phrase structures, each with a different meaning. Here 'flying' is either a modifier of 'planes' or the head of a gerund phrase taking 'planes' as its object.