FTCE ESOL K-12 flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound that distinguishes meaning in a language, such as /p/ versus /b/ in pit and bit. English has roughly 44 phonemes, varying by dialect and analysis.

Morpheme

The smallest unit of meaning in a word. Free morphemes can stand alone (book); bound morphemes must attach to a base (re-, -ed, -s). Unbelievably contains four morphemes.

Pragmatics

The study of how context shapes meaning, including implied intent, politeness, and indirect requests. A question like 'Can you open the window?' may function as a request rather than a yes/no question.

BICS and CALP

Cummins' terms for conversational fluency (BICS, about 1-3 years) and academic language proficiency (CALP, about 5-7 years). Conversational fluency can mask academic language gaps in ELLs.

Comprehensible input (i+1)

Krashen's claim that language acquisition occurs when learners receive input slightly beyond their current level. The 'i' is current competence and '+1' is the next increment of difficulty.

Affective filter

Krashen's construct describing how anxiety, low motivation, or low self-confidence can block language acquisition. A low filter allows input to be processed; a high filter impedes it.

Language transfer

The influence of a learner's first language on second-language production and comprehension. Transfer can be positive (facilitating) or negative (interference), such as adding /e/ before English s-clusters.

Interlanguage

The evolving rule system a language learner constructs between the first language and the target language. Errors often reflect active rule-building rather than carelessness or lack of ability.

Cognates and false cognates

Words in two languages that share form and meaning (familia/family) are cognates and aid comprehension. False cognates look similar but differ in meaning (embarazada means pregnant, not embarrassed).

Deep versus surface culture

Surface culture includes visible elements like food, dress, and festivals. Deep culture includes values, beliefs, communication norms, and concepts of time and politeness, which drive most classroom misunderstandings.

High-context communication

Hall's term for communication that relies heavily on shared context, indirectness, and nonverbal cues rather than explicit verbal statements. U.S. schools tend to be comparatively low-context.

Individualism versus collectivism

Hofstede's dimension contrasting cultures that emphasize personal independence and self-expression with those that emphasize group harmony and interdependence. It shapes attitudes toward group work and public correction.

Power distance

Hofstede's dimension describing how cultures accept unequal distributions of authority. In high power-distance cultures, students may avoid debate or eye contact as a sign of respect for teachers.

Cultural relativism

The stance of interpreting behavior within its own cultural frame rather than judging it by one's own standards. It contrasts with ethnocentrism and underpins culturally responsive teaching.

Acculturation strategies (Berry)

Four strategies based on maintaining heritage culture and participating in the new culture: assimilation, integration, separation, and marginalization. Integration, or biculturalism, is linked to better adjustment.

Culture shock stages

A predictable sequence including honeymoon, frustration or hostility, adjustment, and adaptation. Newcomers may show withdrawal, fatigue, or acting-out during the frustration stage.

Culturally responsive pedagogy

An approach associated with Ladson-Billings and Gay that promotes academic success, cultural competence, and critical consciousness by using students' cultural referents as instructional resources rather than deficits.

Equity versus equality

Equality gives every student the same input; equity provides what each student needs to reach the same standard. Deficit thinking about students' backgrounds is a documented barrier to ELL achievement.

SIOP components

Eight components: lesson preparation, building background, comprehensible input, strategies, interaction, practice/application, lesson delivery, and review/assessment. Each has observable features used in classroom observation.

Language objective

A statement naming a language function plus the support students will use, such as explaining the water cycle with sequence words and a labeled diagram. It pairs with a content objective.

WIDA proficiency levels

Six levels: Entering, Emerging, Developing, Expanding, Bridging, and Reaching. They describe English language development across the five WIDA ELD standards for academic and social language.

Scaffolding

Temporary supports such as modeling, sentence frames, graphic organizers, and leveled texts that make content accessible. Scaffolds are gradually removed as learner proficiency increases.

Sheltered instruction

Teaching grade-level content in English with modified speech, visuals, hands-on materials, cooperative grouping, and explicit vocabulary support, while maintaining high content expectations for ELLs.

Dual-language immersion

An additive bilingual model in which English learners and English speakers learn together in two languages, with the goal of bilingualism and biliteracy rather than rapid transition to English only.

Transitional bilingual education

A subtractive model that provides initial native-language support and moves students into English-only instruction, typically within a few years, without aiming for lasting bilingualism.

Co-teaching models

Six arrangements for two teachers in one classroom: one teach/one observe, one teach/one assist, station teaching, parallel teaching, alternative teaching, and team teaching. Each distributes roles differently.

Comprehensible output (Swain)

The claim that producing language, not only receiving it, pushes learners to process syntax and refine accuracy. Structured oral and written tasks create this productive pressure.

Formative versus summative assessment

Formative assessment is ongoing and used to adjust instruction during learning. Summative assessment measures achievement at the end of a unit. Both must be accessible to ELLs.

Assessment validity

The degree to which a test measures what it claims to measure. A test can be reliable yet invalid for ELLs if language load confounds the content being assessed.

Test accommodations for ELLs

Permitted supports such as extended time, bilingual glossaries, simplified English directions, visual supports, and small-group administration, according to state rules and the student's plan.

Assessment bias

Systematic error from cultural assumptions, complex or idiomatic language, or differential item functioning. Items should be reviewed for both cultural and linguistic bias before use with ELLs.

Analytic versus holistic rubrics

Analytic rubrics score dimensions separately (content, organization, language) and give diagnostic feedback. Holistic rubrics give one overall score. Analytic rubrics are more informative for ELLs.