NYSTCE Spanish (129) flashcards

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

ACTFL proficiency levels

The scale runs Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior, Distinguished. Novice through Advanced each split into Low, Mid, and High. Superior and Distinguished do not split, and Advanced High to Superior is the largest proficiency jump.

Three modes of communication

Interpretive (one-way reading or listening), interpersonal (spontaneous two-way negotiation of meaning), and presentational (prepared one-way speaking or writing). ACTFL groups all three under the Communication standard of the 5 Cs.

Integrated Performance Assessment

An IPA cycles through interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational tasks on one theme. The interpretive task uses an authentic text, and the interpersonal and presentational tasks build on that same content.

Ser vs. estar

Ser marks inherent traits, identity, origin, time, and event location; estar marks states, conditions, emotions, and spatial location of entities. Some adjectives shift meaning: ser listo (clever) vs. estar listo (ready).

Preterite vs. imperfect

Preterite marks bounded, completed, or sequential events; imperfect marks background, habitual, ongoing, or interrupted actions. Signal words: ayer/el año pasado (preterite) vs. siempre/todos los días/mientras (imperfect).

Subjunctive WEIRDO triggers

Wishes, Emotions, Impersonal expressions, Recommendations, Doubt/denial, and Ojalá. Time conjunctions (cuando, en cuanto, hasta que) also take subjunctive when the action is pending or future, and indicative when habitual.

Pro-drop (null subject)

Spanish omits subject pronouns because verb endings encode person and number. Pronouns appear only for emphasis, contrast, or disambiguation, as in Yo lo hice, no ella.

Spanish tap vs. trill

A single r is a brief alveolar tap, close to the tt in American English butter. A double rr is a trilled, multi-contact alveolar sound. The contrast is phonemic: pero (but) vs. perro (dog).

Spanish /b/ and /v/ merger

Spanish has a single bilabial phoneme for orthographic b and v, so vaca and baca sound identical. Learners must rely on spelling and word knowledge, not sound, to distinguish them.

Orthographic accent rules

Stress falls on the penultimate syllable if the word ends in a vowel, -n, or -s; otherwise on the final syllable. A written accent marks any deviation, and also distinguishes homophones such as sí/si, él/el, más/mas.

Heritage vs. L2 learners

Heritage speakers acquired Spanish at home and show strong oral fluency but often weaker literacy and formal register. L2 learners start with little prior exposure. Instruction should build on each group's existing competence.

Communicative Language Teaching

CLT organizes instruction around meaningful interaction and comprehensible input rather than grammar drills. Krashen's input hypothesis (i+1) and affective filter are its theoretical anchors.

Sheltered instruction (SIOP)

A framework for teaching content in the target language using visuals, scaffolds, and explicit language objectives alongside content objectives. It makes grade-level material comprehensible to language learners.

Total Physical Response (TPR)

A method pairing spoken commands with physical movement, targeting listening comprehension before production. It suits Novice learners and early elementary levels and lowers the affective filter.

Task-based language teaching

TBLT organizes lessons around real-world tasks such as ordering food or planning a trip. The cycle has a pre-task, a task phase, and a post-task language focus, rather than a grammar syllabus.

Code-switching in heritage learners

Alternating between Spanish and English within discourse is a normal bilingual strategy, not a deficit. Teachers distinguish it from incomplete acquisition and explicitly teach register shifting.

Formative vs. summative assessment

Formative assessment is ongoing and informs instruction: exit tickets, thumbs-up checks, think-pair-share. Summative assessment measures achievement at the end: unit IPA performance tasks and standardized tests.

Differentiation in Spanish class

Adjusting tasks to mixed proficiency through tiered activities, flexible grouping, choice boards, and sentence frames that are gradually removed as learners gain independence.

Affective filter

Krashen's hypothesis that anxiety, low motivation, and low self-confidence raise an internal filter that blocks language input from being processed. A low-anxiety classroom improves acquisition.

Comprehensible input (i+1)

Krashen's claim that acquisition occurs when learners receive input slightly beyond their current level (i+1). Input must be understood for acquisition to happen, so context and visuals matter.

Authentic materials

Texts produced for real audiences, not for learners: menus, news articles, podcasts, signs. Interpretive tasks use them because they reflect real-world language and cultural content.

Analytic rubric

A scoring tool that separates performance into distinct criteria, each rated on its own scale. It gives diagnostic feedback on specific skills such as fluency, accuracy, and vocabulary.

Holistic rubric

A scoring tool that rates the whole performance against one overall descriptor. It is faster to use than an analytic rubric but gives less diagnostic feedback to learners.

Interlanguage

The learner's developing rule system, which has features of both the first and second languages and is not simply an error-filled version of the target. Errors often reflect systematic hypotheses.

Fossilization

The persistence of non-target forms in a learner's interlanguage despite continued exposure and instruction. It often occurs when errors do not block communication and go uncorrected.

Negative transfer

When first-language patterns interfere with the second language, such as English word order in Spanish questions or using ser where estar is required.

Error vs. mistake

An error reflects a gap in the learner's underlying competence and is systematic. A mistake is a performance slip the learner can self-correct when attention is drawn to it.

Spanish definite article uses

Definite articles mark specific nouns, generic nouns in subject position, days of the week, and titles. They are omitted after ser plus an unmodified profession, as in Es profesora.

Gustar-type verbs

Verbs like gustar, encantar, and doler take an indirect object pronoun as the experiencer and a grammatical subject that is the thing liked or felt: Me duelen las piernas.

Reflexive verbs and pronouns

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nos, os, se) show the action returns to the subject: me lavo. Many verbs shift meaning: ir (go) vs. irse (leave).

Por vs. para

Por marks cause, exchange, duration, and movement through. Para marks destination, purpose, deadline, and recipient. Contrast: por ti (because of you) vs. para ti (for you).

Spanish syllable stress and hiatus

Strong vowels (a, e, o) adjacent form separate syllables (hiatus), while weak vowels (i, u) combine with strong vowels into diphthongs. Stress and written accents follow from this syllable structure.