Language II (English)
Language II (English) tests the candidate's own English and the pedagogy of teaching it as a second language: comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, classroom interaction and assessment. Questions often ask which teacher response is most appropriate, so judge options by communicative purpose and learner level.
Core rules
- Communicative Language Teaching uses meaningful interaction, integrated listening, speaking, reading and writing, task-based work and information-gap activities; Total Physical Response and songs suit young learners.
- Grammar essentials: subject-verb agreement, articles, tense and aspect, prepositions, active/passive voice and direct/reported speech.
- Vocabulary is best taught through context clues, word families and collocations rather than isolated lists.
- Assessment should be formative and criterion-referenced; selective correction protects fluency while still teaching accuracy.
Worked example
She has been teaching here since 2015. The present perfect continuous shows an action that began in the past and continues now. Since introduces a starting point; for introduces duration. Contrast She teaches here (habit) and She taught here (finished past). The tense choice signals ongoing relevance, not just past time.
Traps
- Using since with a duration (since three years) instead of for.
- Missing singular agreement in one of the boys is.
- Omitting the article with superlatives and unique nouns.
- Producing I am agree instead of I agree.
- Over-correcting every error and silencing hesitant speakers.