Praxis 5038 study guide
Praxis 5038 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
Praxis 5038, English Language Arts: Content Knowledge, is a Praxis Subject Assessment delivered by ETS and used by states, school systems, and educator preparation programs as one requirement in the certification or licensure process for English language arts teachers. Candidates typically take it near the end of an educator preparation program, and preparation programs sometimes use the score as a completion or entry benchmark in addition to the state's own requirement. The test is organized around four content areas: reading literature; reading informational text and rhetoric; language and linguistics; and writing, speaking, and listening. Because the exam spans literary analysis, rhetorical reading, language structure and grammar, and composition and communication, preparation works best as a sustained review of all four rather than a cram on one. Topics on this exam: Reading: Literature, Reading: Informational Text and Rhetoric, Language and Linguistics, and Writing, Speaking, and Listening. The Praxis 5038 study guide has 4 sections and about 1,167 words.
01Reading: Literature
Literary items test precise vocabulary about how texts work. Know the elements of fiction and drama: plot and conflict, direct versus indirect characterization, setting and its function, and point of view-first person, third-person limited, omniscient, and objective (dramatic).
321 words, about 2 min02Reading: Informational Text and Rhetoric
Informational passages require central idea, supporting details, and text structure: description, chronological sequence, cause–effect, compare–contrast, and problem–solution. For rhetoric, identify the speaker’s purpose and audience, the claim, the evidence (facts, statistics, examples, testimony, anecdote), and the reasoning that links them.
290 words, about 1 min03Language and Linguistics
Linguistics items draw on five levels. Phonology covers phonemes (distinct sounds) and graphemes (written letters), plus phonemic awareness and phonics.
267 words, about 1 min04Writing, Speaking, and Listening
Writing items assume a recursive process: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing, with feedback loops. Know the major modes-narrative, informative/explanatory, and argumentative-and their organizational patterns.
289 words, about 1 min