TExES Bilingual Ed 164 key terms

Conversational language used in everyday, face-to-face social situations. It develops in about one to two years and is supported by context, gestures, and shared experience, so students often sound fluent long before they can handle academic reading and writing.

The language students need to understand and produce school content in decontextualized settings such as textbooks, lectures, and tests. It takes roughly five to seven years to develop and depends on vocabulary, complex syntax, and abstract reasoning.

The specialized vocabulary, sentence structures, and discourse patterns used to teach and test content in school. It includes cross-curricular words, subject-specific terms, and the language functions students use to explain, compare, and argue.

A learner's overall ability to understand and use a language across listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It is usually described in levels that combine accuracy, fluency, and range, and it grows unevenly across the four modalities.

The language in which a bilingual person is stronger or more comfortable at a given time. Dominance can shift with context, topic, and schooling, and it may differ across skills, such as stronger oral skills in one language and literacy in the other.

Carrying knowledge, patterns, or strategies from one language into another. Positive transfer helps when features are similar; negative transfer produces errors when the languages differ, but errors often reflect active hypothesis testing rather than confusion.

A method of comparing two languages' sound, word, and sentence systems to predict where learners may struggle or succeed. Teachers use it to anticipate interference and to decide which structures need explicit, focused instruction.

Words in two languages that share a common origin and similar form and meaning, such as 'family' and 'familia.' Teaching students to recognize them builds vocabulary quickly, though teachers must flag false cognates whose meanings differ.

An approach in which learning a second language adds to, rather than replaces, the first. Students keep and strengthen their home language while acquiring English, which supports identity, family communication, and long-term academic achievement.

A process in which the second language gradually displaces the first, so the learner loses ground in the home language. It is associated with programs that ignore or discourage the native language and can harm self-concept and family ties.

The gradual replacement of one language by another in a person or community over time, often across generations. Schools can slow or accelerate it through language policies, family engagement, and opportunities to use the heritage language.

A language a student has a family or cultural connection to but may not fully control, especially in literacy. Heritage speakers often have strong listening and speaking skills and need support with academic registers and formal writing.

The combined word knowledge a bilingual student holds across two languages, including concepts stored once with labels in each language. Instruction that connects and contrasts words in both languages strengthens retrieval and comprehension.

The practice of drawing flexibly on a learner's full linguistic repertoire to make meaning, such as discussing a concept in one language and writing about it in another. It treats bilingualism as a resource rather than a barrier.

Shifting between two languages within a conversation or sentence. It can serve social, rhetorical, or strategic purposes and is a normal feature of skilled bilingual speech rather than evidence of language confusion.

Acquisition is the natural, subconscious development of a language through meaningful use; learning is conscious study of rules and forms. Classroom programs aim to provide acquisition-rich interaction alongside focused learning of academic language.

Language addressed to learners that is slightly beyond their current level but made understandable through context, visuals, repetition, and paraphrasing. It is a core condition for second-language growth in content classrooms.

Organizational plans for educating multilingual students, such as transitional, developmental, dual-language, and English-only models. Each model differs in how long the native language is used and in its goals for bilingualism.

A program that begins with instruction in the student's native language and gradually moves to English-only instruction, usually within a few years. Its stated goal is English proficiency, not lasting bilingualism.

A program in which two groups of students, or one group of learners, are taught in two languages with the goal of full bilingualism and biliteracy. Instruction is often split by time or subject across the school day.

Teaching grade-level content in English using techniques such as visuals, modeled language, and structured interaction so that language learners can access the curriculum while developing English. It pairs content objectives with language objectives.

A program that provides English language instruction, often in pull-out or push-in formats, to students learning English. It may or may not use the native language for support and varies in how it connects to content classes.

Statements describing the language students will use or develop in a lesson, such as reading, writing, or discussing with specific structures. They complement content objectives and make language demands explicit.

A school's schedule for how much instructional time and which subjects are taught in each language. Clear allocation supports consistent language development and helps teachers, students, and families know what to expect.

A test or rating used to measure a student's abilities in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Results guide placement, program decisions, and instructional planning and are often required for identification and exit.

A questionnaire completed by families when a student enrolls, asking which language is used at home and by the student. Responses help schools decide whether further language proficiency screening is needed.

The ways families participate in and support their child's schooling, from attending conferences to reinforcing language at home. Strong home-school partnerships, offered in a family's preferred language, improve student outcomes and trust.

The ability to understand, respect, and respond effectively to people from different cultural backgrounds. It includes awareness of one's own assumptions, knowledge of students' communities, and skills for adapting instruction and communication.

Instruction that uses students' cultural knowledge, experiences, and frames of reference as resources for learning. It connects content to students' lives, holds high expectations, and examines whose perspectives are represented in the curriculum.

The skills, knowledge, and networks families and communities possess, such as work skills, storytelling, and caregiving expertise. Teachers who learn about these assets can design lessons that build on what students already know.

The process of adapting to a new culture while retaining elements of one's own. It can take different forms and speeds, and schools can ease it by valuing students' home cultures and offering supportive, predictable environments.

The stress and disorientation people feel when adjusting to an unfamiliar cultural environment. In students it may appear as withdrawal, frustration, or behavior changes, and it calls for patience, routines, and connection to peers.

The statutes, court rulings, and regulations that govern how schools identify, serve, and monitor multilingual students. Key principles include equal access to the curriculum, appropriate services, and informed parent choice.

The legal and ethical principle that all students must have meaningful access to the same curriculum and school resources, regardless of language background. Schools must provide services that overcome language barriers rather than merely enrolling students.

The process and criteria used to determine that a student no longer needs specialized language services and moves to full participation in mainstream instruction. Decisions typically combine test scores, teacher judgment, and monitoring of later progress.