TExES ESL Supplemental 154 cheat sheet
TExES ESL Supplemental 154 · Keep the key ideas within reach.
Language Concepts and Language Acquisition
Phoneme = smallest meaning-distinguishing sound unit; morpheme = smallest unit of meaning; syntax = word order and sentence structure; semantics = meaning; pragmatics = social use of language.
Krashen's five hypotheses: acquisition vs. learning, the monitor, natural order, comprehensible input (i+1), and the affective filter.
BICS = context-embedded conversational fluency, roughly 2 years to develop; CALP = context-reduced academic language, roughly 5-7 years.
Second-language stages in order: preproduction (silent period) → early production → speech emergence → intermediate fluency → advanced fluency.
Cummins' quadrants cross cognitive demand with context: BICS falls in context-embedded/undemanding; CALP falls in context-reduced/cognitively demanding.
L1 influence: positive transfer supports L2 learning; negative transfer (interference) produces errors such as omitted final consonants or adjective-noun order reversals.
Theoretical frames to match to scenarios: behaviorism (Skinner, imitation and reinforcement), nativism (Chomsky, LAD and universal grammar), cognitivism (Piaget), sociocultural (Vygotsky, ZPD).
Cognates share form and meaning across languages (family/familia); false cognates mislead. Code-switching is a normal bilingual strategy, not evidence of confusion.
ESL Instruction and Assessment
Texas ELPS define four proficiency levels (beginning, intermediate, advanced, advanced high) across four domains: listening, speaking, reading, writing.
SIOP's eight components: lesson preparation, building background, comprehensible input, strategies, interaction, practice/application, lesson delivery, review and assessment.
Texas Chapter 89 program rule: 20 or more English learners of the same language in a grade level → bilingual education required; fewer → ESL program.
Assessment contrasts: formative (during learning, adjusts instruction) vs. summative (end of unit, grades mastery); norm-referenced (compares to peers) vs. criterion-referenced (mastery of a standard).
TELPAS assesses K-12 English learners in listening, speaking, reading, and writing; speaking and writing are holistically rated from collected classroom evidence.
LPAC responsibilities: review proficiency and achievement data, identify and place ELs, recommend program, monitor progress, and make exit and exit-monitoring decisions.
Sheltered instruction = grade-level content delivered in English with scaffolds (visuals, sentence frames, modeled language) so ELs access curriculum while acquiring proficiency.
Strategy-to-stage matching: TPR and realia for preproduction; sentence frames and cooperative grouping for early production; academic-language scaffolds for advanced students.
Because BICS precedes CALP, a student who sounds socially fluent may still lack the academic language required to succeed on content-area assessments.
Foundations of ESL Education, Cultural Awareness, and Family and Community Involvement
Lau v. Nichols (1974): providing only English instruction to students who do not understand English denies a meaningful education; districts must supply language support.
Castañeda v. Pickett (1981) three-part test: the program rests on sound educational theory, is implemented with adequate resources, and is evaluated for effectiveness.
Plyler v. Doe (1982): schools may not deny enrollment based on immigration status; undocumented children are entitled to a free public education.
Federal anchors: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (1964), the Equal Educational Opportunities Act (1974), the Bilingual Education Act (1968, Title VII), and Title III of ESSA (EL funding and accountability).
Texas Chapter 89: bilingual education is required when 20 or more ELs of the same language are enrolled in a grade; otherwise an ESL program; PEIMS coding and LPAC documentation are mandated.
Additive bilingualism adds a second language while maintaining the first; subtractive bilingualism replaces L1 with English and is linked to language loss and weaker achievement.
Acculturation patterns: assimilation (adopt new culture, drop heritage), integration (retain both), separation (retain only heritage), marginalization (neither).
Epstein's six types of involvement: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community.
Distinguish cultural terms: ethnocentrism (own culture as the standard), stereotype (fixed overgeneralization), culture shock (disorientation from unfamiliar cultural cues).