TESOL Exam Review Set 2026–2027 | Complete ESL
Certification Prep, Practice Questions, Grammar &
Teaching Strategies
"Charlie gave his sister a new sweater." In this sentence, the word "sister" is:
A: An object pronoun
B: An indirect object
C: A direct object
D: A predicate nominative - correct answers -B: An indirect object
An ESL teacher is working with a small group of students on a multiplication word problem. During the
lesson, one of the students asks the teacher how to solve a specific part of the problem. Instead of
walking the student through the previously learned strategy, the teacher asks the rest of the group how
they solved that part of the problem. As the other students in the group answer, the teacher confirms or
clarifies their solving strategies. The primary benefit of this technique is that:
A: The students' critical thinking skills are strengthened.
B: The teacher is using an inquiry-based strategy for second language
acquisition.
C: The ESL students are encouraged to independently solve the problems
and create strategies for overcoming difficulty.
D: It helps build the ESL students' confidence in independent problem solving and their mathematical
knowledge. - correct answers -D: It helps build the ESL students' confidence in independent problem
solving and their mathematical knowledge.
There is an ESL classroom that has students who speak Hindi, Spanish, Korean, Italian, Farsi, and Russian.
In which of the following situations would the students be benefited from being paired with speakers of
a language different than their own?
1
,A: When students are giving presentations on a show and tell item they brought from home that
represents their culture
B: When the teacher is instructing students on pronunciation differences
C: When the students are working on problem-solving or cooperative
learning tasks assigned by the teacher
D: When students are correcting each other's math homework - correct answers -C: When the students
are working on problem-solving or cooperative
learning tasks assigned by the teacher
These English Language Learners do not require explicit instruction English discourse patterns such as
word stress, intonation, and sentence rhythms:
A: Spanish speakers
B: Students with strengths in mathematics
C: Students at younger ages
D: Visual learners - correct answers -C: Students at younger ages
When asked for a rationale behind ESL instruction, the teacher answers that:
"Communication requires both sending and receiving messages.
Production and reception are simply two sides of the same coin.
Spoken and written language tend to reinforce one another."
Why does he use these phrases as his rationale?
A: ESL instruction integrates the four language modes rather than
teaching them as discrete skills.
B: ESL instruction presents all information in meaningful contexts.
2
, C: ESL instruction emphasizes real life application over rote memorization.
D: ESL instruction incorporates the use of authentic literature. - correct answers -A: ESL instruction
integrates the four language modes rather than
teaching them as discrete skills.
A mixed intermediate- and advanced-level fourth-grade ESL class is reading a chapter book together.
The teacher expects that some students may have trouble understanding the following sentence spoken
by the main character, Leigh, about his father: "I had learned by now that I couldn't count on anything
he said."Which of the following questions would most likely effectively test the ESL students'
comprehension of the sentence?
A: How many conversations did Leigh have with his dad?
B: How does Leigh feel about his dad?
C: What does it mean to count someone's words?
D: What are Leigh and his dad counting? - correct answers -B: How does Leigh feel about his dad?
A subset of bilingual students who can somewhat easily read short stories and chapter books are having
difficulty with reading comprehension during content-area lessons. How can the teacher effectively fix
this problem?
A: Have students go on a dictionary scavenger hunt for the vocabulary words in each section.
B: Do a mini-lesson that focuses on the reading comprehension strategy of differentiating between fact
and opinion.
C: Use lower-level nonfiction texts and make the comprehension questions easier for the students to
answer.
D: Explicitly teach the students about nonfiction texts' parts and format and the specialized terminology
and language used in nonfiction texts. - correct answers -D: Explicitly teach the students about
nonfiction texts' parts and format and the specialized terminology and language used in nonfiction texts.
As the students in a fifth-grade ESL class begin a new unit in science over the changes made in Earth's
surface, the teacher invites them to discuss what they already know. The students make a list of what
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Certification Prep, Practice Questions, Grammar &
Teaching Strategies
"Charlie gave his sister a new sweater." In this sentence, the word "sister" is:
A: An object pronoun
B: An indirect object
C: A direct object
D: A predicate nominative - correct answers -B: An indirect object
An ESL teacher is working with a small group of students on a multiplication word problem. During the
lesson, one of the students asks the teacher how to solve a specific part of the problem. Instead of
walking the student through the previously learned strategy, the teacher asks the rest of the group how
they solved that part of the problem. As the other students in the group answer, the teacher confirms or
clarifies their solving strategies. The primary benefit of this technique is that:
A: The students' critical thinking skills are strengthened.
B: The teacher is using an inquiry-based strategy for second language
acquisition.
C: The ESL students are encouraged to independently solve the problems
and create strategies for overcoming difficulty.
D: It helps build the ESL students' confidence in independent problem solving and their mathematical
knowledge. - correct answers -D: It helps build the ESL students' confidence in independent problem
solving and their mathematical knowledge.
There is an ESL classroom that has students who speak Hindi, Spanish, Korean, Italian, Farsi, and Russian.
In which of the following situations would the students be benefited from being paired with speakers of
a language different than their own?
1
,A: When students are giving presentations on a show and tell item they brought from home that
represents their culture
B: When the teacher is instructing students on pronunciation differences
C: When the students are working on problem-solving or cooperative
learning tasks assigned by the teacher
D: When students are correcting each other's math homework - correct answers -C: When the students
are working on problem-solving or cooperative
learning tasks assigned by the teacher
These English Language Learners do not require explicit instruction English discourse patterns such as
word stress, intonation, and sentence rhythms:
A: Spanish speakers
B: Students with strengths in mathematics
C: Students at younger ages
D: Visual learners - correct answers -C: Students at younger ages
When asked for a rationale behind ESL instruction, the teacher answers that:
"Communication requires both sending and receiving messages.
Production and reception are simply two sides of the same coin.
Spoken and written language tend to reinforce one another."
Why does he use these phrases as his rationale?
A: ESL instruction integrates the four language modes rather than
teaching them as discrete skills.
B: ESL instruction presents all information in meaningful contexts.
2
, C: ESL instruction emphasizes real life application over rote memorization.
D: ESL instruction incorporates the use of authentic literature. - correct answers -A: ESL instruction
integrates the four language modes rather than
teaching them as discrete skills.
A mixed intermediate- and advanced-level fourth-grade ESL class is reading a chapter book together.
The teacher expects that some students may have trouble understanding the following sentence spoken
by the main character, Leigh, about his father: "I had learned by now that I couldn't count on anything
he said."Which of the following questions would most likely effectively test the ESL students'
comprehension of the sentence?
A: How many conversations did Leigh have with his dad?
B: How does Leigh feel about his dad?
C: What does it mean to count someone's words?
D: What are Leigh and his dad counting? - correct answers -B: How does Leigh feel about his dad?
A subset of bilingual students who can somewhat easily read short stories and chapter books are having
difficulty with reading comprehension during content-area lessons. How can the teacher effectively fix
this problem?
A: Have students go on a dictionary scavenger hunt for the vocabulary words in each section.
B: Do a mini-lesson that focuses on the reading comprehension strategy of differentiating between fact
and opinion.
C: Use lower-level nonfiction texts and make the comprehension questions easier for the students to
answer.
D: Explicitly teach the students about nonfiction texts' parts and format and the specialized terminology
and language used in nonfiction texts. - correct answers -D: Explicitly teach the students about
nonfiction texts' parts and format and the specialized terminology and language used in nonfiction texts.
As the students in a fifth-grade ESL class begin a new unit in science over the changes made in Earth's
surface, the teacher invites them to discuss what they already know. The students make a list of what
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