LETRS Glossary Volume 1 Units 1-4 Exam Questions and Answers (2022/2023) with verified answers Grade A

LETRS Glossary Volume 1 Units 1-4 Grade A LETRS Glossary Volume 1 Units 1-4 Academic language Written or spoken language that is more stylistically formal than spoken conversational language; language that is most often used in academic discourse or text. Adjective A part of speech that describes a noun or person (e.g., windy, blue). Adverb A part of speech that describes a verd, adjective, or adverb (e.g., sadly, crookedly). Affricate A speech sound with features of both a fricative and a stop; in English, /ch/ and /j/ are ________. Allophones Slight alterations to pronunciation of phonemes resulting from phonemes overlapping with one another in a spoken word; these variations of pronunciation are predictable and unconscious, as most speakers make them. Allophonic variation The slightly different pronunciation of a phoneme, depending on its place in a word; for example, automatic nasalizing of a vowel before a nasal consonant. Alphabetic principle The concept that letters are used to represent individual phonemes in the spoken word; insight into this principle is critical for learning to read and spell. Antonym A word that overlaps with another word, but which has the opposite meaning. Automaticity The ability to read quickly and accurately without conscious effort. Background knowledge Preexisting knowledge of facts and ideas necessary to make inferences. Base words Words that can stand on their own, or can serve as part of another word, as a free morpheme. Benchmark A standard or a set of standards used as a threshold for predicting future risk for reading difficulty. Blend Two or three graphemes, each one representing a phoneme (e.g., the s-c-r in scrape); a ________ is not one sound, but two or three adjacent consonants before or after a vowel in a syllable. Characters The protagonist or who the story is about, plus optional secondary people or animals whose roles within the story help the plot to unfold. Clause A group of words that has a subject and a predicate and functions as a unit. Closed syllable A syllable with a short vowel spelled with a single vowel letter and ending in one or more consonants (e.g., hat, kit-ten). Coarticulation Occurs when phonemes are spoken together to produce syllables or words and the features of these phonemes are affected by the speech sounds that precede or follow them. Code switching The conscious effort to write and/or speak in a certain way, depending on the social context and/or whether the language is spoken or writer. Cognate A word in one language that shares a common ancestor and common meanings with a word in another language. Many Spanish words, such as "problema" or "diagrama," are ________ that are built around the same Latin and Greek prefixes, suffixes, or roots that English words also employ. Coherence The property of sticking together into a consistent whole; can refer to a quality of text or to the representation of meaning in a person's mind. Cohesive devices The specific linguistic devices by which a text hangs together, such as pronoun references, repeated phrases, or substitution or one phrase for another. Comparative adjective An adjective that compares two nouns or pronouns (e.g., Sarah is taller than Monique; the red flower is more colorful than the pink one). Complementary antonym An antonym that is mutually exclusive from its opposite term. Complex sentence A complex sentence has an independent clause and a dependent clause; the dependent clause only makes sense with the independent clause in the sentence (e.g., "When she came into the room, the class settled down."). Composition The skill of formulating ideas into words, incorporating subskills such as knowledge of the topic, vocabulary, and Standard English grammar and usage. Compound sentence A sentence with two independent clauses that are joined by a coordinating conjunction (e.g., "The cat crouched to pounce and her tail twitched."). Conditional verb forms A challenging sentence feature that expresses a situation that is hypothetical or highly unlikely (e.g. "If the apples were ripe, he might have made a tart."). Conjunctions The parts of speech that connect the words, phrases, or clauses and indicate the relationship between the elements joined. Conjunctive (connecting) adverbs Conjunctions that connect two independent clauses in one sentence or link ideas in two or more sentences. They often show cause and effect, sequence, or compare and contrast relationships. Consonant A phoneme (speech sound) that is not a vowel and that is formed by obstructing the flow or air with the teeth, lips, or tongue; English has 25 ________ phonemes. Consonant blend Two or three consonant phonemes before or after a vowel in a syllable (e.g., bl-, fr-, str-, -nd, -sp). Consonant-le (Cle) syllable An unaccented final syllable containing a consonant before / followed by silent e (e.g., ea - gle, drib - ble). Coordinating conjunctions Conjunctions that connect grammatically equal parts of sentences, such as words to words, phrases to phrases, and clauses to clauses. Curriculum-based measurements (CBMs) Standardized measurements that assess content that students should master by the end of the grade level that the measurement represents; requires standard administration and scoring. Decoding The ability to translate a word from print to speech, usually by employing knowledge of sound-symbol correspondences. Dependent clause A clause that begins with a subordinating conjunction or a realtive pronoun and expresses an incomplete thought; it can't stand on it's own (e.g., "after we went home" or "when the sun sets"). Derivational suffixes Grammatical endings that mark or determine the part of speech of the suffixed word. Diagnostic decoding survey A diagnostic tool that is used as a screening test to measure decoding with a large group of students, or for in-depth diagnosis with individual students; also known as a diagnostic phonics survey. Dialect An intelligible version of a language with systematic differences in phonology, word use, and/or grammatical skills. Digraph A two-letter combination (e.g., th, ph) that stands for a single phoneme in which neither letter represents its usual sound. Dipthongs Single vowel phonemes that glide in the middle; the mouth position shifts during the production of the single vowel phoneme, especially the vowels spelled ou and oi. Discourse Written or spoken communication or the exchange of information and ideas, usually longer than a sentence, between individuals or between the writer and the reader. Discourse comprehension The understanding of meanings in longer segments of connected text, whether written or spoken. Double deficit A combination of phonological and naming-speed dificits. Double negative A challenging sentence that contains two negative elements (e.g., "I never told her not to eat the sandwiches."). Double A double letter (e.g., ff, ll, ss, zz) that represents one phoneme (e.g., the zz in buzz). Dysgraphia A breakdown in the communication pathways between the mind's image of a letter and the hand's ability to produce that letter in written form. Elaborative questioning Questioning that requires students to integrate information from the text with prior knowledge, mental images, feelings, or bigger ideas relevant to the text. Ellipses A cohesive device that occurs when words that name or refer to an entity already named are assumed but not stated. Expressive vocabulary The words one uses in speaking and writing. Functional writing skills The skills necessary to transcribe or encode words into written symbols, using phonological, orthographic, morphological, and syntactic aspects of language. Fricative A consonant sound created by forcing air through a narrow opening in the vocal tract; includes /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /sh/, /zh/, and /th/. Genre A distinct type of literature, characterized by convention of structure and content. Glide A type of speech sound that glides immediately into a vowel; includes /h/, /w/, and /y/. Gradable antonym An antonym that takes its meaning from the context in which it is used, and is therefore subject to scaling. Grapheme A letter or letter combination that spells a phoneme; can be one, two, three, or four letters in English (e.g., e, ei, igh, eigh). Graphic organizer A visual representation of the logical relationships among ideas. Graph motor skill The skill of manually forming the letters that represent written language. High-frequency words Words that occur most often in written English, including articles, common nouns, pronouns, conjunctions, and auxiliary (helping) verbs. Independent clause A clause that expresses a complete thought and can stand on its own. Inferences Assumptions that a reader makes based on evidence from the text and the reader's own experiences. Inflectional suffixes Grammatical endings that do not change the part of speech of the word to which they are added. Interjection A word used to express emotion (e.g., Yikes! Wow!). Lexical quality The nature of a stored word image in the brain. A high quality representation of a word in memory enable orthographic mapping better than a partial or poorly elaborated word image. Lexicon The name for the mental dictionary in every person's phonological processing system. Liquid The speech sounds /l/ and /r/ that have vowel-like qualities and no easily definable point of articulation. Low-frequency words Words that do not occur often in printed text, and which are likely to be found only in text concerning a specific topic. Macroprocesses Thought processes and/or activities by which students process and transform new information so that it is "owned." Mental model The mental representation of a text's meaning that locates those meanings within a wide context of time, place, and circumstance. Also known as situation model. Metacognition The act of monitoring and assessing one's own awareness and thought processes. Metalinguistic awareness The ability to think about and reflect on the structure of language itself. The invention of the alphabet was an achievement in ________ ________. Morpheme The smallest meaningful unit of language; it may be a word or a part of a word; it may be a single sound (e.g., plural /s/), one syllable (e.g., suffix -ful), or multiple syllables (e.g., prefix inter-). Morphology The study of meaningful units in language and how the units are combined in word formation. Morphonemic English orthography is ________, which means that it is a deep alphabetic writing system organized by both sound-symbol correspondences and morphology. Nasal A type of phoneme that directs resonance through the nose; in English, /n/, /m/, and /ng/ are ________ phonemes. Nonstandard dialect Any dialect that differs from Standard American English (SAE), which refers to English that is generally used in professional communication and taught in American schools. Norm-referenced tests Standardized tests that are designed to compare and rank test-takers in relation to each other. Noun A part of speech that names a person, place, thing, or idea (e.g., potatoes, anger). Noun phrase A phrase that includes a noun and the words that modify it (adjectives), such as "the cold glass" or "a fragrant rose." Onset-rime The natural division of a syllable into two parts; the onset comes before the vowel, and the rime includes the vowel and what follows after it (e.g., pl - an). open syllable - A syllable ending with a long vowel sound that is spelled with a single vowel letter (e.g., me, yo-yo). Orthographic mapping The mental process used to store words for immediate and effortless retrieval. It requires phonemic awareness, letter-sound knowledge, and the mechanism for sight word learning. Orthography A writing system for representing language. Paragraph A number of sentences about the same topic or idea that are grouped together and formatted in a certain way. Passive voice A challenging sentence feature wherein the subject receives the action (e.g., "Someone had cleaned the windows."). Phoneme A speech sound that combines with others in a language system to make words; English has 40 to 44 ________s, according to various linguists. Phoneme-grapheme mapping The matching of phonemes (sounds) in words with the graphemes (letters) that represent them. Phonemic awareness The conscious awareness of the individual speech sounds (consonants and vowels) in spoken syllables and the ability to consciously manipulate those sounds. Phonetics The study of the sounds of human speech; articulatory ________ refers to the way the sounds are physically produced in the human vocal tract. Phonics The study of the relationships between the letters and the sounds they represent; also used as a descriptor for code-based instruction. Phonological awareness The conscious awareness of all levels of the speech sound system, including word boundaries, stress patterns, syllables, onset-rime units, and phonemes. Phonological lexicon The brain's storehouse of words previously heard, but not necessarily understood. Phonological processing Multiple functions of speech and language perception and production, such as perceiving, interpreting, storing (remembering), recalling or retrieving, and generating the speech sound system of a language. Phonological working memory (PWM) The "online" memory system that remembers speech long enough to extract meaning from it, or that holds onto words during writing; a function of the phonological processing system. Phonology The rule system within a language by which phonemes can be sequenced, combined, and pronounced to make words. Phrases Groups of words that cluster together to fill grammatical slots in sentences. Plot The events in a narrative text, or story, that include a problem that the main character is trying to solve, attempt(s) to solve it, and a resolution. Pragmatics The system of rules and conventions for using language and related gestures in a social context. Preposition A part of speech that is placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence (e.g., under, around). Prepositional phrase A phrase introduced by a preposition and which includes a noun phrase (e.g., "against the tide" or "upon my nose"). Pronoun A part of speech that is used in place of a noun (e.g., I, we, ours, yours). Pronoun reference A word, usually a pronoun, used to refer to something else that has alread been named in a text. Prosody The rhythms and patterns of sounds in spoken language; expression. Qualitative spelling screener A list of words with a variety of orthographic patterns, specifically designed to assess students' spelling levels and knowledge of those patterns. Rapid automatic naming (RAN) The ability to quickly name a series of printed, repeated numbers, letters, or objects that should be known by rote. Receptive vocabulary The words whose meanings one can recognize when reading or listening to others speak. Reliable measure A measure that is likely to yield the same result if it were to be given several times on the same day in the same context. Root A bound morpheme, usually of Latin origin, that cannot stand alone but that is used to form a family of words with related meanings (e.g., spect, vis). Scaling The expression of words on a continuum to show degrees of meaning. Schema A mental model or conceptual framework for a specific topic or idea. Schwa The empty vowel in an unaccented syllable, such as the last syllable in wagon or rebus. Semantic lexicon The brain's "mental dictionary" or word meanings, including synonyms and related mental concepts. Semantic map The association of meanings and context for a given word, including structure, origin, images, and personal associations, synonyms, antonyms, and historical or cultural connotations. Semantic overlap Common features between words that are not synonyms. Semantic properties The features or attributes of a morpheme, word, or sentence that contribute to its meaning. Semantics The study of word and phrase meanings and relationships. Setting Where and when a narrative text, or story, occurs. Sight vocabulary A student's bank of words that are instantly and effortlessly recognized; includes both regularly spelled and irregularly spelled words. Silent letter combination A letter combination where one or more letters is silent (i.e., does not represent the phoneme) but another letter does represent the phoneme (e.g., kn in knock). Simple sentence An independent clause with a subject and a predicate. Single deficit A prominent and specific weakness in either phonological processing or rapid print (naming-speed) processing. Socioeconomic status (SES) Refers to a combination of the education, income, and occupation of an individual or a social group. Stop A type of consonant that is spoken with one push of breath and not continued or carried out, including /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, and /g/. Story grammar A set of conventions used in a narrative, including setting, characters, a problem to be solved, climax, and conclusion. Subjunctive mood A challenging sentence feature that expresses a mood for something wished for or imagined (e.g., "What might have happened if the plane had landed on time?"). Subordinating conjunctions Conjunctions that connect clauses that are not equal. Substitution A cohesive device that renames a person, place, thing, idea, or action with a word or phrase that means the same thing but that is not a pronoun. Superlative adjective An adjective that compares three or more nouns or pronouns (e.g., Sarah is the tallest student; the red flowers are the most colorful in the garden). Surface code Refers to literal word and phrase meanings in a sentence. Syllable The unti of pronunciation that is organized around a vowel; it may or may not have a consonant after the vowel. Synonym A word that overlaps extensively in meaning with another word. Syntax The system of rules governing permissible word order in sentences. Text base The underlying meanings to which words in text refer. Text-dependent questions Questions that require students to refer back to the text and develop answers based on inferences made from the text. Topic sentence A sentence that usually begins the paragraph and states the main idea Trigraph A three-letter combination that represents one phoneme (e.g., -tch in ditch and -dge as in dodge). Valid measure A measure that measures what was intended (construct validity); corresponds well to other known, valid measures (concurrent validity); and predicts with good accuracy how students are likely to perform on an accountability measure (predictive validity). Verb A part of speech that expresses an action or state of being (e.g., running, thinks). Verb phrase A phrase that includes a verb and its modifiers (adverbs), such as "is eating quickly" or "jumped lightly." Vocabulary Knowledge of, and memory for, word meanings. Vowel One of a set of 15 vowel phonemes in English, not including r-controlled combinations in a schwa; an open phoneme that is the heart of every spoken syllable; classified by tongue position and height (e.g., high to low, and front to back). Vowel team A combination of two, three, or four letters that stand for a vowel (e.g., au, ea, oo, eigh). Vowel team syllable A syllable with a long or short vowel spelling that uses 2-4 letters to spell the vowel sound (e.g., toy, light, four - teen); includes dipthongs ou/ow and oi/oy. Vowel-consonant-e (VCe) A common pattern for spelling a long vowel sound (e.g., rate, ice). Vowel-consonant-e (VCe) syllable A syllable with a long vowel spelled with one vowel plus one consonant plus silent e (e.g., note, fire - place). Vowel Combination - A single vowel letter followed by r (ar, er, ir, or, ur) that stands for a unique vowel sound. Vowel-r syllable A syllable with er, ir, or, ar, or ur (e.g., for, start); the vowel sound before the letter r ofter changes its pronunciation.