NES ESOL Exam Questions and Answers Already Graded A

NES ESOL Exam Questions and Answers Already Graded A Morpheme in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix) Acculturation Borrowing culture traits from another group. Incorporating new traits WITHOUT altering its own culture. Register The form of a language that is appropriate to a given situation. Varies depending on setting, relationships, linguistic interaction. Often students learn classroom langauge and are unable to speak in informal settings. Slang Any nonstandard form of a language. Derogative sense (words & phrases not proper for social interaction). Gives sense of community. Phonology SOUNDS of a langauge. The smallest unit of sound that can hold meaning is a (phoneme). Phonemic Awareness vs. Phonics Phonemic awareness precedes phonics instruction. Phonics = direct correspondence between letters & sounds (require presence of print). Alphabetic principle. Both needed as child prepares to read. Phonemes & Graphemes Phonetic alphabet /k/. Alphabetic symbols used to describe phoneme. Graphemes - an illustrative series of lettesr to describe sounds (phonemes). C in cold. K in kilogram. Long "i" as in "fly" or "igh" in sigh. Morphology the study of the structure of words. Words are constructed out of letters. The smallest meaningful unit of a morphological system is a (morpheme). EX: Boy can stand alone or boys with other letters. (Many English exceptions: man --- men). Syntax Basic structure of a sentence. Order of words to make sense. Phonetics The study of the sounds of language. Phones have distinct properties with respect to production. Real measureable sounds rather than sound unites (phonemes). Minimal Pairs A pair of words that differ by only a single sound and are recognized by speakers as different words. i.e. bat/cat or hare/dare Onset & Rime The sound that initiates a syllable while the vowel & any consonants after the vowel are called the rime. i.e. "Boy" - "B" is onset, "oy" is rime. Intra-language Concerns the differences within a language, such as over-generalizations about plurals, tenses, etc. Inter-language transitional system in which a person uses rules from two or more languages simultaneously a jumble of rules from both languages Sociolect a social dialect or variety of speech used by a particular group, such as working-class or upper-class speech. Idiolect an individual's accent and dialect features, as a result of their personal upbringing and experiences. Be careful not to pre-judge a student due to a dialect. Semantics