NES ESOL EXAM Questions
and Answers Latest Version
2025 GRADED A+
Allophone ✔✔Changes in pronunciation depending upon phoneme position in a word. Phones that make up
one phoneme ("All the phones"). EX: Keep /k/ = farther forward; /iy/ is a high front. Cool /k/ = farther back; /uw/
is a high back.
Ethnocentrism ✔✔tendency to view one's own culture and group as superior to all other cultures and groups
Assimilation ✔✔Individuals are absorbed into the new society after being the member of a different one.
Voluntary or forced. Learning new language, values, and norms. Easier for the young.
Code-switching ✔✔Changing from one mode of speech to another as the situation demands, whether from one
language to another or from one dialect of a language to another.
Psycholinguistics ✔✔the branch of cognitive psychology that studies the psychological basis of linguistic
competence and performance
Proxemics ✔✔study of personal space
Circumlocution ✔✔an indirect way of expressing something. Using too many words to express a simple idea.
Phonemic Awareness ✔✔The understanding that words are made up of individual speech sounds. It does not
require written language because it is based on speech.
Language Interference ✔✔The effect of a learner's first language on their production of the language they are
learning. This may be negative (as a source of errors) or positive (feature of both languages is the same therefore
resulting in correct language production).
Communicative Competence ✔✔The ability of an individual to comprehend incoming messages and
,effectively communicate responses in ways that are appropriate for a given situation.
Multiple Intelligences ✔✔learning theory that suggests people can be strong in one or more of eight natural
intelligences: logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, body/kinesthetic, musical/rhythmic, interpersonal,
intrapersonal, verbal/linguistic, and/or naturalist
Systems of Language ✔✔Learning sounds, how words are built (morphology), the meanings of sounds
(syntax) and the particular situations these words are used. Need to know the social context.
Students learn language systems by listening & observing others as well as explanations. Involve students in
groups.
Language Domains ✔✔Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing.
Woodcock-Munoz ✔✔Language survey - placement test. Establishes proficiency level in English or Spanish.
Norm-referenced measures general intellectual ability.
BICS ✔✔Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills. Social communication. Basic expressions & linguistic
formations to conduct in normal conversation (playground, cafeteria, bus, etc.).
Acquire w/in 6-24 months.
CALP ✔✔(Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency). Formal & grammatically correct communication.
Listen, speak, read, and write about content at their grade level. Takes 5-7 years. Vocab, comparing, synthesizing,
summarizing, inferring.
LAS ✔✔(Language Assessment Scales). Placement test K-12. Covers speaking, listening, reading, & writing.
3 proficency levels. Quickly and accurately. Measuring up to 5x a year.
ELPA ✔✔English Language Proficiency Assessment. K-12 ELL Students.
ELP ✔✔English Language Proficiency
, CUP ✔✔Common Underlying Proficiency. Students are able to at this CALP level to incorporate ideas learned
in L1 to L2.
SDAIE ✔✔Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English. Student must have intermediate fluency.
Explicit training for sheltered English which provide methods and strategies of teaching ELLS.
1) All course materials are in ELLs native language but w/ access to English version.
2) Language and content goals set by teacher.
3) Teacher needs to be fluent in both languages.
ELD ✔✔English Language Development. Common method in ESL programs. Program for improvement in
English language proficiency. Summative Assessment at beginning to differentiate levels. Focus on methods &
approaches to address various learning styles. Practice time. Ungraded applications.
CALLA ✔✔Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach. A method of instruction that is grounded in
the cognitive approach. Focuses on the explicit instruction of learning strategies and the development of critical
thinking as a means of acquiring deep levels of language proficiency.
LEP ✔✔Limited English Proficiency. A person who is in the process of acquiring English as his second
language.
RRA ✔✔Review/Relate/Anticipate the rest of the message (predict). Active listening technique.
Subtractive Bilingualism ✔✔English only instruction. Places English above other languages.
Additive Bilingualism ✔✔Seeks to improve skills in both first and second languages. Uses 2 langauge to
reinforce each other.
Sheltered English Instruction ✔✔Similar to language immersion. With comprehensible input (understandable
to the students). Teacher encourages interaction with small groups and cooperative learning. Hands on activities.
Students more interactive. Use students background knowledge. Instructional strategies and state objectives.
Sheltered instruction vs. ESL Program Models ✔✔Sheltered: Focus on mastery of content area. Follows
and Answers Latest Version
2025 GRADED A+
Allophone ✔✔Changes in pronunciation depending upon phoneme position in a word. Phones that make up
one phoneme ("All the phones"). EX: Keep /k/ = farther forward; /iy/ is a high front. Cool /k/ = farther back; /uw/
is a high back.
Ethnocentrism ✔✔tendency to view one's own culture and group as superior to all other cultures and groups
Assimilation ✔✔Individuals are absorbed into the new society after being the member of a different one.
Voluntary or forced. Learning new language, values, and norms. Easier for the young.
Code-switching ✔✔Changing from one mode of speech to another as the situation demands, whether from one
language to another or from one dialect of a language to another.
Psycholinguistics ✔✔the branch of cognitive psychology that studies the psychological basis of linguistic
competence and performance
Proxemics ✔✔study of personal space
Circumlocution ✔✔an indirect way of expressing something. Using too many words to express a simple idea.
Phonemic Awareness ✔✔The understanding that words are made up of individual speech sounds. It does not
require written language because it is based on speech.
Language Interference ✔✔The effect of a learner's first language on their production of the language they are
learning. This may be negative (as a source of errors) or positive (feature of both languages is the same therefore
resulting in correct language production).
Communicative Competence ✔✔The ability of an individual to comprehend incoming messages and
,effectively communicate responses in ways that are appropriate for a given situation.
Multiple Intelligences ✔✔learning theory that suggests people can be strong in one or more of eight natural
intelligences: logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, body/kinesthetic, musical/rhythmic, interpersonal,
intrapersonal, verbal/linguistic, and/or naturalist
Systems of Language ✔✔Learning sounds, how words are built (morphology), the meanings of sounds
(syntax) and the particular situations these words are used. Need to know the social context.
Students learn language systems by listening & observing others as well as explanations. Involve students in
groups.
Language Domains ✔✔Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing.
Woodcock-Munoz ✔✔Language survey - placement test. Establishes proficiency level in English or Spanish.
Norm-referenced measures general intellectual ability.
BICS ✔✔Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills. Social communication. Basic expressions & linguistic
formations to conduct in normal conversation (playground, cafeteria, bus, etc.).
Acquire w/in 6-24 months.
CALP ✔✔(Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency). Formal & grammatically correct communication.
Listen, speak, read, and write about content at their grade level. Takes 5-7 years. Vocab, comparing, synthesizing,
summarizing, inferring.
LAS ✔✔(Language Assessment Scales). Placement test K-12. Covers speaking, listening, reading, & writing.
3 proficency levels. Quickly and accurately. Measuring up to 5x a year.
ELPA ✔✔English Language Proficiency Assessment. K-12 ELL Students.
ELP ✔✔English Language Proficiency
, CUP ✔✔Common Underlying Proficiency. Students are able to at this CALP level to incorporate ideas learned
in L1 to L2.
SDAIE ✔✔Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English. Student must have intermediate fluency.
Explicit training for sheltered English which provide methods and strategies of teaching ELLS.
1) All course materials are in ELLs native language but w/ access to English version.
2) Language and content goals set by teacher.
3) Teacher needs to be fluent in both languages.
ELD ✔✔English Language Development. Common method in ESL programs. Program for improvement in
English language proficiency. Summative Assessment at beginning to differentiate levels. Focus on methods &
approaches to address various learning styles. Practice time. Ungraded applications.
CALLA ✔✔Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach. A method of instruction that is grounded in
the cognitive approach. Focuses on the explicit instruction of learning strategies and the development of critical
thinking as a means of acquiring deep levels of language proficiency.
LEP ✔✔Limited English Proficiency. A person who is in the process of acquiring English as his second
language.
RRA ✔✔Review/Relate/Anticipate the rest of the message (predict). Active listening technique.
Subtractive Bilingualism ✔✔English only instruction. Places English above other languages.
Additive Bilingualism ✔✔Seeks to improve skills in both first and second languages. Uses 2 langauge to
reinforce each other.
Sheltered English Instruction ✔✔Similar to language immersion. With comprehensible input (understandable
to the students). Teacher encourages interaction with small groups and cooperative learning. Hands on activities.
Students more interactive. Use students background knowledge. Instructional strategies and state objectives.
Sheltered instruction vs. ESL Program Models ✔✔Sheltered: Focus on mastery of content area. Follows
