ESL Praxis Exam – English to Speakers of Other Languages Certification Study Guide & Review
back-channeling - (ANSWER)the feedback which a listener gives to a speaker to show that (s)he is
following, or understands what the speaker is saying
self-repair - (ANSWER)a repair that is performed by the speaker of the utterance that needs repair
extralinguistic context - (ANSWER)Outside the realm of linguistics
hypercorrection - (ANSWER)the erroneous use of a word form or pronunciation based on a false analogy
with a correct or prestigious form, such as between you and I for the standard between you and me
dissimilation - (ANSWER)the process by which one of two similar or identical sounds in a word becomes
less like the other, such as the l in English marble (from French marbre ).
assimilation - (ANSWER)The minority culture gradually loses all of the markers that set it apart as a
separate culture in the first place. Markers include things like languages, food, and customs. Eventually,
the minority culture becomes almost indistinguishable from the majority culture.
acculturation - (ANSWER)If enough of the cultural markers of language, tradition, and food from the
minority culture are maintained for the members to be able to recognize themselves as a distinct culture
additive bilingualism - (ANSWER)the first language continues to be developed and the first culture to be
valued while the second language is added
subtractive bilingualism - (ANSWER)the second language is added at the expense of the first language
and culture, which diminish as a consequence
semantics - (ANSWER)the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning
sociolinguistics - (ANSWER)studies the social and cultural factors that influence linguistic
communication, including the pragmatic rules for language (including norms for register and nonverbal
communication, and the pragmatic rules for language)
, ESL Praxis Exam – English to Speakers of Other Languages Certification Study Guide & Review
phonology - (ANSWER)study of how sounds are organized and used in natural language
rhetoric - (ANSWER)the art of speaking or writing effectively
rhetorical patterns - (ANSWER)several effective ways of organizing information in your essays:
Narration
Description
Definition/Analogy
Exemplification and Classification
Comparison and Contrast
Cause and Effect
Persuasion
digraph - (ANSWER)a combination of two letters representing one sound, as in ph and ey
auxiliary verbs - (ANSWER)helping verbs
modal auxiliaries - (ANSWER)the most common ones are will, would, shall, should, can, could, may,
might, and must.
Modal auxiliary verb can show how likely Something Is, show politeness, change to match the tense of
other verbs
Gerund - (ANSWER)function as nouns. Thus, will be subjects, subject complements, direct objects,
indirect objects, and objects of prepositions.
End in -ing
Fossilization - (ANSWER)refers to the process in which incorrect language becomes a habit and cannot
easily be corrected
back-channeling - (ANSWER)the feedback which a listener gives to a speaker to show that (s)he is
following, or understands what the speaker is saying
self-repair - (ANSWER)a repair that is performed by the speaker of the utterance that needs repair
extralinguistic context - (ANSWER)Outside the realm of linguistics
hypercorrection - (ANSWER)the erroneous use of a word form or pronunciation based on a false analogy
with a correct or prestigious form, such as between you and I for the standard between you and me
dissimilation - (ANSWER)the process by which one of two similar or identical sounds in a word becomes
less like the other, such as the l in English marble (from French marbre ).
assimilation - (ANSWER)The minority culture gradually loses all of the markers that set it apart as a
separate culture in the first place. Markers include things like languages, food, and customs. Eventually,
the minority culture becomes almost indistinguishable from the majority culture.
acculturation - (ANSWER)If enough of the cultural markers of language, tradition, and food from the
minority culture are maintained for the members to be able to recognize themselves as a distinct culture
additive bilingualism - (ANSWER)the first language continues to be developed and the first culture to be
valued while the second language is added
subtractive bilingualism - (ANSWER)the second language is added at the expense of the first language
and culture, which diminish as a consequence
semantics - (ANSWER)the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning
sociolinguistics - (ANSWER)studies the social and cultural factors that influence linguistic
communication, including the pragmatic rules for language (including norms for register and nonverbal
communication, and the pragmatic rules for language)
, ESL Praxis Exam – English to Speakers of Other Languages Certification Study Guide & Review
phonology - (ANSWER)study of how sounds are organized and used in natural language
rhetoric - (ANSWER)the art of speaking or writing effectively
rhetorical patterns - (ANSWER)several effective ways of organizing information in your essays:
Narration
Description
Definition/Analogy
Exemplification and Classification
Comparison and Contrast
Cause and Effect
Persuasion
digraph - (ANSWER)a combination of two letters representing one sound, as in ph and ey
auxiliary verbs - (ANSWER)helping verbs
modal auxiliaries - (ANSWER)the most common ones are will, would, shall, should, can, could, may,
might, and must.
Modal auxiliary verb can show how likely Something Is, show politeness, change to match the tense of
other verbs
Gerund - (ANSWER)function as nouns. Thus, will be subjects, subject complements, direct objects,
indirect objects, and objects of prepositions.
End in -ing
Fossilization - (ANSWER)refers to the process in which incorrect language becomes a habit and cannot
easily be corrected
