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CALT Exam Study Guide COMPREHENSIVE
QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED ANSWERS 2025(GRADED
A+) DETAILED ANSWERS!!
Receptive Language - (answers)the ability to understand and comprehend spoken
or written language essentially meaning the "input" of language, where someone
takes in information through listening or reading and interprets its meaning; it
involves understanding words, concepts, and instructions, as opposed to
producing language yourself.
Expressive Language - (answers)the ability to communicate one's thoughts,
feelings, and needs through spoken words, written text, gestures, or other
symbols, essentially meaning it's "output" of language, where you use language to
express yourself to others; including forming sentences, using correct grammar,
and conveying meaning through verbal or non-verbal communication.
Accent - (answers)stress or emphasis placed on one syllable in a word, or one
word in a sentence. The mouth opens wider, the voice is louder and higher, and
sometimes held a bit longer.
Articulation - (answers)where the sound is produced, the way in which air stream
flows through the nose or mouth, and activity of the vocal cords.
Coarticulation - (answers)the articulation of 2 or more speech sounds together, so
that one influences the other ("allophones can occur as a result of coarticulation
across word boundaries")
Phonograms - (answers)a symbol representing a vocal sound
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What are the 4 Components of Language? - (answers)Phonology, Semantics,
Syntax, & Pragmatics
Phonology - (answers)sound structure of a language and how sounds operate
within that language; an unconscious set of rules that govern speech that
indicates suprasegmental and segmental aspects which is a very large umbrella
term.
Semantics - (answers)the study of word meaning & vocabulary; it includes the
meanings of words, phrases, sentences & text.
Pragmatics - (answers)understanding the social uses of language and basic social
rules of communication
Affix - (answers)prefixes and/or suffixes that are added to base words.
Alphabet Knowledge - (answers)the ability to identify and name the letters of the
alphabet, the name is the anchor.
Alphabetic language - (answers)a language such as English, in which letters are
used systematically to represent speech sounds or phonemes.
Alphabetic Principle - (answers)the understanding that letters (graphemes) are
connected to sounds (phonemes). Letters are the written symbols that are
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cognitively processed to make reading possible (Adams, 1990). Letter names are
the only stable property of letters (Cox, 1992) as shapes & sounds of letters vary.
The name is the anchor. Knowing letter names provides a springboard for learning
and remembering letter-sound relationships (Ehri, 1983; NICHD, 2000).
Analytic - (answers)presents the whole and teaches how this can be broken down
into its component parts.
Anaphora - (answers)using a pronoun or definite article to refer to something
already mentioned (e.g., The cat ran quickly. It sprinted down the side street.)
Appositive - (answers)a noun or noun phrase that is placed after a noun to explain
it more fully. Usually this contains modifiers.
Automaticity - (answers)the ability to respond or react without attention or
conscious effort.
Comprehension - (answers)making sense of what we read, this depends on good
word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, worldly knowledge, and language ability.
Cumulative - (answers)describes instruction that is presented in sequence that
begins with the simplest skills and concepts and progresses systematically to the
more difficult.
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Decoding - (answers)to break the phonic code (recognizing a word), to determine
the pronunciation of a word by noting the position of the vowels & consonants.
Diagnostic - (answers)pertaining to instruction in which the teacher is constantly
taking notice of how students are handling the lesson concepts, using this in
conjunction with prescriptive instruction.
Emergent Literacy - (answers)cognitive maturation characterized by well-
developed oral language ability, exposure to written language, and metalinguistic
awareness.
Encoding - (answers)spelling a word
Executive Function - (answers)the mental processes that allow individuals to
regulate their thinking, behaviors, and actions.
Fluency - (answers)reading words at an adequate rate with a high level of
accuracy, understanding appropriate expression and prosody for understanding in
comprehension.
Grapheme - (answers)the smallest unit of a written language which may or may
not carry meaning, the individual letters or groups of letters that represent the
individual speech sounds or phonemes.
CALT Exam Study Guide COMPREHENSIVE
QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED ANSWERS 2025(GRADED
A+) DETAILED ANSWERS!!
Receptive Language - (answers)the ability to understand and comprehend spoken
or written language essentially meaning the "input" of language, where someone
takes in information through listening or reading and interprets its meaning; it
involves understanding words, concepts, and instructions, as opposed to
producing language yourself.
Expressive Language - (answers)the ability to communicate one's thoughts,
feelings, and needs through spoken words, written text, gestures, or other
symbols, essentially meaning it's "output" of language, where you use language to
express yourself to others; including forming sentences, using correct grammar,
and conveying meaning through verbal or non-verbal communication.
Accent - (answers)stress or emphasis placed on one syllable in a word, or one
word in a sentence. The mouth opens wider, the voice is louder and higher, and
sometimes held a bit longer.
Articulation - (answers)where the sound is produced, the way in which air stream
flows through the nose or mouth, and activity of the vocal cords.
Coarticulation - (answers)the articulation of 2 or more speech sounds together, so
that one influences the other ("allophones can occur as a result of coarticulation
across word boundaries")
Phonograms - (answers)a symbol representing a vocal sound
,2|Page
What are the 4 Components of Language? - (answers)Phonology, Semantics,
Syntax, & Pragmatics
Phonology - (answers)sound structure of a language and how sounds operate
within that language; an unconscious set of rules that govern speech that
indicates suprasegmental and segmental aspects which is a very large umbrella
term.
Semantics - (answers)the study of word meaning & vocabulary; it includes the
meanings of words, phrases, sentences & text.
Pragmatics - (answers)understanding the social uses of language and basic social
rules of communication
Affix - (answers)prefixes and/or suffixes that are added to base words.
Alphabet Knowledge - (answers)the ability to identify and name the letters of the
alphabet, the name is the anchor.
Alphabetic language - (answers)a language such as English, in which letters are
used systematically to represent speech sounds or phonemes.
Alphabetic Principle - (answers)the understanding that letters (graphemes) are
connected to sounds (phonemes). Letters are the written symbols that are
,3|Page
cognitively processed to make reading possible (Adams, 1990). Letter names are
the only stable property of letters (Cox, 1992) as shapes & sounds of letters vary.
The name is the anchor. Knowing letter names provides a springboard for learning
and remembering letter-sound relationships (Ehri, 1983; NICHD, 2000).
Analytic - (answers)presents the whole and teaches how this can be broken down
into its component parts.
Anaphora - (answers)using a pronoun or definite article to refer to something
already mentioned (e.g., The cat ran quickly. It sprinted down the side street.)
Appositive - (answers)a noun or noun phrase that is placed after a noun to explain
it more fully. Usually this contains modifiers.
Automaticity - (answers)the ability to respond or react without attention or
conscious effort.
Comprehension - (answers)making sense of what we read, this depends on good
word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, worldly knowledge, and language ability.
Cumulative - (answers)describes instruction that is presented in sequence that
begins with the simplest skills and concepts and progresses systematically to the
more difficult.
, 4|Page
Decoding - (answers)to break the phonic code (recognizing a word), to determine
the pronunciation of a word by noting the position of the vowels & consonants.
Diagnostic - (answers)pertaining to instruction in which the teacher is constantly
taking notice of how students are handling the lesson concepts, using this in
conjunction with prescriptive instruction.
Emergent Literacy - (answers)cognitive maturation characterized by well-
developed oral language ability, exposure to written language, and metalinguistic
awareness.
Encoding - (answers)spelling a word
Executive Function - (answers)the mental processes that allow individuals to
regulate their thinking, behaviors, and actions.
Fluency - (answers)reading words at an adequate rate with a high level of
accuracy, understanding appropriate expression and prosody for understanding in
comprehension.
Grapheme - (answers)the smallest unit of a written language which may or may
not carry meaning, the individual letters or groups of letters that represent the
individual speech sounds or phonemes.
