ESOL CST Exam Questions & Answers
2025/2026
passive voice - ANSWERSsubject received the action instead of performing it
monitoring - ANSWERSlearning strategy: Krashen hypothesizes that language instruction results
in the
creation of a mental monitor through which the learner filters spoken and written output. The
monitor aids
learners in achieving accuracy, but may hinder the development of fluency. The ideal is a
balance where
the student has opportunities for unrestricted fluency and for using the monitor to "edit" and
develop
accuracy.
BICS-Basic Interpersonal
Communication Skills - ANSWERSThe skills involved in everyday communication - listening,
speaking, carrying on basic
conversation, understanding speakers and getting one's basic needs met.
CALP-Cognitive Academic
Language Proficiency - ANSWERSThe skills that are needed to succeed in the academic
classroom, including problem
solving, inferring, analyzing,
synthesizing, and predicting. They go beyond the BICS, demanding much greater competence in
the language.
, Comprehensible Input: - ANSWERSStudents learn best when exposed to samples of
the target language that are at or just above the student's current level of acquisition of the
language. Teachers
can ensure that the language used in the classroom is comprehensible by
evaluating the students on the Stages of Language Acquisition.
Low Affective Filter: - ANSWERSStudents are best able to absorb and mentally process the
language input they receive
when they are in an environment where they are relaxed and their
anxiety level is low. The teacher can provide this by making the classroom a warm, supportive
place where students feel free to take risks with language.
register - ANSWERSdegree of formality
morphology - ANSWERSbranch of linguistics (internal structure of words) language's
morphemes and other linguistic units, such as root words, affixes, parts of speech, intonations
and stresses, or implied context.
overgeneralization - ANSWERSExample: treating irregular as a regular on (go--> goed)
communicative approach - ANSWERSemphasizes learning to communicate: focus is on
meaningful communication not structure, use not usage. In this approach, students are given
tasks to accomplish using language, instead of studying the language.
context-reduced language - ANSWERSno background knowledge given
Miscue Analysis - ANSWERSreading assessment that allows teacher to evaluate deviations from
actual text during oral reading. Determines how a reader is decoding and processing printed
words and using them to construct meaning: strat to decode and comprehend text
2025/2026
passive voice - ANSWERSsubject received the action instead of performing it
monitoring - ANSWERSlearning strategy: Krashen hypothesizes that language instruction results
in the
creation of a mental monitor through which the learner filters spoken and written output. The
monitor aids
learners in achieving accuracy, but may hinder the development of fluency. The ideal is a
balance where
the student has opportunities for unrestricted fluency and for using the monitor to "edit" and
develop
accuracy.
BICS-Basic Interpersonal
Communication Skills - ANSWERSThe skills involved in everyday communication - listening,
speaking, carrying on basic
conversation, understanding speakers and getting one's basic needs met.
CALP-Cognitive Academic
Language Proficiency - ANSWERSThe skills that are needed to succeed in the academic
classroom, including problem
solving, inferring, analyzing,
synthesizing, and predicting. They go beyond the BICS, demanding much greater competence in
the language.
, Comprehensible Input: - ANSWERSStudents learn best when exposed to samples of
the target language that are at or just above the student's current level of acquisition of the
language. Teachers
can ensure that the language used in the classroom is comprehensible by
evaluating the students on the Stages of Language Acquisition.
Low Affective Filter: - ANSWERSStudents are best able to absorb and mentally process the
language input they receive
when they are in an environment where they are relaxed and their
anxiety level is low. The teacher can provide this by making the classroom a warm, supportive
place where students feel free to take risks with language.
register - ANSWERSdegree of formality
morphology - ANSWERSbranch of linguistics (internal structure of words) language's
morphemes and other linguistic units, such as root words, affixes, parts of speech, intonations
and stresses, or implied context.
overgeneralization - ANSWERSExample: treating irregular as a regular on (go--> goed)
communicative approach - ANSWERSemphasizes learning to communicate: focus is on
meaningful communication not structure, use not usage. In this approach, students are given
tasks to accomplish using language, instead of studying the language.
context-reduced language - ANSWERSno background knowledge given
Miscue Analysis - ANSWERSreading assessment that allows teacher to evaluate deviations from
actual text during oral reading. Determines how a reader is decoding and processing printed
words and using them to construct meaning: strat to decode and comprehend text
