ESL TEST- SAMPLE QUESTIONS
WITH CORRECT ANSWERS
When determining the appropriate register to use, what does a speaker take into
account?
a) Understanding the formality of the situation
b) Understanding the topic of the situation
c) Understanding the appropriate grammar rules used in the situation
d) Understanding the cultural heritage of the speakers - ....ANSWER ...-a)
Understanding the formality of the situation
A kindergarten classroom contains a center with a "clerk" and "customer" area with toy
groceries, carts, and a cash register where students can simulate a grocery store. This
most likely facilitates
a) Learning appropriate formal and informal language registers
b) Gaining academic language about shopping
c) Acquiring shopping related vocabulary in an unstructured context
....FOR STUDY PURPOSES...©️2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED... 1
,d) Practicing past, present, and future verb tenses - ....ANSWER ...-c) Acquiring
shopping related vocabulary in an unstructured context
In an optimal second-language learning environment, most students take an average of
five to seven years to develop
a) Functional literacy
b) Academic-language proficiency
c) Syntactic and lexical accuracy
d) Social-communicative competence. - ....ANSWER ...-b) Academic-language
proficiency
A student says, "I like to play floor." The problem with this sentence can best be
described using which of the following areas of linguistics?
a) Morphology
b) Phonology
c) Semantics
d) Pragmatics - ....ANSWER ...-c) Semantics is another word for meaning. It deals
with the meaning of words, phrases and sentences. Semantics is the area of linguistic
that can explain the problem with the sentence in this question.
....FOR STUDY PURPOSES...©️2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED... 2
, A student begins a sentence in English, inserts a Spanish phrase, and then finishes the
sentence in English. The student is demonstrating which of the following language
phenomena?
a) Bidialectism
b) Code-switching
c) Language dominance
d) Additive bilingualism - ....ANSWER ...-b) Code-switching
Bi-dialectism is when someone speaks two dialects.
Code-switching is when people go in and out of two languages or codes.
Language dominance refers to which language is a person's dominant language.
Additive bilingualism is the process and philosophy of adding an additional language to
one's repertoire—that it is not necessary to lose one language in order to gain another.
Before having her students read an English passage about transportation in social
studies, a teacher initiates a discussion about vehicles and other craft in which students
have traveled. In this activity, the discussion is most likely intended to promote the
students' ESL development by helping them:
....FOR STUDY PURPOSES...©️2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED... 3
WITH CORRECT ANSWERS
When determining the appropriate register to use, what does a speaker take into
account?
a) Understanding the formality of the situation
b) Understanding the topic of the situation
c) Understanding the appropriate grammar rules used in the situation
d) Understanding the cultural heritage of the speakers - ....ANSWER ...-a)
Understanding the formality of the situation
A kindergarten classroom contains a center with a "clerk" and "customer" area with toy
groceries, carts, and a cash register where students can simulate a grocery store. This
most likely facilitates
a) Learning appropriate formal and informal language registers
b) Gaining academic language about shopping
c) Acquiring shopping related vocabulary in an unstructured context
....FOR STUDY PURPOSES...©️2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED... 1
,d) Practicing past, present, and future verb tenses - ....ANSWER ...-c) Acquiring
shopping related vocabulary in an unstructured context
In an optimal second-language learning environment, most students take an average of
five to seven years to develop
a) Functional literacy
b) Academic-language proficiency
c) Syntactic and lexical accuracy
d) Social-communicative competence. - ....ANSWER ...-b) Academic-language
proficiency
A student says, "I like to play floor." The problem with this sentence can best be
described using which of the following areas of linguistics?
a) Morphology
b) Phonology
c) Semantics
d) Pragmatics - ....ANSWER ...-c) Semantics is another word for meaning. It deals
with the meaning of words, phrases and sentences. Semantics is the area of linguistic
that can explain the problem with the sentence in this question.
....FOR STUDY PURPOSES...©️2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED... 2
, A student begins a sentence in English, inserts a Spanish phrase, and then finishes the
sentence in English. The student is demonstrating which of the following language
phenomena?
a) Bidialectism
b) Code-switching
c) Language dominance
d) Additive bilingualism - ....ANSWER ...-b) Code-switching
Bi-dialectism is when someone speaks two dialects.
Code-switching is when people go in and out of two languages or codes.
Language dominance refers to which language is a person's dominant language.
Additive bilingualism is the process and philosophy of adding an additional language to
one's repertoire—that it is not necessary to lose one language in order to gain another.
Before having her students read an English passage about transportation in social
studies, a teacher initiates a discussion about vehicles and other craft in which students
have traveled. In this activity, the discussion is most likely intended to promote the
students' ESL development by helping them:
....FOR STUDY PURPOSES...©️2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED... 3
