CALT Academic Language Therapy 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which principle underlies the use of simultaneous multisensory instruction in academic language therapy?
- Auditory dominance ensures better phoneme retention
- Engaging visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile pathways strengthens memory traces (Correct answer)
- Kinesthetic input alone is sufficient for phonics learning
- Multisensory approaches are only appropriate for students with dyslexia
Correct answer: Engaging visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile pathways strengthens memory traces
Simultaneous multisensory instruction reinforces neural connections by engaging multiple sensory pathways at once, improving retention for all learners.
Question 2: A CALT is designing a scope and sequence for phonics instruction. Which skill should be introduced LAST?
- CVC word patterns
- Consonant blends
- Multisyllabic words with Latin and Greek roots (Correct answer)
- Short vowel sounds in isolation
Correct answer: Multisyllabic words with Latin and Greek roots
Multisyllabic words with Latin and Greek roots represent advanced morphological knowledge introduced after basic phonics patterns are mastered.
Question 3: When conducting a reading fluency assessment, which measure provides the most direct indicator of automaticity?
- Comprehension retell score
- Words correct per minute (WCPM) (Correct answer)
- Miscue analysis type
- Passage difficulty level
Correct answer: Words correct per minute (WCPM)
Words correct per minute directly measures the speed and accuracy that characterize automatic word recognition, the hallmark of reading fluency.
Question 4: A student consistently reads 'was' as 'saw' and 'on' as 'no.' This pattern most likely reflects difficulty with:
- Phoneme segmentation
- Directionality and visual processing (Correct answer)
- Morphological awareness
- Prosodic reading
Correct answer: Directionality and visual processing
Reversals of whole words indicate directionality confusion, a visual processing pattern common in early or struggling readers.
Question 5: Which type of knowledge does a student apply when recognizing that 'unhappy,' 'unkind,' and 'untrue' all share the same prefix meaning?
- Phonological awareness
- Morphological awareness (Correct answer)
- Orthographic knowledge
- Syntactic awareness
Correct answer: Morphological awareness
Recognizing shared prefix meaning across words is an application of morphological awareness, the understanding of meaningful word parts.
Question 6: In Orton-Gillingham based instruction, the term 'phonogram' refers to:
- A single phoneme produced in isolation
- A letter or letter combination that represents a sound (Correct answer)
- A grapheme-phoneme correspondence chart
- A word that contains only one syllable
Correct answer: A letter or letter combination that represents a sound
A phonogram is a letter or combination of letters that represents a single sound, such as 'ck' representing /k/.
Question 7: Which syllable type is present in the word 'pine'?
- Closed syllable
- R-controlled syllable
- Magic-e (VCe) syllable (Correct answer)
- Vowel team syllable
Correct answer: Magic-e (VCe) syllable
The word 'pine' follows the vowel-consonant-silent-e pattern, making it a magic-e (VCe) syllable where the vowel says its long sound.
CALT Academic Language Therapy 4
Which principle underlies the use of simultaneous multisensory instruction in academic language therapy?