CELTA Language Skills 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which writing sub-skill is being practiced when students identify how paragraphs are linked in a model text?
- Brainstorming ideas
- Analyzing cohesion and coherence (Correct answer)
- Editing for grammar accuracy
- Drafting a topic sentence
Correct answer: Analyzing cohesion and coherence
Examining how paragraphs connect through linking devices and logical organization develops awareness of cohesion and coherence.
Question 2: A teacher asks students to read a news article at home for general enjoyment and broad understanding. This is an example of:
- Intensive reading
- Scanning
- Extensive reading (Correct answer)
- Critical reading
Correct answer: Extensive reading
Extensive reading involves reading longer texts outside of class for pleasure and general comprehension without intensive focus on every word.
Question 3: In a speaking lesson, students role-play a job interview. Which skill component is most centrally targeted?
- Controlled accuracy with present tenses
- Interactional competence and turn-taking (Correct answer)
- Bottom-up decoding of connected speech
- Register analysis of formal written texts
Correct answer: Interactional competence and turn-taking
Role-play simulates authentic interaction, targeting interactional competence including turn-taking, negotiation of meaning, and appropriate register.
Question 4: A student struggles to understand a listening text despite knowing all the individual words. What is the most likely cause?
- Insufficient grammar knowledge
- Difficulty processing connected speech features in real time (Correct answer)
- Lack of reading skills to support listening
- Unfamiliarity with formal written register
Correct answer: Difficulty processing connected speech features in real time
Even when vocabulary is known, connected speech phenomena like weak forms, elision, and rhythm can make real-time listening difficult.
Question 5: Which of these is an example of a 'top-down' reading strategy?
- Sounding out unfamiliar words letter by letter
- Using the title, images, and context to predict content before reading (Correct answer)
- Looking up every unknown word in a dictionary
- Parsing each sentence for grammatical structure
Correct answer: Using the title, images, and context to predict content before reading
Top-down reading uses background knowledge, context, and text features to predict and construct meaning before detailed reading begins.
Question 6: When developing students' writing, which sequence reflects best practice on a CELTA course?
- Write → Analyze model → Draft again
- Analyze model → Plan → Draft → Feedback → Redraft (Correct answer)
- Correct grammar → Improve vocabulary → Submit
- Memorize phrases → Copy model → Submit
Correct answer: Analyze model → Plan → Draft → Feedback → Redraft
The process writing approach includes analyzing a model, planning, drafting, receiving feedback, and redrafting to develop the writing skill systematically.
Question 7: Which skill is primarily involved when a student infers the meaning of an unknown word from context while reading?
- Decoding phonics
- Applying scanning technique
- Using contextual clues for vocabulary deduction (Correct answer)
- Analyzing discourse markers
Correct answer: Using contextual clues for vocabulary deduction
Deducing word meaning from context is a receptive reading micro-skill that allows learners to manage unknown vocabulary independently.
CELTA Language Skills 3
Which writing sub-skill is being practiced when students identify how paragraphs are linked in a model text?