CELTA Language Skills 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A teacher plays a recording twice before checking answers. What is the main pedagogical reason for playing it a second time?
- To entertain students who finished quickly
- To allow students to confirm answers and hear missed details (Correct answer)
- To give the teacher time to write answers on the board
- To practice bottom-up decoding of phonemes
Correct answer: To allow students to confirm answers and hear missed details
A second listening gives students the chance to verify, correct, or complete answers they missed on the first hearing.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes 'discourse competence' as a component of communicative language ability?
- Knowledge of grammar rules and sentence structure
- Ability to link utterances into coherent spoken or written texts (Correct answer)
- Correct use of pronunciation at the phoneme level
- Understanding of cultural norms in the target language country
Correct answer: Ability to link utterances into coherent spoken or written texts
Discourse competence refers to the ability to connect sentences and utterances logically and cohesively across a text or conversation.
Question 3: A CELTA trainee sets a pre-reading vocabulary task. What is the most important reason for this?
- To test students before the lesson begins
- To remove the need for students to read the text carefully
- To lower the cognitive load so students can focus on meaning during reading (Correct answer)
- To give the teacher time to set up the classroom
Correct answer: To lower the cognitive load so students can focus on meaning during reading
Pre-teaching key vocabulary reduces barriers to comprehension, allowing students to focus on meaning and ideas rather than decoding unknown words.
Question 4: Which of the following is an authentic listening text for classroom use?
- A scripted dialogue recorded at slow speed for textbooks
- A podcast episode downloaded from a real radio program (Correct answer)
- A teacher-dictated sentence repeated three times at normal speed
- A gap-fill audio track designed to test grammar points
Correct answer: A podcast episode downloaded from a real radio program
Authentic texts are produced for real communicative purposes outside the classroom, such as radio programs or podcasts not designed for learners.
Question 5: What does 'accuracy' mean in the context of developing speaking skills on a CELTA course?
- Speed and fluency of delivery
- Correct use of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation (Correct answer)
- Ability to communicate ideas without pausing
- Comprehension of the spoken message by the listener
Correct answer: Correct use of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation
Accuracy in speaking refers to producing language that is grammatically, lexically, and phonologically correct.
Question 6: A learner writes a formal email but uses 'gonna' and 'wanna' throughout. Which writing issue does this illustrate?
- Poor spelling
- Inappropriate register for the context (Correct answer)
- Lack of paragraph structure
- Incorrect use of punctuation
Correct answer: Inappropriate register for the context
Contractions like 'gonna' belong to informal spoken English and are inappropriate in formal written communication, indicating a register mismatch.
Question 7: Which micro-skill is being developed when students practice identifying stressed words in a sentence to understand the speaker's meaning?
- Discourse analysis
- Listening for sentence stress and prominence (Correct answer)
- Reading for gist
- Writing for cohesion
Correct answer: Listening for sentence stress and prominence
Recognizing which words receive stress helps learners understand what the speaker emphasizes and intends to communicate.
CELTA Language Skills 4
A teacher plays a recording twice before checking answers.
What is the main pedagogical reason for playing it a second time?