CELTA Language Skills 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A teacher asks students to write a first draft without worrying about errors, then revise later. Which approach does this reflect?
- Product writing approach
- Process writing approach (Correct answer)
- Genre-based writing approach
- Controlled composition approach
Correct answer: Process writing approach
The process writing approach emphasizes drafting, revising, and redrafting rather than producing a single correct final product.
Question 2: Which listening sub-skill is being used when a student identifies the speaker's attitude from tone, intonation, and word choice?
- Listening for specific information
- Listening for gist
- Inferring mood and attitude (Correct answer)
- Discriminating between phonemes
Correct answer: Inferring mood and attitude
Inferring mood and attitude involves interpreting paralinguistic and linguistic cues beyond the literal meaning of words.
Question 3: A CELTA candidate uses a 'prediction task' before a reading text. Which skill does this primarily support?
- Accuracy in grammar while reading
- Activation of schemata and top-down processing (Correct answer)
- Scanning for specific facts in the text
- Analyzing cohesive devices within the text
Correct answer: Activation of schemata and top-down processing
Prediction tasks activate learners' prior knowledge (schemata), which supports top-down comprehension of the text.
Question 4: Which of the following is the best example of a 'communicative' speaking task in a CELTA lesson?
- Repeating sentences from an audio track in a drill
- Filling in blanks in a dialogue script with the correct verb form
- Discussing with a partner which of three job candidates to hire (Correct answer)
- Reading aloud a dialogue from the textbook
Correct answer: Discussing with a partner which of three job candidates to hire
A communicative task involves an information or opinion gap that requires genuine interaction and meaningful language use to complete.
Question 5: What is 'gist listening'?
- Listening to identify every word accurately
- Listening to decode individual phonemes and sounds
- Listening to get the overall topic or main idea of a text (Correct answer)
- Listening to find specific facts or figures
Correct answer: Listening to get the overall topic or main idea of a text
Gist listening involves understanding the general meaning or topic of a spoken text without focusing on every detail.
Question 6: A student produces accurate written sentences but the paragraph lacks logical flow. Which writing skill needs development?
- Spelling and punctuation
- Sentence-level grammar
- Paragraph organization and coherence (Correct answer)
- Vocabulary range
Correct answer: Paragraph organization and coherence
Coherence refers to the logical and sequential organization of ideas within and between paragraphs, beyond sentence-level accuracy.
Question 7: On a CELTA course, integrating skills means:
- Testing all four skills in a single exam at the end of the course
- Using one skill (e.g., reading) as a springboard into another (e.g., speaking or writing) (Correct answer)
- Ensuring all skills receive equal time in every lesson
- Teaching grammar rules that apply to both spoken and written English
Correct answer: Using one skill (e.g., reading) as a springboard into another (e.g., speaking or writing)
Integrated skills lessons use one skill to lead naturally into another, reflecting real-world language use where skills combine.
CELTA Language Skills 5
A teacher asks students to write a first draft without worrying about errors, then revise later.
Which approach does this reflect?