CLAD Core Concepts & Fundamentals 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which psycholinguistic concept describes the mental system that language learners construct as they progress toward target language proficiency, containing elements of both L1 and L2?
- Pidgin
- Creole
- Interlanguage (Correct answer)
- Metalanguage
Correct answer: Interlanguage
Interlanguage is the dynamic, evolving linguistic system a learner develops between their native language and the target language.
Question 2: A teacher notices that a second-language student who previously used correct verb tenses has stopped doing so. This phenomenon is best described as:
- Code-switching
- Backsliding (Correct answer)
- Pidginization
- Semantic extension
Correct answer: Backsliding
Backsliding (or regression) occurs when a learner temporarily reverts to earlier, less accurate forms of the target language, often under stress or fatigue.
Question 3: The concept of 'language socialization' in CLAD theory emphasizes that:
- Children learn social norms and language simultaneously through participation in their community (Correct answer)
- Social skills must be taught separately from academic language
- Language learning depends primarily on genetic factors
- Formal grammar instruction is essential before social interaction
Correct answer: Children learn social norms and language simultaneously through participation in their community
Language socialization theory holds that learners acquire language and cultural knowledge together through guided participation in social practices.
Question 4: Which instructional approach deliberately delays reading and writing instruction until students have developed strong oral language foundations?
- Whole Language
- Natural Approach (Correct answer)
- Audiolingual Method
- Direct Method
Correct answer: Natural Approach
The Natural Approach, developed by Krashen and Terrell, focuses first on developing oral comprehension and production before introducing literacy skills.
Question 5: When a bilingual student uses elements from both languages within a single conversation or sentence, this is known as:
- Language transfer
- Code-switching (Correct answer)
- Diglossia
- Lexical borrowing
Correct answer: Code-switching
Code-switching is the practice of alternating between two or more languages or language varieties within a single conversation or utterance.
Question 6: Which stage of the CLAD English Language Development continuum is characterized by simple phrases, pattern sentences, and errors that do not impede meaning?
- Early Production
- Speech Emergence (Correct answer)
- Intermediate Fluency
- Preproduction
Correct answer: Speech Emergence
During Speech Emergence, learners produce longer phrases and sentences and can communicate ideas, though grammatical errors are common.
Question 7: The idea that schools should build on the cultural knowledge and experiences students bring from home is best captured by the concept of:
- Cultural assimilation
- Cultural deficit theory
- Funds of knowledge (Correct answer)
- Cultural relativism
Correct answer: Funds of knowledge
'Funds of knowledge' (Moll et al.) refers to the historically accumulated and culturally developed bodies of knowledge that students' households possess and that schools can leverage for instruction.
CLAD Core Concepts & Fundamentals 3
Which psycholinguistic concept describes the mental system that language learners construct as they progress toward target language proficiency, containing elements of both L1 and L2?