CTEL Language Structure and Linguistics Flashcards

An English learner says, 'I see the cat with the binoculars.' This statement could mean that the speaker is using binoculars to see the cat, or it could mean the cat itself has the binoculars. This is an example of what type of ambiguity?

Answer: Structural ambiguity

Structural (or syntactic) ambiguity occurs when a sentence can have two or more different meanings because of the way the words are arranged. In this case, the prepositional phrase 'with the binoculars' could modify either the verb 'see' or the noun 'cat', leading to two different interpretations based on the sentence's structure.

A teacher is analyzing a student's writing and notes the student consistently omits the '-s' ending for third-person singular verbs (e.g., 'He run fast'). This error falls primarily into which domain of linguistics?

Answer: Morphology

Morphology is the study of the structure of words and word formation. Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning. The '-s' in 'runs' is a grammatical morpheme indicating the third-person singular present tense. The student's error is in the omission of this morpheme.

Which of the following describes the linguistic concept of pragmatics?

Answer: The study of how context influences the interpretation of meaning.

Pragmatics is the branch of linguistics that deals with language in use and the contexts in which it is used. It focuses on how context—including the situation, the relationship between speakers, and cultural norms—affects how language is interpreted.

An English learner is very talkative on the playground with peers, using social greetings and conversational language effectively. However, the same student struggles to understand academic texts and write essays in history class. This student's proficiency demonstrates a gap between:

Answer: BICS and CALP

This scenario illustrates the difference between Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), a distinction developed by Jim Cummins. BICS refers to the conversational fluency used in social, everyday contexts, while CALP is the more complex, abstract language needed for academic success. English learners often develop BICS much faster than CALP.

A new student who has been in the U.S. for three months is in the 'preproduction' stage of second language acquisition. Which of the following behaviors is most characteristic of this stage?

Answer: Pointing, gesturing, and responding non-verbally.

The preproduction stage, often called the 'silent period,' is the earliest stage of second language acquisition. During this time, learners are building receptive vocabulary and are not yet speaking. They communicate primarily through non-verbal means like pointing, gesturing, or drawing.

In the words 'cat,' 'king,' and 'school,' the initial sound /k/ is the same, but it is represented by the letters 'c,' 'k,' and 'ch,' respectively. The letters or letter combinations ('c,' 'k,' 'ch') are examples of:

Answer: Graphemes

A grapheme is the written representation (a letter or group of letters) of a single phoneme (sound). While the phoneme /k/ is the sound unit, the different ways it is written ('c', 'k', 'ch') are the graphemes.