NYSTCE Spanish (020) Flashcards

A Spanish teacher wants students to produce language spontaneously in a communicative, meaning-focused context. Which activity BEST reflects the communicative language teaching (CLT) approach?

Answer: Students role-play planning a class trip, negotiating in Spanish to reach a group decision

CLT emphasizes authentic communication and negotiation of meaning. A role-play requiring genuine decision-making creates the information gap and communicative purpose central to CLT. Memorized dialogues, grammar drills, and translation focus on form rather than spontaneous meaning-making.

Which Spanish verb form correctly expresses a habitual past action that no longer occurs, equivalent to 'used to play' in English?

Answer: Jugaba

The imperfect (jugaba) expresses habitual or repeated past actions, ongoing past states, and background events — equivalent to English 'used to' or 'was playing.' The preterite (jugué) marks a completed event; the present perfect (he jugado) links past to present; the conditional perfect (habría jugado) expresses a hypothetical.

According to ACTFL proficiency guidelines, a student at the Intermediate-Mid level is BEST characterized by which of the following?

Answer: Can communicate on concrete topics using sentences and strings of sentences, maintaining simple conversations but with breakdowns on complex topics

Intermediate-Mid speakers can sustain simple conversation on familiar topics using sentences and sentence strings, but struggle with complex or abstract topics. Novice levels rely on memorized chunks; Advanced speakers sustain narration/description across time frames; Superior speakers handle abstract and unfamiliar topics.

A student writes: 'Ayer, yo comer en el restaurante.' Which error has the student made?

Answer: Failed to conjugate the verb — used the infinitive instead of a finite form

'Comer' is the infinitive. The sentence requires a conjugated preterite form: 'comí' (yo form). The preposition 'en' is correct for location; subject pronouns are optional in Spanish (pro-drop language); 'ayer' correctly indicates past time.

Which instructional approach is MOST effective for building reading proficiency in a secondary Spanish class at the Intermediate level?

Answer: Providing texts slightly above the students' current level with pre-reading activities, glosses, and comprehension tasks (i+1 input)

Krashen's Input Hypothesis (i+1) holds that acquisition occurs when input is slightly beyond the current level but comprehensible through context and support (pre-reading, glosses). 100%-accuracy texts provide no growth; unsupported difficult texts cause frustration without acquisition.

The subjunctive mood is required in the subordinate clause of which sentence type in Spanish?

Answer: Expressions of doubt, emotion, or volition in the main clause: 'Espero que vengas mañana.'

The subjunctive is triggered in the subordinate clause when the main clause expresses subjectivity — doubt, emotion, desire, volition, or negated certainty (the WEIRDO categories). Statements of fact, questions, and reported completed actions use the indicative mood.