OPELA Specialized Terminology 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is 'text cohesion' in academic writing as evaluated by OPELA?
- The use of linking devices to connect sentences and ideas smoothly (Correct answer)
- The accuracy of grammar at the sentence level
- The number of paragraphs in an essay
- The consistency of font and formatting in a document
Correct answer: The use of linking devices to connect sentences and ideas smoothly
Text cohesion refers to the grammatical and lexical connections—such as pronouns, synonyms, and connectives—that make a text flow logically.
Question 2: Which term describes copying someone else's work without attribution, a concept heavily emphasized in OPELA academic integrity contexts?
- Plagiarism (Correct answer)
- Paraphrasing
- Synthesizing
- Summarizing
Correct answer: Plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting another person's ideas, words, or work as your own without proper acknowledgment.
Question 3: In OPELA writing tasks, a 'thesis statement' is best described as:
- A sentence that presents the central argument or main claim of an essay (Correct answer)
- The concluding sentence of an introduction paragraph
- A list of the main points to be discussed in the body
- A quotation from a source that supports the topic
Correct answer: A sentence that presents the central argument or main claim of an essay
A thesis statement clearly states the writer's main argument or position that the rest of the essay will support.
Question 4: What does the term 'semantic prosody' mean in corpus linguistics and advanced English assessment?
- The positive or negative connotation a word acquires through frequent co-occurrence (Correct answer)
- The rhythm and stress patterns of spoken language
- The grammatical category a word belongs to
- The origin and historical development of a word
Correct answer: The positive or negative connotation a word acquires through frequent co-occurrence
Semantic prosody describes how a word takes on a consistently positive or negative flavor based on the types of words it typically appears with.
Question 5: In an OPELA speaking task, 'prosodic features' include:
- Stress, intonation, rhythm, and pace of speech (Correct answer)
- Vocabulary range and grammatical accuracy
- Eye contact and body language during presentation
- The ability to use discipline-specific terminology
Correct answer: Stress, intonation, rhythm, and pace of speech
Prosodic features are the suprasegmental aspects of speech—how pitch, stress, and timing are used to convey meaning.
Question 6: What is 'genre awareness' in the context of academic writing assessed by OPELA?
- Understanding the conventions and expectations of different text types (Correct answer)
- The ability to write in multiple languages
- Knowing the word limits for various essay formats
- Recognizing the difference between fiction and non-fiction
Correct answer: Understanding the conventions and expectations of different text types
Genre awareness means understanding that different academic text types (reports, essays, reviews) have distinct structural and stylistic conventions.
Question 7: The term 'language transfer' in OPELA-related second language acquisition refers to:
- When features of a learner's first language influence their use of a second language (Correct answer)
- The process of switching between two languages mid-sentence
- Translating academic texts from one language to another
- Moving language skills from receptive to productive use
Correct answer: When features of a learner's first language influence their use of a second language
Language transfer occurs when learners apply patterns from their native language to English, which can either aid or hinder English accuracy.
OPELA Specialized Terminology 3
What is 'text cohesion' in academic writing as evaluated by OPELA?