TExES Exam TExES English as a Second Language Supplemental 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which legislative act established the legal foundation for bilingual education programs in U.S. public schools?
- No Child Left Behind Act (2001)
- Bilingual Education Act (1968) (Correct answer)
- Every Student Succeeds Act (2015)
- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1990)
Correct answer: Bilingual Education Act (1968)
The Bilingual Education Act of 1968 (Title VII of ESEA) was the first federal legislation to recognize the needs of ELL students and fund bilingual education.
Question 2: In Sheltered Instruction (SIOP), content objectives and language objectives are written separately because:
- State testing requires separate objectives
- Students with disabilities need separate plans
- Language development must be explicitly targeted alongside content learning (Correct answer)
- Bilingual education law mandates dual objectives
Correct answer: Language development must be explicitly targeted alongside content learning
SIOP requires explicit language objectives so teachers intentionally develop the academic language ELLs need to access content, not just content knowledge.
Question 3: An ELL produces 'Yesterday I go to the store' consistently over many months of instruction. This pattern is best described as:
- Natural developmental progression
- Fossilization (Correct answer)
- Silent period
- Negative transfer only
Correct answer: Fossilization
Fossilization occurs when non-target forms become permanently fixed in an interlanguage, resisting further development despite instruction.
Question 4: A teacher uses sentence frames such as 'I agree with ___ because ___' during a class discussion. This strategy primarily supports ELLs by:
- Replacing the need for academic vocabulary
- Scaffolding oral academic language production (Correct answer)
- Assessing reading comprehension
- Limiting student creativity
Correct answer: Scaffolding oral academic language production
Sentence frames provide linguistic scaffolding that helps ELLs participate in academic discourse using appropriate grammatical structures.
Question 5: According to Cummins' interdependence hypothesis, proficiency in an ELL's first language:
- Interferes with English acquisition and should be suppressed
- Has no relationship to second language development
- Transfers positively and supports second language academic literacy (Correct answer)
- Only helps with social language, not academic language
Correct answer: Transfers positively and supports second language academic literacy
Cummins' interdependence hypothesis holds that a strong L1 foundation, especially in literacy, facilitates L2 academic language and literacy development.
Question 6: Which error correction technique is LEAST disruptive to ELL communication during oral activities?
- Explicit correction with metalinguistic explanation
- Recasting the student's utterance correctly without interrupting meaning (Correct answer)
- Elicitation through direct questioning about the error
- Repetition of the error with rising intonation
Correct answer: Recasting the student's utterance correctly without interrupting meaning
Recasting allows the teacher to model the correct form implicitly without interrupting communicative flow or causing embarrassment.
Question 7: A parent of an ELL student speaks only Spanish. Under federal law (Lau v. Nichols and OCR guidance), the school must:
- Require the parent to use an English translator they provide
- Provide meaningful access to school communications in a language the parent understands (Correct answer)
- Only provide English-language notices as all official documents are in English
- Notify the state and allow the state to communicate with the parent
Correct answer: Provide meaningful access to school communications in a language the parent understands
Lau v. Nichols and subsequent OCR guidance require schools to provide meaningful access to information for parents with limited English proficiency.
TExES Exam TExES English as a Second Language Supplemental 3
Which legislative act established the legal foundation for bilingual education programs in U.S. public schools?