ALT Teaching English Language Learners 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student in the 'silent period' of language acquisition refuses to speak during class activities. What is the most appropriate teacher response?
- Require the student to speak to overcome shyness
- Allow non-verbal responses and provide comprehensible input without forcing speech (Correct answer)
- Refer the student for a speech-language evaluation
- Move the student to a lower-level class
Correct answer: Allow non-verbal responses and provide comprehensible input without forcing speech
The silent period is a natural stage where learners absorb language before producing it, so accepting non-verbal responses reduces anxiety and supports acquisition.
Question 2: Which assessment approach is most appropriate for monitoring the ongoing language development of ELL students?
- Annual standardized norm-referenced tests
- Formative portfolio-based assessments collected over time (Correct answer)
- Native-language IQ tests
- Single-session oral fluency checks
Correct answer: Formative portfolio-based assessments collected over time
Portfolio-based formative assessment captures growth over time and reflects authentic language use across multiple domains.
Question 3: A teacher notices an ELL student writes 'He go to school every day.' This error most likely reflects:
- A random guessing strategy
- Interference from the student's first language grammar rules (Correct answer)
- A hearing impairment affecting verb endings
- Lack of effort on the student's part
Correct answer: Interference from the student's first language grammar rules
Omitting the third-person singular -s is a common L1 transfer error in languages that do not mark subject-verb agreement morphologically.
Question 4: WIDA's English language proficiency standards are organized around which central concept?
- Phonological awareness levels
- Social and instructional language only
- Language functions within academic content areas (Correct answer)
- Grammar rules sequenced by difficulty
Correct answer: Language functions within academic content areas
WIDA standards describe how language is used to accomplish academic tasks across content areas at different proficiency levels.
Question 5: Which instructional strategy best supports an ELL student who understands content concepts but struggles to produce academic writing?
- Exempting the student from writing assignments
- Providing sentence frames and academic language scaffolds (Correct answer)
- Assigning extra grammar drills nightly
- Pairing the student only with native speakers and giving no other support
Correct answer: Providing sentence frames and academic language scaffolds
Sentence frames scaffold the linguistic structures needed for academic writing while allowing students to demonstrate content knowledge.
Question 6: A teacher is planning a lesson on ecosystems for students at WIDA Level 2. Which modification is most appropriate?
- Deliver the lesson entirely in the students' home language
- Use visual supports, labeled diagrams, and simplified sentence structures (Correct answer)
- Assign grade-level reading passages without modification
- Focus only on vocabulary and skip conceptual content
Correct answer: Use visual supports, labeled diagrams, and simplified sentence structures
Visual supports and simplified structures provide comprehensible input at Level 2 while maintaining content rigor.
Question 7: Which legal case established that schools must take affirmative steps to address the language needs of ELL students?
- Brown v. Board of Education
- Lau v. Nichols (Correct answer)
- Plyler v. Doe
- Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District
Correct answer: Lau v. Nichols
Lau v. Nichols (1974) ruled that identical education does not mean equal education when students cannot access instruction due to language barriers.
ALT Teaching English Language Learners 2
A student in the 'silent period' of language acquisition refuses to speak during class activities.
What is the most appropriate teacher response?