CALT Academic Language Therapy 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which principle is foundational to Academic Language Therapy for students with dyslexia?
- Visual memorization of whole words
- Multisensory structured language instruction (Correct answer)
- Silent reading to build fluency
- Contextual guessing strategies
Correct answer: Multisensory structured language instruction
ALT is built on multisensory structured language principles, engaging auditory, visual, and kinesthetic-tactile pathways simultaneously to reinforce language learning.
Academic Language Therapy is grounded in multisensory structured language instruction, meaning students learn through simultaneous engagement of sight, sound, and movement. This approach is explicitly taught, systematic, and sequential, addressing the root phonological and language processing deficits associated with dyslexia.
Question 2: The IDA Knowledge and Practice Standards require CALT practitioners to demonstrate mastery of:
- Literature analysis exclusively
- Structured literacy instruction across all language levels (Correct answer)
- Whole language immersion methods
- Advanced grammar composition only
Correct answer: Structured literacy instruction across all language levels
IDA standards require structured literacy instruction covering phonology, phonics, morphology, syntax, semantics, and fluency at all language levels.
The IDA Knowledge and Practice Standards define structured literacy as encompassing instruction in phonological awareness, phonics and word study, fluency, vocabulary, oral language, and comprehension. CALT practitioners must demonstrate competence across all these language levels using explicit and systematic teaching methods.
Question 3: In ALT, a review activity at the start of a lesson primarily serves to:
- Introduce new phoneme patterns immediately
- Assess a student's IQ
- Reinforce previously learned material through retrieval practice (Correct answer)
- Test spelling only
Correct answer: Reinforce previously learned material through retrieval practice
Structured lessons begin with review to strengthen retention of previously taught concepts through repeated retrieval, crucial for students with memory-based processing weaknesses.
In an ALT structured lesson plan, the review component activates prior learning and strengthens neural pathways through retrieval practice. For students with dyslexia who often have weak phonological memory, repeated review of previously mastered content builds automaticity. This review phase typically covers phonogram cards, spelling patterns, and vocabulary before any new concept is introduced.
Question 4: Which technique involves a student simultaneously saying each letter, writing it, and then reading the completed word?
- Semantic linkage
- Syntactic linkage
- Simultaneous Oral Spelling (Correct answer)
- Blending drill
Correct answer: Simultaneous Oral Spelling
Simultaneous Oral Spelling engages auditory, visual, and kinesthetic pathways at the same time, reinforcing spelling patterns multisensorially.
Simultaneous Oral Spelling is a multisensory technique in which the student says each letter aloud while writing it, then reads the completed word. By engaging auditory, kinesthetic-tactile, and visual channels concurrently, SOS strengthens the orthographic memory needed for accurate spelling. It is a core tool in ALT spelling instruction.
Question 5: When determining whether a student qualifies for ALT services, a CALT should first review:
- The student's homework completion rate
- Comprehensive psychoeducational or reading diagnostic evaluation results (Correct answer)
- The student's classroom seating arrangement
- A teacher's informal opinion of reading level
Correct answer: Comprehensive psychoeducational or reading diagnostic evaluation results
A comprehensive evaluation identifying phonological processing deficits, word reading accuracy, and fluency establishes the diagnostic basis for ALT services.
Before initiating ALT, the CALT must review a comprehensive evaluation that documents phonological processing weaknesses, word recognition deficits, decoding difficulties, and other markers consistent with dyslexia. This typically comes from a psychoeducational assessment by a licensed professional. Informal teacher opinion alone is insufficient to determine eligibility for structured language therapy.
Question 6: The concept of automaticity in reading refers to:
- Reading only simple texts
- Effortless, fast, and accurate word recognition without conscious attention (Correct answer)
- Using context clues to guess unknown words
- Reading aloud with expression
Correct answer: Effortless, fast, and accurate word recognition without conscious attention
Automaticity means recognizing words rapidly and accurately with minimal cognitive effort, freeing working memory for comprehension.
Automaticity in reading means that word recognition has become so well-practiced that it requires little conscious cognitive effort. When decoding is automatic, working memory resources are freed for higher-order tasks like comprehension and inference. Building automaticity is a key goal of ALT fluency instruction, achieved through repeated reading and extensive practice with decodable texts.
CALT Academic Language Therapy 2
Which principle is foundational to Academic Language Therapy for students with dyslexia?