CALT Syntax and Sentence Structure 2 — Questions and Answers

Question 1: Syntax refers to the system of rules governing:

The sounds of a language
The arrangement of words to form grammatically correct sentences (Correct answer)
The meanings of individual words
The history of word origins

Correct answer: The arrangement of words to form grammatically correct sentences

Syntax is the branch of linguistics dealing with the rules that govern sentence structure, how words and phrases are arranged to create grammatically correct sentences.

Syntax is the rule system governing how words are combined into phrases, clauses, and sentences. Syntactic knowledge includes understanding word order, phrase structure, clause structure, and grammatical morphology. Syntactic awareness is important for reading comprehension and writing, and explicit syntax instruction is a component of structured literacy at the sentence level.

Question 2: A student who consistently writes fragments such as Because it was raining most likely needs instruction in:

Phoneme awareness
Identifying and constructing complete sentences with a subject and predicate (Correct answer)
Vowel team spelling patterns
Reading fluency only

Correct answer: Identifying and constructing complete sentences with a subject and predicate

Sentence fragments lack a complete subject-predicate structure, and the student needs explicit instruction in what constitutes a complete sentence and the difference between dependent and independent clauses.

A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence that lacks either a subject, a predicate, or both, or that is a dependent clause presented as if it were a complete sentence. Because it was raining is a dependent clause that cannot stand alone. Explicit instruction in sentence structure, including the difference between dependent and independent clauses, directly addresses this error pattern.

Question 3: Sentence combining instruction helps students with:

Phoneme deletion tasks
Creating more syntactically complex and varied sentences from simple kernel sentences (Correct answer)
Decoding multisyllabic words
Learning vocabulary definitions

Correct answer: Creating more syntactically complex and varied sentences from simple kernel sentences

Sentence combining teaches students to join simple sentences into more complex structures using conjunctions, relative clauses, and other syntactic devices.

Sentence combining is an evidence-based instructional technique in which students practice joining two or more simple kernel sentences into a single, more syntactically complex sentence using coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, relative clauses, and other devices. Research shows that sentence combining instruction improves both written syntax complexity and reading comprehension of complex sentences.

Question 4: The ability to understand complex sentences with embedded relative clauses is a:

Phonological processing skill
Higher-level syntactic comprehension skill (Correct answer)
Basic decoding skill
Morphological awareness skill

Correct answer: Higher-level syntactic comprehension skill

Processing embedded relative clauses requires sophisticated syntactic comprehension, holding the main clause in working memory while parsing the embedded clause and then integrating both.

Relative clauses embedded within sentences require the reader to maintain the main clause in working memory while parsing the embedded modifier, then integrate both to construct the correct meaning. This is a sophisticated syntactic comprehension skill that draws on working memory, syntactic knowledge, and attention. Students with language-based learning disabilities may struggle with complex embedded syntax.

Question 5: In English grammar, a compound sentence contains:

One independent clause
Two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (Correct answer)
An independent and a dependent clause
A phrase but no clause

Correct answer: Two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction

A compound sentence joins two or more independent clauses using a coordinating conjunction such as those in the FANBOYS mnemonic: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.

A simple sentence contains one independent clause. A compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses joined by coordinating conjunctions or a semicolon. A complex sentence contains one independent clause plus one or more dependent clauses. Teaching students to identify and construct each sentence type builds syntactic complexity in writing.

Question 6: Understanding the passive voice construction The trophy was awarded to the winner by the judges requires:

Knowledge of phoneme-grapheme correspondences
Syntactic awareness to correctly identify who performed the action (Correct answer)
Vocabulary knowledge of the word trophy only
Fluency skills

Correct answer: Syntactic awareness to correctly identify who performed the action

Passive voice reverses the typical subject-actor relationship, and syntactic awareness is needed to correctly identify who performed the action.

In English passive voice constructions, the grammatical subject receives the action rather than performing it, and the logical agent is moved to an optional by phrase at the end or omitted entirely. Students must use syntactic knowledge to correctly identify that the judges performed the awarding. Students with language-based learning disabilities may struggle with passive voice comprehension.

CALT Syntax and Sentence Structure 2

Syntax refers to the system of rules governing: