Your FREE Praxis 5362 Flashcards 2026 – 200+ Cards

Praxis 5362 Flashcards

Phonology

The study of how sounds are organized and patterned within a language — which sounds contrast, how they combine, and which sequences are allowed. It deals with the sound system, not the physical articulation of sounds.

Phonetics

The study of the physical production and acoustic properties of speech sounds — how sounds are articulated, transmitted, and perceived, independent of any particular language's system.

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound that distinguishes meaning in a language. Swapping one phoneme for another changes the word, as in the /p/ and /b/ that separate "pat" from "bat."

Minimal pair

Two words that differ by only one phoneme in the same position and have different meanings, such as "ship" and "sheep." Minimal pairs prove that the contrasting sounds are separate phonemes.

Allophone

A predictable phonetic variant of a phoneme that does not change meaning, such as the aspirated [pʰ] in "pin" versus the unaspirated [p] in "spin" — both belong to the phoneme /p/.

Morpheme

The smallest unit of language that carries meaning. "Cats" contains two morphemes: "cat" (a free morpheme) and the plural "-s" (a bound morpheme).

Free vs. bound morpheme

A free morpheme can stand alone as a word ("book," "run"). A bound morpheme must attach to another morpheme, such as prefixes and suffixes ("un-," "-ed," "-s").

Morphology

The study of word structure — how morphemes combine to form words through inflection (grammatical endings) and derivation (creating new words, e.g., "happy" → "happiness").

Inflectional vs. derivational morphemes

Inflectional morphemes mark grammar (tense, number, possession) without changing the word's class — "walk" → "walked." Derivational morphemes create a new word, often changing its part of speech — "teach" → "teacher."

Syntax

The set of rules governing how words combine into phrases and sentences — word order, agreement, and sentence structure. Syntax explains why "the red car" is grammatical in English but "the car red" is not.

Semantics

The study of meaning in language — the meanings of words, phrases, and sentences, including relationships such as synonymy, antonymy, and how literal meaning is built compositionally.

Pragmatics

The study of how context shapes meaning — how speakers use language to make requests, imply, and take turns, and how listeners interpret meaning beyond the literal words (e.g., "Can you pass the salt?" as a request).

Discourse

Language above the sentence level — how sentences connect into coherent spoken or written texts through cohesion, transitions, and organizational patterns. Discourse competence is essential for academic reading and writing.

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

A standardized system in which each symbol represents one distinct speech sound, allowing teachers to transcribe pronunciation precisely regardless of a language's spelling conventions.

Voiced vs. voiceless sounds

Voiced sounds are produced with vocal-fold vibration, such as /b/, /d/, /g/, and /z/. Voiceless sounds have no vibration, such as /p/, /t/, /k/, and /s/. Many sounds pair only by this feature.

Place and manner of articulation

Two ways of describing consonants. Place is where in the mouth the sound is made (bilabial, alveolar, velar). Manner is how airflow is shaped (stop, fricative, nasal, liquid).

Syllable structure

The arrangement of consonants and vowels in a syllable, typically an onset, a nucleus (vowel), and a coda. Languages differ in allowable patterns, which can make English consonant clusters hard for some learners.

Prosody / suprasegmentals

Features that span more than a single sound — stress, rhythm, and intonation. Prosody signals meaning and emotion and can make speech sound natural or, when off, hard to understand.

Register

A variety of language chosen to fit a situation, ranging from formal to informal. ELLs must learn to shift register, using academic register in school writing but casual register with peers.

Dialect

A regional or social variety of a language with its own pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. All dialects are rule-governed and linguistically valid; none is inherently "correct."

Standard vs. nonstandard varieties

The "standard" variety is the form used in formal education and media; nonstandard varieties differ systematically but are not deficient. Effective teachers respect home varieties while teaching the academic standard.

Contrastive analysis

Comparing a learner's first language with the target language to predict where similarities ease learning and differences cause errors, such as a sound or grammatical structure absent from the L1.

Cognates

Words in two languages that share form and meaning because of a common origin, such as English "family" and Spanish "familia." Teaching cognates helps Spanish-speaking ELLs build academic vocabulary quickly.

False cognates

Words that look similar across languages but have different meanings, such as Spanish "embarazada" (pregnant) versus English "embarrassed." Teachers flag these to prevent transfer errors.

Phonemic awareness

The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual phonemes in spoken words — blending, segmenting, and substituting sounds. It is a strong predictor of early reading success and supports decoding.

Grapheme-phoneme correspondence

The relationship between written letters (graphemes) and the sounds (phonemes) they represent. English has irregular correspondences, which can challenge ELLs whose first language has a more transparent spelling system.

Lexicon

The complete set of words and fixed expressions a speaker knows — the mental dictionary. Vocabulary breadth and depth strongly affect reading comprehension and academic achievement for ELLs.

Sociolinguistics

The study of how language varies and functions in society according to factors such as region, class, gender, and setting. It explains variation in dialect, register, and language use across communities.

Function words vs. content words

Content words carry the main meaning (nouns, verbs, adjectives). Function words signal grammatical relationships (articles, prepositions, conjunctions) and are often unstressed and harder for ELLs to hear.

Schwa

The neutral, unstressed vowel sound /ə/ heard in the first syllable of "about" or the last of "sofa." It is English's most common vowel and a frequent source of pronunciation difficulty.

Cohesion vs. coherence

Cohesion is the use of grammatical and lexical links (pronouns, transitions, repetition) that connect sentences. Coherence is the overall logical sense a text makes. Both are needed for clear academic writing.

Homophones and homographs

Homophones sound the same but differ in spelling/meaning ("to," "too," "two"). Homographs share spelling but differ in meaning or pronunciation ("lead" the metal vs. "lead" the verb).

Idiom

A fixed expression whose meaning cannot be derived from its individual words, such as "kick the bucket" or "piece of cake." Idioms are a known stumbling block for ELLs and require explicit teaching.

Connotation vs. denotation

Denotation is a word's literal dictionary meaning; connotation is its emotional or cultural association. "Thrifty" and "cheap" share a denotation but carry different connotations.

Morphological awareness

The ability to recognize and use meaningful word parts — roots, prefixes, and suffixes — to figure out and spell words. It is a powerful tool for building academic vocabulary in ELLs.

Consonant cluster

Two or more consonants together with no vowel between them, as in "street" (/str/) or "glimpsed." Clusters are difficult for learners whose first language limits them, often producing vowel insertion.

First language acquisition

The natural, largely subconscious process by which children acquire their native language through exposure and interaction, typically reaching fluency without formal instruction by early childhood.

Second language acquisition (SLA)

The process of learning an additional language after the first is established. It can be more conscious and effortful than first language acquisition and is shaped by age, input, motivation, and L1 background.

BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills)

Cummins's term for everyday conversational language used in social, context-rich settings. BICS typically develops within 1–2 years and should not be mistaken for academic readiness.

CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency)

Cummins's term for the decontextualized academic language needed for school content and reasoning. CALP typically takes 5–7 years to develop and is the target of sustained ESOL support.

Jim Cummins

The scholar who distinguished BICS from CALP and proposed the common underlying proficiency and additive-bilingualism frameworks, shaping how educators interpret ELL proficiency and L1 transfer.

Common Underlying Proficiency (CUP)

Cummins's idea that skills and concepts learned in one language transfer to another because both draw on shared cognitive resources, which is why strong L1 literacy supports L2 development.

Stephen Krashen

The applied linguist whose Monitor Model of five hypotheses — acquisition-learning, input, monitor, natural order, and affective filter — heavily influenced communicative, comprehension-based ESOL instruction.

Input Hypothesis (i + 1)

Krashen's claim that learners acquire language when they understand input slightly beyond their current level (i + 1). Teachers provide comprehensible input through visuals, gestures, and context.

Comprehensible input

Language that learners can understand even if it contains some unknown elements, made accessible through context, visuals, simplified speech, and gestures. It is considered the key driver of acquisition.

Affective Filter Hypothesis

Krashen's claim that anxiety, low motivation, or low confidence raise a mental "filter" that blocks input. A low-stress, supportive classroom lowers the filter and promotes acquisition.

Monitor Hypothesis

Krashen's claim that consciously learned rules act only as an editor or "monitor" of output, used when learners have time, focus on form, and know the rule — not as the main source of fluent speech.

Acquisition vs. learning

Krashen's distinction between acquisition (the subconscious absorption of language through meaningful use) and learning (the conscious study of rules). He argued acquisition drives real communicative ability.

Natural Order Hypothesis

Krashen's claim that learners acquire grammatical structures in a fairly predictable order regardless of teaching sequence, which suggests instruction should not force premature mastery of difficult forms.

Interlanguage

Selinker's term for the learner's evolving, rule-governed language system that is neither the L1 nor the full target language. It changes as the learner progresses and reveals systematic developmental errors.

Fossilization

The persistence of certain non-target features in a learner's interlanguage despite continued exposure and instruction, so some errors become permanent and resist correction.

Silent period

An early stage in which a learner listens and absorbs language but speaks little or not at all. It is a normal part of acquisition; teachers honor it rather than forcing premature production.

L1 transfer

The influence of a learner's first language on the second. Positive transfer occurs when L1 structures match the L2 and aid learning; negative transfer (interference) produces errors when they differ.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Vygotsky's concept of the gap between what a learner can do alone and what they can do with guidance. Instruction is most effective when aimed at tasks within this zone.

Scaffolding

Temporary, targeted support — sentence frames, visuals, modeling, or peer help — that lets learners complete tasks beyond their independent level. Scaffolds are gradually removed as competence grows.

Lev Vygotsky

The psychologist behind sociocultural theory, who emphasized that learning is social and mediated by interaction, language, and the ZPD — foundations for scaffolding and collaborative ESOL instruction.

Stages of language proficiency

The commonly described progression — entering/starting (preproduction), beginning (early production), developing (speech emergence), expanding (intermediate fluency), and bridging (advanced) — that guides differentiation.

Preproduction stage

The earliest proficiency stage, when learners build receptive vocabulary, rely on the silent period, and respond nonverbally (pointing, gesturing). Teachers use visuals and yes/no or pointing tasks.

Early production stage

A stage when learners produce one- or two-word responses and short phrases with many errors. Appropriate prompts ask "who," "what," "where," and either/or questions.

Speech emergence stage

A stage when learners use simple sentences and longer phrases, comprehend more, and can handle "why" and "how" questions with support, though errors persist in complex structures.

Intermediate fluency stage

A stage when learners communicate with fewer errors in everyday and many academic contexts, can express opinions, and engage with grade-level content given continued language support.

Comprehensible output

Swain's idea that producing language — being pushed to speak and write — helps learners notice gaps, test hypotheses, and develop accuracy, complementing comprehensible input.

Negotiation of meaning

The interactive process in which speakers clarify, confirm, and rephrase to be understood, such as asking for repetition. It supports acquisition by making input comprehensible and prompting modified output.

Behaviorist view of language learning

An earlier theory framing language as a set of habits formed through imitation, repetition, and reinforcement, which influenced audiolingual drills. It underestimates learners' creative, rule-building capacity.

Innatist / Universal Grammar view

Chomsky's position that humans possess an innate language faculty, so children acquire grammar from limited input. It explains rapid first language acquisition and informs debates about L2 learning.

Interactionist view of language learning

The view that language develops through meaningful social interaction, where input, feedback, and negotiation of meaning work together — blending innate capacity with rich environmental input.

Critical / sensitive period hypothesis

The idea that there is an optimal age window for acquiring native-like proficiency, especially pronunciation. Older learners can still become highly proficient but may retain an accent.

Motivation: integrative vs. instrumental

Integrative motivation comes from wanting to connect with a language's community; instrumental motivation comes from practical goals like a job or grade. Both can drive successful language learning.

Sequential vs. simultaneous bilingualism

Simultaneous bilinguals acquire two languages from birth; sequential bilinguals add a second language after the first is established, the most common pattern for school-age ELLs.

Code-switching

Alternating between two languages within a conversation or sentence. It is a normal, rule-governed bilingual practice and a sign of competence, not confusion or deficiency.

Translanguaging

Allowing bilingual learners to draw on their full linguistic repertoire across languages to make meaning and learn, treating the two languages as one integrated system rather than separate.

Receptive vs. productive skills

Receptive skills (listening and reading) involve understanding language; productive skills (speaking and writing) involve generating it. Receptive ability typically develops ahead of productive ability.

Cummins's quadrant framework

A model classifying tasks by cognitive demand and contextual support. Effective instruction moves ELLs toward cognitively demanding, context-reduced (academic) tasks while initially providing context-embedded support.

Interference (negative transfer)

Errors that result when a learner applies an L1 rule that does not work in the L2, such as transferring word order or a missing article, common in early interlanguage.

Long-term English learner (LTEL)

A student who has attended U.S. schools for many years yet has not reached English proficiency, often strong in conversational BICS but lacking academic CALP, requiring targeted intervention.

Comprehensible input techniques

Strategies that make language accessible: speaking clearly and slowly, using visuals and realia, gestures and modeling, simplified syntax, and connecting to prior knowledge.

Developmental vs. transfer errors

Developmental errors mirror normal acquisition stages and appear across learners regardless of L1 (e.g., "goed"). Transfer errors stem from L1 influence. Distinguishing them guides feedback.

Willingness to communicate

A learner's readiness to engage in communication when given the chance, influenced by confidence and anxiety. Lowering anxiety raises willingness and increases practice opportunities.

Comprehension before production

The principle that learners understand language before they can produce it, justifying early reliance on listening, nonverbal responses, and the silent period before pushing speech.

Overgeneralization

Applying a language rule too broadly, producing forms like "goed" or "foots." It is a sign of active rule-building and a normal part of interlanguage development.

SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol)

A research-based model for planning and delivering lessons that make grade-level content comprehensible to ELLs. Its features include clear content and language objectives, building background, and meaningful interaction.

Sheltered instruction

An approach that teaches grade-level academic content while making it accessible to ELLs through visuals, scaffolds, modified language, and explicit attention to academic vocabulary and language skills.

Content objectives

Statements of what students will know or be able to do with the subject-matter content of a lesson (e.g., "Students will explain the water cycle"). They are posted and assessed alongside language objectives.

Language objectives

Statements of the language students will use to access and demonstrate content learning — vocabulary, functions, or structures (e.g., "Students will orally compare two ecosystems using comparison signal words").

WIDA

A consortium that provides English language development standards, the ACCESS for ELLs assessment, and Can Do Descriptors. Many states use WIDA to define proficiency levels and guide instruction.

WIDA Can Do Descriptors

WIDA tools describing what ELLs at each proficiency level can typically do in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, helping teachers set realistic expectations and differentiate tasks.

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

An approach that prioritizes real communication and meaning over isolated grammar drills, using authentic tasks, interaction, and functional language to build the ability to use language purposefully.

Total Physical Response (TPR)

Asher's method linking language to physical movement; learners respond to commands with actions. It suits beginners and the silent period by allowing comprehension to show through gesture before speech.

Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT)

An approach organizing instruction around meaningful tasks with real outcomes (planning a trip, solving a problem), so language is acquired through using it to accomplish goals.

The four language domains

Listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Effective ESOL instruction develops all four and recognizes that receptive domains (listening, reading) often precede productive ones (speaking, writing).

Academic language

The vocabulary, sentence structures, and discourse patterns used in school content — more abstract and decontextualized than social language. Explicitly teaching it is central to closing achievement gaps.

Tier 2 vs. Tier 3 vocabulary

Tier 2 words are high-frequency academic words used across subjects (analyze, consequence); Tier 3 words are domain-specific (photosynthesis). ELLs especially benefit from explicit Tier 2 instruction.

Differentiation

Adjusting content, process, product, or environment to meet learners' varied proficiency levels and needs, so ELLs at different stages can access the same grade-level standards through appropriate support.

Integrated ELD

English language development taught throughout the day within content classes, where teachers attend to both subject matter and the academic language ELLs need to engage with it.

Designated ELD

A protected, dedicated time when teachers focus specifically on developing ELLs' English language proficiency, grouped by level, to complement integrated ELD across content areas.

Sentence frames / starters

Partial sentences that give ELLs the structure and academic language to express ideas (e.g., "I agree with ___ because ___"). They scaffold participation and target language functions.

Realia

Real, authentic objects brought into the classroom (coins, maps, fruit, tools) to make vocabulary and concepts concrete and comprehensible for language learners.

Graphic organizers

Visual frameworks — Venn diagrams, T-charts, concept maps — that help ELLs organize information, show relationships, and reduce the language load of demonstrating understanding.

Building background knowledge

Activating or supplying prior knowledge and connecting new content to students' experiences and cultures, a SIOP feature that makes instruction comprehensible and meaningful for ELLs.

Comprehensible input strategies (instruction)

Teacher moves that make content accessible: slower clear speech, visuals and gestures, simplified or paraphrased language, modeling, and frequent comprehension checks.

Wait time

The pause a teacher allows after asking a question before expecting an answer. Extending wait time gives ELLs time to process, formulate, and respond in their second language.

Cooperative / collaborative learning

Structured group work in which students interact to complete a task. It increases ELLs' meaningful language practice, lowers anxiety, and provides peer models of academic language.

Word wall

A growing display of key vocabulary, often organized by theme or category, that supports ELLs in recognizing, spelling, and using academic terms during reading, writing, and discussion.

Pre-teaching vocabulary

Introducing essential words before a lesson or text so ELLs can access the content, using student-friendly definitions, visuals, examples, and connections to cognates or prior knowledge.

Modeling and think-alouds

Demonstrating a skill or making thinking visible by narrating one's reasoning, so ELLs see both the content process and the academic language used to describe it.

Gradual release of responsibility

A framework moving from "I do" (modeling) to "we do" (guided practice) to "you do" (independent practice), gradually shifting work to the student as scaffolds are reduced.

Language functions

The purposes language serves — describing, comparing, sequencing, persuading, justifying. Teaching the language needed for each function helps ELLs perform academic tasks across content areas.

Total participation techniques

Strategies ensuring every student responds — think-pair-share, whiteboards, response cards, hand signals — giving ELLs frequent low-risk chances to use language and letting teachers check understanding.

Comprehension checks

Ongoing techniques to verify understanding during instruction — thumbs up/down, quick writes, retells, or signaled responses — so teachers can adjust before moving on.

Visual supports

Pictures, diagrams, charts, gestures, and demonstrations that convey meaning without relying solely on words, reducing the language barrier between ELLs and grade-level content.

Bilingual / dual-language program models

Instructional models using two languages for content. Dual-language (two-way immersion) develops bilingualism and biliteracy for both English learners and English speakers, an additive approach.

Transitional vs. maintenance bilingual education

Transitional programs use the L1 temporarily and shift students to English-only; maintenance (developmental) programs sustain L1 to build full bilingualism and biliteracy over time.

Newcomer programs

Specialized short-term programs for recently arrived ELLs, often with limited prior English or schooling, that build foundational English, literacy, and cultural orientation before fuller mainstreaming.

Language Experience Approach (LEA)

A method where students dictate a story from shared experience that the teacher records and the class reads, connecting speaking, reading, and writing using the learners' own language.

Scaffolded writing supports

Tools such as word banks, sentence frames, paragraph templates, and mentor texts that help ELLs produce academic writing at their proficiency level while building toward independence.

Lesson preparation in SIOP

The SIOP component focused on defining content and language objectives, selecting appropriate supplementary materials, and adapting content so the lesson is meaningful and accessible to ELLs.

Backward design

Planning by first identifying desired outcomes and assessment evidence, then designing learning activities — ensuring content and language objectives align with how ELLs will demonstrate learning.

Routines and predictability

Consistent classroom procedures and predictable lesson structures that reduce cognitive and language load, freeing ELLs to focus on content rather than figuring out what to do.

Realistic, leveled questioning

Matching question types to proficiency: yes/no and pointing for beginners, either/or and short-answer for early production, and open-ended for advanced learners, so all can participate.

Anchor charts

Co-created reference posters capturing strategies, vocabulary, or processes that remain visible, giving ELLs ongoing support for academic language and task expectations.

Heterogeneous grouping

Grouping students of mixed proficiency or ability so ELLs can interact with stronger language models, while flexible grouping also allows leveled support when targeted instruction is needed.

Culturally relevant texts in instruction

Selecting reading and content materials that reflect students' cultures and experiences to increase engagement, comprehension, and the connection between new learning and prior knowledge.

Frontloading academic vocabulary

Strategically introducing the key academic terms and language structures a lesson requires before content instruction, so the language is not an obstacle to learning the concepts.

Audiolingual method

A structure-based method using repetitive drills, dialogues, and pattern practice to form language habits. Largely supplanted by communicative approaches, but elements survive in pronunciation practice.

Grammar in communicative context

Teaching grammar through meaningful use and noticing within communication, rather than isolated rule memorization, so ELLs learn forms in the context of real language functions.

Multimodal instruction

Presenting and letting students express learning through multiple modes — text, image, audio, gesture, and movement — to lower the language barrier and reach varied proficiency levels.

Formative assessment

Ongoing, low-stakes assessment during instruction — observations, exit tickets, quick writes — used to monitor progress and adjust teaching. It informs next steps rather than assigning a final grade.

Summative assessment

Assessment at the end of a unit or course that evaluates cumulative learning against standards, such as a final exam or the annual ACCESS test. It measures outcomes rather than guiding instruction.

ACCESS for ELLs

WIDA's annual, standards-based summative test of English language proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Results track yearly growth and inform reclassification decisions.

Screening / identification assessment

An initial assessment given when a student with a non-English home language enrolls, used to determine eligibility for language support services and an appropriate starting proficiency level.

Placement assessment

An assessment used to determine the appropriate instructional level or program for an identified ELL, ensuring services match the student's current proficiency.

Proficiency assessment

An assessment that measures a learner's overall language ability against external standards or levels (like ACCESS), independent of a specific curriculum, to gauge English development.

Diagnostic assessment

An assessment given before or early in instruction to identify a learner's specific strengths and gaps, allowing teachers to target instruction to precise needs.

Achievement assessment

An assessment measuring how much a student has learned from a specific course or curriculum, focused on mastery of taught content rather than general language proficiency.

Validity

The degree to which an assessment measures what it claims to measure. For ELLs, a content test heavy in complex language may lack validity because it inadvertently measures English rather than content.

Reliability

The consistency of an assessment — the extent to which it yields similar results across administrations, items, or raters. A reliable rubric produces consistent scores regardless of who scores it.

Testing accommodations

Adjustments that remove language barriers without changing what is measured — extended time, bilingual glossaries, read-aloud directions, or small-group settings — so ELLs can show true content knowledge.

Accommodation vs. modification

Accommodations change how a student accesses or demonstrates learning without lowering the standard; modifications change what is expected or measured. ELL supports are accommodations, not modifications.

Alternative / authentic assessment

Assessment beyond traditional tests — portfolios, projects, performances, and observations — that lets ELLs demonstrate learning in varied ways and reduces reliance on language-heavy formats.

Performance-based assessment

Assessment requiring students to apply knowledge in a real task (giving a presentation, conducting an experiment) rather than selecting answers, often a fairer measure for ELLs.

Portfolio assessment

A purposeful collection of student work gathered over time that shows growth and achievement. For ELLs, portfolios capture language development that a single test may miss.

Rubric

A scoring guide listing criteria and performance levels for a task. Clear, language-appropriate rubrics make expectations transparent and make scoring of writing and speaking more reliable and fair.

Analytic vs. holistic rubric

An analytic rubric scores separate traits (content, organization, language) individually; a holistic rubric gives one overall score. Analytic rubrics give ELLs more specific, useful feedback.

Progress monitoring

Regular, frequent measurement of a learner's growth toward goals, allowing teachers to judge whether instruction is working and adjust support for ELLs in a timely way.

Reclassification (RFEP)

The process of exiting a student from ELL status when criteria — typically a proficiency-test score plus academic evidence — show the student can succeed in mainstream instruction without language support.

Bias in assessment

Features that unfairly disadvantage a group, such as culturally unfamiliar references or idioms that confuse ELLs. Fair assessment minimizes construct-irrelevant language and cultural bias.

Norm-referenced vs. criterion-referenced

Norm-referenced tests compare a student to peers (percentiles); criterion-referenced tests compare performance to a fixed standard. ACCESS and most ELL proficiency measures are criterion-referenced.

Authentic assessment task design

Designing assessments that mirror real-world or classroom uses of language, allowing ELLs to demonstrate content and language skills in meaningful, contextualized ways rather than decontextualized items.

Self- and peer assessment

Involving learners in judging their own or classmates' work against criteria, which builds metacognition and gives ELLs additional low-stakes opportunities to use academic language.

Construct-irrelevant variance

Score differences caused by factors unrelated to what a test intends to measure — such as a math test penalizing limited English. Reducing it improves validity for ELLs.

Differentiated assessment

Adjusting how students are assessed by proficiency level — offering visuals, word banks, or tiered tasks — so ELLs at different stages can demonstrate the same underlying learning.

Backward mapping from objectives

Aligning assessments directly to stated content and language objectives, so what is measured matches what was taught and the assessment yields valid evidence of learning.

Anecdotal records

Brief, dated written observations of a student's language use and behavior collected over time, providing qualitative formative evidence of an ELL's progress.

Standardized test limitations for ELLs

Standardized academic tests can underestimate ELLs' content knowledge because language demands interfere; results should be interpreted with proficiency context and supported by multiple measures.

Annual proficiency growth

The yearly progress in English proficiency that federal and state systems expect ELLs to make, typically measured by ACCESS, and used to evaluate program effectiveness and student trajectory.

Pre- and post-assessment

Measuring learning before and after instruction to document growth attributable to teaching, useful for showing ELL progress on specific content and language objectives.

Acculturation

The process of adapting to a new culture while interacting with one's culture of origin, involving learning new norms, values, and behaviors. It strongly affects ELLs' adjustment and learning.

Assimilation

A form of cultural adaptation in which a person largely replaces their original culture with the dominant culture. It contrasts with additive approaches that preserve home language and culture.

Culture shock

The disorientation, stress, or anxiety many people feel when immersed in an unfamiliar culture. Recognizing its stages helps teachers support newcomer ELLs with patience and a welcoming environment.

Additive bilingualism

Developing a second language while maintaining and valuing the first, so both grow. It is linked to stronger academic and cognitive outcomes and is the goal of culturally affirming programs.

Subtractive bilingualism

Learning a second language at the expense of the first, where the home language is lost or devalued. It is associated with weaker outcomes and loss of family and cultural connection.

Funds of knowledge

The accumulated knowledge, skills, and experiences embedded in students' families and communities. Teachers who draw on funds of knowledge connect instruction to what ELLs already know and value.

Culturally responsive teaching

Instruction that recognizes, respects, and uses students' cultural backgrounds as assets, making learning relevant and validating identities to improve engagement and achievement.

Home-school connection

Building strong, two-way relationships between families and the school through communication in the home language, welcoming practices, and respect for family knowledge, which supports ELL success.

Cultural relativism

The view that a culture's beliefs and practices should be understood on their own terms rather than judged by another culture's standards, helping teachers avoid deficit thinking about ELL families.

Ethnocentrism

Judging other cultures by the standards of one's own and assuming it is superior. Teachers guard against ethnocentrism to create equitable, respectful classrooms for diverse learners.

High-context vs. low-context cultures

In high-context cultures, much meaning is implicit in shared context and relationships; in low-context cultures, meaning is stated explicitly. Awareness helps teachers interpret communication styles.

Cultural capital

The knowledge, behaviors, and skills a person draws on to navigate institutions like schools. Recognizing diverse forms of cultural capital counters deficit views of ELL students and families.

Deficit vs. asset-based thinking

Deficit thinking frames ELLs by what they lack; asset-based thinking values their languages, cultures, and experiences as resources. Effective ESOL teaching is firmly asset-based.

Cross-cultural communication

Interaction between people of different cultural backgrounds, which can be affected by differences in nonverbal cues, directness, and norms. Teachers build awareness to prevent misunderstanding.

Stereotype

An oversimplified, fixed belief about a group. Teachers counter stereotypes by treating students as individuals and incorporating accurate, varied representations of cultures.

Heritage language

The language tied to a learner's family and cultural background, often spoken at home. Valuing and maintaining the heritage language supports identity, family ties, and additive bilingualism.

Stages of culture shock

A common progression — honeymoon, frustration/hostility, adjustment, and acceptance — that newcomers may experience. Understanding it helps teachers provide timely emotional and academic support.

Culturally sustaining pedagogy

Teaching that goes beyond responsiveness to actively foster and maintain students' cultural and linguistic identities as part of schooling, treating diversity as something to sustain, not erase.

Nonverbal communication differences

Variation across cultures in gestures, eye contact, personal space, and silence. Misreading these can cause misunderstanding, so teachers learn students' norms and avoid quick judgments.

Family engagement strategies

Practices that invite ELL families into school life — interpreters, translated materials, flexible meeting times, and culturally welcoming events — recognizing families as partners in learning.

Identity and language

The close link between a learner's language(s) and sense of self. Affirming home language and culture supports a positive identity, which in turn supports engagement and learning.

Acculturation and the affective filter

The connection between cultural adjustment stress and Krashen's affective filter: high acculturation stress can raise anxiety and block acquisition, so a supportive culture-affirming climate aids learning.

TESOL standards

Standards from TESOL International Association defining the knowledge and skills effective ESOL teachers need, used to shape teacher preparation, including the CAEP-aligned standards for P-12 ESL programs.

WIDA standards

The English language development standards many states adopt, describing the academic language ELLs need across content areas. They guide curriculum, instruction, and the ACCESS assessment.

Lau v. Nichols (1974)

A landmark Supreme Court case ruling that identical instruction without language support denies ELLs a meaningful education, establishing that schools must take steps to overcome language barriers.

Castañeda v. Pickard (1981)

A federal case establishing a three-part test for evaluating language programs: they must be based on sound educational theory, implemented effectively with adequate resources, and shown to work.

Castañeda standard

The three-prong test from Castañeda v. Pickard — sound theory, adequate implementation and resources, and demonstrated results — used to judge whether a district's ELL program is legally sufficient.

Title III

The federal funding stream (under ESSA) that supports language instruction programs to help ELLs attain English proficiency and meet academic standards, with accountability for progress.

ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act)

The 2015 federal education law that includes ELLs in accountability, requires annual English proficiency assessment, and shifts English-proficiency reporting into the main accountability system.

Equal Educational Opportunities Act (1974)

Federal law requiring schools to take "appropriate action" to overcome language barriers that impede students' equal participation, a key legal basis for ELL services.

Plyler v. Doe (1982)

A Supreme Court ruling that public schools cannot deny enrollment to children based on immigration status, guaranteeing all children, including undocumented ELLs, access to public education.

ELL rights and parental notification

Federal requirements that families be informed, in a language they understand, of their child's identification, program placement, and their right to decline or request services.

Advocacy for ELLs

The ESOL teacher's role in promoting equitable access, appropriate services, and inclusive policies for ELLs within the school and community, ensuring students' linguistic and academic rights are met.

Collaboration with content teachers

ESOL teachers partnering with grade-level and content colleagues — co-planning, co-teaching, sharing strategies — so ELLs receive coherent language and content support across all classes.

Professional development

Ongoing learning that keeps ESOL teachers current with research, standards, and effective practices, a professional responsibility tied to improving outcomes for English learners.

Professional learning community (PLC)

A collaborative team of educators who meet regularly to analyze student data and refine practice. PLCs help teachers coordinate support and improve instruction for ELLs.

Reflective practice

Systematically examining one's own teaching to evaluate effectiveness and make improvements. Reflective ESOL teachers adjust strategies based on evidence of student language growth.

Family and community engagement (professional role)

The teacher's responsibility to build partnerships with ELL families and community resources, using culturally and linguistically appropriate communication to support student success.

Action research

A cycle in which a teacher identifies a classroom problem, tries a strategy, gathers data, and reflects — a professional tool for improving instruction for ELLs based on local evidence.

Ethical and confidential practice

Maintaining professional ethics, including protecting student and family information and respecting immigration-related and personal privacy, central to trustworthy work with ELL communities.

Mentoring and coaching colleagues

Sharing ESOL expertise with peers through coaching and modeling, building school-wide capacity to serve English learners well, part of the teacher's leadership and professional role.

Knowing federal and state ELL policy

Staying informed about the legal and policy framework governing ELL identification, services, assessment, and rights at both federal and state levels to ensure compliant, equitable practice.

Using research to inform practice

Grounding instructional decisions in current second-language-acquisition and ESOL research rather than habit or anecdote, a professional expectation aligned with TESOL standards.

Promoting an inclusive school climate

Working to ensure ELLs are welcomed, represented, and supported school-wide — in policies, materials, and culture — so multilingual learners belong and can thrive academically and socially.