ESOL GACE - Linguistics

Which of the following IPA symbols represents the sound of the consonant cluster /ng/ in the word 'swing'?

• [θ]

• [æ]

• [ŋ]

• [ʃ]

Which of the following would most likely explain why a student is having problems being understood when she says the words think, wreath, the, and ruthless?

• She is not distinguishing between the voiced and unvoiced /th/ sounds

• She has problems making /r/ sounds

• She is not putting stress on the correct syllables

• She needs more instruction in semantics

In which of the following would a speaker most likely have rising intonation?

• Please bring some bread

• I am afraid

• Frankie and Johnny are waiting outside

• Do you want to watch a movie?

The underlined part of the world re'build'ing is

• a bound morpheme

• an affix

• a diphthong

• a stem or root

Which of the following statements is/are true?

• A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a language

• All words are morphemes, but not all morphemes are words

• An affix is a free morpheme

• Both A and B are true statements

Syntax is concerned with which of the following?

• how words are combined to convey meaning

• stages of second-language acquisition

• ensuring transfer of language skills from L1 to L2

• how words are formed into phrases or sentences

Semantics could be applied to which aspect of everyday English?

• the use of quotation marks in quoted speech

• the use of idioms

• the pronunciation of vowels

• the use of commas with conjunctions

Which of the following statements, said while eating Cajun food for the first time at a friend's house, would suggest that an ESOL student has a good grasp of connotative understanding?

• This cuisine is delicious

• This slop is delicious

• This feed is delicious

• This stuff that people and animals eat is delicious

A Spanish speaker who says, "I have fifteen years," when asked how old he is, is likely making a mistake because of

• morphemes

• pronunciation

• metathesis

• interference

Pragmatics is concerned with

• the way the voice rises and falls in speech

• how humans produce sounds

• meaning in context

• how words are constructed into phrases or sentences