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Study Guide

Field 180: Bilingual Education Assessment—Hebrew
Foundations of Bilingual Education: Knowledge of Content and Knowledge of Pedagogy

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Directions for Foundations of Bilingual Education: Knowledge of Content and Knowledge of Pedagogy

Each question in Section Three of this test is a selected-response (multiple-choice) question with four answer choices. Read each question and answer choice carefully and select the ONE best answer. You should answer all questions. Even if you are unsure of an answer, it is better to guess than not to answer a question at all.

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Foundations of Bilingual Education: Knowledge of Content
Sample Selected-Response Questions

Competency 0001 
Foundations of Bilingual Education: Knowledge of Content

1. A bilingual education teacher can most effectively apply the concept of comprehensible input during class by:

  1. rewriting textbook passages to simplify the language without removing any of the content learning.
  2. exposing students to both familiar and new language that extends their content learning.
  3. encouraging students to find language similarities and differences between English and the target language.
  4. using interpretive listening in English or the target language as the instructional language mode for the first weeks of the year.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. This item requires candidates to demonstrate knowledge of current theories and research in home-language and new-language acquisition. The concept of comprehensible input derives from linguist Stephen Krashen's theories of second-language acquisition. According to these theories, students learn best when the linguistic input they receive through listening, reading, and viewing activities is slightly more advanced than their current proficiency level. Providing students with linguistic input that is familiar to them acts as a scaffold for them to acquire new, related language.

2. A fifth-grade bilingual education student writes the following sentences during a class activity.

My animal is anglerfish. Anglerfishes living in dark in the sea. They had lights on the heads. They eating the little fishes who coming for see the light.

Based on evidence from the writing sample, on which aspect of English syntax should the teacher primarily focus instruction for this student?

  1. pronouns
  2. punctuation
  3. present-tense verbs
  4. subject-verb-object word order
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. This item requires candidates to apply knowledge of language systems (i.e., phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, discourse, and pragmatics) in order to identify challenging aspects of English or the target language and support bilingual education students' oracy and literacy development. Although comprehensible, most of the student's sentences show a tendency to use either past tense verbs ("they had lights …") or partially formed present progressive forms of verbs ("Anglerfishes living in dark in the sea;" "They eating …"). The teacher can most effectively promote the student's literacy development by providing instruction in the use of present-tense verb forms for the purpose of describing as well as maintaining coherence among sentences.

Foundations of Bilingual Education: Knowledge of Pedagogy
Sample Selected-Response Questions

Competency 0002 
Foundations of Bilingual Education: Knowledge of Pedagogy

Use the information below to answer the two questions that follow.

A middle school bilingual education student who is an English Language Learner has been attending school in the United States for two consecutive years. The student participates fully and successfully in grade-level reading and writing home-language activities. However, the student performs below grade level when participating in English-language reading and writing activities and uses mainly oral communication to provide answers to questions and assignments.

3. Which action from the bilingual education teacher would most effectively promote the student's English literacy skills?

  1. identifying the student's home-language literacy strengths and helping the student transfer them to English
  2. asking the student to translate academic language written in their home language into English
  3. asking the student to transcribe spoken academic language in English that they hear during class
  4. explaining to the student that reading and writing require the focused study of word spelling in English
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. This item requires candidates to apply knowledge of culturally responsive-sustaining research- and evidence-based methods and resources for designing inclusive instruction and learning environments that connect bilingual education students' prior understanding and experiences to new knowledge. The student demonstrates strong literacy skills in the home language. Studies show that literacy skills acquired in one language can facilitate the acquisition of literacy skills in additional languages, even if the writing systems of the two languages are very different.

4. Based on the provided information, this student is an English Language Learner who, as outlined in New York State Commissioner's Regulations Part 154, is also which type of learner?

  1. Newcomer English Language Learner
  2. Developing English Language Learner
  3. Long-term English Language Learner
  4. Former English Language Learner
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. This item requires candidates to demonstrate knowledge of English Language Learner populations as defined in New York State Commissioner's Regulations Part 154. According to these regulations, a student who has been identified as an English Language Learner and has participated in an English as a New Language program between zero (0) and three (3) consecutive years is considered a Newcomer English Language Learner.

5. A ninth-grade bilingual education teacher introduces students to a contextualized English academic vocabulary word and asks students to make nonverbal and/or home-language connections to its meaning. Students then practice using the word with supports such as sentence frames. Which step would be most effective for the teacher to take next?

  1. providing multiple opportunities for students to engage with the word actively in various contexts
  2. providing students with information about the word's origin and an analysis of its component parts
  3. asking students to highlight the new word whenever they see it in assigned readings
  4. asking students to write the word in context and translate it into their home languages
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. This item requires candidates to apply knowledge of culturally responsive-sustaining research- and evidence-based principles of effective literacy instruction. The students in the scenario have analyzed a vocabulary word in one context and practiced manipulating the word in a controlled way using supports such as sentence frames. Since research shows students require multiple exposures to new vocabulary, ensuring students engage with the word in different contexts helps them incorporate it into their active repertoire as well as comprehend the nuances of the word's meaning.

6. During a science unit, a third-grade bilingual education teacher asks each student to create a diagram representing their current understanding of one of the unit's major concepts. The teacher then has students separate into small groups and participate in discussions about each other's diagrams. The teacher's instructional strategy promotes students' content-area learning primarily by:

  1. providing them with a variety of ways to demonstrate knowledge of the subject matter in accordance with their individual learning strengths.
  2. allowing them to reach consensus by exploring knowledge through conversations about subject-matter questions that may have more than one answer.
  3. providing them with the opportunity to set goals for their individual progress in acquiring subject-matter knowledge and topic-related vocabulary.
  4. allowing them to practice using topic-related language and support their knowledge base in a way that encourages engagement with the subject matter.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D. This item requires candidates to apply knowledge of culturally responsive-sustaining research- and evidence-based methods and resources for supporting bilingual education students' content-area learning. The described activity asks students to use the target language to discuss each other's representations of their current knowledge regarding a topic. The small-group discussions provide students with the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the topic in contexts that elicit repetition of topic-related language.