Praxis ELA 5038

Thepraxisenglishlanguagearts:Contentknowledge(5038)Test

The Praxis English Language Arts: Content Knowledge (5038) test, developed and administered by ETS, measures whether prospective secondary English teachers have the knowledge and skills required for beginning practice. The content is aligned with the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, and many states use the test for licensure to teach English in grades 7–12.

Exam Format

The test is computer-delivered and contains 130 selected-response questions in 2 hours and 30 minutes, which allows a little over one minute per question. There are no essay questions. Most questions ask for a single best answer, and some use other selected-response formats, such as choosing more than one answer or selecting a sentence in a passage. Many questions are built around a passage: a poem, a prose or drama excerpt, an informational or argumentative text, a student draft, or a classroom scenario. Some questions are pretest items that do not count toward your score, and they are not identified.

The Three Content Categories

The ETS test outline groups the content into three categories. Reading is the largest, followed closely by Writing, Speaking, and Listening.

I. Reading

38%

Approximately 49 questions

III. Writing, Speaking, and Listening

37%

Approximately 48 questions

II. Language Use and Vocabulary

25%

Approximately 33 questions

ContentCategory	TopicsontheTestOutline
I Reading .	Major works and authors of United States British world (including non-Western) and young adult , , ,
A Literature .	literature;historicalandliterarycontexts;genresandforms;textualevidenceandinference;theme;
	literaryelements;figurativelanguage;poeticdevicesandstructure;readingstrategiesandreading
	instruction;literarytheories
I Reading .	Textualevidenceandinference;centralideas organizationalpatterns andtextfeatures;word , ,
B InformationalTextsand .	choiceandtechnicallanguage;rhetoricalstrategies purpose andpointofview;methodsof , ,
Rhetoric	appeal; argument evidence and fallacies; media and non-print texts , ,

Whateachcategorycovers(Continued)

ContentCategory	TopicsontheTestOutline
II LanguageUseand .	ConventionsofstandardEnglishgrammar usage syntax andmechanics;affixes context and , , , , ,
Vocabulary	syntaxaskeystowordmeaning;printanddigitalreferencematerials;variationindialectand
	diction; research -based approaches to language acquisition and vocabulary development for
	diverselearners
III Writing Speaking and . , ,	Modesofwriting;task purpose andaudience;clearandcoherentwriting;researchpracticesand , ,
Listening	citation; speech and presentation delivery; digital media instruction; research -based writing
	instruction;assessmentofreading writing speaking andlistening;oralcommunicationand , , ,
	collaborativediscussion;culturallyresponsiveinstruction

Scoring and Passing Requirements

Your raw score (the number of scored questions answered correctly) is converted to a scaled score from 100 to 200. There is no penalty for wrong answers, so answer every question. Your score report shows your total scaled score and your raw points in each content category, which helps you see where to focus if you need to retest.

There is no single national passing score: each state or licensing agency sets its own qualifying score, and many set it at 167. Confirm your state's requirement on the ETS website before you register.

Praxis 5038 at a Glance

ExamAspect	Details
Administeredby	ETS(EducationalTestingService)
Questions	130 selected -response questions
Time	2hours30minutes
Delivery	Computer-delivered at a test center or at home with a remote proctor
Testfee	$130
Scorescale	100–200;thequalifyingscoreissetbyeachstate
Scorereports	Registrationincludesfreescorereportstouptofourrecipients
Retakes	Permittedonceevery28days

The 5038 test measures content knowledge, but many questions are set in a classroom: which strategy best supports a reader, which feedback helps a writer, which assessment fits a purpose. Expect to apply what you know to teaching situations, not only to recall definitions.