Mateo, a fourth grader at the Developing level whose home language is Spanish, reads aloud from a science text: “The /ɛˈstudənts/ put the /ɛˈsneɪl/ in a jar.” Which feature of Spanish phonology MOST LIKELY explains this pattern?

Spanish words do not begin with /s/ followed by another consonant

Spanish places primary stress on the first syllable of most nouns

Spanish has no voiceless alveolar fricative at the start of words

Spanish merges the English vowels /ɪ/ and /i/ into a single phoneme

Amira, a seventh grader at WIDA level 4 whose home language is Arabic, writes this conclusion for a science lab report: “So basically the stuff got super hot and then it kinda bubbled a ton, which was pretty cool.” Which instructional focus does this sample MOST clearly call for?

Teaching the formal academic register and sentence structures expected in a lab report

Teaching English word order, because the sentence shows Arabic verb–subject–object order

Teaching basic science vocabulary through realia, because the student is a beginning learner

Teaching the regular past tense, because the sentence shows errors in -ed verb endings

Jamal, a fifth grader who speaks African American English at home, writes in a personal narrative: “My sister the fastest runner on our team.” His teacher wants him to control the conventions of formal written English. Which response is MOST APPROPRIATE?

Use contrastive analysis to compare how his home variety and formal English link a subject to a description

Mark the sentence as a fragment and assign him a practice worksheet on writing complete sentences

Refer him for an English language proficiency screening, since the sentence suggests limited English

Leave the sentence unmarked, since commenting on dialect features in writing harms a student’s identity

A 13-year-old who speaks Swahili enrolls in eighth grade after only two years of formal schooling. He has limited literacy in any language. Which approach is MOST appropriate?

Teach foundational literacy with age-appropriate texts while explicitly teaching school routines

Give him the same eighth-grade materials as his classmates, supported only by a bilingual dictionary

Place him in a first-grade classroom so that the reading materials match his current skills

Delay all content instruction until he can read grade-level texts independently in English

An eleventh grader at WIDA level 4 who completed school through grade 9 in another country submits an argument essay. Her grammar and vocabulary are strong. The essay opens with three paragraphs of historical background and philosophical questions, and her actual claim appears for the first time in the final paragraph. Which explanation is MOST LIKELY?

Writing norms learned in her prior schooling may differ from the English expectation of an early claim.

The student is avoiding stating a claim because a high affective filter is blocking her written output.

The student’s social language is still developing, so she cannot yet organize her ideas in written English.

The student’s interlanguage has fossilized at the paragraph level and requires repetitive sentence drills.

Priya, a sixth grader at the Developing level, reads aloud: “The scientists will /ˈrɛkərd/ the data and then check each /rɪˈkɔrd/.” Which pronunciation principle should the teacher explain?

In noun–verb pairs, the noun stresses the first syllable and the verb the second

Unstressed syllables keep their full vowel quality in academic words

Function words receive more stress than content words in a sentence

In noun–verb pairs, the noun stresses the second syllable and the verb the first

Domain Proficiency level (1–6) Listening 5.0 Speaking 4.8 Reading 2.9 Writing 2.6 Ana, a ninth grader whose home language is Spanish, has attended U.S. schools since kindergarten and is still classified as an EL. Her recent ELP scores are shown. Which description BEST fits her profile?

A long-term English learner whose academic literacy lags well behind her oral skills

A student ready to exit, because her listening and speaking are at a high level

A student with interrupted schooling who needs foundational L1 literacy first

A newcomer who needs basic social language before starting academic content

During a class discussion of a novel, an eighth grader says, “We was talking about how the main character changed.” The feature reflects his home dialect. The class will soon write formal literary essays. Which response by the teacher is MOST appropriate?

Respond to his idea, then later teach formal written register expectations for the upcoming essay

Interrupt to correct the verb so that his classmates do not begin to adopt the nonstandard form

Require him to restate every comment in standard English before the discussion can continue

Never address dialect features at all, since every variety is equally appropriate in formal writing

A 15-year-old whose home language is Spanish enrolls in ninth grade after several years out of school. He is unfamiliar with routines such as using a binder, reading a class schedule, and raising his hand, but he computes quickly in his head from working in a family business. Which approach is MOST appropriate?

Explicitly teach school routines and build on his mental math within accelerated grade-level content

Wait for him to learn routines by watching classmates over the course of the first semester

Place him in an elementary math class to fill all of his gaps before he studies any grade-level content

Assume he will understand routines on his own and focus instruction entirely on English vocabulary

A seventh grader who grew up in a community where African American English (AAE) is widely spoken writes the following in a personal narrative: “My brother be working at the store after school, so I watch my little sister.” The teacher circles “be working” and writes “random error.” Which statement BEST describes the student’s use of be?

It follows the habitual aspect rule of AAE, marking an action that happens regularly.

It is an overgeneralization error in which the irregular verb be is treated as regular.

It is a fossilized interlanguage error caused by too little exposure to standard English.

It reflects L1 transfer from a home language that has no equivalent of the verb be.

Praxis English to Speakers of Other Languages (5362)

Free Praxis English to Speakers Practice Questions

10 sample questions for the Praxis English to Speakers of Other Languages (5362), with the correct answer and an explanation for each. No account needed. Try each one before you open the answer.

Sections covered on the exam: Foundations of Linguistics, Foundations of Language Learning, Planning and Implementing Instruction, Assessment and Evaluation, Culture, Professionalism and Advocacy.

Question 1 · Foundations of Linguistics
Mateo, a fourth grader at the Developing level whose home language is Spanish, reads aloud from a science text: “The /ɛˈstudənts/ put the /ɛˈsneɪl/ in a jar.” Which feature of Spanish phonology MOST LIKELY explains this pattern?
- A.Spanish places primary stress on the first syllable of most nouns
- B.Spanish has no voiceless alveolar fricative at the start of words
- C.Spanish words do not begin with /s/ followed by another consonant
- D.Spanish merges the English vowels /ɪ/ and /i/ into a single phoneme
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Spanish words do not begin with /s/ followed by another consonant
Spanish phonotactics do not allow a word to begin with /s/ plus a consonant (compare escuela, estudiante), so the speaker inserts an epenthetic /ɛ/ before /st/ and /sn/, adding a syllable. The /ɪ/–/i/ merger is a real Spanish-influenced pattern, but it changes vowel quality inside words; it does not add a vowel before an s-cluster.
Question 2 · Foundations of Language Learning
Amira, a seventh grader at WIDA level 4 whose home language is Arabic, writes this conclusion for a science lab report: “So basically the stuff got super hot and then it kinda bubbled a ton, which was pretty cool.” Which instructional focus does this sample MOST clearly call for?
- A.Teaching English word order, because the sentence shows Arabic verb–subject–object order
- B.Teaching basic science vocabulary through realia, because the student is a beginning learner
- C.Teaching the formal academic register and sentence structures expected in a lab report
- D.Teaching the regular past tense, because the sentence shows errors in -ed verb endings
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Teaching the formal academic register and sentence structures expected in a lab report
The sentence is grammatical and fluent but uses a casual, conversational register (basically, stuff, super, kinda, a ton) where the lab-report genre requires precise, formal academic language. The writer needs explicit instruction in academic register, such as precise nouns and objective descriptions. Word order is standard English subject–verb order and the past tense forms are correct, so the grammar-based options misread the sample.
Question 3 · Planning and Implementing Instruction
Jamal, a fifth grader who speaks African American English at home, writes in a personal narrative: “My sister the fastest runner on our team.” His teacher wants him to control the conventions of formal written English. Which response is MOST APPROPRIATE?
- A.Mark the sentence as a fragment and assign him a practice worksheet on writing complete sentences
- B.Refer him for an English language proficiency screening, since the sentence suggests limited English
- C.Use contrastive analysis to compare how his home variety and formal English link a subject to a description
- D.Leave the sentence unmarked, since commenting on dialect features in writing harms a student’s identity
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Use contrastive analysis to compare how his home variety and formal English link a subject to a description
Leaving out the linking verb (copula deletion) is a systematic, rule- governed feature of African American English, used where Standard English allows a contracted form such as she’s, so it is not a careless fragment. Contrastive analysis respects the home variety while teaching the student to code-switch into formal written English, which requires the verb is, when the context calls for it. Ignoring the feature withholds instruction he needs, and dialect use is not evidence of limited English proficiency.
Question 4 · Planning and Implementing Instruction
A 13-year-old who speaks Swahili enrolls in eighth grade after only two years of formal schooling. He has limited literacy in any language. Which approach is MOST appropriate?
- A.Give him the same eighth-grade materials as his classmates, supported only by a bilingual dictionary
- B.Place him in a first-grade classroom so that the reading materials match his current skills
- C.Teach foundational literacy with age-appropriate texts while explicitly teaching school routines
- D.Delay all content instruction until he can read grade-level texts independently in English
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Teach foundational literacy with age-appropriate texts while explicitly teaching school routines
Students with interrupted formal education need explicit foundational literacy instruction delivered through age-appropriate, high-interest materials, along with direct teaching of school routines. A first-grade placement is not age-appropriate and lowers expectations. Delaying content stalls academic growth, and a bilingual dictionary cannot bridge the gap for a student who cannot yet read fluently in any language.
Question 5 · Culture
An eleventh grader at WIDA level 4 who completed school through grade 9 in another country submits an argument essay. Her grammar and vocabulary are strong. The essay opens with three paragraphs of historical background and philosophical questions, and her actual claim appears for the first time in the final paragraph. Which explanation is MOST LIKELY?
- A.The student is avoiding stating a claim because a high affective filter is blocking her written output.
- B.Writing norms learned in her prior schooling may differ from the English expectation of an early claim.
- C.The student’s social language is still developing, so she cannot yet organize her ideas in written English.
- D.The student’s interlanguage has fossilized at the paragraph level and requires repetitive sentence drills.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Writing norms learned in her prior schooling may differ from the English expectation of an early claim.
Contrastive rhetoric (Kaplan) holds that expectations for organizing written argument vary across cultures and school systems, so a student with strong sentence-level English may still delay the thesis because that structure was valued in her earlier schooling. Explicitly teaching the English argument structure is the fix; the essay shows strong language, so a fossilized interlanguage or weak social language does not fit the evidence.
Question 6 · Foundations of Linguistics
Priya, a sixth grader at the Developing level, reads aloud: “The scientists will /ˈrɛkərd/ the data and then check each /rɪˈkɔrd/.” Which pronunciation principle should the teacher explain?
- A.Unstressed syllables keep their full vowel quality in academic words
- B.Function words receive more stress than content words in a sentence
- C.In noun–verb pairs, the noun stresses the first syllable and the verb the second
- D.In noun–verb pairs, the noun stresses the second syllable and the verb the first
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. In noun–verb pairs, the noun stresses the first syllable and the verb the second
In pairs such as record, present, and object, the noun is stressed on the first syllable (ˈrecord) and the verb on the second (reˈcord); Priya reversed them, so the verb sounds like a noun and vice versa. Unstressed vowels in English typically reduce toward schwa, and content words, not function words, carry sentence stress.
Question 7 · Foundations of Language Learning
Domain Proficiency level (1–6) Listening 5.0 Speaking 4.8 Reading 2.9 Writing 2.6 Ana, a ninth grader whose home language is Spanish, has attended U.S. schools since kindergarten and is still classified as an EL. Her recent ELP scores are shown. Which description BEST fits her profile?
- A.A long-term English learner whose academic literacy lags well behind her oral skills
- B.A student ready to exit, because her listening and speaking are at a high level
- C.A student with interrupted schooling who needs foundational L1 literacy first
- D.A newcomer who needs basic social language before starting academic content
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. A long-term English learner whose academic literacy lags well behind her oral skills
Nine years in U.S. schools without reclassification, strong listening and speaking, and much weaker reading and writing make up the typical profile of a long-term English learner (LTEL). She needs explicit academic literacy instruction in reading and writing across content areas. She is not a newcomer and has no interrupted schooling, and strong oral scores alone do not meet exit criteria when reading and writing remain low.
Question 8 · Planning and Implementing Instruction
During a class discussion of a novel, an eighth grader says, “We was talking about how the main character changed.” The feature reflects his home dialect. The class will soon write formal literary essays. Which response by the teacher is MOST appropriate?
- A.Interrupt to correct the verb so that his classmates do not begin to adopt the nonstandard form
- B.Require him to restate every comment in standard English before the discussion can continue
- C.Respond to his idea, then later teach formal written register expectations for the upcoming essay
- D.Never address dialect features at all, since every variety is equally appropriate in formal writing
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Respond to his idea, then later teach formal written register expectations for the upcoming essay
Home dialects are rule-governed varieties, so the teacher should value the student’s contribution in discussion and teach the formal register explicitly for contexts that require it, such as a literary essay. Interrupting or requiring restatement treats the dialect as deficient and discourages participation. Avoiding the topic entirely withholds knowledge of formal written conventions that students need for academic success.
Question 9 · Planning and Implementing Instruction
A 15-year-old whose home language is Spanish enrolls in ninth grade after several years out of school. He is unfamiliar with routines such as using a binder, reading a class schedule, and raising his hand, but he computes quickly in his head from working in a family business. Which approach is MOST appropriate?
- A.Wait for him to learn routines by watching classmates over the course of the first semester
- B.Explicitly teach school routines and build on his mental math within accelerated grade-level content
- C.Place him in an elementary math class to fill all of his gaps before he studies any grade-level content
- D.Assume he will understand routines on his own and focus instruction entirely on English vocabulary
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Explicitly teach school routines and build on his mental math within accelerated grade-level content
Students with interrupted formal education often need explicit instruction in school routines and benefit when teachers build on the knowledge they already have, such as his strong mental computation, to accelerate access to grade-level content. Assuming he will absorb routines on his own or waiting a semester leaves him confused. An elementary math placement ignores his strengths and is not age- appropriate.
Question 10 · Culture
A seventh grader who grew up in a community where African American English (AAE) is widely spoken writes the following in a personal narrative: “My brother be working at the store after school, so I watch my little sister.” The teacher circles “be working” and writes “random error.” Which statement BEST describes the student’s use of be?
- A.It is an overgeneralization error in which the irregular verb be is treated as regular.
- B.It is a fossilized interlanguage error caused by too little exposure to standard English.
- C.It follows the habitual aspect rule of AAE, marking an action that happens regularly.
- D.It reflects L1 transfer from a home language that has no equivalent of the verb be.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. It follows the habitual aspect rule of AAE, marking an action that happens regularly.
Habitual be is a systematic feature of AAE that marks an action occurring regularly (the brother works there routinely), so it is rule- governed rather than random. The student is a native speaker of a rule-governed English variety, not a second-language learner, so interlanguage and L1-transfer explanations do not apply; the teacher can teach contrast with the formal written variety.

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