FTCE Exceptional Student Education-Competency 5 Study Questions and Answers

Receptive Language Refers to the ability to understand language. (Ability to understand speech, written text, and/or the elements of a sign language). Expressive Language Refers to the ability to express oneself using language. (Ability to speak, write, and/or sign). Phonology Refers to speech sounds. Phoneme Each phoneme in s language consists of a distinct sound used to distinguish spoken words in the language. The English language contains 45 phonemes. Semantic Refers to the MEANING of parts of words, words, sentences, and larger units. Vocabulary acquisition is an important part of semantic development, involving changes in both expressive and receptive language. Grammar Refers to rules that govern the structure of language. Grammar can be further divided into 2 systems of rules, syntax and morphology. Syntax Pertains to rules governing the placement of words in phrases, clauses, and sentences. (Example: "Steve here is now" should be "Steve is here now"). Morphology Refers to rules governing the use of MORPHEMES, the smallest parts of words that contribute to meaning. In English, for example, the verb, "learn" takes on somewhat different meanings depending on whether we refer to someone as "relearning," "unlearning," "learning," or "having learned," because the prefixes "re-" and "un-" and the suffixes "-ing" and "-ed" each modify the basic meaning of the verb. These prefixes and suffixes are morphemes. Also ending words with "s" to make them plural is as well. Pragmatics Defined as whatever contributes to meaning over and above the literal meaning of the words that are used. Contextual information often provides important clues to meaning. Differing tones of voice often convey important differences in meaning. When language is used in a figurative way, as in the case of metaphor or analogy, the intended meaning of a phrase differs from the literal meaning. There are many conventions governing word choice in communicative contexts, such as how much information to convey, or what level of formality is needed. Orthography Refers to the system of representing oral language in writing. Rules of orthography pertain to spelling, punctuation, capitalization, use of hyphens, and so on.