Correct Response: C: An essential component of listening and reading comprehension in a school setting is being able to understand academic language. And an essential component of effective instruction in academic language (vocabulary and Standard English language conventions) is providing English learners with repeated, meaningful exposures to new vocabulary and language structures that include opportunities to use the new vocabulary and language structures in purposeful communication. Choosing texts for read-alouds that provide multiple exposures to new vocabulary and language structures will help support English learners' academic-language development, which in turn will support their reading comprehension. A is incorrect because, while decodable texts are ideal for supporting students' development of essential beginning-reading skills (phonics), this is not the purpose of a read-aloud. Read-alouds provide an ideal opportunity to deepen and extend English learners' language development and listening comprehension. Books that primarily contain decodable words are not likely to expose English learners to language that is just above their current language proficiency level, which research has shown is the optimal input level for promoting second-language acquisition. B is incorrect because readers should alter their intonation according to a text's punctuation and content. Reading aloud a text in a neutral and consistent tone would not facilitate English learners' listening comprehension or their understanding of new vocabulary or language structures in the text. In addition, prosody (reading aloud with appropriate intonation and expression) should be modeled explicitly to entering- and emerging-level English learners. D is incorrect because SEI teachers need to provide entering- and emerging-level English learners with sufficient scaffolding before expecting them to read a new text independently. Reading aloud a text once does not provide English learners with adequate support to promote their reading comprehension or language development.
