FTCE Professional Education Practice Exam

What are the stages outlined by Willig and Lee for language development?

1. Conceptual, experimental, transitional, and proficient

2. Pre-production, early production, speech emergence, and intermediate fluency

3. Listening, speaking, reading, and writing

4. Beginning, developing, proficient, and advanced

The correct answer is: Pre-production, early production, speech emergence, and intermediate fluency

The stages outlined by Willig and Lee for language development focus on the progression of language acquisition in learners, particularly those learning a second language. The stages—pre-production, early production, speech emergence, and intermediate fluency—describe a clear continuum that reflects how language skills evolve from initial exposure to more complex usage. In pre-production, learners are mostly silent and may not yet produce language. The early production stage marks the beginning of responding with single words or short phrases. Speech emergence indicates a significant leap where learners can form longer sentences and engage in conversations, demonstrating a growing command of vocabulary and grammar. Finally, during the intermediate fluency stage, learners become more comfortable with the language, frequently using it to communicate in a variety of contexts. This framework provides valuable insight into how educators can support language learners at each level of their development. Other options present different frameworks or criteria that, while relevant to language skills, do not specifically align with Willig and Lee's stages. They cover various aspects of language use or general proficiency levels but do not capture the sequential developmental nature addressed by Willig and Lee.