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MTEL Communication And Literacy Skills Test Breakdown

Reading has six subareas each with five to seven questions for a total of 30 to 42 questions.

1. Meaning of words and Phrases: using context clues to determine the meaning of words, expressions and phrases in a paragraph or an entire passage.
2. Main Idea and Supporting Details: finding the sentence that states the main idea and recognizing the details that support it.
3. Writer’s Purpose, Point of View and Intended Meaning: finding the sentence that states the writer’s purpose, evaluating the use of particular material for the audience and the effect of the words chosen
4. Relationship Between Ideas: identify and analyze cause and effect, pro and con, solutions offered and conclusion drawn.
5. Critical Reasoning Skills: evaluate information based on stated and implied assumptions, relevance of facts and examples, distinguishing fact and opinion and determining objectivity.
6. Skills for Outlining and Summarizing Information: note-taking, following written instructions, interpreting graphic material and finding a summary statement or passage.

Writing has 12 subareas. The written mechanics section has 29 to 31 questions and the grammar and usage section has 19 to 21 questions for a total of 48 to 52 questions.

1. Purpose and Audience: appropriateness of topic for the audience.
2. Unity, Focus and Development: shifts in point of view, distractions, revision improvements and well-developed writing.
3. Effects of Organization: sequence of ideas and use of transitional words and phrases.
4. Effective Sentences: repetition, run-on sentences, sentence fragments, subject and verb agreement, placement of modifiers and imprecise and/or inappropriate word choice.
5. Conformity to the Standards of Edited American English Usage: verbs, pronouns, adverbs, adjectives, plurals of nouns and superlatives and comparatives.

6. Ability to Use Language and Style relevant to the audience, purpose and occasion: writing on a given topic for a specific audience.
7. Ability to Write with unity and focus: writing on a specific topic while staying on topic using a thesis sentence and appropriate transitions and conclusions.
8. Develop and Support a Topic: writing and developing a specific topic using illustrations and critical reasoning skills and presenting a precise conclusion.
9. Organization in Writing: writing that exhibits and maintains organizational strategies.
10. Effective Sentence Structure: ability to construct complete sentences.
11. Application of Standards of Edited American English Usage: appropriate use of words and grammar.
12. Spelling, Capitalization and Punctuation: demonstrate the ability to spell, use capitalization and punctuation properly.

MTEL Communication And Literacy Skills Test Practice Questions