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MTEL English Test Breakdown

Literature and Language has nine subareas with a total of 63 to 65 questions and counts 51 percent of the final score.

1. American literature from the Colonial Period through the End of the 19^th Century: writers, works and movements, characteristics of and changes in forms and styles, the impact of historical, social and cultural influences, principal literary periods, genres and themes and the major authors, their significant works and favored themes, and their impact on the development of American literature.
2. American literature from the 20^th Century to the Present: characteristics of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama, the impact of historical, social and cultural influences, principal genres and themes and the major authors, their significant works and favored themes, and their impact on the development of American literature.
3. British literature from the Anglo-Saxon Period through the Romantic Period: writers, works and movements, characteristics of and changes in forms and styles, the impact of historical, social and cultural influences, principal literary periods, genres and themes and the major authors, their significant works and favored themes, and their impact on the development of British literature.
4. British literature from the Victorian period to the Present: the impact of historical, social and cultural influences, principal genres and themes and the major authors, their significant works and favored themes, and their impact on the development of British literature.
5. Literature of the Ancient World to the 15^th Century: writers, works and movements from Africa, Asia, Europe, Greece and Rome, the impact of historical, social and cultural influences, principal literary periods, genres and themes, characteristics of world mythology and folk literature and the major authors, their significant works and favored themes, and their impact on the development of literature around the world.
6. World literature from the 15^th Century to the Present: writers, works and movements from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, the impact of historical, social and cultural influences, principal literary periods, genres and themes, and the major authors, their significant works and favored themes, and their impact on the development of literature all over the world.
7. Characteristics of genres and types of literature: elements and structure of the different types of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama, literary devices and their contribution to style, meaning and clarity, and the criteria used to evaluate literature.
8. Literary Theory and Criticism: critical approaches to evaluating literary works, role of major works and associated theories, neoclassic and Roman literary theory, and the use of critical perspectives.
9. Structure and Development of the English language: structural features, historical, social, cultural and technological influences, inclusion of words from other languages, and regional and social dialects.

Rhetoric and Composition has three subareas with a total of 20 to 22 questions and counts 17 percent of the final score.

1. Principles of rhetoric as they apply to Oral and Written communication: theories and application of principles from oral persuasion to the analysis of spoken, written and media communications, importance of subject knowledge, purpose and audience, organization, style, tone and delivery, similarities and differences between writing and speaking, proper use of grammar, cultural influences, evaluating the message, principles of speaking and listening, and interpreting and analyzing media messages.
2. The Composition Process: formats for different audiences, purposes and contexts, steps used in writing any document, the art and technique of revising, developing a thesis, an introduction and a conclusion, voice, style, descriptive language, smooth transitions from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph, use of explanatory details, and the particular defining features of each type of writing.
3. Written language Conventions: sentence and paragraph construction, spelling, punctuation and grammar, techniques for revising, editing and effective proofreading, and knowledge of the rules of standard American English usage.

Reading Theory, Research and Instruction has two subareas and counts 12 percent of the final score.

1. Language Acquisition and Reading Processes: learning first and second languages, methods to research word origin and formation, relationship between words, word choices, analyzing words, context cues, role of vocabulary in reading fluency, techniques to monitor and evaluate reading comprehension skills, and how text characteristics determine reading strategies.
2. Role of Children’s and Young Adult literature: planning, managing and differentiating reading instruction theories and practices to increase fluency and improve skills, the role of appropriate literature to improve comprehension and motivate students to want to read, methods to develop and evaluate reading skills, and strategies to assign material that reflects interest and reading levels and adjust choices as fluency improves.

MTEL English Test Practice Questions