Study Guide

Field 079: Cherokee 
Sample Language Structures Assignment

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Test Directions for the Language Structures Assignment

[ start bold Note to examinee: end bold  These test directions are provided here to familiarize you with the directions you will see on the actual test. They may refer to features whose functionality is not enabled in this study guide.]

This section of the test consists of one assignment with three parts (Parts A, B, and C), each of which requires you to demonstrate your command of the structures and usage of the target language. Directions are provided before each part. Your responses will be scored on the basis of grammatical correctness and sociolinguistic appropriateness. Write your responses to the exercise on the response sheets provided to you. Before you continue, please do the following:

  1. Label one (1) response sheet "Part A (1–4)"
  2. Label one (1) response sheet "Part B (5–8)"
  3. Label one (1) response sheet "Part C (9–12)"

Your final responses must be scanned using the scanner provided at your workstation.  start bold Instructions for scanning your Response Sheets are available by clicking the "Scanning Help" button at the top of the screen. end bold 

Read each exercise carefully before you respond. Think about how you will organize your response. You may use the erasable notebooklet to make notes, write an outline, or otherwise prepare your response.  start bold Be sure to write your response to each part on the correct response sheet. end bold 

Your responses will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria.

 start bold TRANSFORMATION (VERBAL): end bold    Part A (1–4)—making a specified transformation to a verb

 start bold TRANSFORMATION (OTHER): end bold    Part B (5–8)—making a specified transformation

 start bold ERROR CORRECTION: end bold    Part C (9–12)—correcting errors

 start bold Your responses must be written in the phonetic script, not the syllabary. end bold 

Any time spent responding to the assignment, including scanning the response sheet(s), is part of your testing time. Monitor your time carefully. When your testing time expires, a pop-up message will appear on-screen indicating the conclusion of your test session. Only response sheets that are scanned before you end your test or before time has expired will be scored. Any response sheet that is not scanned before testing ends will  start uppercase NOT end uppercase  be scored.

Sample Language Structures Assignment

subarea roman numeral 3 
Language Structures and Comparisons

 start bold Follow the directions for each of the three parts (Parts A, B, and C) below. Your answers for each part must be written in Cherokee. Your answers must be written in phonetic script, not in the syllabary. end bold 

 start bold  start underline Part A (1–4) end underline  
Rewrite each message below, transforming it according to the directions given. For Part A, you MUST transform the verb in the message.
 end bold 

  1.  start bold Transform the message below by changing the subject into the object and changing the object into the subject. end bold 

    Gvnage gili jigowatiha.

  2.  start bold Transform the message below, changing the subject of the verb from singular to plural. end bold 

    Uwotlvne ganaji.

  3.  start bold Transform the message below, changing it from a passive message to an active message. end bold 

    Ageya ugowtiha ayotli.

  4.  start bold Transform the message below, changing the verb from habitual tense to progressive future tense. end bold 

    Svkta, owanji, igada gaduno dejigisgo'i.

 start bold  start underline Part B (5–8) end underline  
Rewrite each message below, transforming it according to the directions given.
 end bold 

  1.  start bold Transform the message below, changing the location to  start italics under the chair. end italics  end bold 

    Wesa gasgilogi uwotlvi.

  2.  start bold Transform the message below, changing it from a negative statement to a positive statement. end bold 

    Tla na adladidla'i agwajeli'i yigi.

  3.  start bold Transform the message below by changing it from a statement to a yes/no question.  end bold 

    Sinale junadeloquasdi dodvgilvwisdaneli udodawuada.

  4.  start bold Transform the message below, changing the object from a singular living object to three living objects.  end bold 

    Sagwu gigage'i saloli jigowtiha.

 start bold  start underline Part C (9–12) end underline  
Rewrite each message below, correcting all errors and retaining the original meaning.
 end bold 

  1. Anilisi anidigoliyedi.
  2. Sdayi anisgwatlesdi jilvgwodi.
  3. Suhi digaduhv dvnesi achuja.
  4. Anitelvladi galisdayvhvsga.

Sample Strong Response to the Language Structures Assignment

 start bold  start underline Part A (1–4) end underline  end bold 

  1. Agigowatiha gvnage gili.
  2. Ganaji unotlvne.
  3. Ayotli agowtiha ageya.
  4. Svkta, owanji, igada gaduno dejigisgesdi.

 start bold  start underline Part B (5–8) end underline  end bold 

  1. Wesa gasgilogi hawina.
  2. Na adladidla’i agwajeli’i.
  3. Sinales junadeloquasdi dodvgilvwisdaneli udodagwada.
  4. Anijo’i anigigage’i saloli dejigowtiha.

 start bold  start underline Part C (9–12) end underline  end bold 

  1. Digilisi danigoliyedi.
  2. Sdayi asgwatlesdi agilvkdi.
  3. Sunale gesesdi digaduhv dvnesi anichuja.
  4. Anitelvladi dejigi’a.

Performance Characteristics for the Language Structures Assignment

Grammatical items related to  start italics language structures end italics  in scoring consist of:

Characteristics that guide the scoring of responses
TRANSFORMATION (VERBAL) Part A (1–4)—making a specified transformation to a verb
TRANSFORMATION (OTHER) Part B (5–8)—making a specified transformation
ERROR CORRECTION Part C (9–12)—correcting errors

Note: Candidates will be scored on the number of grammatical items they handle successfully, out of a total of 12.

Scoring Scale for the Language Structures Assignment

The candidate's response for the item is correct if, and only if, it is described by the following:

Score Scale with description for each score point.
PART DESCRIPTION OF CORRECT RESPONSE
Part A 
(Items 1–4)
Correct—the candidate's response correctly transforms the message as instructed (i.e., the response follows all applicable grammatical rules of the required language and accurately supplies a transformed word, phrase, or clause construction as directed).
Part B 
(Items 5–8)
Correct—the candidate's response correctly transforms the message as instructed (i.e., the response follows all applicable grammatical rules of the required language and accurately supplies a transformed word, phrase, or clause construction as directed).
Part C 
(Items 9–12)
Correct—the candidate's response acceptably corrects the syntactic or linguistic errors found in the message (i.e., the response has located and corrected the errors of language structure found within the message and has retained the original meaning).

The candidate's response for the item is not correct if it is described by the following:

Score Scale with description for each score point.
PART DESCRIPTION OF INCORRECT RESPONSE
Part A, B, C
(Items 1–12)
Incorrect—the candidate's response does not accurately follow the required language's rules of grammar or the response is incomplete.

Score Scale with description for each score point.
SCORE SCORE POINT DESCRIPTION
4 10 to 12 items handled correctly [0 to 2 items handled incorrectly]
3 7 to 9 items handled correctly [3 to 5 items handled incorrectly]
2 4 to 6 items handled correctly [6 to 8 items handled incorrectly]
1 0 to 3 items handled correctly [9 to 12 items handled incorrectly]
U  start bold The candidate's response is illegible or not written in the required language. end bold 
B  start bold There is no response to the assignment. end bold