Praxis English Language Arts: Content Knowledge Online Center
This Praxis English Language Arts: Content Knowledge Online Center brings together practice, lessons, worksheets, flashcards and review tools. Choose the resource that matches the skill you want to work on next.
Praxis ELA Content Knowledge Practice Center
Each form gives you 130 questions built on six original passages, including a poem, a dramatic scene, and a piece of student writing. Take a full form, then read the explanation under every miss. Reading and Writing are three quarters of the test between them, so that is usually where a weak score lives.
Opens on this page
Praxis English Language Arts: Content Knowledge at a glance
This is the secondary English content test, and the first thing to get right about it is the number. 5038 is 130 selected-response questions with no written assignment at all. There is a separate test, 5039, called English Language Arts: Content and Analysis, which does have essays. They are different tests with different codes, and studying for the wrong one costs you either two essays you never write or two you never practised.
| Test code | 5038 (English Language Arts: Content Knowledge) |
|---|---|
| Not to be confused with | 5039, English Language Arts: Content and Analysis, which is a separate current test that does include constructed-response assignments. Check which one your state requires. |
| Status | Current. No retirement date or successor code is published. |
| Number of questions | 130 selected-response questions. There is no constructed response. |
| Time limit | 150 minutes, one session |
| Format | Computer-delivered |
| Score scale | 100 to 200 |
| Passing score | ETS does not set one. Each state sets its own qualifying score. |
ETS publishes counts and percentages for all three categories: Reading 49 questions and 38 percent, Writing Speaking and Listening 48 questions and 37 percent, and Language Use and Vocabulary 33 questions and 25 percent. Reading splits internally into Literature and Informational Texts and Rhetoric. The two big categories are three quarters of the test, but the smallest one is also the most drillable, which makes it the best value per hour.
The three categories, in plain language
ETS lists each category and the topics under it. Here is what each one asks of you.
Reading (38 percent, 49 questions)
Literature and informational text, read closely and analyzed.
- Literary elements, point of view, and characterization
- Theme, tone, mood, and the three kinds of irony
- Figurative language and what it accomplishes
- Poetic form, meter, and sound devices
- Dramatic structure and stage conventions
- Genre, period, and movement across British, American, and world literature
- Informational text structure and author’s purpose
- Rhetorical appeals, strategies, and evaluating an argument
Language use and vocabulary (25 percent, 33 questions)
The smallest category and the most learnable.
- Phrases, clauses, and sentence structure
- Usage, agreement, and modification
- Punctuation and mechanics
- Morphology, roots, affixes, and etymology
- Denotation, connotation, and word choice
- Dialect, register, and language variation
- The history and development of English
Writing, speaking, and listening (37 percent, 48 questions)
Composing, communicating, and teaching both.
- The writing process and the modes of writing
- Argument, rhetorical situation, audience, and purpose
- Research, source evaluation, and integration
- Citation and academic honesty
- Revision, editing, and responding to student writing
- Public speaking and critical listening
- Media and digital literacy
A study routine for a 150-minute content test
One hundred thirty questions in one hundred fifty minutes is about seventy seconds each, which is comfortable for reading questions and generous for grammar. The constraint is breadth, not clock.
Complete topic map
Every topic ETS lists under the three categories, followed by seventy-five lessons on reading and language, each opening in a new tab.
Reading
- 01Identify major works and authors of United States, British, world, and young adult literature across fiction, poetry, drama, and literary nonfiction
- 02Place a major work in its historical, cultural, and literary context
- 03Identify the defining characteristics of the primary literary genres and apply correct genre terminology
- 04Identify the defining characteristics of major forms within a genre, distinguished by structure or content
- 05Comprehend literal and figurative meaning, draw inferences, and determine the textual evidence that supports an interpretation
- 06Identify theme or central idea, analyze how a theme is developed across a work or across works, and recognize universal themes drawn from myth, traditional stories, and religious works
- 07Analyze how literary elements contribute to meaning, including point of view of character or narrator, plot structure, mood, tone, conflict, dialogue, story events, and character development
- 08Identify types of figurative language and interpret figurative language in context
- 09Analyze how poetic devices and poetic structure contribute to a poem’s meaning and effect
- 10Identify literacy skills that support active reading, and evaluate summaries and predictions against textual evidence
- 11Recognize commonly used research-based reading instruction strategies, evaluate their effectiveness, and interpret research to address an instructional challenge
- 12Recognize how various literary theories are used to interpret and critique texts
- 13Identify the central idea of an informational text and analyze how an author develops and refines it
- 14Identify organizational patterns and text structures, analyze how ideas are connected or distinguished, and identify how text features contribute to the central idea
Language Use and Vocabulary
- 15Explain the function of the parts of speech and identify the components and structures of sentences
- 16Identify errors in grammar, usage, syntax, and mechanics, and justify a choice among competing grammatical or stylistic options
- 17Apply knowledge of affixes, roots, context clues, and syntax to determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word
- 18Analyze nuances in word meaning and interpret figures of speech
- 19Determine the most appropriate print or digital reference material for a given language task
- 20Identify variation in dialect and diction across regions, cultural groups, and time periods, and judge the appropriateness of a dialect for a given purpose and audience
- 21Recognize research-based approaches to language acquisition and vocabulary development, evaluate their effectiveness, and interpret research to address an instructional challenge
Writing, Speaking, and Listening
- 22Distinguish among the common modes of writing, identify common types within each mode, and choose the mode appropriate to a purpose and audience
- 23Identify how task, purpose, and audience affect a piece of writing, and evaluate a piece of writing for effectiveness in a specific context
- 24Identify details that develop a main idea, organize a text clearly and coherently, use varied and effective transitions, justify stylistic choices, and introduce, develop, and conclude a text effectively
- 25Identify relevant information during research and evaluate the credibility of a source
- 26Identify effective and ethical research practices, identify the components of a citation, cite sources appropriately, and integrate source material while maintaining the flow of ideas
- 27Identify the characteristics of effective speech and presentation delivery, evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different media, and judge whether information is presented clearly, concisely, and logically
- 28Identify techniques for choosing and using technological tools and evaluate the effectiveness of technology-based instructional strategies for digital media
- 29Recognize research-based approaches to teaching the components of writing, identify strategies suited to a particular writing task, and interpret research to address an instructional challenge
- 30Recognize research-based approaches to assessing reading, writing, speaking, and listening, know the purposes of those assessments, and evaluate their effectiveness
- 31Identify techniques that ensure productive participation and active listening, and evaluate the effectiveness of discussion strategies
- 32Use knowledge that students bring varied perspectives, cultures, and backgrounds to plan responsive instruction and to create a safe environment for communication
Key ideas, details, and textual evidence
Inference, conclusions, and how ideas develop
Word meaning, word choice, and tone
Text structure, features, and organization
Purpose, perspective, and point of view
Evaluating claims, evidence, and reasoning
Integrating information across texts and formats
Sentence Foundations
Sentence Boundaries
Agreement, Verbs, and Pronouns
Punctuation and Capitalization
Spelling and Confused Words
Knowledge of Language
Vocabulary and Word Parts
Literature and rhetoric topics (no lessons on site yet)
- 108Literary elements: plot, character, setting, point of view
- 109Theme, tone, and mood
- 110The three kinds of irony
- 111Figurative language and its effects
- 112Poetic form, meter, and sound devices
- 113Dramatic structure and stage conventions
- 114Genre and subgenre across the literary tradition
- 115Periods and movements in British literature
- 116Periods and movements in American literature
- 117World literature in translation
- 118Schools of literary criticism in outline
- 119Informational text structure and author’s purpose
- 120Rhetorical appeals and rhetorical strategies
- 121Evaluating an argument and its evidence
- 122Logical fallacies and how to name them
Language and composition topics
- 123Phrases, clauses, and sentence structures
- 124Usage, agreement, and modification
- 125Punctuation and mechanics at sentence level
- 126Morphology, roots, and affixes
- 127Etymology and semantic change
- 128Dialect, register, and language variation
- 129The history and development of English
- 130The writing process and revision
- 131The modes of writing and their conventions
- 132Rhetorical situation, audience, and purpose
- 133Research methods and evaluating sources
- 134Citation and academic honesty
- 135Responding to and assessing student writing
- 136Public speaking and critical listening
- 137Media and digital literacy
Before test day
Confirm the code before anything else. If your state asks for 5039, you will be writing essays this test does not contain. Once you are on the right one, two habits pay: answer reading questions from the passage rather than from what you know about the writer, and treat the language category as free points, because it is the one part of a secondary English test that can be finished.
A USEFUL NEXT STEP
Praxis English Language Arts: Content Knowledge: study questions
What can I study in this Praxis English Language Arts: Content Knowledge Online Center?
This Praxis English Language Arts: Content Knowledge Online Center includes practice, lessons, worksheets, flashcards and review tools. Topics on the page include Reading, Language Use and Vocabulary, Writing, Speaking, and Listening.
How should I use the Praxis English Language Arts: Content Knowledge resources?
Choose a topic or practice activity from this Online Center. Review the linked explanation, try the practice, and use the result to decide what to study next. Check each resource’s directions for its format and access requirements.
Resources from Effortless Math · Editorial standards