VCE English Language Metalanguage Practice Test 2026 – All-in-One Guide to Mastering Your Exam Success!

The term that best represents the deletion of words in a sentence that can be understood from contextual clues is ellipsis. Ellipsis occurs when certain words or phrases are omitted because they can be inferred from the surrounding context, thereby creating a more concise expression. For example, in the sentence "Jessie can play the guitar, and Matt can too," the phrase "play the guitar" is omitted after "Matt" because the listener can understand what is meant without needing the repetition. This mechanism streamlines communication and relies on the knowledge of the audience to fill in the gaps, making language more efficient.

The other options do not accurately capture this concept: elevation refers to raising the level of something, deterioration involves the process of decay or decline, and EFL stands for English as a Foreign Language, which relates to language learning rather than grammatical structure.