Test Information Guide

Field 30: Italian
Reading Comprehension

The following materials contain:

Sample Test Directions for the Reading Comprehension Assignment

In this section of the test, you will read a passage and respond in writing to the assignment that follows the passage. Your response may be written either in the target language or in English. This should be your original work, written in your own words, and not copied or paraphrased from some other work.

You may use the erasable notebooklet to make notes, write an outline, or otherwise prepare your response. However, your final response to each assignment must be typed in the response box provided for the assignment.

Please note that special characters (such as letters with accents or other diacritical marks) cannot be entered using the keyboard but are available for insertion in the on-screen response box. To access these characters, click on the ash button that appears in the upper left corner of the screen. Using the mouse, click on the character you wish to include in your response and then select "Insert." The character will be inserted where the cursor is positioned in the response box.

Your response will be evaluated based on the following criteria.

Select the Next button to continue.

Description of the Reading Comprehension Open-Response Item

In this section of the test, the candidate is presented with an assignment that requires comprehension and interpretation of a written passage. The passage may be taken from a work of literature or from a nonliterary source (e.g., a newspaper or magazine article, an expository text). After reading the passage, the candidate provides a written response to an assignment that tests literal and inferential comprehension of the passage. The assignment may require the candidate to demonstrate the ability to perform such tasks as summarizing information stated in the passage, inferring the author's implied attitude, or relating one or more details to the writer's main theme. The assignment may also require the candidate to analyze the cultural context of the passage and/or the author's literary style and techniques. The assignment is designed to test reading comprehension and not writing ability; therefore, the response may be written either in English or in the target language.

Sample questions are provided in the Italian sample items PDF.

Scoring Rubric

Performance Characteristics

The following characteristics guide the scoring of responses to the reading comprehension assignment.

Table outlining performance characteristics.
Literal Comprehension Accuracy and completeness in comprehending literal content of written language.
Inference Demonstrated ability to analyze elements of a written text and infer implied information.

Scoring Scale

The scoring scale below, which is related to the performance characteristics for the tests, is used by scorers in assigning scores to responses to the reading comprehension assignment.

Score Scale with description for each score point.
Score Point Score Point Description
4
  • The candidate demonstrates thorough understanding of the literal content of the written text, including significant details.
  • The candidate accurately analyzes and infers information from a written text, demonstrating awareness of subtleties.
3
  • The candidate demonstrates understanding of the main idea of the text but misses some details.
  • The candidate shows some ability to analyze and infer information from the text but may misinterpret or miss some subtleties.
2
  • The candidate shows partial understanding of the main idea of the text but fails to understand significant supporting ideas and details.
  • The candidate generally fails to analyze and/or infer information from the text.
1
  • The candidate fails to extract the main idea from the text, demonstrating comprehension only of isolated words and phrases.
  • The candidate fails to analyze or infer any information from the text.
U The response is unrelated to the assigned topic, illegible, not written in the required language, not of sufficient length to score, or merely a repetition of the assignment.
B There is no response to the assignment.