Test Information Guide
Overview and Test Objectives
Field 15: Latin and Classical Humanities
Test Overview
| Format | Computer-based test (CBT) and online proctored test; 100 multiple-choice questions, 2 open-response items |
|---|---|
| Number of Questions |
|
| Time | 4 hours (does not include 15-minute CBT tutorial) |
| Passing Score | 240 |
The Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) are designed to measure a candidate's knowledge of the subject matter contained in the test objectives for each field. The MTEL are aligned with the Massachusetts educator licensure regulations and, as applicable, with the standards in the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks.
The test objectives specify the content to be covered on the test and are organized by major content subareas. The chart below shows the approximate percentage of the total test score derived from each of the subareas.
The test assesses a candidate's proficiency and depth of understanding of the subject at the level required for a baccalaureate major according to Massachusetts standards. Candidates are typically nearing completion of or have completed their undergraduate work when they take the test.
Latin passages used on the test will be drawn from the works of the following authors:
- Caesar
- Catullus
- Cicero
- Horace
- Ovid
- Pliny the Younger
- Vergil
Pie chart of approximate test weighting outlined in the table below.
Test Objectives
| Subareas | Range of Objectives | Approximate Test Weighting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple-Choice | |||
| I | Reading Comprehension of Latin | 01–04 | 35% |
| II | Language Structures and Language Acquisition | 05–09 | 25% |
| III | Cultural Understanding | 10–12 | 20% |
| 80% | |||
| Open-Response* | |||
| IV | Integration of Knowledge and Understanding | 13 | 20% |
*The open-response items may relate to topics covered in any of the subareas.
Subarea I–Reading Comprehension of Latin
Objective 0001: Demonstrate comprehension of the literal meaning of unadapted passages of Latin prose and poetry.
For example:- Identify the stated main idea of a passage.
- Identify significant supporting details in a passage.
- Determine the sequence of events in a passage.
Objective 0002: Demonstrate comprehension based on inference from and analysis of unadapted passages of Latin prose and poetry.
For example:- Predict outcomes or events based on information in a passage.
- Draw conclusions based on information in a passage.
- Interpret a mood or attitude in a passage.
- Analyze an author's point of view in a passage.
- Infer the theme, purpose, or intended audience of a passage.
Objective 0003: Translate into English or summarize unadapted phrases, sentences, or short passages of Latin prose and poetry.
For example:- Select the correct English translation of a phrase, sentence, or short passage of prose or poetry.
- Select an accurate English summary of a phrase, sentence, or short passage of prose or poetry.
Objective 0004: Identify and analyze stylistic features in unadapted passages of Latin prose and poetry.
For example:- Analyze the effect of word order or word choice in a passage.
- Identify or analyze the effect of a figure of speech, stylistic feature, or rhetorical device (e.g., anaphora, chiasmus) in a passage.
- Interpret an image or metaphor in a passage.
- Apply the basic rules of scansion to lines of poetry.
- Identify the following meters in lines of poetry: dactylic hexameter, elegiac couplet, hendecasyllabic, Sapphic.
- Identify metrical elements (e.g., trochee, spondee, dactyl) in lines of poetry.
Subarea II–Language Structures and Language Acquisition
Objective 0005: Identify and analyze Latin grammar and usage in context.
For example:- Identify forms (e.g., gender, number, case, tense, voice, mood) in a passage.
- Understand the grammatical function of a word, phrase, or clause in a passage.
- Identify grammatical constructions or usages in a passage (e.g., dative of possession, ablative of comparison, sequence of tenses, participial constructions, indirect statement or question).
- Select an equivalent construction to express the meaning of a clause in a passage (e.g., to express purpose, to express causality).
Objective 0006: Apply knowledge of the morphology, syntax, and structure of Latin.
For example:- Select an appropriate word (e.g., verb form, adjective form, pronoun) or phrase to complete a sentence.
- Select an appropriate clause or construction to complete a sentence.
- Apply principles of agreement (e.g., subject and verb, noun and adjective, pronoun and antecedent) in a passage.
- Select the correct transformation of a sentence based on given instructions (e.g., transform the tense or mood of a sentence, transform a sentence from indirect to direct statement).
- Combine two or more sentences into a single sentence that preserves the meaning of the original sentences (e.g., expressing a temporal or causal relationship between sentences through use of a subordinate clause).
- Compare and contrast features of Latin and English grammar and usage.
Objective 0007: Demonstrate familiarity with Greek elements in Latin language and grammar.
For example:- Identify Greek inflected forms used in Latin.
- Identify Greek loan words (e.g., peristylium, philosophia).
- Select an accurate transliteration of a Greek word or phrase in context (e.g., from the first book of Homer's Iliad or Plato's Apology).
Objective 0008: Use knowledge of Latin and Greek to analyze English borrowings and derivatives.
For example:- Relate a given English word to its Latin and Greek root(s).
- Understand the Latin and Greek root meanings of common English prefixes and suffixes.
- Recognize the influence of Latin and Greek on the technical vocabulary of the arts, sciences, and professions (e.g., medical, legal).
- Understand the meanings of common words or phrases borrowed from Latin and Greek (e.g., quid pro quo, eureka).
Objective 0009: Demonstrate familiarity with theoretical approaches to Latin language acquisition.
For example:- Understand the ways in which a student's primary language(s) can affect the acquisition of Latin.
- Understand the ways in which learning styles affect the acquisition of Latin.
- Understand ways in which learning challenges affect the acquisition of Latin.
- Demonstrate knowledge of how theories of language acquisition are reflected in current Latin teaching methods and materials.
Subarea III–Cultural Understanding
Objective 0010: Understand important aspects of the history and geography of the classical world.
For example:- Demonstrate knowledge of major political, economic, social, and cultural trends and developments that shaped classical Greek and Roman culture.
- Demonstrate knowledge of major historical events associated with classical Greece and Rome and their cultural significance.
- Demonstrate knowledge of key individuals associated with classical Greece and Rome and their cultural significance.
- Identify important geographic features and historical sites in the classical world and their cultural significance.
- Analyze the influence of major trends, events, and figures in classical Greek and Roman culture on later cultures, including the culture of the United States.
- Demonstrate acquaintance with complementary fields of study as they apply to the history, geography, and culture of the classical world (e.g., archaeology, papyrology, epigraphy, textual criticism).
- Demonstrate knowledge of varied societal roles played by multiethnic populations and groups such as slaves and women.
Objective 0011: Understand the products of the classical world and the ways in which they reflect the cultures of Greece and Rome, and their effect on later cultures.
For example:- Demonstrate knowledge of major myths and legends of classical Greece and Rome (e.g., important Greek and Roman deities, important mythological and legendary figures and stories) and ways in which they reflect classical culture.
- Demonstrate knowledge of major classical Greek and Roman writers (e.g., Herodotus, Homer, Sappho, Euripides, Vergil, Catullus, Cicero), works, and genres and ways in which classical literature reflects classical culture.
- Demonstrate knowledge of major works, characteristic forms, and key individuals in the visual arts, architecture, and technology of classical Greece and Rome and ways in which they reflect classical culture.
- Demonstrate knowledge of products of daily life in classical Greece and Rome and ways in which they reflect classical culture.
- Analyze the influence of major products of classical Greek and Roman culture on later cultures, including the culture of the United States.
Objective 0012: Understand the practices of the classical world, the ways in which they reflect the cultures of Greece and Rome, and their effect on later cultures.
For example:- Demonstrate knowledge of practices of Roman daily life and customs (e.g., salutation, dining, bathing) and ways in which they reflect Roman culture.
- Demonstrate knowledge of major Roman holidays and festivals and ways in which they reflect Roman culture.
- Demonstrate knowledge of major cultural and social institutions and practices (e.g., education, democracy, religion) of classical Greek and Roman culture and ways in which they reflect classical culture.
- Analyze the influence of major practices of classical Greek and Roman culture on later cultures, including the culture of the United States.
Subarea IV–Integration of Knowledge and Understanding
Objective 0013: Prepare an organized, well-developed, and analytical response on a topic based on a given Latin text and related to one or more of the following subareas: Reading Comprehension of Latin, Language Structures and Language Acquisition, Cultural Understanding.
(Refer to objectives 0001 through 0012 and associated descriptive statements.)