CCSS Aligned L2 Reading Comprehension Questions

About two months ago, I wrote a post explaining how second language teachers can use the Common Core Anchor Standards for Reading to give depth to their reading assessments and challenge students to think critically in the target language. Read it here. Understandably, some readers were left wondering what an assessment composed of CCSS Aligned questions would look like. And so, I give you this: A 15 page packet full of explanations and examples (I'm posting the information from the packet on this page, but it will be much easier to read (and print) if you just download the packet!)

So that teachers could see specific examples of each question type, the questions are written based on a text that is commonly used in language courses. The novel Brandon Brown quiere un perro was written by Carol Gaab, and it is written with just 100 unique words, making it perfect for novice language learners. It is available in Spanish here and French here. The first two chapters of the novel are available on the TPRS Publishing, Inc. website as a free preview, and they were used with written permission from the publisher.

Considerations for the L2 teacher

1. Write questions in English - When assessing reading comprehension of target language texts, we almost always ask the questions in English so that an incorrect answer can only be attributed to a misunderstanding of the text, as opposed to a misunderstanding of the question or an ability to ‘hunt and peck’ to find the answer. There are a few exceptions, and they are noted throughout this packet.
2. Choose what you want to assess - When creating an assessment that includes critical thinking questions, the L2 teacher must consider whether s/he wants to assess reading comprehension in the TL, the ability to support conclusions with textual evidence in English, or both. A student may understand the language of a text very well, but still be unable to process the information in a way that would allow him or her to accurately respond to the question. Unless the question requires that the student explain his/her answer, the problem with assessing two things at once is that the teacher cannot know whether a student’s incorrect answer was due to a deficit in reading comprehension or critical thinking ability. For this reason, the teacher may choose to formally assess students using very basic comprehension questions (explicit recall, for example), and choose to save the critical thinking questions for class discussion.
3. Visit Teach for June - If you are not familiar with Standards Based Assessment, I highly recommend visiting Scott Benedict’s website, http://teachforjune.com. He has articles, webinars, and additional materials to help all teachers, and L2 teachers in particular, learn why and how to use Standards Based Assessment in their courses.

STANDARD R.1: Recall explicit facts

These questions are the easiest to write because they are based solely on the information contained within the text. Students must be able to find the answer to the question within the text without adding in their own opinions or knowledge from other sources. With reference to QAR (Question Answer Relationships) the questions can be “Right There” questions (for which the answer is located in one specific place in the text) or “Think and Search” questions (for which students must combine information from several places in the text in order to answer the question).

STANDARD R.1: Make logical inferences

A question to assess this standard should require that students recall information from the chapter and then use that knowledge to make an inference. When students are asked to make logical inferences in the target language, it is difficult to know whether an incorrect answer is due to a deficit in reading comprehension or a deficit in critical thinking skills. For this reason, an L2 teacher may wish to have students explain their answer even on a multiple choice or true/false assessment. See “Choose what you want to assess” (page 3) for more about the L2 reading comprehension vs. critical thinking dilemmma.

STANDARD R.1: Support conclusions with textual evidence

If the teacher wants to solely assess reading comprehension in the target language, then the teacher would need to provide three options with false information about the text and only one option that contains true information from the text, all of which are logically sound. If the teacher wants to solely assess critical thinking ability, then all four options must be factual based on the text, but only one can be logical. (Keep in mind that the student would be able to respond to the question based on logic even not having read the text.) If the teacher wants to assess both, consider including two false and two true statements about the text. Both of the false statements should be logical, but only one of the true statements from the text should be logical. The student can eliminate the false statements based on reading comprehension in the TL, and then s/he must use logic to choose between the two true statements that remain. In this way, the teacher can look at the incorrect answer that the student chose and know which skill is lacking. These questions do not make good true/false questions.

STANDARD R.2: Determine central ideas or themes

These are among the few questions that can be asked about target language texts in the target language. Because the central idea or theme will contain similar language to the language of the text itself, the teacher can know that an incorrect answer is due to the fact that the student does not understand the language used in the chapter. When writing multiple choice questions in the target language that assess this skill, it is important that all four options contain language that appeared in the text itself, so that students cannot eliminate options by simply recognizing that the language contained in a potential answer did not appear anywhere in the text.

STANDARD R.2: Summarize details and ideas to support theme development

Students that are proficient in this skill area of standard R.2 are able to identify the information from a text that supports the theme. They can separate the ‘meat’ (the theme-based content) from the ‘potatoes’ (the filling that adds interest and depth to the text). They are able to summarize texts concisely because they have developed the ability to accurately assess the difference between essential and non-essential information as it relates to the purpose of the text. These questions can be asked in English or in the target language for the same reasons listed under “R.2 Determine central ideas or themes”.

STANDARD R.2: Summarize details and ideas to support theme development

Students that are proficient in this skill area of standard R.2 are able to identify the information from a text that supports the theme. They can separate the ‘meat’ (the theme-based content) from the ‘potatoes’ (the filling that adds interest and depth to the text). They are able to summarize texts concisely because they have developed the ability to accurately assess the difference between essential and non-essential information as it relates to the purpose of the text. These questions can be asked in English or in the target language for the same reasons listed under “R.2 Determine central ideas or themes”.

STANDARD R.2: Analyze theme development

These questions are best asked after students have read a significant portion of a long text. For this reason, it is difficult to write theme development questions based on just the first two chapters of a simple text. To write them, the teacher should think about how the theme of each segment of the text fits into the theme(s) of the text as a whole. How does the main idea of the text as a whole manifest itself in each chapter? How does the key point from one chapter influence the key point of the next?

STANDARD R.3: Analyze development of characters, events, or ideas

Like theme development questions, these questions are best asked toward the end of a text; however, the beginning of a text is a great time to lay the foundation for later analysis by asking questions that establish a ‘baseline’: What is a character like at the beginning of a text? What are his/her priorities? What is happening at the beginning of a text that you, the teacher, know will have an impact on the later events of the text? What idea presented at the beginning of a text will reappear or change as the reader continues on in the text? Later on, you can ask students to compare those characters, events, or idea that were highlighted at the beginning of a text to themselves later on.

STANDARD R.4: Analyze word choice

Questions that analyze word choice help students to think critically about why the author chose to use the words that s/he did. They are excellent to use in an L2 classroom because they help students consider all of the options that they have to say the same thing. With regular use, students will produce more fluent language as they incorporate a wider range of vocabulary into their speech and writing. Since Brandon Brown quiere un perro is written with extremely basic vocabulary, it is more difficult to write word choice analysis questions for this text than for more advanced texts, which employ a broader, deeper, less repetitive vocabulary.

STANDARD R.4: Interpret meaning of words or phrases

These questions are an excellent alternative to traditional grammar quizzes. Because they require students to interpret the meaning of specific words and phrases, the teacher is instantly able to identify the point (or points) at which L2 comprehension breaks down. By aligning these questions with the target structures and constructions from a course, a teacher can use this question type to determine with what specific course content a student needs additional support.

STANDARD R.5: Analyze text structure

If you are unfamiliar with the text structure as it relates to the Common Core State Standards, I recommend viewing this slideshare slideshow. Questions that assess students’ ability to analyze text structure help them to focus on the strategies that the author employs in his or her text to communicate the desired message. While an author will typically use one main text structure, elements of other structures will likely be included within it.

STANDARD R.6: Assess point of view

Questions that assess point of view are an excellent tool to use in the L2 classroom because they give students an opportunity to think critically about grammatical constructions other than the traditional third person narrative form. It is important that students know the difference between first, second, and third person perspective in order to respond to many of these questions, so take time to explain the perspectives in English before administering any assessments that include those terms. Don’t assume that students have already learned it in their English classes!

STANDARD R.8: Evaluate argument and specific claims

These questions are easier to write about non-fiction, expository and/or persuasive texts. Within a fiction piece, questions of these type should focus on arguments presented by the characters in the text or even details that an author uses to support statements that s/he makes in the text. For example, if an author states that a character is a bad influence, what details does s/he included in order to support that statement? Notice that some of these sample questions do not force students to evaluate the argument and specific claims on their own, but rather assess reading comprehension while helping the students to focusing on the evaluation of arguments and claims already contained within the text.

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