PISA - Program for International Student Assessment Reading Literacy Competencies Questions and Answers — Questions and Answers
Question 1: According to the PISA 2018 framework, which of the following cognitive processes is most concerned with assessing the quality and credibility of a text?
- Locating information
- Understanding
- Evaluating and reflecting (Correct answer)
- Reading fluently
Correct answer: Evaluating and reflecting
The PISA framework for reading literacy explicitly defines 'Evaluating and reflecting' as the process that involves assessing the quality and credibility of a text, reflecting on its content and form, and detecting and handling conflict.
Question 2: A student is asked to read three different online articles about climate change and synthesize the information to form a coherent understanding of the issue, noting any contradictions between the sources. This task primarily assesses which PISA reading competency?
- Reading fluently
- Detecting and handling conflict (Correct answer)
- Accessing and retrieving information
- Acquiring a representation of the literal meaning
Correct answer: Detecting and handling conflict
This scenario requires the student to go beyond simply understanding each text individually. They must compare information across multiple sources and identify discrepancies, which is a key component of the 'Detecting and handling conflict' sub-process within the broader 'Evaluating and reflecting' competency.
Question 3: The PISA definition of Reading Literacy is 'understanding, using, evaluating, reflecting on and engaging with texts in order to...' Which of the following best completes the definition?
- pass standardized school examinations.
- achieve one's goals, to develop one's knowledge and potential and to participate in society. (Correct answer)
- master basic decoding and word recognition skills.
- analyze the grammatical structure of sentences.
Correct answer: achieve one's goals, to develop one's knowledge and potential and to participate in society.
The official PISA definition of reading literacy emphasizes the application of reading skills for personal, educational, and societal purposes. The other options describe more narrow or foundational aspects of reading, not the broad, functional literacy that PISA aims to assess.
Question 4: A student is given a bus schedule (a non-continuous text) and asked to find the last bus that departs for the city center on a Saturday. This task primarily falls under which reading process?
- Reflecting on content and form
- Constructing an integrated representation of text
- Locating information (Correct answer)
- Assessing quality and credibility
Correct answer: Locating information
This is a classic 'Locating information' task. It requires the student to scan the text for a specific piece of information ('accessing and retrieving') without needing deep interpretation or evaluation.
Question 5: Which of the following is NOT a primary dimension along which the PISA reading literacy domain is organized?
- Reading processes (e.g., understanding, evaluating)
- Text (e.g., source, format)
- Situations (e.g., personal, public, educational)
- Author's background and biography (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Author's background and biography
The PISA reading framework is organized along three key dimensions: the cognitive processes readers use, the types of texts they read, and the situations or contexts for reading. While an author's background might be relevant for evaluating a specific text, it is not a fundamental organizational dimension of the assessment framework itself.
Question 6: When a student is asked to explain the main message of a short story by integrating different pieces of information from the narrative, they are primarily demonstrating the competency of:
- Reading fluently
- Searching for and selecting relevant text
- Reflecting on the content and form of a text
- Constructing an integrated representation of text (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Constructing an integrated representation of text
This task requires the student to move beyond literal meaning and build a holistic understanding of the text. 'Constructing an integrated representation of text' is a sub-skill of the 'Understanding' process and involves connecting different parts of the text to grasp the overall message or theme.
PISA - Program for International Student Assessment Reading Literacy Competencies Questions and Answers
According to the PISA 2018 framework, which of the following cognitive processes is most concerned with assessing the quality and credibility of a text?