Welcome to the Academic Skills Unit presentation of workshop material to support students preparing
for the LANTITE Literacy test.
This workshop presentation will cover Part A of the LANTITE Literacy test and will focus
on the reading skills that students will be assessed on in the test.
In unpacking reading skills, we will use the questions from the reading text “Change
in schools” which is from the first sample test on the ACER website, so that you can
self-identify the relevant reading strategies and skills as you go through the practice
questions.
For additional practice and resources, please go to the FEA LANTITE Support site on LEO.
Further information about the LANTITE is also available on the Australian Council for Educational
Research or ACER.
Now you are all experienced readers and writers and what the test is assessing and naming
are the reading skills you already use.
You are active readers and already read texts according to their purpose and function.
For example you would read a school newsletter differently to the way you would read an essay.
So, when looking at a test question, ask yourself: • What reading strategies do I need to use
to locate the answer to this question?
• Do I need to scan for specific information?
• Does the question require reading to understand relationships between information and ideas?
• Do I need to infer the writer’s point of view because it wasn’t explicitly stated
in the text?
Also, think about whether your strategies would change depending on the type of text
being read.
Before we begin looking at the practice questions, if you have not already done so, read the
reading text “Change in Schools” from the practice test.
When you have finished reading the text, move onto the next slide.
You can pause the video at the start of each of the questions and work out your answer.
Then, when you are ready, click ‘play’ to hear the answers.
Before we check the answers I’d like to point out a key word in the question – summarised.
Look for repetition of ideas, which are introduced in the first paragraph and then sustained
and expanded upon in the rest of the article: it’s about change – global, technological,
social; responding to needs of students in this environment of change and the impact
on schools to meet the changing expectations of students.
Work through the possible answers: can A, B, C and D be found in the text?
If yes, the answer has to be B which covers all the possibilities.
So let’s move onto question 2.
Please note that the question says “according to the text”, this means that you do not
have to agree with the ideas, but understand from the perspective of the text and the writers.
So when you’re ready select your answer.
Before we check the responses – I doubt any of you had to re-read the entire text.
Instead you most likely scanned the text to locate specific information in paragraph 4,
in the last sentence: “When mistakes happen at school, there is
a tendency for parents to blame teachers and other school personnel, and to seek legal
redress.”
And so the answer is B. Remember to use your knowledge about the purpose
and structure of texts and paragraphs – use headings and topic sentences to help you navigate
to particular parts of a text.
In the next question you are directed to paragraph 4 in the reading.
Again it’s “according to the text”.
You may need to carefully and actively read the paragraph 4 (or read intensively) in order
to select the correct answer.
Work through the possible answers: can A, B, C and D be inferred from the text?
This question appears to be asking for the most correct answer.
Look at Sentence 1: schools meeting “the social and psychological needs of students”;
Sentence 2: Juxtaposition of “fragmented societies” and schools as “havens of peace,
safety and stability”.
So which response can most reasonably be inferred from the paragraph?
In this case, the most reasonable inference is A.
This question takes you to paragraph 5 and a sentence that introduces the quote by Papert
and Freire: “Back in the late 1980s, Papert and Freire
(n.d.) clearly foresaw the need for schools to change rapidly, even radically, if they
were to remain vital to society.”
This question is asking students to identify the point of view of the writers, specifically,
the word that shows they support the point of view of Papert and Freire.
So which is the correct answer?
Whilst all the choices would fit , ‘clearly’ describes a point of view, in this case, it
means ‘undoubtedly’ or ‘obviously’ so reflects the writers’ opinions of Papert
and Freire’s predictions for schools.
‘Rapidly’ describes the rate of change required in schools; ‘radically’ refers
to the manner in which the schools need to change and ‘vital’ refers to the relevance
of schools.
Only ‘clearly’ reflects the writers’ attitudes to Papert and Freire’s point of
view.
Therefore, A is the correct answer.
This question is now focussing on the Papert & Freire quote and asking how it relates to
the rest of the text.
So look at each of the responses and see which one is the best fit.
For this question you need to understand the main idea of the text, and compare the quote
– asking to deal with an idea that is an extension of the text’s main argument.
Look at some of the language within the quote.
“Inconceivable” is repeated twice reinforcing that schools cannot and will not continue
as they have; children’s expectations and ways of learning have changed irrevocably.
“They will not sit quietly …”; “they will revolt” – this use of dramatic and
emphatic language can be compared with the more reasonable language of the rest of the
text.
Therefore, the answer is D. Now for the last question from the sample
test.
In this question, the focus is on the quote itself.
By now you may be familiar with the paragraph so you may have scanned Papert & Freire’s
quote to locate specific information.
In particular, you may realise that the words and phrases from the question are not in the
text so you need to look for synonyms – words and phrases expressing similar meanings.
Immediacy?
Yes: “… my grandson who is used to finding knowledge when he wants to and can get it
when he needs it…”
Diverse sources of information?
Yes: “…and can get in touch with other people and teachers…”
Respect for authority?
No: “These children will not sit quietly in school and listen to a teacher…”
In July 2017, ACER put an additional practice test on its website.
There are 30 practice questions: 20 concerning four reading texts.
These include: a letter, Career pathways document, a document detailing duties assigned for an
athletics carnival, and a document showing students reading test results.
So, if you want some more practice reading questions, particularly reading different
text types, do go to the ACER LANTITE site, if you haven’t already been.
To sum up this presentation, it is important that you read the texts in the reading test
carefully.
There could be a number of texts of around 600- 900 words; that would make them a bit
longer than the text in the practice test.
The reading materials could cover a range of topics that would not be out of place for
a commencing teacher to come across.
It could be about a professional issue of interest to teachers as in the sample test;
it could be an item from a school newsletter, an education department directive, a report
to the principal to recommend new equipment, a timetable, a piece of student writing or
other texts that would be written for teachers and that would be part of their everyday work.
These links take you to different reading activities on the FEA LANTITE site, ACER and
the reading module on the Academic Skills LEO site.
You can access these sites via the transcript for this presentation.
We encourage you to visit these sites.
So, the final message of this presentation is be active readers, read the questions carefully
and use the strategies that work for you.