ICAS English

Skill Areas

Students are required to locate, identify, explain, interpret, infer and analyse information in and about texts. The skill areas assessed are:

• Text comprehension
• Writer’s craft
• Syntax
• Vocabulary.

Content

ICAS English assesses reading and language skills in a range of contexts. The following aspects of texts are assessed and reported: text comprehension— reading for meaning—in literary and factual texts; the writer’s craft in selecting particular text types, vocabulary and techniques; syntax; and vocabulary. The questions require students to locate, identify, sequence, explain, interpret, analyse and infer information in and about texts.

Students read a variety of texts which narrate, describe, explain, argue, persuade and review. These include extracts from picture books, novels, poems, play scripts, transcripts of interviews, letters, diary entries, advertisements, web pages, feature articles, opinion pieces and comic strips. These texts cover a range of topics and may include tables, diagrams, maps and other visual information.