Language awareness in the INVALSI tests. Competence levels and students’ linguistic reflections

From 2018 onwards, the results of the INVALSI tests have been report- ed in terms of competence levels. The descriptors of the competence levels are identified on the basis of a qualitative analysis of the corresponding test questions. The present study focuses on the descriptors of language aware- ness and investigates to what extent these descriptors are reflected in stu- dents’ reasoning on a sample of language awareness questions, administered in the third-year class of lower secondary schools in 2018. Students’ linguistic reasonings were elicited by means of focus-group in- terviews and analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. The results show substantial differences in students’ reasoning on questions represent- ing different competence levels. The main characteristics of students’ rea- sonings are consistent with the descriptors of competence levels developed by INVALSI.