14. Dominique is an intermediate-level EL. Her teacher, Ms. Kang, is aware of Dominique's literacy level and wants to assess her ability to answer interpretive-level comprehension questions. After reading a story, which of the following questions should Ms. Kang ask Dominique?
Answer: A
Ms. Kang should ask Dominique, "Why do you think the boy wanted to buy a gift for his friend?"
This question encourages Dominique to think critically about the motivations and emotions of the characters, thereby assessing her interpretive-level comprehension skills effectively.
A) "Why do you think the boy wanted to buy a gift for his friend?"
This question invites Dominique to engage with the text on a deeper level by considering the character's motivations and emotions. It requires her to interpret the story's themes and understand the relationships between characters, which is essential for assessing interpretive comprehension.
B) "What color hat was the boy wearing in the beginning of the story?"
This question focuses on a specific detail from the story, which tests recall rather than interpretation. While it assesses literal comprehension, it does not challenge Dominique to analyze or interpret the text, thus failing to meet the objective of assessing her interpretive-level skills.
C) "How might the story end differently if the character lived on a farm instead of in a city?"
Although this question encourages creative thinking and speculation, it does not directly assess Dominique’s understanding of the story as it currently stands. Instead, it shifts focus away from the text's content and into hypothetical scenarios, which may not effectively measure her interpretive comprehension of the actual story.
D) "If you were the boy, would you have made the same choice at the end of the story, and why?"
This question does engage Dominique's critical thinking by asking her to reflect on character decisions and provide reasoning. However, it is more subjective and personal, which may not directly align with assessing her understanding of the story's interpretive elements as effectively as option A.
Conclusion
Option A is the most suitable question for assessing Dominique's interpretive-level comprehension because it invites her to analyze character motivations and themes within the text. In contrast, the other options either focus on factual recall or hypothetical scenarios that do not directly evaluate her understanding of the story's deeper meanings. Thus, option A is the most effective choice to achieve Ms. Kang's assessment goals.