SAT Subject Test in Spanish

The SAT Subject Test in Spanish (formerly known as the SAT II) is a standardized test given by the College Board that assesses fluency in Spanish among high school students. It is typically taken after three to four years of studying the language and exponential understanding and competence in the language over said years. The test also partially emphasizes preparation for AP Spanish and/or Spanish as a course in College. Passage selections are drawn from prose fiction, historical works, and newspaper and magazine articles, as well as advertisements, flyers and letters.

Test

The test is one hour long and is composed of 85 multiple choice questions. It is scored on a scale from 200 to 800, as all are SAT Subject Tests. This test does not include a listening section, which can be found on a separate subject test, SAT Subject Test in Spanish with Listening. For comparison, this test is given five times throughout the year (August, October, December, May, and June) instead of only once in November.

Topics and material

According to the College Board, the three overall topics on the test are evenly divided among the 85 questions. They are as follows:

  • Vocabulary and Structure
  • Paragraph Comprehension
  • Reading Comprehension

Each section counts for 33% of the test. Fluency, while not a necessity by any means, certainly may help on the comprehension sections which together make up two-thirds of the entire test.

Suggestions

Learning and/or memorizing the conjugations of all irregular verbs in the Indicative, Subjunctive, and Imperative tenses is crucial to getting a perfect score on the test, along with the present and past participles which will help with the Perfect, Perfect Subjunctive, and Continuous (Progressive) tenses.

The College Board lists multiple anticipated skills for taking the test, as follows:

  • Knowledge of words that represent different parts of speech along with some basic expressions within culturally appropriate contexts.
  • Ability to select appropriate grammatically correct words and/or expressions in order to complete a sentence. A section of the test contains vocabulary and structure questions embedded within longer paragraphs.
  • Understanding of similar points (as main and supporting ideas, themes, style, tone, and the spatial and temporal settings) of a passage.

Score choice

Due to score choice, reintroduced in 2009, one may take this test (as with all SAT subject tests, including the actual SAT) as many times as needed in order to score a perfect 800. This, however, is not recommended, because colleges can and will see that someone took the test more than once. If someone decides to take it a second time, it is recommended that they send both scores to colleges to ensure that a significant improvement is shown. Some colleges will see the improvement as a strong positive.

Scores

Methods of scoring

This test is no different from any other SAT Subject Test in language, so all "standard scoring methods" apply, including:

  • Each correct answer is worth 1 point
  • Each answer left blank neither adds nor deducts points to the score
  • Each incorrect answer subtracts 0.25 points away from the final grade

It is still possible to get a perfect score on the exam while leaving some answers blank, depending on how well one does on each section.

Mean score

The mean score on this test is a 653, however, as with all world language tests, this score may be significantly higher as people who speak it fluently or as their first language may take it and will likely get a perfect score. Keep in mind that just because there may be several exceptionally high scores doesn't mean that the test was easy for them, it may just convey that native speakers do well on the test.

18,161 people took the test in 2016.[1][2][3]

References

  1. ↑ "Spanish Subject Test". Collegereadiness.collegeboard.org. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "SAT Suite of Assessments" (PDF). SAT Suite of Assessments. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  3. ↑ "SAT Subject Tests Percentile Ranks 2016 College-Bound Seniors" (PDF). The College Board. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
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