Language and Communication: Interpretive, Interpersonal, Presentational
What is assessed
Subtest III measures communication across three modes: interpretive (listening and reading comprehension), interpersonal (spoken and written exchange), and presentational (speaking and writing for an audience). The multiple-choice portion rewards inference from authentic texts - announcements, interviews, news, literary fragments - and control of register (formal/informal, tú/usted), discourse markers (sin embargo, por lo tanto, a pesar de), and cohesive devices. The constructed-response portion is scored on task completion, comprehensibility, vocabulary range, grammatical accuracy, and fluency/organization.
Traps
- Selecting a statement that is true in the real world but not supported by the passage. Every answer must be anchored in the text.
- Missing register cues: a usted form signals a formal relationship that changes the correct response.
- Translating literally instead of interpreting; false friends distort meaning (actual = current, éxito = success, largo = long, asistir = to attend, embarazada = pregnant).
- In writing tasks, ignoring the prompt's requirements (audience, number of points, word count) while producing accurate but off-task prose.
Rule of thumb
For interpretive items, locate the line that decides the answer before choosing; if you cannot point to it, the option is probably a distractor. For presentational writing, use a predictable architecture - thesis, two or three supporting points with connectors, conclusion - and paraphrase around unknown vocabulary rather than stalling (circumlocution is a scored strategy, not a failure).