MATSEC AM Italian study guide
MATSEC AM Italian · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The MATSEC Advanced Level Italian examination is administered by the MATSEC Examinations Board at L-Università ta' Malta, the body named in the University's own navigation as responsible for the MATSEC Board. This profile is an independent study resource and has no official affiliation with the University or the Board; candidates should always confirm current regulations, dates and fees directly with the MATSEC Board. The MATSEC AM Italian study guide has 4 sections and about 1,415 words.
01Oral and Aural Competence in Italian
The oral component tests two linked abilities: understanding spoken Italian at natural speed and sustaining a coherent interaction in Italian. The examiner typically plays or reads a short authentic passage - a news item, interview or announcement - then asks questions, before moving to a conversation or short presentation on a syllabus topic and on the cultural themes you have studied.
376 words, about 2 min02Reading Comprehension of Italian Texts
Reading comprehension presents authentic Italian texts - press articles, interviews, literary extracts, adverts, tables - and asks you to extract, interpret and summarise. Questions usually combine multiple choice, true/false with justification, short answers, vocabulary in context and a brief summary.
339 words, about 2 min03Written Production and Language Accuracy in Italian
The written paper has two halves: a composition of roughly 250-300 words (article, formal letter, essay, report or narrative) and language-accuracy tasks - cloze, sentence transformation, completion and error correction. Marks are split between content, organisation, range and accuracy, so a fluent but off-task answer scores badly.
355 words, about 2 min04Literature, Culture and Civilisation of Italy
These questions ask you to write about Italian literary texts and about the historical and social contexts you have studied. Typical set texts run from Dante, Petrarca and Boccaccio through Machiavelli, Leopardi, Manzoni and Verga to Pirandello, Svevo, Ungaretti, Montale and Calvino; cultural topics usually include the Risorgimento and Unità d'Italia, the questione meridionale, emigration, Fascism and the Resistenza, the boom economico, the Mafia and the 1948 Constitution.
345 words, about 2 min