Fonctionnement de tâches discrètes et intégrées 
pour l'évaluation de la lecture en français langue seconde 
des nouveaux arrivants au Québec
This research has been conducted within the assessment procedure of the language competence of adult immigrants, for placement purposes in French courses. It relates to the dimensionality as well as the objective and subjective difficulty of discrete or integrated reading tasks at different proficiency levels.  Analyses of linguistic proficiency estimates are proposed in relation with candidates’ linguistic groups. In order to conduct this study successfully, a 6-text and 30-item test has been constructed and administered to 118 immigrants.  These immigrants were enrolled in French courses offered by the Ministry of Immigration and Cultural Communities (MICC) in language schools at the Université de Montreal and the Université du Québec à Montréal. After the administration, analyses have been made on the dimensionality and difficulty of the discrete and integrated tasks and on the interactions between the tasks and different groups of candidates.  More detailed analyses have been made on candidates and items at similar levels. Finally, we were able to study the candidates’ perceptions of task difficulty. Although the study is based on a provisional test, the dimensionality of discrete and integrated tasks has been distinguished. Differences in the way the 2 types of task work have been shown. Finally, the candidates’ interpretation of difficulty and therefore, their view of the test, are better understood. In fine, proposals are made in regard with the proper use of discrete and integrated tasks in an adaptive placement test in second language.
immigration MICC Rasch lecture measurement IRT task language assessment reading DIF