COLLEGE STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE ON THE LITERATURE COMPONENT OF THE SCHOLASTIC ASSESSMENT TEST (SAT): IMPLICATIONS FOR THE TEACHING OF LITERATURE IN THE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL AND TERTIARY LEVEL ​

The 60-item diagnostic test on literature of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) was administered to 176 freshman college students of Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST), Manila, during the first semester of School Year 2017-2018 to examine the students' performance level in terms of the seven literary elements tested by SAT, the literary elements in which they performed well and poorly, and whether there was any significant difference among their scores. Average mean showed that the general performance level of the students on the literature test was “below average.” Item analysis indicated that the difficulty level of the entire test was “desirable.” Six items on Element 4 (Tone), Element 7 (Meanings in Context), and Element 1 (Meaning) were found to be “easy;” two items on Element 3 (Narrative Voice) and Element 7 (Meanings in Context) were found to be “very difficult.” These elements were also found to be among those classified as either “difficult” or “desirable” items along with Element 2 (Form), Element 5 (Character), and Element 6 (Use of Language). Analysis by t-test for independent samples revealed that there was a significant difference among the scores obtained by the students on the literature test. The study recommended that teachers help students enrich their schema to successfully examine and analyze the literary elements that work together in a selection.