WHAT IS THE LINGUISTIC KANGAROO CONTEST?
The Linguistic Kangaroo Contest is an international competition organised by IDEA and Sigma, for students aged 6 to 19. It is organised for various foreign languages, including English, French and German, and Romanian (for students whose first language is Romanian).
For foreign languages, the Linguistic Kangaroo assesses knowledge of language and civilisation, together with intuition, logic, and speed reaction in reading with comprehension. This test is available for levels: Pre-A1, A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, possibly for pre-A1, A1-A2, A2-B1, B1-B2, B2- C1, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). It also contains a set of questions addressing students’ general culture. There are a maximum of 30 questions in the Pre-A1 level, whilst the higher levels consist of up to 50 questions. The effective time for a test is 60 minutes.
The first language (Romanian) Linguistic Kangaroo assesses reading capacity. It aims to evaluate reading speed, attention to detail and depth of text comprehension. The test contains a story or fragments from a novel or other fiction texts, accompanied by a set of questions. Questions correspond to the following four-Level Reading Skills:
- Extracting information explicitly contained in the text or image;
Formulating direct conclusions following a brief analysis of the text; - Interpreting and integrating ideas generated by the text;
- Content evaluation, including abstracting arguments, conclusions, attitudes.
- By participating in the Kangaroo competitions, young intellectuals improve their linguistic competences, share their creative ideas, develop their potential, and build self-confidence.
WHY KANGAROO?
Kangaroo is the name of a famous international Mathematics competition involving more than six million students around the world. The Linguistic Kangaroo contest is meant to develop young peoples’ ability to understand and interpret concepts, thoughts, feelings, facts and opinions, to be better prepared to communicate in an appropriate range of societal and cultural contexts.
Moreover, as you may know, the kangaroo is a marsupial that uses hopping as its primary means of locomotion. A kangaroo can leap to lengths of close to nine metres and at a height of about three metres. It can reach speeds of up to 60 km/h. So, jump your way to language excellence as high and long as a kangaroo! Get creative and increase your competence like a kangaroo raises a baby in its pouch!
Our Vision
Our vision is to create a learning community in which every individual has opportunities to appreciate cultural diversity, to manifest an interest and curiosity about different languages and intercultural communication.
Our Mission
The Linguistic Kangaroo contest offers opportunities for developing essential knowledge, skills and attitudes related to the linguistic competence. This competence requires knowledge of vocabulary and functional grammar of different languages and an awareness of the main types of verbal interaction and registers of languages, together with knowledge of societal conventions, and the cultural aspect and variability of languages. It also aims at developing respect for each person’s individual linguistic profile and appreciation for a country’s official language(s) as a common framework for interaction.
Our Story
• In 2004, SIGMA Publishing House (Romania) launched the Linguistic Kangaroo Project. Currently, the contest is addressed to students in grades 1 to 12, passionate about studying foreign languages. Since 2005, the Linguistic Kangaroo contest has expanded internationally, with eight participating countries as of 2023, and counting.
• In 2007, SIGMA launched the Kangaroo Stories contest in Romanian, addressed to students in grades 1 and 2. Now students from the preparatory grade up to the 12th grade can participate in this contest, that aims at bringing young intellectuals in Romania closer to reading and testing their level and quality of text comprehension in their first language.
• Since 2010, the students in the preparatory grade, and 1st to 4th grades were offered a new game-contest: the Explorer Kangaroo. The questions for this contest emphasise on an interdisciplinary approach with a focus on sciences. More specifically, the questions are inspired by natural sciences, environmental studies, technology, civics, and geography.
• Since 2014, the Institute for the Development of Educational Assessment (IDEA) is involved in organising the Kangaroo Contests in partnership with SIGMA Publishing House.