Item language

Items are language-specific. The language configured for an item will be used for two things: to set the writing direction of your item (left-to-right or right-to-left), and to initiate the correct language for the text-to-speech functionality.

After you’ve created and saved your new item (these steps are described in the chapter Creating a test item), you will need to set the language in which you wish to author the item. The default language is English, and the default language direction is left-to-right (LTR). In other words, if these two settings correspond to your item already, you do not need to change the existing configuration.

To set the language of your item, follow the steps below.

1. Select your item from the Items Library.

This will take you to the empty item you have created. Click on the Authoring icon in the Action Bar.

The Item Properties are located to the right of the canvas where you will author the item.

2. Select the language you need from the drop-down menu.

The example in the image below shows a new (still empty) item, for which the item author has selected Arabic as the language.

Setting the language of the Item

Note: If a language has the right-to-left mode activated there will be a RTL label next to it in the list of languages.

The language of your new item has now been configured, and you can start to author the item. Return to the chapter Creating a test item for information on how to do this.

The remainder of this chapter demonstrates what an item looks like which is authored in RTL mode – in this case, it is an item in Arabic in which the test-taker will be asked for the capital of Saudi Arabia. In the example item, the author has opted for a multiple choice question. After dragging the correct interaction onto the canvas (see Adding interactions for information on how to do this), the interaction will appear in RTL mode, as in the image below. In other words, both the box for the prompt and the multiple choice options start on the right.

Authoring a RTL item

The finished item, which gives three cities as options for the test-taker to choose the capital of Saudi Arabia from, would be as follows:

A finished RTL item

Note: Your computer will need to be configured to write Arabic (or the RTL language of your choice) before you can author items in that language.