Tips for the IELTS Reading Paper

In this week's blog, we look at tips to help you with the reading IELTS paper.

In the reading paper, you will be asked a total of 40 questions. In order to assess how much of the reading passages you understand, the questions will usually paraphrase (use different words with the same meaning) the words that are in the text. The questions test a variety of reading skills including your ability to do the follow:

• Identify the writer's overall purpose.
• Follow key arguments in a text.
• Identify opinions and attitudes.
• Locate specific information.
• Distinguish main ideas from supporting details.
• Extract information from a text to complete a diagram, summary, table or set of note.

There are 12 - 13 questions in each section, and you will be asked 1 - 3 different types of questions in any section. There are several possible types of questions. For some tasks, you need to write words or numbers from the reading passage.

• sentence completion
• summary, note, table, flow-chart completion
• short-answer questions
• diagram label completion

In other tasks, you need to choose one option from a list and write a letter on your answer sheet.

• multiple choice
• matching information
• matching headings
• matching features
• matching sentence endings
• summary completion

You may also need to decide if sentences are True/False/Not Given or Yes/No/Not Given, based on the information that you read.



Ways to improve your test score:

• Follow the instructions exactly.
• Remembering some Test Tips.
• Manage your time so that you can complete all of the questions.
• Practice specific reading skills.
• Before the test read a variety of texts to improve your speed-reading skills.
• Study all aspects of the English language (including vocabulary and grammar).
• Try to do as many practice tests as possible.

Here are some Test Tips!

Timing is an important part of the Reading Test. Try to finish each section in less than 20 minutes.
Read the passage as quickly as possible (up to three minutes).
Look at the questions to see what type of information you need to find (up to one minute).
Spend 12-13minutes reading the passage in detail and answering the questions.
If a question is taking too long, move on.
Use your last 3-4 minutes to transfer your answers, checking and filling in any gaps in your answers.

If the question asks you to write TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER, this means the answer may be:

• one word
• one word + a number
• two words
• two words + a number

Remember that even if a number is written as a word, it counts as a number (e.g. twenty five trees = one word and a number). You do not need to write full sentences of join words together. For example:

Answer the question with NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the reading passage.

What TWO colours did the painter use?

(Answer: black, white not black and white)

Make sure you read the whole passage so that you can locate any key words and paraphrases from the questions. Take highlighter pens into the exam with you. Use a different colour for each task, to highlight important parts of the text. This will help save time when checking answers.

If you are asked to choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage, make sure you do not add extra information such as adjectives or adverbs (e.g. bone tool; abalone shells; gently stirred) or articles (the ochre). If you write more than one word, your answer will be marked as wrong.

Use this approach when matching headings.

1. Read the headings so that you are familiar with them.

2. Skim read (read very fast) the whole passage to get the overall passage.

3. Read the first paragraph and decide which headings might fit.

4. Re-read the paragraph and choose the heading that best summarises it.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the remaining paragraphs.

Don't try to match words in the headings to words in the passage. You need to focus on the whole idea of each paragraph.

Remember that you are being tested on your ability to understand the information you read in the passage. So you should ignore anything you already know about the topic.

Make sure you note any plurals in the questions (e.g. two examples if I the different environments etc.). There may be parts of the passage that refer to only one of the things mentioned, so you need to find the paragraph that has more than one.

For matching feature tasks, the questions will not be in the same order as in the passage. The people mentioned may appear in several different sections. You need to scan (read to look for specific information) the whole passage carefully. Some of the people in the list may be distractors, and you may not need to use all of the letters.

A summary is different from a set of notes, because it consists of complete sentences that are connected together grammatically. You need to:

• carefully read and understand the summary.
• decide what types of word is needed to complete each gap in the summary.
• locate and carefully read the relevant part of the passage.
• choose the word or phrase (either from a box of answers or from the passage) that accurately fills each gap.

Use the title of the summary to help you find the part of the passage you need to read in detail to find your answers.

For any questions where you need to write words from the passage, a hyphenated word (e.g. long-term) counts as one word.

Try to spend no more than 15-20 minutes on Section 1, so that you have enough time for the more difficult texts and questions in Sections 2 and 3. Remember you have only 60 minutes to complete 40 questions and you need to transfer your answers onto a separate sheet in that time. Aim to spend less than 20 minutes on each section so you have time to check your answers at the end.

When answering short-answer questions, you do not need to write full sentences or join words together. Look at this example:

Answer the question with NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the reading passage.

What TWO colours did the painter use?

Answer: black, white (not black and white)

Reference:

Cambridge English Objective IELTS Intermediate Student Book, 2016 (16th ed.), Cambridge University Press: UK
The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS, Cambridge University Press

There is a lot to remember about how to do the reading test. The best way to help you remember is to practice, by using practice test materials. In this way, you will become used to the skills and will be able to apply them better.

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IELTS Listening Test Tips

The IELTS listening test can be very difficult for all levels of English language learners. The best way to prepare for this test is to develop your overall listening skills and practice the test as much as you can before doing it. However, there are a number of things you should know about the test that might help you get through the test more comfortably and achieve higher score. In this blog post, we will go through some key points about the IELTS listening test that you should know, and give you some tips to help you be aware of where you could be making small mistakes.

The first thing you should be aware of in the listening IELTS test is that you will only hear each listening once. Therefore, it is extremely important while you practice for the test, that you learn to move along with the listening and the questions. If you miss an answer, stop thinking about it when you hear the speaker continuing onto the next part and the next question, or you'll miss the next question too.

Another thing you should know before going into the exam, is that the IELTS listening test is long. The test is around 30 minutes. For an English language learner, who has to listen actively for this amount of time, it can be very difficult and very tiresome. Therefore when you are preparing for an IELTS listening test, it is important that you develop your overall listening skills.

As listeners in any language, there are two types of listening that we do: active listening and passive listening. Active listening is when we are focused on the listening for specific information. For example, when we do a listening test, or when we when we listen to take notes. Passive listening is when there is something on in the background, and we are listening to it, but not paying too much attention. For example, listening to music while cooking the dinner. 

When we are learning a language, it is very important that we tune our ear into the language. Passive listening is a great way to do this. By listening to music or podcasts while cooking or cleaning, we are giving our ears and our brain the opportunity to "tune into" the  language and allow us to become familiar with the sounds and the patterns of the language. This helps us even more when we want to develop our active listening skills.

Active listening skills can be developed by practicing activities, such as gap-fills and multiple choice questions. We can also practice our active listening by taking notes and writing specific information down. 

When developing listening skills in another language, it is very important that you are patient. It is also very important that you do not become stressed or annoyed. When we get stressed, we block things out, and this can happen a lot in listening. Staying calm and allowing the information in is key to good listening in any language. For more information about this, I recommend you read up on Stephen Krashen's Affective Filters theory.

So let's look at the IELTS test and some of the types of questions you will find in the test.

Listening strategies

In parts 1 and 3 of the listening test, you will hear a dialogue.

Some of the tasks you may have to do are completing sentences.

Before you listen, make sure you read the task carefully to get a general idea of what sort of information is required. You must spell correctly and make sure you don't write more words than you are told to.

You will only hear the recording once.

In parts 2 and 4 of the listening test, you will hear one person talking about something of general interest.

There is usually more than one type of question.

You will often need to listen for specific information – that is dates, times, names important words.

You will hear a lot of information, but you don't need to hear all of it.

You should always look ahead to the next question so that you don't miss hearing the answer to a question.

Write the exact words that you hear, but don't write more than the maximum number of words.

Type of Questions and Strategies

Matching

Read the task before you listen

If you miss an answer, stop thinking about it when you hear the speaker going on to talk about the next question, or you'll miss that one too.

Multiple Choice

First read the questions and the options.

As you listen, consider all the options. Only one is right, unless you are asked to pick more than one answer.

Diagrams

There are different types of diagrams in the listening test. There may be a map, a plan, a process, a chart or a picture of an object. Study the diagram very carefully before you listen.

Read the instructions carefully.

Study the drawing and the heading, if it has one.

Try to work out what the drawing shows.

If parts of the drawing have question numbers, find the first number and notice where the numbers continue.

Look carefully at the drawing and notice the words that are given.

Think about the words that might be used; for example, for a map you might hear words for giving directions – left, right, on the corner, before, after, and so on.

Listen for information relevant to the first question

Think about the meaning of the words in the questions and the box, if there is one. The words may be exactly what you hear or you may hear different words that mean the same.

When you hear the relevant information, listen carefully for the answer. If you miss an answer, go onto the next question or you may miss that too.

Sentence and note completion

You will be given time to read the sentences or note before you listen.

Think about what information is likely to fit each space (e.g. amount of money, address, time etc).

Think about both the meaning and the grammar.

Listen for each answer in turn.

If you miss one, go onto the next question or you may miss that one too.

Part 4 - Lecture Style Listening Task
Part 4 of the listening is a short talk or lecture related to academic work or study. There will be a mixture of task types and you will be told which questions to read, and be given time to read then before you hear the recording.

Before listening read the instructions carefully. Check how many answers you should write, and the maximum number of words for each answer.

Try to write your answers in the same order that you hear them, but it doesn't matter if you change the order.

You should write the words exactly as you hear them

Summary

You will be given the time to read the summary before you listen.

Think about what information is likely to fit each space, and think about the meaning and the grammar.

Listen for each answer in turn. If you miss one, continue onto the next or you may miss that one too.

It is important to listen for what is relevant to the questions. You will not understand everything.

Pay attention to specific information such as times, dates, addresses. Often one or more of these specific pieces of information will be close to each other to try to confuse you. Remember what the question is asking for.

Classification

Use the time you are given to read the instructions carefully and think about the meaning of the three options.

Check what letters you should use for your answers: they may be A, B, C or three other letters

Listen for each answer in turn and consider all three options before choosing your answer.

Always give an answer – you will never lose a mark for guessing but might get it right!

Remember - if you want to prepare for the IELTS listening test, it's important that you practice listening skills regularly. This does not mean that you should only practice IELTS listening tests. Listening to talks online, watching TV in English, listening to radio and Podcasts are all great ways to develop your overall listening skills, and will benefit your performance in the IELTS listening test.

Cambridge English Objective IELTS Intermediate Student Book, 2016 (16th ed.), Cambridge University Press: UK

The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS, Cambridge University Press

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Developing Critical Thinking Skills in a Second Language with Task Based Learning

This blog gives an account of a course I co-ordinated and taught recently in a high school in Japan which approached the challenges of English language skills and academic skills development. The course, which was taught to a group of 13 students, aimed to give students an opportunity to experience third level academia and help these students adjust to the longer class timetable, an increase in workload, and becoming more autonomous in their studies. With just two weeks to overcome these challenges, we set about co-ordinating and organising a course that merged task-based learning with developing critical thinking skills, and threaded language strategy skills and academic research skills to result in a final presentation project. This blog gives a short description of our approach and how using some basic educational tools helped us overcome some of the issues we were facing.

Language Proficiency

In Japan it is normal for students to learn English in school, yet not many people speak English there. In many schools English is taught by a Japanese teacher who is proficient in English, so no doubt, translation is a key component to learning the English language in school. The method of learning Kanji may also influence on how English linguistics is learnt. Over the last few years working in Japan, I have noticed that the Japanese know a lot of the English language. They know a lot of vocabulary and grammar, but they don't know how to use it. In other words, the grammar and vocabulary of the language are taught, but the basic skills of communication in the language are not developed thoroughly in the school system. However, things are starting to change, and more and more schools are starting to bring in communicative English language teachers (ALTs) to work with and co-teach with the Japanese teachers in the schools.

The lack of communicative skills was one of the first issues we faced when developing this course. One of our aims was to get the students discussing topics, and we faced this by noting down the language strategies necessary for discussions. For example, agreeing and disagreeing, asking critical questions, making suggestions and giving feedback.

To develop these skills in class, we followed a very simple communicative model. In each class the students were presented with the a language strategy through examples and model conversations, we then practiced these strategies through controlled drilling and repetition, and finally we gave the students a fluency activity to carry out and produce the strategies in a more natural way. We organised the language strategies into the curriculum in a way that allowed the students to build up the skills and recycle previous strategies covered in classes in each fluency activity. Many of the language strategies we focused on involved being critical. Therefore,  another challenge we faced was how to develop critical thinking, so students could develop their communication skills effectively without being hindered by lack of critical thinking abilities.

Critical Thinking Skills

The development of critical thinking skills was another issue we faced. Again many high schools in Japan lack in the development of these skills which is very evident when students start third level education. For many students in Japan, there is a very thin line between being critical and being disrespectful when challenging or asking of another, mainly teachers' and professors', opinions. In a society were respect is a key aspect in all areas of life, it is understandable that students do not want to cross this line and come across as being disrespectful. In order to approach this, we used Edward De Bono' Six Thinking Hats process. This allowed us to direct students to think a certain way at certain times, and because it was a set process, students crossed the line comfortably as part of the task they were assigned. Using De Bono's Six Thinking Hats had to be very well scaffolded by the teacher throughout the course. For example, after presenting the Six Thinking Hats on the first day, they were threaded into each language strategy lesson with questions to raise students awareness of how the language strategies reflected the thinking process of the Six Thinking Hats. We asked questions like, "When you make a suggestion, what thinking act are you using?", or "If I wanted to disagree with this opinion, what thinking hat would I have to use, and how could I express my disagreement?" Over time the students became a lot more comfortable using the Six Thinking Hats and less hesitant using the language strategies they were presented with in class. They could now see the relevance and connection of how both worked together. However, we didn't stop there with De Bono's Six Thinking Hats. As part of developing their research skills, students were assigned an article in English to read every night, and they were instructed to take notes on a worksheet. The worksheet was divided up into sections that reflected the thinking of the six hats. These worksheets and other research notes later came together in the form of group posters, and these posters set the foundation for the presentation project.

Academic Research Skills

The course was designed around a problem based topic. By choosing a problem, it allowed us to use the critical thinking skills to develop evaluations on possible solutions to these problems. On this particular course we looked at social problems Japan faced when hosting the Olympics. Each article assigned to the students to read for research was an issue around this topic. The students were encouraged to do their own research also, either in English or Japanese. We developed the students' evaluations skills by using the academic structure Situation - Problem - Response - Evaluation (S.P.R.E.). This was also used as the main structure for their presentation on the social problem they choose. Before choosing their problem, the students came together to share their opinions and responses. This was done in poster form: each group were given 2 problems, and had to create a visual way of showing these problems, and ideas of how respond to these problems. As students worked on the posters, we discussed both positive and negative evaluations of their responses. Students were encouraged to look at the negative evaluations even more, so they could be more critical of their ideas and could highlight this in their presentation work.

Presentations Skills

The course finished up with students doing group presentations. For all the students, it was their first time presenting in English so a lot of time was given to developing presentation skills. We focused on sub-skills, such as using visuals like graphs and charts (we did not allow powerpoint as we wanted the focus to be on the content rather than the visual), structuring the content of the presentation, writing a draft, and using cue cards for fluency. The presentation structure followed the SPRE layout, and the students were encouraged to give a positive and negative evaluation of their ideas. The presentations were a great success, and the students showed great autonomy developing their ideas and finding information to support their ideas. They also showed great confidence in their presenting which evidently came from the knowledge of the work they had done to create the presentation content.

Scaffolding

Overall the course was a great success. I had a great group of students to work with, and I have no doubt that these students will do very well in third level education. As a teacher, I recognised that the balance of scaffolding learning and controlling the work is very important in a task-based learning course. There is a sense of bargaining if something will work or not. Teacher support is essential in a task-based course, but allowing room for mistakes by students when doing these tasks is just as important. While all teachers will strive to achieve a good outcome at the end of a course, it is important to recognise that a bad outcome is just as much part of the learning for the student.

Learning from your mistakes can be just as effective as learning from doing something right. From a pedagogical perspective, task-based learning  can be, and should be, about getting it right and about getting it wrong. To end the course I did a reflection session with the students on what they had done during the course, and how it would help them in the future. It was during this reflection feedback session, that it became clear what students felt they did well, and what they felt they needed to improve. The reflection feedback session also gave students an opportunity to reflect on their peers, and highlight what they learned from each other. 

When I first approached this course with task-based learning in mind, I was told it wouldn't work. I was told the school had tried projects like this in the past, and they were not a success. There is a lot involved in task-based learning, and the simple attitude of "handing if over to the students" doesn't work. It is essential for teachers to monitor constantly, scaffold, and even get down on your hands and knees to stick pictures on a poster. For me, I found that engaging with the project rather than trying to control it is essential. Give your students room to develop, and you will be very surprised how much they can do in such a short amount of time.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post and would be very happy to have your comments below.