The IELTS Academic Reading Module • Background information

The IELTS
Academic Reading Module
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Background information
Question types
Skills
Challenges
Helping Ss prepare
Questions?
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An overview of the IELTS Academic
Reading Module
• Format
3 passages and 40 items (questions), each worth one mark
• Timing
60 minutes: no time given for transferring answers to answer
sheet
• Texts
based on authentic texts
including magazines, journals, books and newspapers
aim to represent material encountered in academic study
may include diagrams, graphs, illustrations etc
• Length
total word count for three passages: 2000 - 2750 words.
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Question types
• Multiple Choice
• Short-answer questions
• Sentence Completion
• Notes, Summary or Table/Flow-chart Completion
• Labelling a Diagram
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Question Types, cont.
• Choosing Headings for Paragraphs or Sections of a Text
• Locating Information
• Identification of Writer’s Views/Claims or of Information in a
Text
• Classification
• Matching
Source: http://www.cambridgeesol.org/teach/ielts/academic_reading/index.htm
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Weir & Khalifa: a cognitive processing
approach to defining reading comprehension
“Bottom up” and “Top down”
• Goal setter: identifies PURPOSE for reading, e.g.
reading for gist-> strategies employed
• Knowledge of the language, of the world, and of text
structure
Both are utilized in the…
• Central processing core: L1 reading behaviors that the
L2 reader is moving toward, from word recognition to
the construction of a mental model of the text and
creating “an organised representation of the text”
Weir, C. & Khalifa, H. (2008). A cognitive
defining reading comprehension
processing approach towards
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Reading types: easy to difficult.
EASY
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Scanning/searching for local information
Careful local reading
Skimming for gist
Careful global reading for comprehending main idea
Search reading for global information
Careful global reading to comprehend a text
Careful global reading to comprehend texts
DIFFICULT
Weir, C. & Khalifa, H. (2008). A cognitive processing approach towards defining reading comprehension, p. 9.
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Skills tested
The candidate is required to
• identify the writer’s overall purpose, target audience,
sources etc.
• identify and follow key arguments in a text
• identify opinions and attitudes as opposed to facts
• locate specific information
• read for detailed information
• extract relevant information
• distinguish the main idea from supporting detail
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Skills tested, cont.
• recognise key points for a summary
• group pieces of information in a text in accordance
with salient criteria
• extract information from a prose text to put into a
diagrammatic representation
• make inferences
• use correct spelling and correct grammar in
answers
Source: IELTS Teaching Resources, available at http://www.cambridgeesol.org/teach/ielts/
academic_reading/aboutthepaper/academic_read_skills_strats.htm
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Challenges for candidates
The exam itself
•Time constraints
•Rubric difficulty
•Unfamiliar Q-types
Reading skills
•Vocabulary knowledge
•Text structure awareness
•Identification of main ideas
Metacognitive skills and
strategies
•Fluency/speed
•Application of
background knowledge
text types
content
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Challenge for the instructor
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Washback ?
washback: measurement-driven instruction
Chen and Curtis
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Or symbiosis?
Using IELTS to practice
academic
reading
• Pair work
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Synonym matching
Annotation
Discourse analysis
Ss write test materials
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A sample of academic reading
activities
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Vocabulary tasks
Summary writing
Interpreting charts and graphs
Writing test materials
Comparing texts
Critical reading
Reading for research: annotated
bibliography
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References
Baker, A. & Brown, L. (1986). Metacognitive skills and reading. In P. Pearson, (ed.),
Handbook of reading research, 353-394, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ.
Cheng, L. & Curtis, A. (2004), Washback or backwash: A review of the impact of testing on
teaching and learning , in L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, & A. Curtis. (eds.), Washback in
language testing: Research contexts and methods, 3–18 Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
Mahwah, NJ.
Grabe, W. (n.d.). Foundations for reading assessment. Retrieved 7 May 2009 from
http://testingforum.hau.gr/docs/W.Grabehandout-OK.pdf
IELTS Teaching Resources IELTS Teaching Resources (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2008 at
http://www.cambridgeesol.org/teach/ielts/
academic_reading/aboutthepaper/academic_read_skills_strats.htm
Nation, P. (2001). Vocabulary learning strategies and guessing from context. In P. Nation,
Learning vocabulary in another language, 217-262. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Weir, C. & Khalifa, H. (2008). A cognitive processing approach towards defining reading
comprehension. Cambridge ESOL: Research Notes, 31, 2-10. Retrieved 7 May 2009
from http://www.cambridgeesol.org/rs_notes/rs_nts31.pdf
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Useful websites for IELTS Reading
• The British Council
• Holmesglen Institute IELTS Reading Practice
• City University of Hong Kong
• Cambridge ESOL
• Polytechnic University of Hong Kong
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