ACADEMIC READING

The lesson today is about Academic Reading 🥀🥀🥀

1. TALK ABOUT IELTS READING 📓🖋

• Just practice more….

Reading is not about reading more; practice more. Practice without actually learning from mistakes will not help you it can cause you to go backward. You need to either reflect on your mistakes or have a competent teacher to guide you.

• Improve your ‘Time management’

Your test failed is not because of timing. You do not need more time to do better. 

• You do not have time management issue…

You do not have timing issue but you might have: 

• A reading skills issue
• A test skills issue
• A strategy issue
• A vocabulary issue
• A grammar issue

=> So fix those issues; you will not need to worry about time management. 

• Read ‘Academic’ texts

You need to read consistently before your test, and the test should not be the very first time you have read in English for an hour. Reading will also help your vocabulary, grammar, idea development, etc.

However, reading ‘Academic’ texts every day will have one result.

• Consistency is key…
  • Read something you enjoy. 
  • The most important thing is that you are actually reading, not WHAT you are reading. 
  • If you spend more time thinking about WHAT to read than actually reading, you are probably just procrastinating. 
  • Read what you love and read it every day. 
• Skim and Scan

Skimming and scanning are not the secret to getting a good score. Skimming can help you UNDERSTAND the general meaning of the text, and scanning can help you LOCATE the answer.

The most important skill is understanding the text, the question and making decisions about the answer.

2. WHAT DOES WORK? 🔥🔥

• You have to appreciate that there are several different types of questions on the Reading test. 
• Each of them tests different sub-skill:
  • Matching Headings
  • True/ False/ Not Given
  • Multiple Choice
  • Short Answer
  • Each of these requires a different approach and a different unique strategy.

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3. WAYS TO IMPROVE 🔥🔥

• MATCHING HEADINGS
  • Understand the main idea of the paragraph. 
  • Differentiate between two or more similar headings.
  • Scan to find the location of possible answers. 
  • Understand synonyms and paraphrasing. 
  • Select an appropriate answer based on all the information.

=> STRATEGY: 

• If this type of question is on the test, do it first
• Do not look at the headings.
• Read each paragraph to understand the general meaning. 
• Try to sum up the general meaning of each paragraph in one or two words. 
• Look at the headings and identify keywords within each heading.
• Match any headings that are very obvious, and you are sure about. 
• For the others, write 2 or 3 headings beside the paragraph. Identify the difference between each of the headings.  

If you still can not pick one, move on. The answer will often reveal itself later. 

• TRUE/ FALSE/ NOT GIVEN
  • Spending too much time making sure that it is ‘not given’.
  • Not understanding what ‘not given’ means.
  • A failure to understand exactly what each statement means, and therefore, being unable to identify if it is true or false. 
  • Focus on keywords instead of understanding what the statement as the whole means. 
  • If the text agrees with or confirms the information in the statement, the answer is TRUE.
  • If the text contradicts or is the opposite to the information in the statement, the answer is FALSE. 
  • If there is no information or it is impossible to know, the answer is NOT GIVEN. 

=> STRATEGY: 

•  Read the instructions carefully.
• Read all the statements carefully, trying to understand what the whole sentence means rather than simply highlighting keywords. 
• Try to think of the synonyms that might be in the text. This will have you identify the matching part of the next. 
• Match the statement with the correct part of the text. 
• Focus on the statement again, and then carefully read the matching part of the text to establish if it is true or false. Remember that the meaning should match the statement exactly if it is true. 
• Underline the words that give you the answer, as this will help you focus and you can check back later. 
• If you can not find the answer, mark it as ‘not given’ and move on to the next question. 
• If you are really unsure or can not find the answer, mark it as ‘not given’. 

4. A STRATEGY APPROACH 🔥🔥

• Break each question down.
• Identify what is unique about each type of question.
• What skills are being tested? 
• How does the above influence how you are going to answer each type of question. 

5. PLAN OF ACTION 🔥🔥

• Do 2-3 practice tests under exam conditions. 
• Analyze your mistakes.
  • Why are you getting certain questions wrong? 
  • What type of questions do you need to work on? 

• Focus on your weak areas.
• Start slowly and build up.

So, it is the end of IELTS Reading !!! 🍀🍃🏵️🌺