TOEIC part 7: Reading Comprehension

Post date: Mar 15, 2019 10:53:4 AM

Reading consists of recognising a series of words and being able to understand what they mean when they're put together in the way the writer has written them.

"A sandwich and a cake walked into a bar in Shinjuku and asked for a whisky and a beer each but the barman refused. He said “Sorry, we don't serve food here”. "

Are you familiar with all the words in these sentences? Did you immediately get the joke? Then improving comprehension is the key..........

With practice its easy to sound out words, if you do this aloud it gives the impression you are reading.

Karaoke is a classic example: I've won karaoke competitions (with my grand-kids) singing in Tagalog, the Philippines' National Language, that I do not speak or understand. The secret was in the timing, I just sang the syllables so it sounded like I was singing the words in Tagalog and made sure I hit the beat as accurately as possible!

Some people will suggest you can improve your reading comprehension just by reading a variety of different texts. More reading is the answer BUT you need to read thoughtfully, not just sounding the words to yourself.

Remember when you first learnt to read in your own language, sounding out every single word slowly before running them together to make the sentence, then understanding the sentence. Now your eyes fly over the page and you know that you are understanding all the information on the page.

Reading is a series of steps our brains take to make sense of what we read. The better we are at each step the more effectively will we understand the text.

To assist our brains to make sense of what we read there are different ways to read

Below is a plan for tackling Part 7 of the TOEIC exam. I have used italics to highlight the cognitive skills you should be aware of and develop as you learn to read at the speed required in the exam.

First reading goal: get a general idea about the information in the reading and questions, identify vocabulary you don't understand (mark with a question mark?).

Skim

  • Run your eyes over the texts to quickly get up to speed on the information in the reading. Don't stop! It's not essential to understand each word when skimming.

Monitor comprehension: Actively keep track of your thinking and adjust strategies to make sense of the readings..

  • Now do the same for the questions.

Connect: Link what’s in the questions to personal experience, world events, general knowledge and in particular the Test Reading.

How much do I NOT understand

  • Go over the parts of the reading that you need to work on to understand.

  • Use Context: look at the words and situations that are around a word or phrase you don't understand to try and make more sense of it.

  • You already use this technique when you read in your own language. Think about how you find the clues to the meaning when you encounter a new word or phrase or idea in the newspaper or at work. Use these same strategies when reading English.

  • You will often not understand (or even consciously look at every word) when you read your own language yet you still comprehend quickly.

  • Similarly its not always necessary to read and understand each and every word in English.

  • Remember that reading skills in your native language and English are basically the same.

Infer: Predicting, hypothesizing, interpreting, and drawing conclusions about the reading. This is guided by the questions.

Visualize: Make mental pictures or sensory images as you read, an imaginary flow-chart of how events occur and relate to each other.

Second reading goal: understand the information, use your knowledge of the questions to identify key pieces of information. Underline possible answers.

Scan

  • Run your eyes over the looking for the specific pieces of information you need that were mentioned in the questions. Use scanning on the readings to find the specific details asked in the questions.

Determine importance: Start deciding what information is relevant and will be of use answering the questions.

Synthesize: Create a summary of the information and events and remember information from it.

Infer: Predicting, hypothesizing, interpreting, and drawing conclusions about the reading once you have enough information to synthesize the reading.

Third reading goal: get the answers

Intensive reading to identify the specific information in the questions and to grasp the details of a specific situation. In this case, it is important that you understand each word, number or fact that you have decided is important.

Questioning: Actively wondering about the readings, watching for uncertainties in them, and interrogating the and the writer's intentions.

Test Strategies

During the test you will be tempted to switch back and forth between the reading and questions as you try to get the answers as quickly as possible. This will slow you down!

During the first 2 readings try to read the readings then the questions. If you're sure you know the answer then complete the question. Otherwise keep working at identifying the relevant information and synthesizing your own interpretation of the reading.

Don't rush the first 2 readings. If you're thorough then when you get to the third reading you will just be confirming your understanding of the information NOT trying to find the information.

Good Luck!