Students' problem reading.

The following is an article on how to go about reading. This matching exercise will let you know how to go approach reading in general.

Match the topic sentences with the paragraphs, on reading itself, given.

1. People in business and industry, scientists, academics and many other walks of life need to be able to read for a specific purpose quickly and effectively to extract information without being ‘bogged down in detail and to be able to obtain both the main ideas of a text and on many occasions the specific details. The IELTS examination aims to test these skills required for real life to ensure that people will be able to perform these skills in English to a satisfactory level. This short article will address some of the problems students face while taking the reading exam and how those problems can be dealt with in the classroom.

2. Traditionally, the educational systems in Asia put great important on such skills as memorizing all the details in the text and answering comprehension questions which often only required them to lift whole phrases from the text. This unfortunately means that students have not been taught to develop the reading skills they automatically use when reading in their L1 and so when it comes to the reading exam, they find the tasks very different to the ones they have been used to. Therefore students need to know what is expected of them and to be exposed to each of the tasks types. They should also be able to talk about what and how they are doing each task, so that it will help them in the exam.

3. We also draw on our existing knowledge to interpret a text. If have a book with a picture of a princess and a castle on the front, we can probable guess correctly that we are going to read a fairy story. We might expect to find the works ‘handsome prince’ and ‘wicked witch’ and we could probably guess the outcome of the story. This has implications for the classroom. If the environmental context has been stated, and the student’s prior knowledge has been activated, it will mean that the students are less dependent on the written works on the page and their disadvantage as L2 readers will be minimized. It also reflects strategies that L1 readers employ when they are going to read something.

4. It is extremely useful therefore, if IELTS candidates are encouraged to skim through the text as fast as possible before they read the questions. This literally should take a minute or so for each passage- it is an attempt to familiarize them with the text type, context and overall meaning, so that when they come to reading it in some detail, they will find it much easier to do so. Encourage your students to run their fingers down the middle of the passage and flick their eyes from side to side to take in as much as possible. You will be surprised not much the brain can absorb. After all, this is a task we do in our L1 every time we open a newspaper.


5. One of the main problems students face in the exam is that they often cannot separate important information from information which is not important. When learners are asked to do matching tasks for example in which they must search for specific detail, it often helps to ask students to justify exactly why they have selected an answer. They should also be encouraged to underline the precise pieces of information in a text which give them the correct answer. This will generally involve no more than two sentences and often just one key word provides the detail required.

6. Similarly students get really caught out by the tasks which requires then to state whether the writer’s opinion is ‘true’, ‘false’ or ‘not given’. It is often very tricky for them and it gives trainers many sleepless nights wondering about how to develop this skill. First of all, make sure your students know what a ‘not given’ answer actually means. It is not a no, but it means that their is nothing in the text about this statement or idea. Highlight the keywords in the statement, quickly think of the synonyms that may help you locate the place in the text that it comes from. Then read the section you identify carefully before you answer. This strategy is sure to help.

7. As similarly mentioned, the IELTS reading component is not reading for pleasure, but is a test of your student’s English ability and academic skills. So, remember the golden rule-look at any pictures and titles first to start you thinking about the topic, then read the question carefully and highlight them so you know what you are going to do. Then, quickly skim through the entire text in a minute or so before highlighting keywords in the actual questions and at the same time try to predict the type of answers you need to search for. Then, use your reading skills, skimming scanning and intensive reading to find the answers. Good luck!

Student problems.
1. The IELTS Examination aims to test the kinds of reading skills which learners of English need to develop to cope with reading materials in the real world.
2. Giving reasons for choosing one answer over another is very useful for students to practice.
3. The overall strategies are similar to most tasks-so don’t forget them.
4. Some tasks give trainers absolute nightmares when they think of them.
5. Activating your students’ schematic knowledge can give them a head start.
6. Discovering synonyms is very important.
7. Cultural influences can have some impact on your students’ ability to perform well.
8. Assessing the general meaning is an essential part of all the tasks.


Readers are requested to equate the above given eight topic sentences with their corresponding paragraphs typeset under.

Answer will follow.