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The IELTS The IELTS Academic Reading ModuleAcademic Reading Module

• Background information • Question types• Skills• Challenges• Helping Ss prepare• Questions?

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An overview of the IELTS Academic An overview of the IELTS Academic Reading ModuleReading Module

• Format3 passages and 40 items (questions), each worth one mark

• Timing60 minutes: no time given for transferring answers to answer sheet

• Textsbased on authentic textsincluding magazines, journals, books and newspapers aim to represent material encountered in academic studymay include diagrams, graphs, illustrations etc

• Length total word count for three passages: 2000 - 2750 words.

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Question typesQuestion 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.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, C. & Khalifa, H. (2008). A cognitive processing approach towards defining reading comprehension

Weir &Weir & Khalifa: a cognitive processing Khalifa: a cognitive processing approach to defining reading comprehensionapproach 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

structureBoth 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”

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Reading types: easy to difficult.Reading types: easy to difficult.

1. Scanning/searching for local information2. Careful local reading3. Skimming for gist4. Careful global reading for comprehending main idea5. Search reading for global information6. Careful global reading to comprehend a text7. Careful global reading to comprehend texts

Weir, C. & Khalifa, H. (2008). A cognitive processing approach towards defining reading comprehension, p. 9.

EASY

DIFFICULT

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Skills testedSkills 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, contSkills 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 candidatesChallenges for candidatesThe exam itself

•Time constraints•Rubric difficulty•Unfamiliar Q-types

Reading skills•Vocabulary knowledge•Text structure awareness•Identification of main ideas

text types content

Metacognitive skills and strategies

•Fluency/speed•Application of background knowledge

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Challenge for the instructorChallenge for the instructor

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Washback ?Washback ?

washback: measurement-driven instructionChen and Curtis

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Or symbiosis? Or symbiosis? Using IELTS to practice Using IELTS to practice

academic readingacademic reading• Pair work• Synonym matching• Annotation• Discourse analysis• Ss write test materials

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A sample of academic reading A sample of academic reading activities activities

• Vocabulary tasks • Summary writing• Interpreting charts and graphs• Writing test materials• Comparing texts • Critical reading• Reading for research: annotated

bibliography

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ReferencesReferencesBaker, 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 ReadingUseful websites for IELTS Reading

• The British Council

• Holmesglen Institute IELTS Reading Practice

• City University of Hong Kong

• Cambridge ESOL

• Polytechnic University of Hong Kong