Do you really need to read the complete essays while taking the IELTS test? Is there always enough time to read all what is written in the essays? How many sections are even in the IELTS Reading test? Are there any compulsory or elective questions in the skill test? Must I always answer all the reading questions? IELTS Reading Skill
Do you really need to read the complete essays while taking the IELTS test?
Is there always enough time to read all what is written in the essays?
How many sections are even in the IELTS Reading test?
Are there any compulsory or elective questions in the skill test?
Must I always answer all the reading questions?
IELTS Reading Skill
I admit that the task of taking the IELTS test is not an easy one especially for those of us who are not really proficient in English language. Even for those proficient in the language, the struggle that comes with being tested on their proficiency to them which can play pranks on them and allow them not to be composed while taking the test and often lead to scoring low in the test. If all things are right, the knowledge of the English language is the prerequisite to taking the IELTS test which without it you cannot pass or excel in the test. You must know now than ever that the perfect competence of the language like a native speaker is not a requirement to you writing the test; lots of people always want to feel that you must possess native-like knowledge before you can take such tests but that is not always the case.IELTS Test
The IELTS test is structured in four main skills. You would be tested on the speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. I would like to talk about the reading skill in this blog post. Based on my experience in preparing people for the test, I have seen and noticed some patterns and easy-to-follow guidelines that you can take in order to excel in the reading skill particularly among other skills you would be tested on.IELTS Reading Skill
Firstly, IELTS reading has within three (3) to four (4) sections and it always has forty (40) questions in its question paper. Each of these questions carries the same marks and the time limit provided to answer these questions is just one (1) hour. An answer sheet would be provided to you on the test day in which you are expected to write all your answers with a pencil even though at the end of the test, you are to hand in both the question paper and answer sheet.Instructions and Questions
While taking the test, it is very important for you to read the instructions for each part of the paper very carefully because in even each section you can see different question sets that requires you to do different tasks in answering its questions, take for instance; in the first set of questions on a section you can be asked to – Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the text for each answer – while in the second set of questions on that same section you can be asked to – Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer. So, if you are following the first instruction, you may perhaps be doing yourself a disservice and affecting your test scores in the process. For the instructions aspects of the reading test, I strongly advice that you read the instructions very well.There are some other aspects of the reading test that you also need to pay critical attention to. The second aspect of the reading test I would like to talk about is the questions aspect. This aspect is the one immediately following the instructions. Depending on the aspect of the reading test, it could comprise of questions itself, statements, blank spaces or sections to fill in the right headings. And this aspect of the test needs maximum study. You need to understand in details what exactly is being asked of you to do before even proceeding to read the passage or essays. There can also be some graphical illustrations in form of arrows, diagrams and charts in this aspect. All the components of these graphics must be well studied and understood before attempting to read the texts.Scanning and skimming
After fully understanding the questions, one can now go back upwards to look at the essay or passages. Many test takers make the big mistake of reading the passages and essays before studying the questions and that is why they get low test scores. The passages need not even be read in its entirety before knowing what you need to pick out from it in terms of responses but when you read it first, you have to finish the reading and that does not even give you time to study and fully understand the question before picking your answers which still leads to getting low reading scores. So, the solution is for you to just scan and skim through the essays and passages at the end of your reading test. There is a rule of thumb in this that you can follow which you can rely on when wanting to scan and skim the contents of the reading essays and passages. I developed it after looking at about 100 practice essays and passages of the IELTS and found out that my assertion was quite consistent. For most essays, you just need to focus on the first and last sentences in each paragraph. And for other parts of the reading test which is not in form of essays, but writings or explanations on concepts and notions, you just need to focus on the first, one of two sentences in the middle and the last sentence. Sometimes, a paragraph is made up of just 3 sentences. So, in that you just need to read it all but not in all cases.Negative Marking and Timing
Finally, I must say that there is no negative marking in the IELTS reading skill test and in the IELTS test in general. So you can especially when time is not on your side again, answer all the questions while picking anyone that comes to your mind or doing the odd one out strategy but most times I have realised this happens when one of my students is trying to read all what is written in the passages, you shouldn’t do that. You would even notice that when you scan and skim through the essay contents, you would most certainly have extra time at the end of the test to go through your answers again.I hope this article was really helpful to all of you currently preparing for the IELTS test. And for those who have taken the test before and didn’t excel in it, I hope you have seen one of the things that affected your test scores. If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact me privately on 09091884943 or email me through my address on admin@aosacademy.com. Do not forget to rate, comment on and share this video to other intending IELTS test takers. Thanks very much as I expect to hear from you. Till next week. Talk to you soon!