310 Part V: What Kind of Class Will I Have?
✓ Contrasting through tenses
✓ Stating opinions
✓ Giving background information
✓ Concluding
Reading for exams
The biggest problem for students when it comes to reading tends to be
speed. Very often they run out of time because they attempt to read each
text carefully from start to finish. So you need to train your students in speed
reading.
After getting an overview from the headings or opening sentences of each
paragraph, the students need to know what they are looking for. They can get
this information by reading the questions, so tell them to read the questions
before reading the text. Teach students to skim through a text until they find
an appropriate section and then read that part more carefully. They should
practice timed readings in silence (you would be surprised how many people
only study to music).
Get students in the habit of reading with a pen or pencil in their hand for two
reasons:
✓ Dragging the pen across the page helps to keep up forward momentum
and instead of constantly rereading sentences
✓ They can use the pen to underline key words.
Usually answers are in order in the text so it shouldn’t be necessary to keep
going back to the beginning.
When you tackle reading tasks in class, help students by highlighting new
vocabulary but encourage them to guess the meaning instead of always
resorting to the dictionary. You should also look at the structure of the text in
terms of grammar, layout and expressions which link ideas together.
The questions for Reading exams usually involve:
✓ Choosing headings for paragraphs or parts of a text
✓ Classifying: This involves putting information into appropriate groups or
under the right headings.
✓ Completing a table or flow-chart
✓ Completing notes: Students fill in the gaps on an incomplete set of notes
based on a reading or listening text.