How to teach reading for exams

How to teach reading for exams

1. TYPES OF READING TEST

   • INCLUDE TEXTS OF DIFFERENT TYPES . ALSO, THEY ARE USUALLY AUTHENTIC OR SEMI-AUTHENTIC AND, ARE ACCOMPANIED BY DIVERSE READING TAKS.
     • MULTIPLE CHOICE: A TEXT OF ANY TYPE AND GENRE FOLLOW BY MULTIPLE CHOICES ITEMS. STUDENTS CHOOSE BETWEEN THE OPTIONS PROVIDED. IT IS USED FOR ANSWERS RELATED TO SPECIFIC SECTIONS OF THE TEXT OR READING COMPRENHENSION
     • TRUE/FALSE: A TEXT LEAD BY DIFFERENT STATEMENTS IN WHICH STUDENTS IF THE PREVIOUS WORDS OF THE ENUNCIATES ARE TRUE OR FALSE ACCORDING TO THE READING. THE "NOT GIVEN" OPTION IS USUALLY PRESENT IN THE TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS
     • MATCHING: IN THIS TYPE OF TAKS, STUDENTS CHOOSE FROM A LIST BETWEEN SOME HEADINGS, STATEMENTS OR QUESTIONS COMPLETIONS. ALSO, VISUAL HELPS, SHORT TEXT , WORDS AND PHRASES ARE USED IN THY TYPE OF TASK
     • PROOFREADING: THE PURPOSE OF THE TASK IS TO FIND ERRORS PRESENT OF THE TEXT. LIKEWISE, FOR THIS TASK IT IS USEFUL ANY TYPE OF TEXT FROM DIFFERENTE GENRE.
     • GAPPED TEXTS: IN THIS TYPE OF TASK , PARTS OF THE TEXT SUCH AS: WORDS, PHRASES AND SENTENCES ARE REMOVED.

2. WHAT IS MEASURED IN READING TESTS

   • EVEN THOUGH THE READING TESTS ARE USUALLY ACCOMPANIED BY OTHER TESTS THAT MEASURED DIFFERENT SKILLS ON STUDENTS, THE READING TESTS ARE DISIGNED TO MEASURED DIVERSE PARTS OF THE READING SKILL
     • *UNDERSTANDING THE MAIN IDEAS: MULTIPLE CHOICES AND MATCHING. *FINDING SPECIFIC INFORMATION AND DETAIL: MULTIPLE CHOICE AND MATCHING. *RECOGNIZING THE WRITER´S ATTITUDE AND OPINION: MULTIPLE CHOICE. *IDENTIFYING THE TONE: MULTIPLE CHOICE. *UNDERSTANDING IMPLICATION: MULTIPLE CHOICE. *IDENTIFYING THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE TEXT WAS WRITTEN: MULTIPLE CHOICE. *UNDERSTANDING TEXT STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION: GAPPED INFO AND PROOFREADING. *UNDERSTANDING COHESION AND COHERENCE: GAPPED TEXT, PROOFREADING AND MULTIPLE CHOICE. * UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF SPECIFIC WORDS IN CONTEXT: GAPPED TEXT, MATCHING AND MULTIPLE CHOICE.

3. HOW TO PREPARE STUDENTS

   • DEVELOPING TASK AWARENESS
     • FAMILIARIZE THE STUDENTS WITH THE EXAM
       • INTRODUCE THE KIND OF ITEMS ON THE TESTS GRADUALLY THROUGH THE COURSE
         • PRACTICE,SUGGESTIONS AND EXAMPLES AS AN STRATEGY TO RAISE THE AWARENESS
   • DEVELOPING EXAM SKILLS AND STRATEGIES
     • SIMPLIFYING THE TASK
       • USE DIFFERENT METHODS TO SIMPLIFY THE TASK. FOR EXAMPLE: FEWER QUESTIONS, QUESTION WITH A PARITUCLAR EMPHASIS, DISTRACTORS, CLEAR TAKS, AVOID REPETITION AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, ETC.
     • SIMPLIFYING THE TEXT
       • DIVIDE THE TEXT FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF IT. DIVISION IN CATEGORIES IS A GOOD IDEA FOR AN EASIER APPROPRIATION OF THE READING.
   • IMPROVING READING SPEEDS
     • MAKE STUDENTS AWARE OF THEIR SKILLS AND LIMITATIONS AND APPLIED STRATEGIES AND ADVICES TO IMPROVE THEIR PERFORMANCE

4. EXAM PROCEDURES AND STRATEGIES

   • TIME MANAGEMENT
   • GENERAL PROCEDURES AND STRATEGIES
   • SPECIFIC PROCEDURES AND STRATEGIES