Monday, November 24, 2008

Explain the Reading Section of the TOEFL iBT?

By Michael Buckhoff

Before you spend a large sum of money at an ETS testing center to take the TOEFL iBT, you should consider what level of reading proficiency will be needed to get a high score.

"What do I need to be able to do during the reading section of the TOEFL iBT?"

1. Do I understand English vocabulary and grammar when reading? 2. While reading academic texts in English, do I understand the most important points? 3. Do I understand the relative importance of ideas when reading an academic text? 4. Do I organize or outline the important ideas and concepts in academic texts? 5. While reading academic texts in English, can I remember major ideas? 6. Do I understand how the ideas in an English text relate to each other? 7. While reading English, can I understand charts and graphs in academic texts? 8. Can I quickly find information that I am looking for in academic texts in English? 9. While reading academic texts in English, can I understand them well enough to answer questions about them later? 10. While reading a text in English, am I able to figure out the meaning of words I do not know using the context and my background knowledge?

No need to worry if you feel less than competent in one, some, or all of these reading competencies. These are some helpful suggestions to help you really demonstrate a strong command of reading proficiency.

"What can I do to improve my TOEFL iBT reading skills?"

The key to scoring higher on the TOEFL iBT Reading section is to improve your capability to understand university-level texts and reading passages for the three main purposes: to find specific information, for basic comprehension memory, and to retain what you learn.

First, you should be reading academic texts in natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and business frequently to prepare for TOEFL iBT Reading. The Internet is also a very good resource for these materials; in libraries, you can check out books, magazines, and journals that are academic in style. Education Testing Services suggests that the more academic the reading material is, the more it will prepare you.

Second, the following will help to improve your reading-for-basic comprehension TOEFL iBT Reading skills, Education Testing Service suggests:

1. Using an extensive system of using flash-cards will increase your vocabulary abilities. 2. Do not carefully read each word and sentence, practice skimming-the process of looking over a passage quickly to get a general feeling of the main ideas. 3. Work on your ability to skim quickly and to identify the major points of a passage. 4. When you have skimmed a passage, read it slower and then write down the main ideas, major points, and important facts. 5. Choose some words that are unfamiliar in the passage and identify the meanings by using the context. 6. Look for the pronouns used (he, him, they, them, it, etc.) and select which nouns they refer to. 7. Work on making inferences or drawing conclusions based on what is implied in the passage.

Third, if you want to improve your reading-to-find information TOEFL iBT Reading skills, Education Testing Service suggests the following:

1. Scan the passage to locate and highlight the most important facts (dates, numbers, terms) and information. 2. Practice scanning often so you can increase your reading rate and fluency.

Fourth, in order to improve your reading-to-learn TOEFL iBT Reading skills, Education Testing Service suggests the following:

1. Identify the passage as fitting into a writing genre: classification, cause- effect, compare-contrast, problem-solution, description, narration, etc.

2. Learn to organize a reading passage by doing the following: Distinguish between the major and minor points in order to create an outline of the passage. If the passage describes the order of a process or is a narration, make an outline of the steps in the process or narration. If the passage categorizes information, use a chart to place the information into the right categories.

During the TOEFL iBT Exam, you will be provided with a chart with potential answer choices, and you will be asked to fill in the chart with the correct choices.

After following these tips for an extended period of time, you will be very pleased at how strong your reading skills will improve.

About the Author:

No comments: