TOEFLManualNEW PDF

HowtoTeachTOEFLTOEICIELTSandMore
HowtoTeach
TOEFLTOEICIELTS
andOtherStandardizedExaminations

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HowtoTeachTOEFLTOEICIELTSandMore 2

I.Introductionpage9
Reasonsfortakingthiscourse
Goalsofthecourse

II.StandardizedTestingpage10
**Beforeyoubegin**
Downloadyourcoursenotesat: A.Whatisit?
www.TEFLeBooks.com/TOEFLnotes.doc Whyisitdone?
Whatdothetestspredict?
B.BasicIntroductiontoTestDevelopment
ValidityFace,Contentandmore
Reliabilityhowmeasured
Internalconsistencyoftestsanditems
Howitems(questions)aredeveloped
C.BasicStatisticalConcepts
NormalCurve
"Norming"atestandstatisticalcurvesmoothing
StandardDeviationandStandardErrorofTests

III.TOEFLPage21
[significantlymoretimeisspentherethanwiththeother
testsasmanybasicswillbecoveredthatwillthentakemuch
lesstimewhenstudyingtheothertests]
A.Overviewofthetestwhatitisusedfor
Differentformsofthetest:paper,cBT,iBT
B.Howtoselectastudybookforyourstudents
Thingstolookfor
Currency
Baselines
Scoring
ProgressTests
C.Howtouseastudybook
Baseline
Strategybuilding
BuildSkills
PracticeSkills
ProgressTesting

D.Whattakingthetestislike
E.Skillstested
TypesofQuestions:
Reading
Listening
Writing
Speaking
F.PracticeTestingandrecalibratinggoals

IV.IELTSPage30
A.Overviewofthetestandwhatitisusedfor
B.Whattakingthetestislike
C.Skillstesting
TypeofQuestions
Listening
Reading
Writing
Speaking

V.TOEICPage31
A.Overviewofthetestandwhatitisusedfor
B.Whattakingthetestislike
C.Skillstestingandhow
Typesofquestionsandstrategies
Listening
Reading
Speaking
Writing
D.Progresstestingandrecalibrationofgoals

VI.TeachingGrammarPage37
StructureandAnalysis
FastTrackGrammarReview
Instructionalmethodsfortutorialstudents

VII.TeachingStudyandExaminationSkillsPage51
PlanningandRealisticGoalSetting
Settingtheenvironment
Gatheringmaterials
Distributedpractice
SQ3R
Homeworkandassignments(forstudents)
VIII.TeachingReadingSkillsPage68
Selectingtextsandmaterials
Survey
Skimming
Scanning
Comprehension
DiscriminationTraining
Buildingreadingspeed
Buildingvocabulary

IX.TeachingWritingSkillsPage82
Organizationofwriting

X.TeachingListeningSkillsPage84
Reductions
Linking
Soundchanges
Contentandfunctionwordsandstress
Contractions
Wordendingsandbeginnings
Grammarchallengesinlistening
Outlining
XI.RelatedResourcesPage97

WhyTakeThisCourse?
ThiscourseisdesignedtohelpnewlytrainedandexperiencedEFL
teachersfurtherimprovetheirskillsandcareeroptions.Teaching
specializedskillscoursesinwriting,reading,andlistening;andtest
preparationcoursesforTOEFL,TOEIC,IELTS,etc.isnaturalprogression
asyoumoveupinyourteachingcareer.
GoalsoftheCourse
Thegoalsofthiscoursearetoprovideadditionalskillsthatwillallow
you,withconfidence,toseekmorevariedanddemandingcoursework.
Itisalsointendedthatincreasedskillswillleadtoincreasedjob
satisfaction.
BottomLine
ManyEFLteachershavenoideahowtoteachthemoredemanding
coursessuchasTOEFLorIELTSPreparation,orevenadvancedwriting.
Thiscoursewillshowyouhow.

II.StandardizedTesting

A. Whatisstandardizedtesting?
Testsarestandardizedwhentheyaredeveloped,administered,and
scoredusingestablishedproceduresandguidelines.Theseprocedures
andguidelinesensurethatallstudentsaretestedunderthesamecon
Themoreyouknowaboutthetypeoftest ditions,thattheyareallgivenequalopportunitytodeterminethe
beinggiven,howitisdeveloped,administered,
correctanswers,andthatallscoresareestablishedandinterpreted
scored,andinterpreted,themoreinsightyou
willhaveinunderstandingthetestingprocess, usingappropriatecriteria.Twotypesofstandardizedtestsare:
itsoutcomes,and,ultimately,inmaking 1. normreferencedtests,usedtocomparestudentperformanceto
decisionsregardingastudentseducation.
thatofotherstudents;and
(PearsonEducationalMeasurement)
2. criterionreferencedtests,usedtomeasurestudentperformance
againstadefinedsetoflearningrequirementsorexpectations.
Indevelopingstandardizedtests,testdevelopersfollowestablished
procedurestocreatequestionsthatreflectthecurriculaorthelearning
requirements.Theyalsoanalyzethetesttoensurethatitmeasures
studentperformanceaccuratelyandreliably.Whenstandardizedtests
aregiventostudents,thereareprescribeddirectionsforhowthetestis
tobeadministeredandeverytestgivenineverysettingmustbegiven
underthesameconditionstoensurethatnoonehasanadvantage.

Inscoringstandardizedtests,manualandcomputerassistedanalyses
doublecheckthescoringprocesstoensurethateverystudentsscoreis
accurate.Interpretingstandardizedtestscoresisacriticalprocess
becausethedecisionscanhavesignificantimpactonstudentslives.
Manyguidelinesgovernhowtestresultscanbeappliedandwhat
evidence(usuallystatisticalanalysis)isneededtosupportvarioususes.
(adaptedfromPearsonEducationalMeasurement)

Whyarestandardizedtestsused?Whatdotheteststellus?
StandardizedtestssuchatTOEFLandIELTSandothersareusually
administeredtodetermine,orpredict,astudentslikelihoodofsuccess
inanEnglishspeakingacademicsetting.TOEICisusedtomeasureand
predictthesubjectsskillsusingEnglishinanEnglishspeakingwork
environment.

Someinterestingcorrelations

Controversysurroundsstandardizedtestsastheytendtobeone
dimensionalandmeasureonlycertainaspectsofapersonsability/
skill.Theymaynotmeasureotherimportantaspectssuchassocial
skillsordeterminationtosucceed.IQtests,forexample,canwell
predictthegrossincomeofthesubjectsparents,oreventhenumber
ofbooksinherparentshouse.Thusthetestsometimespossibly
bettermeasureswealthorresourcesavailabletothestudentthan
nativeability.

B.IntroductiontoTestDevelopment
Validity
Howdoweknowwhetheratestmeasurestheabilityinwhichweare
interested?Evenifatestisperfectlyreliableandvirtuallyerrorfree,
howdoweknowifitismeasuringtheabilitieswewantittomeasure
andnotsomethingelse?Thisistheideaandcentralconcernofvalidity,
andultimatelyinvolvesthekindsofjudgmentsthatcanbedrawnfrom
testscores.
Let'sconsideramathtestconsistingonlyofwordproblems.Thetest
scorecouldappropriatelybeusedtoindicatethestudent'sabilityto
solvemathproblemsthatrequirereading;thatwouldbeavaliduseof
thetestscore.However,usingthetestscoreasarepresentationofthe
student'smathabilityingeneralmightnotbevalid,especiallyifthe
studentwasnotfluentinthelanguageinwhichthewordproblems
werewritten.
Peoplewhodeveloptestsanalyzetheminseveralwaystodetermine
theappropriate(i.e.,valid)useoftestscores.Let'sreviewsomeofthe
issuesconsideredindeterminingthevaliduseoftestscores:

Dothequestionsonthetestrepresenttheentiresubjectmatter
aboutwhichconclusionsaretobedrawn?Forinstance,ifatestis
designedtomeasuregeneralarithmeticability,thereshouldbe
questionsaboutaddition,subtraction,multiplication,anddivision.
Iftherearenoquestionsaboutdivision,thetestdoesnotmeasure
theentirecontentofarithmetic,sothetestscorecannotbesaidto
reflectgeneralarithmeticability.
Isthestudentrequiredtodemonstratetheskillthatthetestis
intendedtomeasure?Testsshouldbedirectlytargetedtotheskills
measuredandthatskillshouldaffecttestperformance.For
example,atestdesignedtomeasurewritingproficiencyshouldask
testtakerstowritesomething,andbetterwritersshouldbeshown
toreceivehigherscores.
Arethetestscoresconsistentwithotherindicatorsofthesame
knowledgeandskills?Supposeastudenttakesatestdesignedto
measurewritingability.Ifthestudentdoeswellonwritingassign
mentsinclass,thenheorsheshouldalsodowellonthewriting
test,solongasthetypeofwritingonthetestisconsistentwiththat
doneinclass.Ontheotherhand,studentswhodonotperformwell
onwritingassignmentsinclassshouldnotdoaswellonthetest.
Thevalidityofusingthattestscoreasanindicationoftheperson's
abilityisquestionableifthereisinconsistencybetweenthetest
scoreandclassroomperformance.

Reliability
Theconsistencyofscoresacrossdifferentadministrationsorscorersis
knownasreliability.Itiscrucialthattestscoresbeadequatelyreliable
inrepresentingaperson'sknowledgeandskills.Someleveloferroris
alwaysafactorintesting(moreonthislater)andtestscores.Ifa
persontakesthesametestondifferentdays,wecanexpecttheresults
tobeslightlydifferent,butthemoreerrorthereisinthetest's
makeup,themoredifferentthetwotestscoresarelikelytobe.Ifthe
twotestscoresareverydifferent,itisreasonabletoconcludethatthe
differenceisduetotesterrorandthatthescoresdonotreallyreflect
whatthetesttakerknowsandisabletodo.
Inconsistenciesinscoringtestsmightalsoundercutreliability.Some
testsarecomposedofmultiplechoicequestions,whileothersrequire
thatthetesttakerconstructaresponse,suchasanessay.Scoringa
multiplechoicequestionisstraightforward,becausethereisoneright
answer;theanswerprovidediseithercorrectorincorrect.Therefore,
regardlessofwhoscoresthetest,thescoreonthatquestionwillbethe
same.Essaytypequestions,however,requirehumanjudgmentandare
thereforemoredifficulttoscore.Iftwopeoplereadthesameessay,it's
likelythateachpersonwillgivetheessayaslightlydifferentscore.
However,ifthetwoscoresgivenbythetwoscorers,or"raters,"are
verydifferent,thenthescoreonthatessayisnotveryconsistentand
thusnotveryreliable.

Themeasureofconsistencybetweenscorersiscalledinterrater
reliability.Thecloserthescoresassignedtoanessaybydifferent
raters,thehighertheinterraterreliabilityofthattest.Whileitmight
seemimpossibletogetdifferentraterstoassignexactlythesame
score,itispossibletotrainraterssothattheyallscoreinaverysimilar
way.Ifthisgoalisaccomplished,therecanbemoreconfidencethatthe
scoreassignedtotheessayreflectstheabilityofthestudent.
BasicStatisticalConcepts
TheNormalCurve
StandardizedtestssuchastheTOEFL,IELTS,andTOEICforcescoresinto
anormalorbellshapedcurvesuchastheonetotheleft.
Intelligencetestsalsodothis.
Anormaldistributionofdatameansthatmostoftheexamplesinaset
ofdataareclosetothe"average,"whilerelativelyfewerexamplesare
Exampleofanormalcurveornormal
atoneextremeortheother.
distributionofscoresonatest
Let'ssayyouarewritingastoryaboutnutrition.Youneedtolookat
people'stypicaldailycalorieconsumption.Likemostdata,thenumbers
forpeople'stypicalconsumptionprobablywillturnouttobenormally
distributed.Thatis,formostpeople,theirconsumptionwillbecloseto
themean,whilefewerpeopleeatalotmoreoralotlessthanthe
mean.

TheStandardDeviation
Thestandarddeviationisastatisticthattellsyouhowtightlyallthe
variousexamplesareclusteredaroundthemeaninasetofdata.When
theexamplesareprettytightlybunchedtogetherandthebellshaped
curveissteep,thestandarddeviationissmall.Whentheexamplesare
spreadapartandthebellcurveisrelativelyflat,thattellsyouthatyou
havearelativelylargestandarddeviation.
Computingthevalueofastandarddeviationiscomplicated.Butlets
seegraphicallywhatastandarddeviationrepresents(seecharttothe
left).
Onestandarddeviationawayfromthemeanineitherdirectiononthe
horizontalaxis(thefirstareatotherightandtotheleftofthemeanon
theabovegraph)accountsforsomewherearound68percentofthe
peopleinthisgroup.Twostandarddeviationsawayfromthemean
(thefirstfourareas)accountforroughly95percentofthepeople.And
threestandarddeviations(thesixareas)accountforabout99percent
ofthepeople.
Ifthiscurvewereflatterandmorespreadout,thestandarddeviation
wouldhavetobelargerinordertoaccountforthose68percentorso
ofthepeople.Sothat'swhythestandarddeviationcantellyouhow
spreadouttheexamplesinasetarefromthemean.

Whenyouthinkaboutit,that'sjustcommonsense.Notthatmany
peoplearegettingbyonasingleservingofkelpandrice.Oroneight
mealsofsteakandmilkshakes.Mostpeopleliesomewherein
between,closertothemiddle.
Ifyoulookedatnormallydistributeddataonagraph,itwouldlook
somethinglikethechartontheleftofthispage.
Thexaxis(thehorizontalone)isthevalueinquestion...calories
consumed,dollarsearnedorcrimescommitted,forexample.Andthe
yaxis(theverticalone)isthenumberofdatapointsforeachvalueon
thexaxis...inotherwords,thenumberofpeoplewhoeatxcalories,
thenumberofhouseholdsthatearnxdollars,orthenumberofcities
withxcrimescommitted.
Now,notallsetsofdatawillhavegraphsthatlookthisperfect.Some
willhaverelativelyflatcurves,otherswillbeprettysteep.Sometimes
themeanwillleanalittlebittoonesideortheother.Butallnormally
distributeddatawillhavesomethinglikethissame"bellcurve"shape.

Whyisthisuseful?Here'sanexample:Ifyouarecomparingtestscores
fordifferentschools,thestandarddeviationwilltellyouhowdiverse
thetestscoresareforeachschool.
Let'ssaySpringfieldElementaryhasahighermeantestscorethan
ShelbyvilleElementary.Yourfirstreactionmightbetosaythatthekids
atSpringfieldaresmarter.
Butabiggerstandarddeviationforoneschooltellsyouthatthereare
relativelymorekidsatthatschoolscoringtowardoneextremeorthe
other.Byaskingafewfollowupquestionsyoumightfindthat,say,
CredittoRobertNilesforhis Springfield'smeanwasskewedupbecausetheschooldistrictsendsall
ofthegiftededucationkidstoSpringfield.OrthatShelbyville'sscores
excellentdescriptionofthese
weredraggeddownbecausestudentswhorecentlyhavebeen
statisticalconcepts.
"mainstreamed"fromspecialeducationclasseshaveallbeensentto
Shelbyville.
Inthisway,lookingatthestandarddeviationcanhelppointyouinthe
rightdirectionwhenaskingwhyinformationisthewayitis.
Thestandarddeviationcanalsohelpyouevaluatetheworthofall
thosesocalled"studies"thatseemtobereleasedtothepress
everyday.Alargestandarddeviationinastudythatclaimstoshowa
relationshipbetweeneatingTwinkiesandkillingpoliticians,for
example,mighttipyouoffthatthestudy'sclaimsaren'tallthat
trustworthy.

"Norming"atestandstatisticalcurvesmoothing
Teststhatdontnaturallyfitintoanormalcurvecanbeforcedor
adaptedtoanormalcurveviatheuseofstatisticalmethods.
Errorintestscores
Asweexplainedatthebeginningofthissection,someerrorisalwaysa
factorintestscoreinterpretation.Infact,testssimplycannotprovide
informationthatis100%accurate.Thismightsoundsurprising,butthis
istrueformanyreasons;forexample:
Theextenttowhichastudenthaslearnedthebreadthanddepthof
asubjectwillinfluencehowsheorheperformsonatest.Ona
readingtest,forexample,astudentmightdowellwithquestions
aboutwordmeaningandfindingthemainideaofapassagebut
havehadlesspracticedistinguishingfactfromopinion.The
experience(orlackthereof)thatatesttakerbringstothetest
representsasourceoferrorintermsofusingthetestscoreto
generalizeaboutthestudent'sreadingability.
Sometimesastudenttakingatestisjustplainunlucky.Ifastudent
istired,hungry,nervous,orevenjusttoowarm,heorshemightdo
worseonthetestthanifthecircumstancesweredifferent.
Atestmighthavequestionsthatseemtrickyorconfusing.Ifa
studentisnotclearaboutthemeaningofaquestion,heorshewill
havetroublefindingthecorrectanswer.

Standarderrorofmeasurement

Thescoreapersongetsonthetestismeanttoindicatehowwell
thatpersonknowstheinformationbeingtested.Onewayof
lookingatatestscoreistothinkofitasconsistingoftwoparts.
Testingspecialistscancalculatethe Onepartrepresentstherealbutunknowabletrueabilityofa
standarderrorofmeasurement,whichcan
person.Thispartisunknowablebecauseitisneverpossibletoget
bethoughtofastherangeofscores
insidesomeone'sheadandhaveaperfectmeasureoftheirability
obtainedbythesamepersontakingthe
sametestmanytimes. intheareaofinterest.Theotherpartofatestscorerepresentsthe
error,allthethingsthatmakethetestalessthanperfectsnapshot
Thestandarderrorofmeasurementisa
"bestguess"abouthowclosethetestisto ofsomeone'sknowledgeatonemomentintime.Unlikethewaywe
measuringaperson'sknowledgeorskill canmanufactureayardstickthatisexactlythreefeetlongto
with100% measurelength,eventhebesttestscanprovidescoresthatareonly
accuracy.
approximationsofthetrueability.
Thestandarderrorofmeasurementisa
statisticalestimateofhowfaroffthetrue
Unfortunately,itisimpossibletobreakthesetwopiecesofatest
scorethetestscoreislikelytobe. score(thetrueabilityanderror)apart.Butitisimportantto
understandthatanytestscorecontainsacertainamountoferror,
andaswe'veillustratedtheerrormightbeduetothingsthatare
goingonwiththetesttakerorthingsthatinvolvehowthetestis
createdorscored.Errorsintestscorescannotbecompletely
eliminated,butfortunatelytherearetechniquesthatcanbeused
toprovidesomeideaabouthowmuchthescoreisaffectedby
error.

III.TOEFL
A. Overviewofthetest
TOEFLstandsfortheTestofEnglishasaForeignLanguage.Thistestis
Morethan6,000institutionsand designedtomeasuretheEnglishlanguageabilityofpeoplewhodonot
agenciesin110countriesrelyon speakEnglishastheirfirstlanguageandwhoplantostudyatcolleges
TOEFLscorestoselectstudentswith
anduniversities.
theEnglishskillsneededtosucceedin
anacademicsetting. AbouttheTOEFLTest
TosucceedinanacademicenvironmentinwhichEnglishisthe
languageofinstruction,internationalstudentsneedtonotonly
understandEnglish,butalsotocommunicateeffectively.TheTestof
EnglishasaForeignLanguage(TOEFL)isatestthatassessesallfour
basiclanguageskills:listening,reading,writing,andspeaking.The
TOEFLiBT(Internetbasedtest)helpsindividualsdemonstratethe
Englishskillsneededforacademicsuccess,aswellashelpinstitutions
makebetterdecisionsaboutprospectivestudents'readinessfor
academiccourseworkincollegesanduniversities.

WhoShouldTaketheTOEFLTest?

ETS,thecompanythatdevelopedtheTOEFLtestrecommendsthat
nonnativeEnglishspeakersatthe11thgradeleveloraboveshould
taketheTOEFLtesttoprovideevidenceoftheirEnglishproficiency
beforebeginningacademicworkinEnglish.Thetestcontentis
WhyTaketheTOEFLTest? consideredtoodifficultforstudentsbelow11thgrade.
MostpeopletaketheTOEFLtestasa
prerequisiteforadmissioninto SomeinstitutionsdonotrequireTOEFLtestscoresofthefollowing:
collegesanduniversitieswhere
Englishisusedorrequired.In Nonnativespeakerswhoholddegreesordiplomasfrom
addition,manygovernment, postsecondaryinstitutionsinEnglishspeakingcountries(e.g.,the
licensing,andcertificationagencies,
UnitedStates,Canada,England,Ireland,Australia,NewZealand)
andexchangeandscholarship
programsuseTOEFLscoresto nonnativespeakerswhohavesuccessfullycompletedatleasta
evaluatetheEnglishproficiencyof twoyearcourseofstudyinwhichEnglishwasthelanguageof
peopleforwhomEnglishisnottheir
instruction
nativelanguage.Thetestpredicts
successinanacademicsettinginan transferstudentsfrominstitutionsintheUnitedStatesorCanada
Englishspeakingcountry.
whoseacademiccourseworkwasfavorablyevaluatedinrelationto
itsdemandsandduration.
nonnativespeakerswhohavetakentheTOEFLtestwithinthepast
twoyears
nonnativespeakerswhohavesuccessfullypursuedacademicwork
atschoolswhereEnglishwasthelanguageofinstructioninan
Englishspeakingcountryforaspecifiedperiod,generallytwoyears.

FormsoftheTest
ThetestcomesinthepBTandiBTformsmeaningthepaperbased
test(beingphasedout)andtheInternetbasedtest(tobecomethe
standard).ThecBTorcomputerbasedtesthasbeenphasedout.
Agoodmanualshouldhaveaclear Wewillfocusonthetestitselfhereandnottheforminwhichitis
explanationofthescoringsystemof administered.
theexaminationtohelpyouknow
justhowfaryourstudentsarefrom
B.Howtoselectastudybookforyourstudents
theirgoal.
Studentsshouldknow,oraskyouto Lookforastudymanualthathasabaselineexaminationandatleast
helpthemdiscover,thescorethey three,preferablyasmanyassixormore,practicetests,aswellasgood,
needforadmissiontotheuniversity clearexplanationsofthetestandtestitems.Thestudymanualshould
orinstitutiontheywishtoattend.
becurrentandpublishedwithinthelasttwoyears.
Abaselineexaminationwillhelpyouandyourstudentstogetagood
senseoftheircurrentstrengthsandweaknessesontheareasofthe
test.Thiswillhelpyouknowwhatthestudentsneedtoworkonmost
toimprovetheirscores.
Progresstestswillhelpyouandyourstudentsmeasuretheir
improvementasyouguidetheirstudies.

C.Howtouseastudybook
Onceyouhavechosenastudymanual,readthedirectionscarefully.
Typically,thefirst1040pagesofamanualwillgiveverydetailed
instructionsonhowtobeststudyforthetest,testtakingtips,and
basicinformationaboutthetest.Asmartinstructor[you]willtakethe
testatleastoncesotheyknowexactlywhatisentailed.
Buildingagoodstudyplanisanessentialfirststepinhelpingyour
students.But,first,youmustknowtheskilllevelofyourstudentsand
wheretheirskillsarestrongandweak.Thiswillrequiregivingyour
Baseline,practiceand
studentsabaselinetesttodeterminetheircurrentskilllevels.
progresstestsshouldbe
takenunderconditions
ascloseaspossibleas
Onceanestimatedbaselinescorehasbeenestablished,carefully
thoseatatestingcenter. reviewyourstudentsskilllevelsanddevelopastudyplanthatwill
helpraiselowerscoresandstrengthenthehigherscores.
Irregularityofskilllevels(strongverbalskillsandveryweakwriting
scores,forexample)arenotuncommonandworkingonraisingthe
lowerlevelskillswill,mostlikely,yieldthequickestresults(ETS
researchsuggeststhisistrue).
Studentswilloftenwanttostudyintensivelyforshortperiodsoftime,
buttheywillgenerallybemoresuccessfulwithdistributedpractice
overlongerperiodsoftime.

Itisnotuncommonforstudentstowanttotakeamajorexamination
infourweeksorevenlessandexpectthattheycansignificantlyraise
theirscoresinthatperiodoftime.Suchanapproachisusually
selfdefeatingandshouldbediscouraged.

Manymajortestsrequireaminimumofthreemonthstopassbetween
examinationsastheyhavegoodresearchthatindicatesthatstudent
scorestypicallydonotchangesignificantlyiflesstimeisinvolved,

Oncethestudyplanisimplementedandthestudentsareworking
regularly,administerperiodicpracticeteststomeasureimprovements.
Thepurposeofthisistogivethestudentfeedbackontheir
improvementandtogivethempracticeintheactualtakingofthetest.
Thereisalsoapracticeeffectwithsuchtestsandstudentscanimprove
theirscoresslightlywithonlypractice.

Familiaritywiththetestwillhelpstudentsbetterjudgehowmuchtime
isallowedforeachquestion,forreading,fordraftingandcorrecting
theirwriting,fortakingnotesforconversationalcomponents,for
doublecheckingthateachquestionhasbeenanswered,etc.

D.WhattakingtheTOEFLtestislike
Photocopyandtakethefirstbaselinetestinthemanualthatyou
purchased[seeaccompanyingnotes].Takethetestunderstandardized
conditions,takingonlytheallottedamountoftimeforeachsection.
Aftertakingthetest,computeyourscoreandthinkabouttheoverall
testingexperienceandsuggeststrategiesforimprovingyouroverall
andsectionalscores.Theexercisewillhelpyouknowwhattodowith
yourstudentsatthatpoint.
E.Skillstested
Thetestisnowaboutfourhourslong.
Allsectionswillbecompletedin TheTOEFLiBTtestsallfourlanguageskillsthatareimportantfor
oneday.
effectivecommunication:speaking,listening,reading,andwriting.


Somequestionsrequiretesttakerstocombinemorethanoneskill:To
succeedacademicallyinEnglishspeakingcollegesanduniversities,
studentsneedtobeabletocombinetheirlanguageskillsinthe
classroom.
Integratedquestions,ortasks,inthetesthelplearnersbuildtheskills
andconfidenceneededtocommunicateeffectivelyintheacademic
environmentstheyplantoenter.Theintegratedtasksasktesttakersto
(1)read,listen,andthenspeakinresponsetoaquestion(2)listenand
thenspeakinresponsetoaquestion,and(3)read,listen,andthen
writeinresponsetoaquestion.
TheTOEFLiBTincludesaSpeakingsection.Thissectionincludessix
tasks,andtesttakerswearheadphonesandspeakintoamicrophone
whentheyrespond.
TheresponsesaredigitallyrecordedandtransmittedtoETSsOnline
ScoringNetworkwherehumanscorersratethem.Thescorersare
carefullymonitoredforaccuracy,sotesttakersandscorerecipientscan
beassuredofthereliabilityofthespeakingscores.
TheWritingsectionhasbeenexpanded.Thetestrequirestesttakersto
writearesponsetomaterialtheyhaveheardandread,andtocompose
anessayinsupportofanopinion.

F.PracticeTestingandrecalibratinggoals
Afterareasonableperiodofstudy,haveyourstudentstakeaprogress
testandreevaluatetheirgoalsbasedontheirperformance.Notwo
studentswillbeexactlythesameandgoalsshouldbeindividualized.

G.Resources
Downloadthe76pagePDFfileTOEFLiBTTipsbyETSat:
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/TOEFL/pdf/TOEFL_Tips.pdf
ETSwillupdatethepublicationfromtimetotime,sothenumberof
pagesmayvary.

ETSoffersavarietyofpaidandfreepreparationmaterialstohelp
studentsgetreadyfortheTOEFLtest.Itisworthseeingwhich
materialsmyhelpyourspecificstudents.

IV.IELTS
A. Overviewofthetest
TheIELTS(InternationalEnglishLanguageTestingSystem)testprovides
anevaluationofEnglishforthosewhowishtostudyortrainatthe
tertiarylevelinEnglish.ItisverysimilartotheTOEFL(TestofEnglishas
aForeignLanguage).IELTSisajointlymanagedtestbytheUniversityof
CambridgeESOLExaminations,BritishCouncilandIDPEducation
Australia.Thetestisacceptedbymanyprofessionalorganizationsin
TheUK,Canada,AustraliaandNewZealand.
B.WhattakingtheIELTStestislike
Photocopyandtakethefirstbaselinetestinthemanualthatyou
purchased(seeHowtoSelectaStudyBookintheprevioussection).
Takethetestunderstandardizedconditions,takingonlytheallotted
amountoftimeforeachsection.Aftertakingthetest,computeyour
scoreandthinkabouttheoveralltestingexperienceandsuggest
strategiesforimprovingyouroverallandsectionalscores.

C.Skillstesting
StudentstakeeithertheAcademicorGeneralTrainingsectionsin
readingandwritingthelisteningandspeakingsectionsarethesame
forbothformsofthetest.Thetotaltesttimeisabout2hoursand45
minutesandconsistsofthefollowing:
Listening(30minutes)
FreeResourcesfromIELTS
Reading(60minutes),
DownloadavarietyofPDFfiles
thatprovideassistanceand
instructionforallthesections Writing(60minutes)and
oftheIELTSexaminationaswellastheIELTS
GuideforTeachersat: Speaking(1114minutes).
http://www.ielts.org/teachers.aspx
TheListening,ReadingandWritingtestsaredoneinonesitting.The
Speakingtestmaybeonthesamedayoruptosevendaysbeforeor
aftertheothertests.
D.PracticeTestingandrecalibratinggoals


V.TOEIC
A. OverviewoftheTest
B. TheTestofEnglishforInternationalCommunication(TOEIC)isa
benchmarkofEnglishlanguageskillsinlisteningandreadingand
measurestheeverydayEnglishskillsofpeopleworkinginan
internationalenvironment.Thetestiswidelyacceptedby
corporations,Englishlanguageprograms,andgovernmentagencies
aroundtheworld.
CorporationsuseittodocumentprogressinEnglishtrainingprograms,
recruitandpromoteemployees,andputstandardmeasurementsin
placeacrosslocations.
EnglishProgramsuseittoplacestudentsatthecorrectlearninglevels,
andshowstudentprogressandprogrameffectiveness.
GovernmentagenciesuseittodocumentprogressinEnglishtraining
programsandtorecruit,promote,andhireemployees.
B.WhattakingtheTOEICtestislike
Takeapracticetest(seeHowtoSelectaStudyBookintheTOEFL
section),computeyourscoresandconsiderstrategiesfor
improvement,aswiththepreviousexaminations.

C.Skillstesting
TheTOEICtestcomesintwoforms,theoriginallisteningandreading
componentsandthemorerecentlydevelopedwritingandspeaking
section.Listeningandreadingisstillapaperandpencil,
multiplechoiceassessmentwithtwoseparatelytimedsectionsof100
questionseach.Thespeakingandwritingformoftheexamistaken
onlyovertheInternet.Besuretoaskyourstudentifsheintendsto
takebothformsofthetest,ormorecommon,totakeonlythe
ListeningandReadingform,asthewritingandspeakingformisnotyet
availableworldwide.Becarefulwhenyousearchforastudymanual,
thatyoufindonethathasBOTHtestsinit(ifavailableinyourarea,
again,checktheETS
website).
TheListeningandReadingTest
SectionI:Listening
Testtakerslistentoavarietyofquestionsandshortconversations
recordedinEnglish,thenanswerquestionsbasedonwhattheyhave
heard(100itemstotal).
Part1:Photographs
Part2:QuestionResponse
Part3:Conversations
Part4:ShortTalks

SectionII:Reading
Testtakersreadavarietyofmaterialsandrespondattheirownpace
(100itemstotal).
Part5:IncompleteSentences
Part6:ErrorRecognitionorTextCompletion
Part7:ReadingComprehension

TheSpeakingandWritingTests

TheTOEICtestsassesslanguageskillsthatareusedindailylifeand
theworkplace.TesttakersspeakandwriteinEnglishtheirresponsesto
TheListeningandReadingtesttakes realworldquestionsandscenarios.Thetestsusecommoneveryday
approximately2hours,with: vocabulary,phrasesandkeyexpressionsusedinbusiness.Testtakers
donotneedspecificbusinessknowledgetodowellonthetest.
45minutesforListening
75minutesforReadingand TheTOEICSpeakingTestFormat
approximately30minutestoan
swerbiographicalquestions Content:11questions
Time:approximately20minutes
Scorescale:0200

OnthefollowingpageisanoverviewoftheTOEICSpeakingTest,which
includes11questionsthatmeasurevariousaspectsofspeakingability.
Foreachquestion,specificdirectionswillbegiven,includingthetime
allowedforpreparingandspeakingtheresponse.Itistothe
testtakersadvantagetosayasmuchastheycaninthetimeallowed.
Itisalsoimportantthatyouspeakclearlyandanswereachquestion
accordingtodirections.

FreeResourcesfromTOEIC:
TOEICListeningandReading
SampleTest(PDF)

TheTOEICWritingTestFormat
Content:eightquestions
Time:approximately60minutes
Scorescale:0200

OnthenextpageisanoverviewoftheTOEICWritingtest,which
includeseightquestionsthatmeasuredifferentaspectsofwriting
abilityandtakesaboutonehour.Foreachtypeofquestion,the
testtakerwillbegivenspecificdirections,includingthetimeallowed
forwriting.

FREEResources:
ReviewtheSampleTests(PDF)and
takealookatthe
TOEICSpeakingandWriting
ExamineeHandbook(PDF).
D.PracticeTestingandrecalibratinggoals

VI.Grammar
GoalsandTechniquesforTeachingGrammarfromthe
GeorgetownUniversityLanguageResourceCenter

Thegoalofgrammarinstructionistoenablestudentstocarryouttheir
communicationpurposes.Thisgoalhasthreeimplications:
Studentsneedovertinstructionthatconnectsgrammarpointswith
largercommunicationcontexts.
Downloadthegrammarebookfor
thiscourseat: Studentsdonotneedtomastereveryaspectofeachgrammar
www.TEFLeBooks.com/grammar.pdf point,onlythosethatarerelevanttotheimmediate
andworkallthewaythroughit. communicationtask.
Errorcorrectionisnotalwaystheinstructor'sfirstresponsibility.
OvertGrammarInstruction

Adultstudentsappreciateandbenefitfromdirectinstructionthat
allowsthemtoapplycriticalthinkingskillstolanguagelearning.
Instructorscantakeadvantageofthisbyprovidingexplanationsthat
givestudentsadescriptiveunderstanding(declarativeknowledge)of
eachpointofgrammar.

Teachthegrammarpointinthetargetlanguageorthestudents'
firstlanguageorboth.Thegoalistofacilitateunderstanding.
Limitthetimeyoudevotetogrammarexplanationsto10minutes,
especiallyforlowerlevelstudentswhoseabilitytosustainattention
canbelimited.
Presentgrammarpointsinwrittenandoralwaystoaddressthe
needsofstudentswithdifferentlearningstyles.

Animportantpartofgrammarinstructionisprovidingexamples.
Teachersneedtoplantheirexamplescarefullyaroundtwobasic
principles:
Besuretheexamplesareaccurateandappropriate.Theymust
presentthelanguageappropriately,beculturallyappropriatefor
thesettinginwhichtheyareused,andbetothepointofthe
lesson.
Usetheexamplesasteachingtools.Focusexamplesonaparticular
themeortopicsothatstudentshavemorecontactwithspecific
informationandvocabulary.

RelevanceofGrammarInstruction

Inthecommunicativecompetencemodel,thepurposeoflearning
grammaristolearnthelanguageofwhichthegrammarisapart.
Instructorsthereforeteachgrammarformsandstructuresinrelationto
meaninganduseforthespecificcommunicationtasksthatstudents
needtocomplete[thesetasksaresometimescalledfunctions].
Comparethetraditionalmodelandthecommunicativecompetence
modelforteachingtheEnglishpasttense:
Traditional:grammarforgrammar'ssake
Teachtheregularedformwithitstwopronunciationvariants
(seeFastTrackGrammarReview)
Teachthedoublingruleforverbsthatendind(forexample,
wedwedded)
Handoutalistofirregularverbsthatstudentsmustmemorize
Dopatternpracticedrillsfored
Dosubstitutiondrillsforirregularverbs

Communicativecompetence:grammarforcommunication'ssake
Distributetwoshortnarrativesaboutrecentexperiencesorevents,
eachonetohalfoftheclass
Teachtheregularedform,usingverbsthatoccurinthetextsas
examples.Teachthepronunciationanddoublingrulesifthose
formsoccurinthetexts.
Teachtheirregularverbsthatoccurinthetexts.
Studentsreadthenarratives,askquestionsaboutpointstheydon't
understand.
StudentsworkinpairsinwhichonememberhasreadStoryAand
theotherStoryB.Studentsinterviewoneanother;usingthe
informationfromtheinterview,theythenwriteupororallyrepeat
thestorytheyhavenotread.

ErrorCorrection

Atallproficiencylevels,learnersproducelanguagethatisnotexactly
thelanguageusedbynativespeakers.Someofthedifferencesare
grammatical,whileothersinvolvevocabularyselectionandmistakesin
theselectionoflanguageappropriatefordifferentcontexts.

Inrespondingtostudentcommunication,teachersneedtobecarefulnotto
focusonerrorcorrectiontothedetrimentofcommunicationandconfidence
building.Teachersneedtoletstudentsknowwhentheyaremakingerrorsso
thattheycanworkonimproving.Teachersalsoneedtobuildstudents'
confidenceintheirabilitytousethelanguagebyfocusingonthecontentof
theircommunicationratherthanthegrammaticalform.
Teacherscanuseerrorcorrectiontosupportlanguageacquisition,andavoid
usingitinwaysthatunderminestudents'desiretocommunicateinthe
language,bytakingcuesfromcontext.
Whenstudentsaredoingstructuredoutputactivitiesthatfocuson
developmentofnewlanguageskills,useerrorcorrectiontoguidethem.
Example:
Student(inclass):Ibuyanewcaryesterday.
Teacher:Youboughtanewcaryesterday.
Remember,thepasttenseofbuyisbought.
Whenstudentsareengagedincommunicativeactivities,
correcterrorsonlyiftheyinterferewithcomprehensibility.
Respondusingcorrectforms,butwithoutstressingthem.

Example:
Student(greetingteacher):Ibuyanewcaryesterday!
Teacher:Youboughtanewcar?That'sexciting!Whatkind?

StrategiesforLearningGrammar
Languageteachersandlanguagelearnersareoftenfrustratedbythe
disconnectbetweenknowingtherulesofgrammarandbeingableto
applythoserulesautomaticallyinlistening,speaking,reading,and
writing.Thisdisconnectreflectsaseparationbetweendeclarative
knowledgeandproceduralknowledge.
Declarativeknowledgeisknowledgeaboutsomething.
Declarativeknowledgeenablesastudenttodescribearuleof
grammarandapplyitinpatternpracticedrills.
Proceduralknowledgeisknowledgeofhowtodosomething.
Proceduralknowledgeenablesastudenttoapplyaruleof
grammarincommunication.
Forexample,declarativeknowledgeiswhatyouhavewhenyouread
andunderstandtheinstructionsforprogrammingtheDVDplayer.
Proceduralknowledgeiswhatyoudemonstratewhenyouprogramthe
DVDplayer.
Proceduralknowledgedoesnottranslateautomaticallyintodeclarative
knowledge;manynativespeakerscanusetheirlanguageclearlyand
correctlywithoutbeingabletostatetherulesofitsgrammar.Likewise,
declarativeknowledgedoesnottranslateautomaticallyintoprocedural
knowledge;studentsmaybeabletostateagrammarrule,but
consistentlyfailtoapplytherulewhenspeakingorwriting.

Toaddressthedeclarativeknowledge/proceduralknowledgedichotomy,
teachersandstudentscanapplyseveralstrategies.
1. Relateknowledgeneedstolearninggoals.
Identifytherelationshipofdeclarativeknowledgeandproceduralknowledge
tostudentgoalsforlearningthelanguage.Studentswhoplantousethe
languageexclusivelyforreadingjournalarticlesneedtofocusmoreonthe
declarativeknowledgeofgrammaranddiscoursestructuresthatwillhelp
themunderstandthosetexts.Studentswhoplantoliveincountryneedto
focusmoreontheproceduralknowledgethatwillhelpthemmanagedayto
dayoralandwritteninteractions.
2.Applyhigherorderthinkingskills.
Recognizethatdevelopmentofdeclarativeknowledgecanaccelerate
developmentofproceduralknowledge.Teachingstudentshowthelanguage
worksandgivingthemopportunitiestocompareitwithotherlanguagesthey
knowallowsthemtodrawoncriticalthinkingandanalyticalskills.These
processescansupportthedevelopmentoftheinnateunderstandingthat
characterizesproceduralknowledge.
3.Provideplentifulandappropriatelanguageinput.
Understandthatstudentsdevelopbothproceduralanddeclarativeknowl
edgeonthebasisoftheinputtheyreceive.Thisinputincludesbothfinely
tunedinputthatrequiresstudentstopayattentiontotherelationships
amongform,meaning,anduseforaspecificgrammarrule,androughlytuned
inputthatallowsstudentstoencounterthegrammarruleinavarietyof
contexts.

4.Usepredictingskills.
DiscourseanalystDouglasBiberhasdemonstratedthatdifferent
communicationtypescanbecharacterizedbytheclustersoflinguistic
featuresthatarecommontothosetypes.Verbtenseandaspect,sen
tencelengthandstructure,andlargerdiscoursepatternsallmaycon
tributetothedistinctiveprofileofagivencommunicationtype.For
example,ahistorytextbookandanewspaperarticleinEnglishbothuse
pasttenseverbsalmostexclusively.However,thenewspaperarticle
willuseshortsentencesandadiscoursepatternthatalternatesbe
tweensubjectsorperspectives.Thehistorytextbookwillusecomplex
sentencesandwillfollowatimelineinitsdiscoursestructure.
Awarenessofthesefeaturesallowsstudentstoanticipatetheforms
andstructurestheywillencounterinagivencommunicationtask.
5.Limitexpectationsfordrills.
Mechanicaldrillsinwhichstudentssubstitutepronounsfornounsor
alternatetheperson,number,ortenseofverbscanhelpstudents
memorizeirregularformsandchallengingstructures.However,
studentsdonotdeveloptheabilitytousegrammarcorrectlyinoral
andwritteninteractionsbydoingmechanicaldrills,becausethesedrills
separateformfrommeaninganduse.Thecontentofthepromptand
theresponseissetinadvance;thestudentonlyhastosupplythe
correctgrammaticalform,andcandothatwithoutreallyneedingto
understandorcommunicateanything.Themainlessonthatstudents
learnfromdoingthesedrillsis:Grammarisboring.

Communicativedrillsencouragestudentstoconnectform,
meaning,andusebecausemultiplecorrectresponsesare
possible.Incommunicativedrills,studentsrespondtoaprompt
usingthegrammarpointunderconsideration,butproviding
theirowncontent.Forexample,topracticequestionsandan
swersinthepasttenseinEnglish,teacherandstudentscanask
andanswerquestionsaboutactivitiesthepreviousevening.
Thedrilliscommunicativebecausenoneofthecontentissetin
advance:
Teacher:Didyougotothelibrarylastnight?
Student1:No,Ididnt.Iwenttothemovies.(toStudent2):
Didyoureadchapter3?
Student2:Yes,Ireadchapter3,butIdidntunderstandit.
(toStudent3):Didyouunderstandchapter3?
Student3:Ididntreadchapter3.Iwenttothemovieswith
Student1.

DevelopingGrammarActivities

Manycoursesandtextbooks,especiallythosedesignedforlower
proficiencylevels,useaspecifiedsequenceofgrammaticaltopicsas
theirorganizingprinciple.Whenthisisthecase,classroomactivities
needtoreflectthegrammarpointthatisbeingintroducedorreviewed.
Bycontrast,whenacoursecurriculumfollowsatopicsequence,
grammarpointscanbeaddressedastheycomeup.
Inbothcases,instructorscanusetheLarsenFreemanpiechartasa
guidefordevelopingactivities.
Forcurriculathatintroducegrammaticalformsinaspecifiedsequence,
instructorsneedtodevelopactivitiesthatrelateformtomeaningand
use.
Describethegrammarpoint,includingform,meaning,anduse,
andgiveexamples(structuredinput)
Askstudentstopracticethegrammarpointincommunicative
drills(structuredoutput)
Havestudentsdoacommunicativetaskthatprovides
opportunitiestousethegrammarpoint(communicativeoutput)

Forcurriculathatfollowasequenceoftopics,instructorsneedto
developactivitiesthatrelatethetopicaldiscourse(use)tomeaningand
form.
Provideoralorwritteninput(audiotape,readingselection)that
addressesthe topic(structuredinput)
Reviewthepointofgrammar,usingexamplesfromthematerial
(structuredinput)
Askstudentstopracticethegrammarpointincommunicative
drillsthatfocusonthetopic(structuredoutput)
Havestudentsdoacommunicativetaskonthetopic
(communicativeoutput)
Wheninstructorshavetheopportunitytodeveloppartorallofthe
coursecurriculum,theycandevelopaseriesofcontextsbasedonthe
realworldtasksthatstudentswillneedtoperformusingthelanguage,
andthenteachgrammarandvocabularyinrelationtothosecontexts.
Forexample,studentswhoplantotravelwillneedtounderstand
publicaddressannouncementsinairportsandtrainstations.
Instructorscanuseaudiotapedsimulationstoprovideinput;teach
thegrammaticalformsthattypicallyoccurinsuchannouncements;
andthenhavestudentspracticebyaskingandansweringquestions
aboutwhatwasannounced.

UsingTextbookGrammarActivities
Textbooksusuallyprovideoneormoreofthefollowingthreetypesof
grammarexercises.
Mechanicaldrills:Eachprompthasonlyonecorrectresponse,
andstudentscancompletetheexercisewithoutattendingto
meaning.Forexample:Georgewaitedforthebusthismorning.
Hewillwaitforthebustomorrowmorning,too.
Meaningfuldrills:Eachprompthasonlyonecorrectresponse,
andstudentsmustattendtomeaningtocompletetheexercise.
Forexample:WhereareGeorgespapers?Theyareinhis
notebook.(Studentsmustunderstandthemeaningofthe
questioninordertoanswer,butonlyonecorrectansweris
possiblebecausetheyallknowwhereGeorgespapersare.)
Tousetextbookgrammarexerciseseffectively,instructorsneedto
recognizewhichtypetheyare,devotetheappropriateamountoftime
tothem,andsupplementthemasneeded.
RecognizingTypes
Beforetheteachingtermbegins,inventorythetextbooktoseewhich
type(s)ofdrillsitprovides.Decidewhichyouwilluseinclass,which
youwillassignashomework,andwhichyouwillskip.

AssigningTime
Whendecidingwhichtextbookdrillstouseandhowmuchtimetoallot
tothem,keeptheirrelativevalueinmind.
Mechanicaldrillsaretheleastusefulbecausetheybearlittle
resemblancetorealcommunication.Theydonotrequire
studentstolearnanything;theyonlyrequireparrotingofa
patternorrule.
Meaningfuldrillscanhelpstudentsdevelopunderstandingof
theworkingsofrulesofgrammarbecausetheyrequirestudents
tomakeformmeaningcorrelations.Theirresemblancetoreal
communicationislimitedbythefactthattheyhaveonlyone
correctanswer.
Communicativedrillsrequirestudentstobeawareofthe
relationshipsamongform,meaning,anduse.Incommunicative
drills,studentstestanddeveloptheirabilitytouselanguageto
conveyideasandinformation.
Supplementing
Ifthetextbookprovidesfewornomeaningfulandcommunicative
drills,instructorsmaywanttocreatesometosubstituteformechanical
drills.

AssessingGrammarProficiency

AuthenticAssessment
Justasmechanicaldrillsdonotteachstudentsthelanguage,
mechanicaltestquestionsdonotassesstheirabilitytouseitin
Mechanicaltestsdoserveone authenticways.Inordertoprovideauthenticassessmentofstudents
purpose:Theymotivatestudentsto grammarproficiency,anevaluationmustreflectreallifeusesof
memorize.Theycanthereforeserveas grammarincontext.Thismeansthattheactivitymusthaveapurpose
promptstoencouragememorization
otherthanassessmentandrequirestudentstodemonstratetheirlevel
ofirregularformsandvocabulary
items.Becausetheytestonlymemory ofgrammarproficiencybycompletingsometask.
capacity,notlanguageability,theyare
bestusedasquizzesandgiven Todevelopauthenticassessmentactivities,beginwiththetypesof
relativelylittleweightinevaluating tasksthatstudentswillactuallyneedtodousingthelanguage.
studentperformanceandprogress. Assessmentcanthentaketheformofcommunicativedrillsand
communicativeactivitieslikethoseusedintheteachingprocess.
Forexample,theactivitybasedonaudiotapesofpublicaddress
announcementscanbeconvertedintoanassessmentbyhaving
studentsrespondorallyorinwritingtoquestionsaboutasimilartape.
Inthistypeofassessment,theinstructorusesachecklistorrubricto
evaluatethestudentsunderstandingand/oruseofgrammarin
context.

VII.TeachingStudyandExaminationSkills
EffectiveStudySkillsDr.BobKizlik
HowtoStudyandMaketheMostofYourTime
Notwopeoplestudythesameway,andthereislittledoubtthatwhat
worksforonepersonmaynotworkforanother.However,thereare
somegeneraltechniquesthatseemtoproducegoodresults.Noone
wouldarguethateverysubjectthatyouhavetotakeisgoingtobeso
interestingthatstudyingitisnotworkbutpleasure.Wecanonlywish.
EffectiveStudyskillsareaboutmorethanunderstanding
Effectivestudyskillsmustbepracticedinorderforyoutoimprove.Itis
notenoughtosimply"thinkabout"studying;youhavetoactuallydoit,
andintheprocessuseinformationfromwhatyoudotogetbetter.This
isthecentralideaofthispage.Allthatfollowsdependsonthissingle
concept.Thereisasayingthatgoeslikethis:"Practicedoesn'tmake
perfect;perfectpracticemakesperfect."Ifyouwanttobeanachiever,
takethissayingtoheart.

Thevalueofaschedule
Beforeyouevenbegintothinkabouttheprocessofstudying,youmust
developaschedule.Ifyoudon'thaveascheduleorplanforstudying,then
youwillnothaveanywayofallocatingyourvaluabletimewhenthe
unexpectedcomesup.Agood,wellthoughtoutschedulecanbea
lifesaver.It'suptoyoutolearnhowdevelopaschedulethatmeetsyour
needs,reviseitifnecessary,andmostimportant,followit.
Makingeveryhourcount
Allschedulesshouldbemadewiththe Ascheduleshouldtakeintoaccounteveryclass,laboratory,lecture,
ideathattheycanberevised.Agood
socialevent,andotherworkinwhichyouengage.Therearegivenssuchas
schedulekeepsyoufromwanderingoff
classesandsoonthathavetobeincorporated.Youmustfocusonthe
course.Agoodschedule,ifproperly
managed,assignstimewheretimeis other"freetime"availableandhowyouwilluseit.Makeaweekly
needed,butyou'vegottowanttodo scheduleandblockoffthe24hourdayinonehourincrements.Indicate
it! timesforclasses,labs,lectures,social,andworktime.Alsoblockoffa
periodforsleepingeachday.Withwhatisleftover,plantimeforstudy.
Thisgivesyouaroughroadmapofthetimeavailable.Ofcourse,youcan
reviseyourscheduleascircumstanceswarrant.
Whentostudy
Theproblemofwhentostudyiscritical.Agoodruleofthumbisthat
studyingshouldbecarriedoutonlywhenyouarerested,alert,andhave
plannedforit.Lastminutestudyingjustbeforeaclassisusuallyawasteof
time.

Studyingforlecturecourses
Ifyourstudyperiodisbeforethelectureclass,besureyouhaveread
alltheassignmentsandmadenotesonwhatyoudon'tunderstand.If
thestudyperiodisafterthelectureclass,reviewthenotesyoutook
duringclasswhiletheinformationisstillfresh.
Studyingforrecitationcourses
Forclassesthatrequirerecitation,suchasforeignlanguage,besureto
Don'tbeafraidtoreviseyourschedule.
Schedulesarereallyplansforhowyou scheduleastudyperiodjustbeforetheclass.Usethetimetopractice.
intendtouseyourtime.Ifyoursched Sometimes,practicewithotherscanhelpsharpenyourskillsinabe
uledoesn'twork,reviseit.Youmust foreclassstudyperiod.
understandthatyourscheduleisto
helpyoudevelopgoodstudyhabits.
TheProcessofStudy
Onceyouhavedevelopedthem,sched
ulebuildingbecomeseasier.
Howtouseyourtime
Timeisthemostvaluableresourceastudenthas.Itisalsooneofthe
mostwastedofresources.Thescheduleyoudevelopshouldguideyou
inhowtoallocatetheavailabletimeinthemostproductivemanner.
Stickingtoyourschedulecanbetough.Don'tdribbleawayvaluable
time.Avoidingstudyistheeasiestthingintheworld.It'suptoyouto
followthescheduleyouprepared.Agooddealofyoursuccessinhigh
schoolorcollegedependsonthissimpletruth.

Wheretostudy
Youcanstudyanywhere.Obviously,someplacesarebetterthan
others.Libraries,studyloungesorprivateroomsarebest.Aboveall,
theplaceyouchoosetostudyshouldnotbedistracting.Distractions
canbuildup,andthefirstthingyouknow,you'reoutoftimeandout
ofluck.Makechoosingagoodphysicalenvironmentapartofyour
studyhabits.
Strategies
Thinkingskills
Everybodyhasthinkingskills,butfew
usethemeffectively.Effectivethinking
Goodthinkersseepossibilitieswhereothersseeonlydeadends.If
skillscannotbestudied,butmustbe you'renotagoodthinker,startnowbydevelopinghabitsthatmake
builtupoveraperiodoftime. youaskyourselfquestionsasyouread.Talktootherstudentswhoyou
feelaregoodthinkers.Askthemwhatitistheydowhentheythink
criticallyorcreatively.Oftentimes,youcanpickupvaluableinsightsto
helpyoubecomeabetterthinker.
TheSQ3Rmethod
TheSQ3Rmethodhasbeenaprovenwaytosharpenstudyskills.SQ3R
standsforSurvey,Question,Read,Recite,Review.Takeamomentnow
andwriteSQ3Rdown.Itisagoodslogantocommittomemorytocarry
outaneffectivestudystrategy.

Surveygetthebestoverallpictureofwhatyou'regoingtostudy
BEFOREyoustudyitananydetail.It'slikelookingataroadmapbefore
goingonatrip.Ifyoudon'tknowtheterritory,studyingamapisthe
bestwaytobegin.
Questionaskquestionsforlearning.Theimportantthingstolearnare
usuallyanswerstoquestions.Questionsshouldleadtoemphasison
thewhat,why,how,when,whoandwhereofstudycontent.Ask
yourselfquestionsasyoureadorstudy.Asyouanswerthem,youwill
helptomakesenseofthematerialandrememberitmoreeasilybe
causetheprocesswillmakeanimpressiononyou.Thosethingsthat
makeimpressionsaremoremeaningful,andthereforemoreeasily
remembered.Don'tbeafraidtowriteyourquestionsinthemarginsof
textbooks,onlecturenotes,orwhereveritmakessense.
ReadReadingisNOTrunningyoureyesoveratextbook.Whenyou
read,readactively.Readtoanswerquestionsyouhaveaskedyourself
orquestionstheinstructororauthorhasasked.Alwaysbealerttobold
oritalicizedprint.Theauthorsintendthatthismaterialreceivespecial
emphasis.Also,whenyouread,besuretoreadeverything,including
tables,graphsandillustrations.Oftentimestables,graphsand
illustrationscanconveyanideamorepowerfullythanwrittentext.

ReciteWhenyourecite,youstopreadingperiodicallytorecallwhat
youhaveread.Trytorecallmainheadings,importantideasorconcepts
presentedinboldoritalicizedtype,andwhatgraphschartsor
illustrationsindicate.Trytodevelopanoverallconceptofwhatyou
havereadinyourownwordsandthoughts.Trytoconnectthingsyou
havejustreadtothingsyoualreadyknow.Whenyoudothis
periodically,thechancesareyouwillremembermuchmoreandbe
abletorecallmaterialforpapers,essaysandobjectivetests.
ReviewAreviewisasurveyofwhatyouhavecovered.Itisareview
ofwhatyouaresupposedtoaccomplish,notwhatyouaregoingtodo.
Rereadingisanimportantpartofthereviewprocess.Rereadwiththe
ideathatyouaremeasuringwhatyouhavegainedfromtheprocess.
Duringreview,it'sagoodtimetogoovernotesyouhavetakentohelp
clarifypointsyoumayhavemissedordon'tunderstand.Thebesttime
toreviewiswhenyouhavejustfinishedstudyingsomething.Don't
waituntiljustbeforeanexaminationtobeginthereviewprocess.
Beforeanexamination,doafinalreview.Ifyoumanageyourtime,the
finalreviewcanbethoughtofasa"finetuning"ofyourknowledgeof
thematerial.Thousandsofhighschoolandcollegestudentshave
followedtheSQ3Rstepstoachievehighergradeswithlessstress.

Reading
Aprimarymeansbywhichyouacquireinformationisthroughreading.
Incollegeyou'reexpectedtodomuchmorereadingthaninhigh
school.Don'tassumejustbecauseyou've"read"theassignmentsthat
istheendofit.Youmustlearntoreadwithapurpose.Instudying,you
Thereisusuallyoneimportantdetail mayreadthesameassignmentthreeorfourtimes,eachtimewitha
associatedwitheverymainidea.The differentpurpose.Youmustknowbeforeyoubeginreadingwhatyour
moreimportantdetailsyoucan purposeis,andreadaccordingly.
identify,theeasieritwillbetoreview
forexaminationsbecauseyouhave
GettingtheMainIdea
madealinkbetweenanideaand
informationthatsupportsit.Themore
Gettingthemainideainreadingiscentraltoeffectivestudying.You
linksyoucanmakebetweendetails
andideas,aswellasideasthemselves, mustlearnwhattheauthor'scentralideais,andunderstanditinyour
themorepowerfulwillbetheefforts ownway.
ofyourstudy.
Everyparagraphcontainsamainidea.Mainideasareperfectfor
outliningtextbooks.Makeitahabittofindthemainideaineach
paragraphyouread.
ExtractingImportantDetails
Extractingimportantdetailsmeansthatyoulocateinyourreadingthe
basisformainideas.

TakingNotes
Likereading,notetakingisaskillwhichmustbelearnedandrefined.
Almostinvariably,notetaking,orthelackofit,isa
Don'tReadAloudtoYourself constantdeficiencyinthestudymethodsofmanyhighschooland
collegestudents.Learningtheingredientsofgoodnotetakingisrather
Generally,readingaloudtoyourself
doesnothelpyoustudymore
easy;applyingthemtoyourownsituation
effectively.Ifyoumoveyourlipswhile dependsonhowseriousyouareinbecomingasuccessful
youread,you'renotreading student.
efficiently.Ifyoureadaloudormove
yourlipswhileyou'rereading,youare WheretoKeepNotes
readingslowly,sostopmovingyour
lips.Tryputtingafingeroveryourlips. Youmustlearntokeepnoteslogicallyandlegibly.Remember,ifyou
Yourfingerwillremindyounotto
can'treadyourownwritingafewdaysaftertakingnotes,theyareof
moveyourlips.Makeanefforttoread
fasterandretainmoreafterawhile, littleuse.Byallaccounts,thebestplacetokeepnotesisinalooseleaf
you'llbesurprisedhowlittleeffortit notebook.Usedividerstoseparatethedifferentclassesyoutake.
willtake. MakeitahabitofusingyournotebooktorecordALLyournotes.If
you'recaughtwithoutyournotebookandneedtotakenotes,always
haveasupplyoflooseleafpaperwithyou.Insertyournotepapersinto
thenotebookassoonasyoucan.Besuretobuyagoodnotebook,asit
willgetalotofwearandtear.

TakingLectureNotes
Surveying,Questioning,Listening
OutliningTextbooks
Takingaccurateandconciselecturenotesisessential.Developthe
Firstofall,don'tunderline.Usea
highlighter.Experiencehasshownthat habitoftakingnotesusingappropriatemethodsdescribedearlierin
textpassageshighlightedaremore theSQ3Rtechnique.Forexample,whenyoulistentoalecture,
easilyrememberedthanthesame formulatequestionsasyoulisten.Yourmainjobintakinglecturenotes
passagesunderlined.Inoutlininga istobeagoodlistener.Tobeagoodlistener,youmustlearntofocus
text,don'tjustreadalongand
andconcentrateonthemainpointsofthelecture.Getthemdown,and
highlightwhatseemtoimportant
words.Thattechniquerarelyworks. thenlaterreorganizetheminyourownwords.Onceyouhavedone
Theactofoutliningworksmuch this,youhavesetthestageforsuccessfulreviewingandrevising.
better.
ReviewingandRevising
Asyouprepareforexaminations,tests,orotherassessments,you
shouldspendtimereviewingandrevisingyourlecturenotes.Beginthe
processbyreviewingyournotesrightafteralecture.Ifyouwaittoo
long,youmaydiscoverthatthenotesjustdon'tmakesense.Don't
hesitatetoreviseyournotesbasedonthereviewprocess.

ResearchNotes
Anyformofnotetakingthatrequirescompilationofinformationby
categories,ratherthaninnarrativeformisbestdoneusingindexcards.
Youcansort,editandarrangeindexcardstosuityourparticularstudy
needs.Themostimportantpointinusingcardsistoindicatethecorrect
referenceortopicatthetopofthecard.Usethecardsforstudy,review,
KnowingtheGroundRules tohelporganizeinformationforpapers,reports,orprojects.Aneven
betteridea,ifyouhaveapersonalcomputer,istoorganizeyour
Alwaysreaddirections!Indicateyour categoricalinformationinadatabase.Onceyousetitup,finding,updating
answersexactlythewaythedirections andaddingnewinformationisquiteeasy.Ifyouhaveaprinter,youcan
state.Makesureyouranswersare
printoutyournotesinavarietyofways.
clear.Determinewhatthescoring
rulesforthetestareandfollowthem
toyouradvantage.Forexample,if TakingExaminations
wronganswersarepenalized,don't
guessunlessyoucanreducethe ObjectiveExaminations
choicestotwo.
Surveying
Surveyanyobjectiveexaminationtofindoutwhattypesofquestionsare
beingasked.Surveyinghelpsyoutoknowwhattoexpect.
AnsweringEasyQuestionsFirst
Answeringeasy(toyou)questionsfirstisthebeststrategy.Ifyoustumble
overdifficultquestionsfortoolongatime,youmaynotbeableto
completetheexam.

PickingoutKeyWords
Objectiveexaminationquestionsusuallycontainoneormorekeywords.
Akeywordorgroupofwordsarethoseonwhichthetruthorfalsityofa
statementhinges.Learntospotthekeywordsinthestatementthat
definethemeaning.Ifastatementcontainstwoclauses,oneofwhichis
false,thewholestatementisfalse.Usually,twostatementtruefalse
questionsareeitherbothtrueorbothfalse.
ReadingMultipleChoiceQuestions
Multiplechoicequestionsareessentiallytruefalsequestionsarrangedin
groups.Usually,onlyonealternativeiscorrect.Yourjobistopickthe
alternativethatismorenearlytruethantheothers.Readmultiplechoice
questionsthesamewayasfortruefalse.Eliminateobviousfalsechoices.
ReadingOtherTypesofQuestions
Themethodsusedtoanswertruefalseandmultiplechoicequestions
applytomatchingquestionsaswell.Alwaysscantheentirelistof
alternativesbeforematchingany.Asintheothertypesofquestions,try
toidentifykeywordsineachlistandtestthem.Completionquestions
requireyoutoprovideawordorphrase.Whenyouencounter
completionquestions,chooseyourwordscarefully.Ifyoudon'tknowthe
answer,giveityourbestguess,asoftentimessuchresponsesgetatleast
partialcredit.

EssayExaminations
Planningyourtimeinansweringessayquestionsismoreimportant
thaninobjectivetypetests.Thegeneralruleisnottogetcarriedaway
ononeortwoquestionstotheextentthatyoucannotanswerthat
otherquestionsinthetimeallowed.Readthroughtheentire
Goodhandwriting
examinationfirst.Getafeelforthequestionsyouareexpectedtoan
Goodhandwritingisanabsolute swer.Iftheexamallowsyoutochoosefromanumberofquestions,be
essentialforessayquestions.Ifyour suretonumberyouranswersexactlytomatchthequestions.
cursivewritingisveryhardtoread,try
printinginstead.Mostinstructors Whenyoufollowdirectionsforanessayexam,payattentiontothekey
valueclearhandwriting.Grammar, wordstheinstructorhasincluded.Suchwordsas"list,""describe,"
punctuation,andspellingalsocount.
"compareandcontrast,"and"outline"havespecialmeaning.Don't
Wellwrittengrammaticallycorrect
answersalmostalwaysreceivehigher "writearound"thequestionbutansweritdirectly.Ifaquestionasks
gradesthanpoorlywrittengrammati youtolistsomething,don'twriteanarrativeaboutit.Answeringessay
callyincorrectanswers,eventhough questionsdirectlyisalwaysthebestpolicy.
theanswersthemselvesarethesame.
Afterscanningthelistofquestionstobeanswered,choosetheones
youknowmostabout.Agoodideaistoprepareanoutlineofyouran
swers.Theoutlinewillhelpyourememberimportantideasandfactsto
beincludedinyourresponse.Anothertechniqueistodoa
"memorydump."Thistechniqueisdiscussedinthelastsectionofthis
guide,"PowerStudyTips."

WritingThemesandReports
ReviewingtheTopic
Studentsusuallyhavesomefreedomtochoosethesubjectofthemes
orreports.Whenyoumakethischoice,besurethatthetopicis
GatheringMaterialsBeforeYouWrite
acceptabletotheteacher,andisasinterestingtoyouaspossible.
Beforeyoubeginwriting,assemblethe Anotherconsiderationisthatofavailabilityofresourcematerial.Your
materialsyouwillneed.Useindex taskismademucheasierwhenthereisagoodamountofreference
cards,notes,bibliographies,summa andresourcematerialavailable.
ries,reportsandreviewsaspartof
yourpreparationprocess.Usingindex UsingCorrectPunctuationandGrammar
cardsforreferencesisanexcellentway
toorganizeyourmaterials.Computer
Asinwritingessaysquestions,goodgrammarandpunctuationarea
databaseprogramscanalsohelpyou
classifyandorganizereference
must.Moststudentsusewordprocessorstowritepapers.Besureto
materials. usethespellcheckerthatalmostallwordprocessorshavebuiltin.
Manywordprocessorsalsohavesomesortofgrammarchecker.Learn
touseagrammarchecker,asitcanpointoutseriousflawsinyour
writingandhelpyoubecomeabetterwriter.Mostgrammarcheckers
explainthegrammarrulesthatapplytothesuggestedcorrectionsto
yourwriting.

PreparinganOutlineandWritingthePaper
Onceyouhaveyourtopic,havegatheredandorganizedyourmaterials,
itistimetooutlineyourpaper.Putyouroutlineonpaper!Don'tmake
themistakeoftryingtokeepeverythinginyourhead.Makeyour
outlineintheformofmainheadingsorideaswithsubheadings
fleshingouttheflowofthepaper.
Usingtheoutlineasaguide,beginwritingbyaskingyourselfwhatthe
paperisgoingtosayandwhatconclusionsyouwanttoreach.Doing
thisaheadoftimewillhelpkeepyoufocusedandpreventyoufrom
strayingfromthepurposeofthepaper.Makinguptheoutlineasyou
goalongalmostalwaysresultsinalessthansatisfactoryproduct.
Writingisimportantinhighschoolandisakeytosuccessincollegeand
inmanyprofessions.
Becomeagoodwriterbywriting,revising,andreviewingyourwork.
Don'tbeafraidtoaskotherstudentstocritiqueyourwork.Trytowrite
inyourownnaturalstyle,beawarethatmostgoodwritersgothrough
manyrevisions,andbepreparedtodothesame.Writingandtest
takingaretheendresultsofdevelopinggoodstudyskills.Thereisno
magicformulaforsuccess.Ifyoufollowthesuggestionsinthisguide,
applythemandthinkaboutthem,you'llhavetakenagiantstep
towardbecomingasuccessfulstudent.

PowerStudyingTipsforCollegeStudents
Thefollowingtipshaveproventobeextremelypowerfulguidesfor
organizing,thinking,studying,andlearningincollege.Theyrepresent
thebestadviceofsuccessfulcollegestudents.Thecanalsoworkfor
highschoolstudents.
StudySpace
Tip:Yourstudyspaceshouldbeasquietandcomfortableaspossible.
Avoidstudyinginnoisyplacessuchascafeterias,recreationrooms,or
Takeabreak! lounges.
Tip:Ifpossible,studynomorethan Tip:Whenstudying,keepawastebaskethandy.
3040minutesatastretch.Many
studentsretainmorebystudyingfor Tip:Haveaconsistentplaceforeverything,andaboveall,keepitthere!
shortperiodswithbreaksinbetween.

Tip:Haveeverythingneededforstudyhandybeforehand.Don'twaste
Italldependsonwhatyou'retryingto
study,butgenerally,afteraperiodof valuabletimelookingforbooks,notes,ofotherinformation.Afteryou
study,takeabreak. haveassembledtheitemsyouneed,putthemwhereyoucanreach
themeasily.
StudyHabits
Tip:Beginstudynolessthan3090minutesafterameal.

Tip:Neverstudywithin30minutesofgoingtosleep.
Tip:Prioritize!Makealistofwhatyouintendtostudy,prioritizethe
list,andsticktoit!
Tip:Takestudybreaksawayfromyourdeskorwhereveryouare
studying.Letthebreakbeatimetothinkaboutotherthings.Usesome
breaktimetoreflect,notconstantlyreviewwhatyouhavejuststudied.
ACluefromtheCourseInstructor
TheClassroom
Tip:Payattentiontothecourseoutline Tip:Distractionsintheclassroomaredeadly.Tohelpavoiddistractions,
orsyllabus.Generally,important sitnearthefrontoftheclass.You'relesslikelytomisssomethingim
pointsandmaterialsarereferenced portant,andtherearefarlessdistractionsatthefrontthananyother
hereandrepeated.Don'tbeafraidto
location.
asktheteacherifthereissomething
youdon'tunderstand.Mostteachers
Tip:Think!Thinkingisoneofthemostimportantthingsyoucandoin
willbegladtoclarifyforyou.
class.Ifyoujustsittherepassively,andnotthink,classcanbedeadly.
ThinkaboutwhattheteacherissayingBEFOREwritingdownanything.
WritingdowneachwordisaWASTEOFTIME.Reorganizeinyourmind
whattheteachersays,andthenwriteitdown.Thiswayyouwillbe
connectingtheteacher'swordswithHOWyouthink.Ifyoudothis,
yournoteswillmakealotmoresenselateron.

PreparingforClass
Tip:Readthetableofcontentsofyourtextscarefully.Ifthetextbooks
havechaptersummaries,readthemfirst!Ifyoudon'tunderstandthe
materialfromthesummaries,gobackandhighlight.Takenotesonwhat
youhavehighlightedandreviewyournotes.Tip:Breakstudymaterialinto
shortsegmentsoflengthdependentonitsdifficulty.Remember,concise
notesaremorepowerfulthancopiousnotes.Thinkaboutthematerial!
Thentakenotesonwhatyoudon'tknoworarenotsureof.
TestTaking
DontUnderline Tip:Foressayexaminations,trythe"memorydump"technique.If
permitted,writedowneverythingyou'vememorizedfacts,names,dates,
Tip:Efficientstudentsdonot ideas,events,andsoonBEFOREyoudoanythingelse.Sometimesreading
underline!Underliningisnota
throughtheessayquestionscandistractyoufromwhatyou'vestudied.
productivewaytoemphasize
The"memorydump"techniquerequiresthatyouwritedowneverything
textbookmaterial.It'sbestto
useahighlighter.
possibleBEFOREyoubeginwritingessayanswers.Thisway,youareless
likelytoforgetsomethingimportant.
AFinalWord
Thestudyskillspresentedheredependononething,andthatiswilling
nesstoWANTtoimproveanddowell.Withouttheeffortandsacrifice,no
amountofsuggestions,ideas,oroutlinescanhelpmuch.TheStudentis
theonewhoisresponsiblefortheireducation,andeffectivestudyskills
canhelp.Worksmart,nothard.

VIII.TeachingReadingSkills
StrategiesforDevelopingReadingSkills
Effectivelanguageinstructorsshow UsingReadingStrategies
studentshowtheycanadjusttheir
readingbehaviortodealwithavariety Languageinstructorsareoftenfrustratedbythefactthatstudentsdo
ofsituations,typesofinput,and
notautomaticallytransferthestrategiestheyusewhenreadingintheir
readingpurposes.Theyhelpstudents
developasetofreadingstrategiesand
nativelanguagetoreadinginalanguagetheyarelearning.
matchappropriatestrategiestoeach
readingsituation. Instead,theyseemtothinkreadingmeansstartingatthebeginning
andgoingwordbyword,stoppingtolookupeveryunknownvocabu
laryitem,untiltheyreachtheend.Whentheydothis,studentsare
relyingexclusivelyontheirlinguisticknowledge,abottomupstrategy.
Oneofthemostimportantfunctionsofthelanguageinstructor,then,is
tohelpstudentsmovepastthisideaandusetopdownstrategiesas
theydointheirnativelanguage.

Strategiesthatcanhelpstudentsreadmorequicklyandeffectively
include:
Previewing:reviewingtitles,sectionheadings,andphotocaptions
togetasenseofthestructureandcontentofareadingselection
Predicting:usingknowledgeofthesubjectmattertomake
predictionsaboutcontentandvocabularyandcheckcomprehen
sion;usingknowledgeofthetexttypeandpurposetomake
predictionsaboutdiscoursestructure;usingknowledgeaboutthe
authortomakepredictionsaboutwritingstyle,vocabulary,and
content
Skimmingandscanning:usingaquicksurveyofthetexttogetthe
mainidea,identifytextstructure,confirmorquestionpredictions
Guessingfromcontext:usingpriorknowledgeofthesubjectand
theideasinthetextascluestothemeaningsofunknownwords,
insteadofstoppingtolookthemup
Paraphrasing:stoppingattheendofasectiontocheck
comprehensionbyrestatingtheinformationandideasinthetext

Instructorscanhelpstudentslearnwhenandhowtousereading
strategiesinseveralways.
Bymodelingthestrategiesaloud,talkingthroughtheprocessesof
previewing,predicting,skimmingandscanning,andparaphrasing.
Thisshowsstudentshowthestrategiesworkandhowmuchthey
canknowaboutatextbeforetheybegintoreadwordbyword.
Byallowingtimeinclassforgroupandindividualpreviewingand
predictingactivitiesaspreparationforinclassoroutofclass
reading.Allocatingclasstimetotheseactivitiesindicatestheir
importanceandvalue.
Byusingcloze(fillintheblank)exercisestoreviewvocabulary
items.Thishelpsstudentslearntoguessmeaningfromcontext.
Byencouragingstudentstotalkaboutwhatstrategiestheythink
willhelpthemapproachareadingassignment,andthentalking
afterreadingaboutwhatstrategiestheyactuallyused.Thishelps
studentsdevelopflexibilityintheirchoiceofstrategies.
Whenlanguagelearnersusereadingstrategies,theyfindthattheycan
controlthereadingexperience,andtheygainconfidenceintheirability
toreadthelanguage.

ReadingtoLearn

Readingisanessentialpartoflanguageinstructionateverylevel
becauseitsupportslearninginmultipleways.
Readingtolearnthelanguage:Readingmaterialislanguageinput.
Bygivingstudentsavarietyofmaterialstoread,instructorsprovide
multipleopportunitiesforstudentstoabsorbvocabulary,grammar,
sentencestructure,anddiscoursestructureastheyoccurin
authenticcontexts.Studentsthusgainamorecompletepictureof
thewaysinwhichtheelementsofthelanguageworktogetherto
conveymeaning.
Readingforcontentinformation:Students'purposeforreadingin
theirnativelanguageisoftentoobtaininformationaboutasubject
theyarestudying,andthispurposecanbeusefulinthelanguage
learningclassroomaswell.Readingforcontentinformationinthe
languageclassroomgivesstudentsbothauthenticreadingmaterial
andanauthenticpurposeforreading.
Readingforculturalknowledgeandawareness:Readingeveryday
materialsthataredesignedfornativespeakerscangivestudents
insightintothelifestylesandworldviewsofthepeoplewhose
languagetheyarestudying.Whenstudentshaveaccessto
newspapers,magazines,andwebsites,theyareexposedtoculture
inallitsvariety,andmonolithicculturalstereotypesbegintobreak
down.

Whenreadingtolearn,studentsneedtofollowfourbasicsteps:
1.Figureoutthepurposeforreading.Activatebackground
knowledgeofthetopicinordertopredictoranticipatecontentand
identifyappropriatereadingstrategies.

2.Attendtothepartsofthetextthatarerelevanttotheidentified
purposeandignoretherest.Thisselectivityenablesstudentsto
focusonspecificitemsintheinputandreducestheamountof
informationtheyhavetoholdinshorttermmemory.

3.Selectstrategiesthatareappropriatetothereadingtaskanduse
themflexiblyandinteractively.Students'comprehensionimproves
andtheirconfidenceincreaseswhentheyusetopdownand
bottomupskillssimultaneouslytoconstructmeaning.

4.Checkcomprehensionwhilereadingandwhenthereadingtask
iscompleted.Monitoringcomprehensionhelpsstudentsdetect
inconsistenciesandcomprehensionfailures,helpingthemlearnto
usealternatestrategies.

DevelopingReadingActivities

Developingreadingactivitiesinvolvesmorethanidentifyingatextthat
is"attherightlevel,"writingasetofcomprehensionquestionsfor
studentstoanswerafterreading,handingouttheassignmentand
sendingstudentsawaytodoit.Afullydevelopedreadingactivity
supportsstudentsasreadersthroughprereading,whilereading,
andpostreadingactivities.
Asyoudesignreadingtasks,keepinmindthatcompleterecallofallthe
informationinatextisanunrealisticexpectationevenfornative
speakers.Readingactivitiesthataremeanttoincreasecommunicative
competenceshouldbesuccessorientedandbuildupstudents'
confidenceintheirreadingability.
Constructthereadingactivityaroundapurposethathassignificance
forthestudents

Makesurestudentsunderstandwhatthepurposeforreadingis:toget
themainidea,obtainspecificinformation,understandmostorallof
themessage,enjoyastory,ordecidewhetherornottoreadmore.
Recognizingthepurposeforreadingwillhelpstudentsselect
appropriatereadingstrategies.

Definetheactivity'sinstructionalgoalandtheappropriatetype
ofresponse

Inadditiontothemainpurposeforreading,anactivitycanalsohave
oneormoreinstructionalpurposes,suchaspracticingorreviewing
specificgrammaticalconstructions,introducingnewvocabulary,or
familiarizingstudentswiththetypicalstructureofacertaintype
oftext.
Checkthelevelofdifficultyofthetext

Thefactorslistedbelowcanhelpyoujudgetherelativeeaseor
difficultyofareadingtextforaparticularpurposeandaparticular
groupofstudents.
Howistheinformationorganized?Doesthestoryline,narrative,or
instructionconformtofamiliarexpectations?Textsinwhichthe
eventsarepresentedinnaturalchronologicalorder,whichhavean
informativetitle,andwhichpresenttheinformationfollowingan
obviousorganization(mainideasfirst,detailsandexamplessecond)
areeasiertofollow.
Howfamiliararethestudentswiththetopic?Rememberthat
misapplicationofbackgroundknowledgeduetoculturaldifferences
cancreatemajorcomprehensiondifficulties.

Doesthetextcontainredundancy?Atthelowerlevelsof
proficiency,listenersmayfindshort,simplemessageseasierto
process,butstudentswithhigherproficiencybenefitfromthe
naturalredundancyofauthenticlanguage.
Doesthetextoffervisualsupporttoaidinreadingcomprehension?
Visualaidssuchasphotographs,maps,anddiagramshelpstudents
previewthecontentofthetext,guessthemeaningsofunknown
words,andcheckcomprehensionwhilereading.

Rememberthatthelevelofdifficultyofatextisnotthesameasthe
levelofdifficultyofareadingtask.Studentswholackthevocabulary
toidentifyalloftheitemsonamenucanstilldeterminewhetherthe
restaurantservessteakandwhethertheycanaffordtoorderone.

Useprereadingactivitiestopreparestudentsforreading
Theactivitiesyouuseduringprereadingmayserveaspreparationin
severalways.
Duringprereadingyoumay:
Assessstudents'backgroundknowledgeofthetopicandlinguistic
contentofthetext
Givestudentsthebackgroundknowledgenecessaryfor
comprehensionofthetext,oractivatetheexistingknowledge
thatthestudentspossess
Clarifyanyculturalinformationwhichmaybenecessaryto
comprehendthepassage
Makestudentsawareofthetypeoftexttheywillbereadingand
thepurpose(s)forreading
Provideopportunitiesforgrouporcollaborativeworkandforclass
discussionactivities
Sampleprereadingactivities:
Usingthetitle,subtitles,anddivisionswithinthetexttopredict
contentandorganizationorsequenceofinformation
Lookingatpictures,maps,diagrams,orgraphsandtheircaptions

Talkingabouttheauthor'sbackground,writingstyle,andusual
topics
Skimmingtofindthethemeormainideaandelicitingrelatedprior
knowledge
Reviewingvocabularyorgrammaticalstructures
Readingoverthecomprehensionquestionstofocusattentionon
findingthatinformationwhilereading
Constructingsemanticwebs(agraphicarrangementofconceptsor
wordsshowinghowtheyarerelated)

Doingguidedpracticewithguessingmeaningfromcontextorchecking
comprehensionwhilereadingprereadingactivitiesaremostimportant
atlowerlevelsoflanguageproficiencyandatearlierstagesofreading
instruction.
Asstudentsbecomemoreproficientatusingreadingstrategies,you
willbeabletoreducetheamountofguidedprereadingandallow
studentstodotheseactivitiesthemselves.

Matchwhilereadingactivitiestothepurposeforreading

Inwhilereadingactivities,studentschecktheircomprehensionasthey
read.Thepurposeforreadingdeterminestheappropriatetypeand
levelofcomprehension.
Whenreadingforspecificinformation,studentsneedtoask
themselves,haveIobtainedtheinformationIwaslookingfor?
Whenreadingforpleasure,studentsneedtoaskthemselves,DoI
understandthestoryline/sequenceofideaswellenoughtoenjoy
readingthis?
Whenreadingforthoroughunderstanding(intensivereading),
studentsneedtoaskthemselves:DoIunderstandeachmainidea
andhowtheauthorsupportsit?DoeswhatI'mreadingagreewith
mypredictions,and,ifnot,howdoesitdiffer?Tocheck
comprehensioninthissituation,studentsmay:

Stopattheendofeachsectiontoreviewandchecktheirpredictions,
restatethemainideaandsummarizethesection.
Usethecomprehensionquestionsasguidestothetext,stoppingto
answerthemastheyread.

AssessingReadingProficiency

Readingabilityisverydifficulttoassessaccurately.Inthe
communicativecompetencemodel,astudent'sreadinglevelisthe
levelatwhichthatstudentisabletousereadingtoaccomplish
communicationgoals.Thismeansthatassessmentofreadingability
needstobecorrelatedwithpurposesforreading.
ReadingAloud

AboutReadingAloud Astudent'sperformancewhenreadingaloudisnotareliableindicator
ofthatstudent'sreadingability.Astudentwhoisperfectlycapableof
Readingaloudisataskthatstudents
understandingagiventextwhenreadingitsilentlymaystumblewhen
willrarely,ifever,needtodooutside
oftheclassroom.Asamethodof
askedtocombinecomprehensionwithwordrecognitionandspeaking
assessment,therefore,itisnot abilityinthewaythatreadingaloudrequires.
authentic:Itdoesnottestastudent's
abilitytousereadingtoaccomplisha However,readingaloudcanhelpateacherassesswhetherastudentis
purposeorgoal. "seeing"wordendingsandothergrammaticalfeatureswhenreading.
Tousereadingaloudforthispurpose,adoptthe"readandlookup"
approach:Askthestudenttoreadasentencesilentlyoneormore
times,untilcomfortablewiththecontent,thenlookupandtellyou
whatitsays.Thisprocedureallowsthestudenttoprocessthetext,and
letsyouseetheresultsofthatprocessingandknowwhatelements,if
any,thestudentismissing.

ComprehensionQuestions

Instructorsoftenusecomprehensionquestionstotestwhether
studentshaveunderstoodwhattheyhaveread.Inordertotest
comprehensionappropriately,thesequestionsneedtobecoordinated
withthepurposeforreading.Ifthepurposeistofindspecific
information,comprehensionquestionsshouldfocusonthat
information.Ifthepurposeistounderstandanopinionandthe
argumentsthatsupportit,comprehensionquestionsshouldaskabout
thosepoints.
Ineverydayreadingsituations,readershaveapurposeforreading
beforetheystart.Thatis,theyknowwhatcomprehensionquestions
theyaregoingtoneedtoanswerbeforetheybeginreading.Tomake
readingassessmentinthelanguageclassroommorelikereading
outsideoftheclassroom,therefore,allowstudentstoreviewthe
comprehensionquestionsbeforetheybegintoreadthetestpassage.
Finally,whenthepurposeforreadingisenjoyment,comprehension
questionsarebesidethepoint.Asamoreauthenticformof
assessment,havestudentstalkorwriteaboutwhytheyfoundthetext
enjoyableandinteresting(ornot).

AuthenticAssessment

Inordertoprovideauthenticassessmentofstudents'reading
proficiency,apostlisteningactivitymustreflectthereallifeuses
towhichstudentsmightputinformationtheyhavegainedthrough
reading.
Itmusthaveapurposeotherthanassessment
Itmustrequirestudentstodemonstratetheirlevelofreading
comprehensionbycompletingsometask

Todevelopauthenticassessmentactivities,considerthetypeof
responsethatreadingaparticularselectionwouldelicitina
nonclassroomsituation.Forexample,afterreadingaweatherreport,
onemightdecidewhattowearthenextday;afterreadingasetof
instructions,onemightrepeatthemtosomeoneelse;afterreading
ashortstory,onemightdiscussthestorylinewithfriends.
Usethisresponsetypeasabaseforselectingappropriatepostreading
tasks.Youcanthendevelopachecklistorrubricthatwillallowyouto
evaluateeachstudent'scomprehensionofspecificpartsofthetext.

IX.TeachingWritingSkills
Teachingwritingisoftenaboutteachinggrammar.Ifgrammarcomes
upanywhereinEFL,itisinthewritingclassroom.MostEFLstudents
willhavesomewritingskillswhenyougetthem.Buttheywilloften
haveanideathattheirwritingisquitegoodandgenerallyitwillbe
quitepoor.
ManyEFLstudentswillhavehadsomeexperiencewithparagraphand
essaywriting,but,infact,willhavequitepoorwritingskillsatthe
sentencelevel.Therefore,youwillneedtotakethembacktosentence
levelandbegintoteachthemverybasicstructureandhowtowrite
simply.Runonandfragmentedsentenceswillbeverycommonuntil
youcorrectthoseerrors.
Themorebasicyougetwithyourwritingstudents,thebetter.Once
agoodfoundationisbuilt,youcanmoveontobasicparagraph
writingandontoessays.Theseskillstaketimetodevelopthough
andyouwillfindthatmosttextbookswillmoveyourstudentsforward
tooquickly.

TwomanuscriptsdevelopedspecificallyforEFLstudentscanbe
downloadedforthiscourseat:
http://teflebooks.com/SentenceWriting.pdfand
Learnhow... http://teflebooks.com/AdvancedWriting.pdf
ManyEFLTeacherseitherdontlikeor
Examinebothofthesemanuscriptsandnoticetheprogressionfrom
dontknowhowtoteachwritingskills
teachingsentencewritingskillstobuildingparagraphs,andeventually
effectively.Withjustabitofthought
towritingessays.Usetheformatofthesetwobookstohelpyouteach
andplanningyoucanhaveaprofound writingtoanygroupofstudents.Thetwobooksdemonstratethe
impactonyourstudentswritingskills correctmethodforimprovingyourstudentswritingskills.
andthustheirexaminationscores.
Ifyouhavenopreviousexperienceteachingwriting,workthroughboth
ofthebookstodeepenyourunderstandingofthetechniquesinvolved.
Takeparticularnoteofwhatskillscomeinwhatorderandhowthe
manuscriptsusethepreviouslytaughtskillsrepeatedlyinthefollowing
lessonstoreinforcethestudentsmemoryandskill.

StrategiesforDevelopingListeningSkills

Languagelearningdependsonlistening.Listeningprovidestheaural
inputthatservesasthebasisforlanguageacquisitionandenables
learnerstointeractinspokencommunication.

ListeningStrategies

Listeningstrategiesaretechniquesoractivitiesthatcontributedirectly
Effectivelanguageinstructorsshow tothecomprehensionandrecalloflisteninginput.Listeningstrategies
studentshowtheycanadjusttheir canbeclassifiedbyhowthelistenerprocessestheinput.
listeningbehaviortodealwitha
varietyofsituations,typesofinput,
Topdownstrategiesarelistenerbased;thelistenertapsinto
andlisteningpurposes.Theyhelp
studentsdevelopasetoflistening
backgroundknowledgeofthetopic,thesituationorcontext,thetype
strategiesandmatchappropriate oftext,andthelanguage.Thisbackgroundknowledgeactivatesaset
strategiestoeachlisteningsituation. ofexpectationsthathelpthelistenertointerpretwhatisheardand
anticipatewhatwillcomenext.Topdownstrategiesinclude:
listeningforthemainidea
predicting
drawinginferences
Summarizing

Bottomupstrategiesaretextbased;thelistenerreliesonthelanguage
inthemessage,thatis,thecombinationofsounds,words,and
grammarthatcreatesmeaning.Bottomupstrategiesinclude
listeningforspecificdetails
recognizingcognates
recognizingwordorderpatterns

Strategiclistenersalsousemetacognitivestrategiestoplan,monitor,
andevaluatetheirlistening.
Theyplanbydecidingwhichlisteningstrategieswillservebestina
particularsituation.
Theymonitortheircomprehensionandtheeffectivenessofthe
selectedstrategies.
Theyevaluatebydeterminingwhethertheyhaveachievedtheir
listeningcomprehensiongoalsandwhetherthecombinationof
listeningstrategiesselectedwasaneffectiveone.

ListeningforMeaning

Toextractmeaningfromalisteningtext,studentsneedtofollowfour
basicsteps:
Figureoutthepurposeforlistening.Activatebackground
knowledgeofthetopicinordertopredictoranticipatecontent
andidentifyappropriatelisteningstrategies.
Attendtothepartsofthelisteninginputthatarerelevanttothe
identifiedpurposeandignoretherest.Thisselectivityenables
studentstofocusonspecificitemsintheinputandreducesthe
amountofinformationtheyhavetoholdinshorttermmemory
inordertorecognizeit.
Selecttopdownandbottomupstrategiesthatareappropriateto
thelisteningtaskandusethemflexiblyandinteractively.Students'
comprehensionimprovesandtheirconfidenceincreaseswhenthey
usetopdownandbottomupstrategiessimultaneouslyto
constructmeaning.
Checkcomprehensionwhilelisteningandwhenthelisteningtask
isover.Monitoringcomprehensionhelpsstudentsdetect
inconsistenciesandcomprehensionfailures,directingthemto
usealternatestrategies.

DevelopingListeningActivities

Asyoudesignlisteningtasks,keepinmindthatcompleterecallofall
theinformationinanauraltextisanunrealisticexpectationtowhich
evennativespeakersarenotusuallyheld.Listeningexercisesthatare
meanttotrainshouldbesuccessorientedandbuildupstudents'
confidenceintheirlisteningability.

Constructthelisteningactivityaroundacontextualizedtask.

Contextualizedlisteningactivitiesapproximatereallifetasksandgive
thelisteneranideaofthetypeofinformationtoexpectandwhattodo
withitinadvanceoftheactuallistening.Abeginningleveltaskwould
belocatingplacesonamap(oneway)orexchangingnameandaddress
information(twoway).Atanintermediatelevelstudentscouldfollow
directionsforassemblingsomething(oneway)orworkinpairsto
createastorytotelltotherestoftheclass(twoway).
Definetheactivity'sinstructionalgoalandtypeofresponse.

Eachactivityshouldhaveasitsgoaltheimprovementofoneormore
specificlisteningskills.Alisteningactivitymayhavemorethanonegoal
oroutcome,butbecarefulnottooverburdentheattentionofbeginning
orintermediatelisteners.

Recognizingthegoal(s)oflisteningcomprehensionineachlistening
situationwillhelpstudentsselectappropriatelisteningstrategies.
Identification:Recognizingordiscriminatingspecificaspectsofthe
message,suchassounds,categoriesofwords,morphological
distinctions
Orientation:Determiningthemajorfactsaboutamessage,suchas
topic,texttype,setting
Mainideacomprehension:Identifyingthehigherorderideas
Detailcomprehension:Identifyingsupportingdetails
Replication:Reproducingthemessageorallyorinwriting

Checkthelevelofdifficultyofthelisteningtext.

Thefactorslistedbelowcanhelpyoujudgetherelativeeaseordifficulty
ofalisteningtextforaparticularpurposeandaparticulargroupof
students.
Howistheinformationorganized?Doesthestoryline,narrative,or
instructionconformtofamiliarexpectations?
Textsinwhichtheeventsarepresentedinnaturalchronologicalorder,
whichhaveaninformativetitle,andwhichpresenttheinformation
followinganobviousorganization(mainideasfirst,detailsand
examplessecond)areeasiertofollow.

Howfamiliararethestudentswiththetopic?
Rememberthatmisapplicationofbackgroundknowledgedueto
culturaldifferencescancreatemajorcomprehensiondifficulties.
Doesthetextcontainredundancy?
Atthelowerlevelsofproficiency,listenersmayfindshort,simple
messageseasiertoprocess,butstudentswithhigherproficiency
benefitfromthenaturalredundancyofthelanguage.
Doesthetextinvolvemultipleindividualsandobjects?Aretheyclearly
differentiated?
Itiseasiertounderstandatextwithadoctorandapatientthanone
withtwodoctors,anditiseveneasieriftheyareoftheoppositesex.
Inotherwords,themoremarkedthedifferences,theeasierthe
comprehension.
Doesthetextoffervisualsupporttoaidintheinterpretationofwhat
thelistenershear?
Visualaidssuchasmaps,diagrams,pictures,ortheimagesinavideo
helpcontextualizethelisteninginputandprovidecluestomeaning.

Useprelisteningactivitiestopreparestudentsforwhatthey
aregoingtohearorview.

Theactivitieschosenduringprelisteningmayserveaspreparationfor
listeninginseveralways.Duringprelisteningtheteachermay
assessstudents'backgroundknowledgeofthetopicandlinguistic
contentofthetext
providestudentswiththebackgroundknowledgenecessaryfor
theircomprehensionofthelisteningpassageoractivatethe
existingknowledgethatthestudentspossess
clarifyanyculturalinformationwhichmaybenecessaryto
comprehendthepassage
makestudentsawareofthetypeoftexttheywillbelisteningto,
theroletheywillplay,andthepurpose(s)forwhichtheywillbe
listening
provideopportunitiesforgrouporcollaborativeworkandfor
backgroundreadingorclassdiscussionactivities

Sampleprelisteningactivities:
lookingatpictures,maps,diagrams,orgraphs
reviewingvocabularyorgrammaticalstructures
readingsomethingrelevant
constructingsemanticwebs(agraphicarrangementofconceptsor
wordsshowinghowtheyarerelated)
predictingthecontentofthelisteningtext
goingoverthedirectionsorinstructionsfortheactivity
doingguidedpractice

Matchwhilelisteningactivitiestotheinstructionalgoal,thelistening
purpose,andstudents'proficiencylevel.

Whilelisteningactivitiesrelatedirectlytothetext,andstudentsdothem
duringorimmediatelyafterthetimetheyarelistening.Keepthesepoints
inmindwhenplanningwhilelisteningactivities:
Ifstudentsaretocompleteawrittentaskduringorimmediatelyafterlis
tening,allowthemtoreadthroughitbeforelistening.
Studentsneedtodevotealltheirattentiontothelisteningtask.Besure
theyunderstandtheinstructionsforthewrittentaskbeforelisteningbe
ginssothattheyarenotdistractedbytheneedtofigureoutwhattodo.

Keepwritingtoaminimumduringlistening.
Rememberthattheprimarygoaliscomprehension,notproduction.
Havingtowritewhilelisteningmaydistractstudentsfromthisprimary
goal.Ifawrittenresponseistobegivenafterlistening,thetaskcanbe
moredemanding.
Organizeactivitiessothattheyguidelistenersthroughthetext.
Combineglobalactivitiessuchasgettingthemainidea,topic,and
settingwithselectivelisteningactivitiesthatfocusondetailsof
contentandform.
Usequestionstofocusstudents'attentionontheelementsofthetext
crucialtocomprehensionofthewhole.
Beforethelisteningactivitybegins,havestudentsreviewquestions
theywillanswerorallyorinwritingafterlistening.Listeningforthe
answerswillhelpstudentsrecognizethecrucialpartsofthemessage.
Usepredictingtoencouragestudentstomonitortheircomprehension
astheylisten.
Doapredictingactivitybeforelistening,andremindstudentstoreview
whattheyarehearingtoseeifitmakessenseinthecontextoftheir
priorknowledgeandwhattheyalreadyknowofthetopicoreventsof
thepassage.
Giveimmediatefeedbackwheneverpossible.Encouragestudentsto
examinehoworwhytheirresponseswereincorrect.

Samplewhilelisteningactivities
listeningwithvisuals
fillingingraphsandcharts
followingarouteonamap
checkingoffitemsinalist
listeningforthegist
searchingforspecificcluestomeaning
completingcloze(fillin)exercises
distinguishingbetweenformalandinformalregisters

UsingTextbookListeningActivities

Thegreatestchallengeswithtextbooktapeprogramsareintegrating
thelisteningexperiencesintoclassroominstructionandkeepingup
studentinterestandmotivation.Thesechallengesarisefromthefact
thatmosttextbooklisteningprogramsemphasizeproduct(rightor
wronganswer)overprocess(howtogetmeaningfromtheselection)
andfromthefactthatthelisteningactivitiesareusuallycarriedoutas
anaddon,awayfromtheclassroom.

Youcanusetheguidelinesfordevelopinglisteningactivitiesgivenhere
asstartingpointsforevaluatingandadaptingtextbooklisteningpro
grams.Atthebeginningoftheteachingterm,orientstudentstothe
tapeprogrambycompletingtheexercisesinclassanddiscussingthe
differentstrategiestheyusetoanswerthequestions.
Itisagoodideatoperiodicallycompletesomeofthelabexercisesin
classtomaintainthelinktotheregularinstructionalprogramandto
checkontheeffectivenessoftheexercisesthemselves.
IntegratingListeningStrategiesWithTextbookAudioand
Video

Studentscanusethisoutlineforbothinclassandoutofclasslisten
ing/viewingactivities.Modelandpracticetheuseoftheoutlineatleast
onceinclassbeforeyouaskstudentstouseitindependently.
1.Planforlistening/viewing
Reviewthevocabularylist,ifyouhaveone
Reviewtheworksheet,ifyouhaveone
Reviewanyinformationyouhaveaboutthecontentofthetape/
video

2.Previewthetape/video
(tape)Usefastforwardtoplaysegmentsofthetape;(video)viewthe
videowithoutsound
Identifythekindofprogram(news,documentary,interview,drama)
Makealistofpredictionsaboutthecontent
Decidehowtodividethetape/videointosectionsforintensivelistening/
viewing

3.Listen/viewintensivelysectionbysection.Foreachsection:
Jotdownkeywordsyouunderstand
Answertheworksheetquestionspertainingtothesection
Ifyoudon'thaveaworksheet,writeashortsummaryofthesection

4.Monitoryourcomprehension
Doesitfitwiththepredictionsyoumade?
Doesyoursummaryforeachsectionmakesenseinrelationtotheother
sections?

5.Evaluateyourlisteningcomprehensionprogress

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