Over the next month we will go over some tips to help you mentally prepare yourself for an ISLPR test and strategies to help you perform well during an exam.

To make things easy, we'll break the test down into 4 parts and provide strategies to improve each of your macro-skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. Today, we're looking at:

The Reading Test.

Part 2: during the test

1. Make sure you understand the task that the tester has given you; this will indicate which approach to reading you should use.
   • With any text, you may be given different kinds of tasks; for example, you may be asked to read a whole text extensively and then a key section of it intensively.
2. You can ask how long you make take to read a text silently before talking about, but normally the tester will give you only an approximate time, because individual reading speeds vary greatly.
   • The tester is interested in whether your reading speed is appropriate for the task, and that you use - and do not overuse - appropriate strategies. (Remember what we wrote about in our previous blog on reading strategies).
3. Use graphic features (e.g. photos, headlines, print size) to help you understand the ideas of the text.
4. Use a topic (introductory) paragraph to help you to understand the main idea of a text and topic sentences to help you to understand the main idea of paragraphs.
5. The tester may ask you to make inferences.
6. You do not always have to maintain eye contact with the tester in this part of the test. It's generally OK to look back at a text when you are talking about it.
7. If the tester asks what a text - or a section of it- is about, you need to change the words when you answer. If you simply repeat the original words, you will not have proved that you have understood it.
8. When the tester asks a question about the text, answer as directly as you can. For example, if the testers asks you the main point of a particular paragraph, there is no need to start with "In my opinion the main point of the third paragraph is..............."

Let us know if these tips were helpful in the comments section below! If you have any questions relating to the reading section of the test, comment below and we'll reply back to you ASAP.

Over the next month we will go over some tips to help you mentally prepare yourself for an ISLPR test and strategies to help you perform well during an exam.

To make things easy, we'll break the test down into 4 parts and provide strategies to improve each of your macro-skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. Today, we're looking at:

The Reading Test.

Part 1: before the test

Before you sit an ISLPR test, we encourage you to practise your English skills at home every day.

• Read texts that are of interest to you (and especially those related to your studies or professional field) in a wide range of publications intended for native speakers of English.
• Create the right level of challenge for yourself. For example, you might start with free local newspapers and progress to metropolitan and national daily newspapers and then weekly publications (e.g. Time Magazine).
• When reading, consider the writer's attitudes and intentions as well as the factual information.

Practise the following different approaches to reading, both in your first language and in English:

1. Scanning the text for a particular piece of information needed or specified;
2. reading extensively for the gist or main ideas; and
3. reading intensively for precise meanings and relationships between meanings.

Consider how your reading speed differs with the different approaches listed above and which strategies are appropriate. For example, if you are scanning, it is generally not a good idea to underline or use a highlighter because it will slow you down.

Practise underlining or using a highlighter in ways that help you to 'attack' different kinds of texts. For example, if the text is a news story or article that gives different opinions, you might highlight the names of the different people, or just linkers such as "however" or "as well".

Consider highlighting to link different parts of the text. For example, if the same person is quoted more than once, you might draw a line in the margin or even across the text to link these places. A lot of people underline or highlight too many words.

Develop skills in paraphrasing (reporting the same ideas but in different words); these will help you in your academic studies or professional work as well as in your test.

Up next: "Part 2: during the test"

NB: Many of the points in the section on LISTENING are also relevant to READING.

Let us know if these tips were helpful in the comments section below! If you have any questions relating to the reading section of the test, comment below and we'll reply back to you ASAP.