Teaching Reading
In the IELTS Academic Reading module, there are three passages and 40 questions. Students will need to answer all the questions in one hour, which means they only have 1.5 minutes for each question. Time management is thus a key factor for them to succeed in this module. Check out these tips for you to deliver this module in a communicative way. The IELTS official has also shared a sample activity for teaching the module:
How to choose an article for an IELTS Reading class?
Apart from using typical IELTS textbook for teaching Reading, you may want to create sample papers on your own. However, that is a very time-consuming process and determining whether the texts available online are of use for your students may also be challenging. Therefore, below are some considerations for your reference when looking for an article to use:
How long should an article be?
An appropriate length would be heavily depended on the proficiency of your students. If you are working with beginners or young learners, the texts are better to be short and brief. For advanced learners, on the other hand, longer articles are more applicable. In the IELTS Reading module, articles of about 1,000 words are involved. If you want to get the students prepared and familiarized with the test, articles at that length would be appropriate. However, shorter articles may be noteworthy for training reading skills, such as scanning and skimming because they are less demanding in terms of cognitive load.
Is there too much jargon in the text?
It is academic vocabulary that you want your students to learn and acquire, not technical vocabulary, which is also the aim of the Reading module – to test students’ understanding of general and academic vocabulary. Therefore, technical articles or articles flooded with terminologies would not be ideal to be a reading passage for students to prepare the test.
Will it be interesting or relevant to your students?
Because reading lessons can be really boring for both students and teachers, articles that are interesting or relevant to your students can at least boost a little bit of their attention on class. Topics such as Language, Technology, Games, Health and Fitness, Universities, Environmental protection, etc. are all possible. Passages related to the current affairs can also be employed as students will have more background knowledge about the contents, thus are easier to get involved in the tasks.
Do you have any related materials/activities to incorporate?
Although reading is the focus of your lesson, it doesn’t mean that every activity is about reading. Discussions (in small groups or with the whole class), short written reflections, and even activity of watching video clips can also designed around the text. Therefore, when you are looking for articles from various resources (e.g., newspaper, online magazines), you may also prepare some videos or pictures related to the theme. Activities with various formats can make a reading lesson more interactive, communicative and eventually – less boring to your students.
Sample reading passage with questions (developed by David S. Wills)
Contents adapted from:
http://ielts-academic.com/2012/08/15/ielts-reading-10-tips-for-teachers/
https://ielts-teaching.com/how-to-create-good-reading-lessons-for-esl-and-ielts/