Reading Strategies - TOEFL iBT - Your Reading Skills Count!

TOEFL iBT Reading Section

The TOEFL iBT test is via the Internet. There are four sections (listening, reading, speaking, and writing) which take a total of about four and a half hours to complete everything. Some students expect american speakers to take part in the Listening and Speaking sections of the test, however, Different speakers are included, so you may find other native-speaker English accents in addition to accents from North America. You may hear accents from the U.K., New Zealand or Australia. Try to read materials from diffrent sources and listen to differen English accents. Even though we meant to add some general information about the test format, our main focus in this artcle lies on strategies to be applied in the reading section.

 The image shows the TOEFL iBT format.

Image: https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/about/content/ 

If you have been to any school or if you are a student, you know how to read a text, an article or books, but when you prepare yourself for the TOEFL test, you need to go back to square one. Before you take this test, you need to make sure your reading acitivity and skills are sharp. If you think that your reading skills are not that good, start to read as much as possible. In order to be prepared for this test, you must have the right sorts of reading materials, improve your reading skills and keep in mind some points and reading procedures.

First of all, start reading major newspapers in English, such as The New York Times or Science Times. There are also usefull websites, for example, National Public Radio (NPR) or the BBC to get transcripts of shows and study the content and new vocabulary you encounter. This is going be very helpful for you to expand your vocabulary knowledge. As you do it, develop a simple system for recording difficult words, write and use them in sentences of your own.

Second, when you read articles or newspaper, you might come across unfamiliar words that will probably hold you back from reading fast. You need to develop some reading skills to understand the meaning of words in context. Practice using context to guess the meaning of unknown words. Always try to use the new words you encounter in your everyday speech and writing productions. This procedure will definitely help you remember both the meaning and the correct usage of the words. So it seems to be one of the best ways to increase your vocabulary knowledge. If you have any other strategy that works well for you, just do it.

Next important procedure is to use your ability to think very carefully. You need to use two famous reading techniques: skimming and scanning. these are two specific speed-reading techniques, which enable you to cover a vast amount of material very rapidly. These two techniques are similar in process but different in purpose. Learn how to skim and scan texts fast and become a flexible reader.

Some reading strategies help you get, in the text, the information you need without wasting time. By the way, time is something you should be concerned when you take the TOEFL test. Therefore, learn what information to read and increases your reading speed. You can only do this when you know what specific information to read and which method to use. However, when you quickly look over a text, this procedure is neither skimming nor scanning because both techniques require specific steps to be followed. You use skimming to look for main ideas in a given text, and use scanning to look for specific facts or pieces of information without reading everything. For the TOEFL iBT test, you must learn and apply these two reading techniques.

In the reading section, learn how to deal with the reading materials. You have to think carefully about how ideas are connected and understand the structure of the reading passages, as well as how to quickly outline the texts. You are alloweded to make an outline or sketch out information on a piece of paper. This procedure will support you in every single section, so take advantage of this and use it wasily. Begin by determining the main idea or concept presented in each paragraph. Think about how the key idea in one paragraph relates to the main point of the next paragraph. If there are several paragraphs that focus on the same idea or concept, synthesize the key points into one main idea. Quickly sketch it all on a scrap paper. If the text argues two points of view, include them in your outline.

See other references, sources, and Internet sites for TOEFL contents and tips. Sites:

Tips and strategies on TOEFL iBT Reading Section Video: Reading Section Tips.

How to Score 117 out of 120 on TOEFL: Reading and Listening Tips - TOEFL Story Who Scored 117 out 120? How?

Reading Tricks, Tips, & Strategy Reading Tricks

TOEFL iBT 800 Word Reading Passage: Learn How to Read It.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9KzkcMv1hk