Слайд 1NATE – 2016, SMOLENSK
SVETLANA SEMENOVYKH
BIROBIDZHAN
Some tips on preparing
students for international exams
Слайд 2TOEFL format
Reading 3–5 passages, 12–14 questions each 60–100 minutes
Listening 4–6
lectures, 6 questions each 2–3 conversations, 5 questions each
60–90 minutes
BREAK 10 minutes
Speaking 6 tasks: 2 independent and 4 integrated 20 minutes
Writing 1 integrated task (20 min.) 1 independent task (30 min)
Слайд 3 Suggestions for ways to build skills for the three reading
purposes included in TOEFL iBT.
The best way to improve reading skills is to read frequently and to read many different types of texts in various subject areas.
Reading to find information:
• Scan the passages to find and highlight key facts (dates, numbers, terms) and information. • Practice this frequently to increase reading rate and fluency.
2. Reading for basic comprehension • Increase vocabulary knowledge. • Rather than carefully reading each word and each sentence, practice skimming a passage quickly to get a general impression of the main idea. • Build up the ability to skim quickly and to identify the major points.
Слайд 4Reading tips
After skimming a passage, read it again more carefully
and write down the main idea, major points, and important facts.
Choose some unfamiliar words in the passage and guess the meaning from the context (surrounding sentences). Then, look them up to determine their meaning.
Underline all pronouns (e.g., he, him, they, them, etc.) and identify the nouns to which they refer in the passage.
Practice making inferences and drawing conclusions based on what is implied in the passage as a whole.
Слайд 53. Reading to learn
• Identify the passage type (classification, cause-and-effect, compare-and-contrast,
problem and-solution, description, narration) • Do the following to organize the information in the passage: • Create an outline of the passage to distinguish between major and minor points.
• In the TOEFL iBT test, test takers do not have to create a chart. Instead, a chart with possible answer choices is provided for them, and they are required to fill in the chart with the correct choices. Practicing the skill of filling in the chart will help test takers think about categorizing information, and be able to do so with ease.
Слайд 6 Time to read, think & analyze
Слайд 7Listening Tips
Listening to the English language frequently and reading a wide
variety of academic materials is the best way to improve listening skills.
Watching movies and television, and listening to the radio provide excellent opportunities to build listening skills.
Lectures and presentations are equally valuable. Those with transcripts are particularly helpful. The Internet is also a great resource for listening material.
Слайд 8Listening tips for Basic Comprehension
Increase vocabulary.
Focus on the content and
flow of spoken material. Do not be distracted by the speaker’s style and delivery.
Anticipate what a person is going to say as a way to stay focused.
Stay active by asking yourself questions (eg what main idea is the professor communicating?).
Слайд 10More tips on listening
Copy the words, “main idea, major points,
and important details” on different lines of paper. Listen carefully, and write these down while listening. Continue listening until all important points and details are written down and then review them.
Listen to a portion of a lecture or talk and create an outline of important points. Use the outline to write a brief summary. Gradually increase the amount of the presentation you use to write the summary.
Слайд 11 2. Listening for pragmatic understanding (speaker’s purpose, attitude, degree
of certainty)
Think about what each speaker hopes to accomplish; that is, what is the purpose of the speech or conversation? Is the speaker apologizing, complaining, making suggestions, etc.?
Notice the way each speaker talks. Is the level of language formal or casual? How certain does each speaker sound? Is the speaker’s voice calm or emotional? What does the speaker’s tone of voice tell you?
• Notice the degree of certainty of the speaker. How sure is the speaker about the information? Does the speaker’s tone of voice indicate something about his/her degree of certainty?
Слайд 123. Listening to connect and synthesize ideas
Think about how the
lecture is organized. Listen for the signal words that indicate the introduction, major steps or ideas, examples, and the conclusion or summary.
• Identify the relationships of ideas in the information being discussed. Possible relationships include: cause-and-effect, compare-and-contrast, steps in a process.
• Listen for words that show connections and relationships between ideas.
• Listen to recorded material and stop the recording at various points and try to predict what information or idea will be expressed next.
• Create an outline of the information discussed while listening or after listening.
Слайд 13Independent Speaking Tasks
• Make a list of topics that are
familiar, and practice speaking about them.
• Begin by describing a familiar place or talking about a personal experience.
• A more advanced exercise would be to state an opinion or a preference and then present reasons clearly and with detail.
• Another is to make a recommendation and explain why it is the best way to proceed.
• Practice giving 1-minute responses to each topic.
Слайд 15Integrated Speaking Tasks
• Find a textbook that includes questions about
the material at the end of chapters. Practice answering the questions orally.
• Read a short article. Make an outline that includes only the major points of the article. Use the outline to orally summarize the information. Then add detail to the outline and orally summarize again. • Find listening and reading material on the same topic. The material can provide similar or different views. • Take notes on the listening and reading material and do the following: 1. Orally summarize the information in both. Be sure to paraphrase using different words and grammatical structures. 2. Orally synthesize by combining information from the reading and listening material and explain how they relate.
Слайд 16Integrated Speaking Tasks
• State and support an opinion about the
ideas and information presented in the reading and listening material.
• If the reading and/or listening material describes a problem, suggest and explain a solution to the problem.
• Recognize the attitude of the speaker or the writer of the original material through intonation, stress, and word choice. This helps you understand his/her point of view and plan an appropriate response.
Слайд 17
Writing Tips
Integrated Writing Tasks
Find a textbook that includes questions about the
material at the end of chapters and practice writing answers to the questions.
Read an article that is about 300-400 words long. Make an outline that includes the major points and important details of the article. Use the outline to write a summary of the information and ideas. Summaries should be brief and clearly communicate only the major points and important details. Be sure to paraphrase using different words and grammatical structures.
Слайд 18More tips on writing
Find listening and reading material on a
single topic on the Internet or in the library. The material can provide similar or different views. Take notes on the written and spoken portions, and do the following:
Summarise the information and ideas in both the written and spoken portions.
Synthesise the information and discuss how the reading and listening materials relate. Explain how the ideas expressed are similar, how one idea expands upon another, or how the ideas are different or contradict each other.
Слайд 19
Independent Writing Tasks
Make a list of familiar topics and practice writing
about them. For each topic state an opinion or a preference and then support it with evidence.
Practice planning and writing at least one essay for each topic. Be sure to take 30 minutes to plan, write, and revise each essay.
Think about and list all ideas related to a topic or task before writing. This is also called “prewriting.”
Identify one main idea and some major points to support that idea, and plan how to communicate them (by creating, for example, an outline to organize ideas).
Create a focused thesis statement and use it to develop the ideas presented in the essay.
Develop the essay by using appropriate explanation and detail.
Слайд 20References and links
How to prepare for the next generation TOEFL
test and communicate with confidence, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ, USA., 2005
www.ets.org/toefl
http://lengish.com/tests/toefl
Слайд 27Access group – 2016 with FLEX alum-2014 Yevgenia
Слайд 28Good luck!
“Exams test your memory, life tests your learning; others
will test your patience.” Fennel Hudson