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[aaronschwartz]

I used the following 21st Century article on the reading comprehension final. Guess what each of 240 students identified as their main mistake in preparing for an exam?


Cramming is not the answer
Date: 2003-06-15 00:00:00
Topic: Testing


THE SARS crisis is receding. But another challenge is on the way: The College English Test (CET) on June 21. To help students do well, 21st Century spoke with CET insiders at the National College English Testing Committee to get some tips on preparation and test taking...



THE SARS crisis is receding. But another challenge is on the way: The College English Test (CET) on June 21. To help students do well, 21st Century spoke with CET insiders at the National College English Testing Committee (NCETC) to get some tips on preparation and test taking.

These words from the authorities may be helpful for the Band 4 or Band 6 tests.


Reading more is a much better way to prepare for the test.

For those whose study patterns were interrupted by SARS, building confidence is extremely important. "The CET measures students' overall English ability. That ability is fairly stable, meaning that wandering away from it briefly will not lower one's English proficiency or performance. So don't worry too much if you didn't keep studying English over the last few weeks," said Yang Qingwu, NCETC member and professor at Tsinghua University.

According to Yang, two weeks is enough time for students to refamiliarize themselves with English and the test. And, reading will help. Zhang Yanqiu, NCETC consultant and professor at Peking University, had this advice: "Don't memorize vocabulary from books any longer. Reading can help students rediscover their sense of English. By reading, they can reinforce vocabulary and word usage in a context, which also helps them get used to listening and reading parts of the test. So, whenever you have free time, read through textbooks or other suitable reading materials."

Other test taking skills are needed, in addition to confidence, when dealing with the listening, reading and writing parts, the professors said.

In listening, speed is not much of a problem since most students have become familiar with it. The difficulty lies in the fact that the questions may not be on paper. So, the students have fewer clues beforehand to predict what they will hear.

"Being able to predict is important. Though there are no questions, students may learn to predict from the answers in the multiple-choice form. But remember, don't rely on prediction too much. Answers should be got from correct understanding of the input," explained Zhang.

She also suggested that the student not stop or go back during the listening test. Since the material is played only once, concentrate on what is being played. If you can't find the answer immediately, leave it till you have more time.

Reading is still the most important part, and accounts for almost 40 per cent of the total score. Allocate enough time for it.

"Read every passage two times. Read it line by line the first time. Understanding should be achieved through the first reading. Questions should be answered through the second reading," Yang advised.

Some students read the questions before they start on the passage. They assume that reading the questions will speed up the process of picking the right answers from the reading. Yang does not agree with this practice.

"In the CET, the questions are worded differently from the passage and most answers are buried. Usually, an answer can't be picked up directly. Getting the right answer depends on the correct understanding of the details and the overall passage," Zhang emphasized.

When doing the writing part, ideas or opinions are at least as important as the language. One problem in students' writing is a lack of content even though the language might be good.

"Language is only a form of ideas. The idea itself is still important. So before writing, take 3 to 5 minutes to brainstorm and think what examples, facts or opinions need to be included," suggested Zhang.

There is, however, no need for an outline because the CET writing is guided and there is a rough outline. Just note down the ideas to add to the outline given.

There may be only two weeks left, but regular practice is still helpful, both professors say. This helps students become familiar with the CET writing style and takes some of the pressure off.

Another resource is 21st Century's CET column, on the Testing Page, which covers test taking skills for writing, listening and reading. It carries samples of past papers and suggestions on how to improve from NCETC members.

There will be 4.62 million test takers for the June test. The Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Ningxia and Guangxi tests have been postponed.

[Linda L.]

I give up, what?

[Roger]

As for reading and its beneficial effects, myy own impressions really!

Just one observation: Who taught Chinese, and still teaches Chinese, that whenever they are reading anything in English they must READ IT ALOUD?
To me, this seems one of the most counterproductive habits!