INTRODUCTION
This Reading Module provides access to pages packed with audio, video and text content intended to help with the practice of reading in English. It also contains descriptors for the STANAG 6001level 2 reading, reading samples, and strategies, which are very close simulations to what happens on the exam day in a real examination setting.
Here’s a bird’s eye view of the READING paper with advice and guidance to help you do your very best on the big day.
DURATION:
70 minutes
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FORMAT:
The reading test is for levels 1 – 3, and consists of 50 items altogether, getting progressively more difficult by the level.
TYPES OF READING:
notices and signs, announcements, postcards, timetables, programs, advertisements, handouts, leaflets, brochures, guides, forms, diary, maps, plans, news, textbooks, personal and professional correspondence, informational and editorial items in newspapers, periodicals and professional journals (articles, reports, reviews), encyclopedia entries, dictionary entries, imaginative literature of a contemporary popular nature (novels/extracts and short stories, poems/verse), manuals, technical texts, charts, etc. Texts are drawn from the following functional type: narrative, discursive, descriptive, informative, and structural.
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home and family;
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food;
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shopping;
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free time activities;
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sport;
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holidays;
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traveling;
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daily routines;
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people and places;
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job procedures;
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military matters (units, duties, equipment);
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current events;
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education;
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communication;
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politics;
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economics;
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business;
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culture;
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science and technology.
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TYPES OF TASKS:
multiple-choice questions: four options with only ONE correct answer
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LEVEL 2
LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS:
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understanding the main idea;
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identifying detail;
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guessing meaning of unfamiliar words from context;
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answering factual questions about texts.
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RUBRICS:
The instructions and the examples for each task are written in English. They inform the candidates about:
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task type;
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what they are required to do;
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how to mark the right answer
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MARKING SCHEME:
A level is sustained if 70% of the questions are answered correctly.
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Why is this useful?
1. The candidate has this opportunity to get familiar with everything that happens during the reading paper and comes out prepared for whatever is expected from him/her.
2. The candidate can think about how s/he personally would go about texts when put in similar reading situations.
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