How Should Reading Be Taught Reading Answers

Dec 13, 2022

How Should Reading Be Taught Reading Answers has 14 questions which need to be answered in 20 minutes. This IELTS passage, How Should Reading Be Taught Reading Answers consists of three types of questions; matching the heading, True, False, Not Given, and completing the summary. Candidates must read the IELTS reading passage, identify keywords, and recognize synonyms to answer the question. Candidates need to skim the passage for keywords, understand the concept, and answer based on the given instructions. For matching the heading, candidates are required to match the given options with the paragraphs presented in the paragraph. In True, False, Not given, candidates need to understand the information and select the correct option.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

How Should Reading Be Taught Reading Answers

Learning to speak is automatic for almost all children, but learning to read requires elaborate instruction and conscious effort. Well aware of the difficulties, educators have given a great deal of thought to how they can best help children learn to read. No single method has triumphed. Indeed, heated arguments about the most appropriate form of reading instruction continue to polarize the teaching community.

Three general approaches have been tried. In one, called whole-word instruction, children learn by rote how to recognise at a glance a vocabulary of 50 to 100 words. Then they gradually acquire other words, often through seeing them used over and over again in the context of a story.

Speakers of most languages learn the relationship between letters and the sounds associated with them (phonemes). That is, children are taught how to use their knowledge of the alphabet to sound out words. This procedure constitutes a second approach to teaching reading – phonics.

Many schools have adopted a different approach: the whole-language method. The strategy here relies on the child’s experience with the language. For example, students are offered engaging books and are encouraged to guess the words that they do not know by considering the context of the sentence or by looking for clues in the storyline and illustrations, rather than trying to sound them out.

Many teachers adopted the whole-language approach because of its intuitive appeal. Making reading fun promises to keep children motivated, and learning to read depends more on what the student does than on what the teacher does. The presumed benefits of whole-language instruction – and the contrast to the perceived dullness of phonics – led to its growing acceptance across American during the 1990s and a movement away from phonics.

However, many linguists and psychologists objected strongly to the abandonment of phonics in American schools. Why was this so? In short, because research had clearly demonstrated that understanding how letters related to the component sounds in words is critically important in reading. This conclusion rests, in part, on knowledge of how experienced readers make sense of words on a page. Advocates of whole-language instruction have argued forcefully that people often derive meanings directly from print without ever determining the sound of the word. Some psychologists today accept this view, but most believe that reading is typically a process of rapidly sounding out words mentally. Compelling evidence for this comes from experiments which show that subjects often confuse homophones (words that sound the same, such as Jrose and ‘rows5). This supports the idea that readers convert strings of letters to sounds.

In order to evaluate different approaches to teaching reading, a number of experiments have been carried out, firstly with college students, then with school pupils. Investigators trained English-speaking college students to read using unfamiliar symbols such as Arabic letters (the phonics approach), while another group learned entire words associated with certain strings of Arabic letters (whole-word). Then both groups were required to read a new set of words constructed from the original characters. In general, readers who were taught the rules of phonics could read many more new words than those trained with a whole-word procedure.

Classroom studies comparing phonics with either whole-word or whole-language instruction are also quite illuminating. One particularly persuasive study compared two programmes used in 20 first-grade classrooms. Half the students were offered traditional reading instruction, which included the use of phonics drills and applications. The other half were taught using an individualised method that drew from their experiences with languages; these children produce their own booklets of stories and developed sets of words to be recognised (common components of the whole-language approach). This study found that the first group scored higher at year’s end on tests of reading and comprehension.

If researchers are so convinced about the need for phonics instruction, why does the debate continue? Because the controversy is enmeshed in the philosophical differences between traditional and progressive (or new) approaches, differences that have divided educators for years. The progressive challenge the results of laboratory tests and classroom studies on the basis of a broad philosophical skepticism about the values of such research. They champion student-centred learned and teacher empowerment. Sadly, they fail to realise that these very admirable educational values are equally consistent with the teaching of phonics.

If schools of education insisted that would-be reading teachers learned something about the vast research in linguistics and psychology that bears on reading, their graduates would be more eager to use phonics and would be prepared to do so effectively. They could allow their pupils to apply the principles of phonics while reading for pleasure. Using whole-language activities to supplement phonics instruction certainly helps to make reading fun and meaningful for children, so no one would want to see such tools discarded. Indeed, recent work has indicated that the combination of literature-based instruction and phonics is more powerful than either method used alone.

Teachers need to strike a balance. But in doing so, we urge them to remember that reading must be grounded in a firm understanding of the connections between letters and sounds. Educators who deny this reality are neglecting decades of research. They are also neglecting the needs of their students.

Section 2

Solution with Explanation
Questions 1 – 5:
Reading Passage has six sections, A - F.
Choose the correct heading for sections B - F from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i - ix, in boxes 1 - 5 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

Disagreement about the reading process
The roots of the debate
A combined approach
Methods of teaching reading
A controversial approach
Inconclusive research
Research with learners
Allowing teachers more control
A debate amongst educators

Question 1: Section B

Answer: 4. Methods of teaching reading
Supporting Statement: Three general approaches have been tried.
Keyword: general, approaches
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, Line 1
Explanation: The first line of the poaragraph states how many approaches have been tried. The paragraph then goes on to discuss those approaches. Children are taught to recognize vocabulary at a glance by rote learning. The paragraph also talks about phonics approach to teaching reading. The third paragraph elaborates on a third approach called the whole-language method. The whole paragraph B is about different approaches to teaching reading. This makes 4 the correct answer.

Question 2: Section C

Answer: 1. Disagreement about the reading process
Supporting Statement: However, many linguists and psychologists objected strongly to the abandonment of phonics in American schools.
Keyword: objected, argued forcefully
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, Line 1
Explanation: The first line of section C talks about how linguists and psychologists objected to the removal of phonics in schools. Then the author asks a question as why this is as it is. The author then goes on to answer and discuss the disagreements. According to research, sounds in words are critical to reading. Line 6 mentions the arguments put forward by whole-language instruction. This debate is among different researchers, linguists and psychologists, not educators. Hence option ix, debate among educators is incorrect. Considering the different arguments in support of a teaching reading style, the correct answer is 1, disagreements about the reading process.

Question 3: Section D

Answer: 7. Research with learners
Supporting Statement: In order to evaluate different approaches to teaching reading, a number of experiments have been carried out, firstly with college students, then with school pupils.
Keyword: evaluate, experiments, students
Keyword Location: Paragraph D, line 1
Explanation: Section D has multiple paragraphs which talks about different approaches and reasearches. The first paragraph of section D is about the experiments carried about for different teaching reading approaches. The second paragraph is about the unexpected results obtained from classroom studies. Based on the research with definite results obtained from college and school students, the correct answer is vii, research with learners.

Question 4: Section E

Answer: 2. The roots of the debate
Supporting Statement: Because the controversy is enmeshed in the philosophical differences between traditional and progressive (or new) approaches, differences have divided educators for years.
Keyword: enmeshed, philosophical differences
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, line 2
Explanation: The author in the Section E says that if research has established the importance of the phonetics approach, there is no need for debates. The answer lies hidden in the phrase ‘enmeshed in philosophical differences’. It means that the debate between approaches is a long-standing difference between educators. This section tries to underestand the roots and the origin of the debate. Hence, 2 is the correct answer.

Question 5: Section F

Answer: 3. A combined approach
Supporting Statement: Indeed, recent work has indicated that the combination of literature-based instruction and phonics is more powerful than either method used alone.
Keyword: combination, balance
Keyword Location: Paragraph F, line 8, 10
Explanation: The author in section F talks about both phonics and whole-word approaches are important. The supporting sentence clearly states that a combination of both these methods should be applied. The paragraph also says that phonics accompanied with whole-language activities will make reading fun and meaningful. Hence, we can deduce that the combination of approaches is the correct answer.

Questions 6 – 10:
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

Question 6: The whole-language approach relates letters to sounds.

Answer: FALSE
Supporting Statement: For example, students are offered engaging books and are encouraged to guess the words that they do not know by considering the context of the sentence or by looking for clues in the storyline and illustrations, rather than trying to sound them out.
Keyword: intuitive appeal, experience, guess, context
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, line 8
Explanation: The passage clearly states that the whole-language method relies on understanding the meaning of a word through the context in which it is used. The last few words of the supporting sentence also says that “rather than trying to sound them out.” Hence, we see that the approach is not related to sounds. This makes False the correct answer.

Question 7: Many educators believe the whole-language approach to be the most interesting way to teach children to read.

Answer: TRUE
Supporting Statement: Many teachers adopted the whole-language approach because of its intuitive appeal.
Keyword: intuitive appeal, dullness
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, lines 14-18
Explanation: The author in the fourth paragraph of section B mentions that the whole-language approach made reading fun. The passage mentions that the whole language approach kept the children motivated and learning to read depended more on the student than the teacher. These were the reasons why many teachers preferred this approach. Hence, True is the correct answer.

Question 8: Research supports the theory that we read without linking words to sounds.

Answer: FALSE
Supporting Statement: In short, because research had clearly demonstrated that understanding how letters related to the component sounds in words is critically important in reading.
Keyword: sounds in words, important, critically
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, line 4
Explanation: Line 2 of section C mentions that reasearch established the importance of connecting words to their sounds. Line 9 talks of more proof from experiments where similar sounding words or homophones were confused. Therefore, research showed that linking words to sounds was important. This means that the statement cannot be true. hence, False is the correct answer.

Question 9: Research has shown that the whole-word approach is less effective than the whole-language approach.

Answer: NOT GIVEN
Supporting Statement: Classroom studies comparing phonics with either whole-word or whole-language instruction are also quite illuminating
Keyword: whole-word, whole-language, approach
Keyword Location: Paragraph D, line 5
Explanation: The passage contains the comparison between the approaches. However, the author leaves it to the audiance to judge which is better. There is no discussion in the passage regarding the one which is more effective. hence, the answer is Not Given..

Question 10: Research has shown that phonics is more successful than both the whole-word and whole-language approaches.

Answer: TRUE
Supporting Statement: In general, readers who were taught the rules of phonics could read many more new words than those trained with a whole-word procedure.
Keyword: phonics, more, new, words, scored higher
Keyword Location: Paragraph D, line 8, 17
Explanation: The author states about one experiment study involving 2 groups. Each group was taught the Arabic language with different approaches. The results showed that the students taught with the phonics approach performed better than those with the whole-word approach. Those who were taught with the rules of phonics performed better on reading and comprehension tests. Therefore, research showed that phonics is more successful than the other two approaches. hence, the answer is TRUE.

Questions 11-14:
Complete the summary of sections E and F using the list of words, A-G, below.
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 11-14 on your answer sheet.

In the teaching community, 11_______ question the usefulness of research into methods of teaching reading. These critics believe that 12_______ is incompatible with student-centred learning. In the future, teachers need to be aware of 13_____ so that they understand the importance of phonics. They should not, however, ignore the ideas of 14______ which make reading enjoyable for learners.

the phonics method
the whole-word method
the whole-language method
traditionalists
progressives
linguistics
research studies

Question 11:

Answer: E.progressives
Supporting Statement: The progressive challenge the results of laboratory tests and classroom studies on the basis of a broad philosophical skepticism about the values of such research.
Keyword: challenge, philosophical skepticism
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, lines 4-6
Explanation: The author in the passage states that progressives do not value research. They are skeptical of tests and studies obtained from studying different methods of teaching reading. This means that progresiveness questions the usefulness of research. This makes “progressive” the correct answer.

Question 12:

Answer: A.the phonics method
Supporting Statement: Sadly, they fail to realise that these very admirable educational values are equally consistent with the teaching of phonics.
Keyword: student-centred learning, fail to realize
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, lines 6-7
Explanation: Lines 6-8 of section D mention that progressives champion student-centred learning and teacher empowerment. However, they are unaware of the compatibility with the phonics approach. Therefore, the answer is A, the phonics method.

Question 13:

Answer: G.research studies
Supporting Statement: But in doing so, we urge them to remember that reading must be grounded in a firm understanding of the connections between letters and sounds.
Keyword: firm understanding, decades of research
Keyword Location: Paragraph F, lines 11-13
Explanation: As per the passage, the base for reading lies in the connections between the letters and their sounds as demonstrated by years of research. This makes research studies as the correct answer.

Question 14:

Answer: C.the whole-language method
Supporting Statement: Using whole-language activities to supplement phonics instruction certainly helps to make reading fun and meaningful for children, so no one would want to see such tools discarded.
Keyword: reading, fun, meaningful
Keyword Location: Paragraph F, line 5-7
Explanation: When whole-language activities are added to phonics instructions, reading becomes fun and meaningful. Hence the whole-language approach should not be discarded as a learning tool. Therefore, the answer is C, the whole-language method.

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