Reading Wars Reading Answers

Aug 14, 2024

The topic discussed is an academic reading answers topic. Reading Wars Reading Answers has a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. In the questions, you have to choose the correct option among the given choices.

Candidates should read the IELTS Reading passage thoroughly to recognise synonyms, identify keywords, and answer the questions below. IELTS Reading practice papers, which feature topics such as Reading Wars Reading Answers. Candidates can use IELTS reading practice questions and answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

Section 1

READING WARS

A. In many developed countries literacy skills are under siege. This is true even in societies where access to primary education is universal and governments invest heavily in education. New Zealand, for example, was leading the world in literacy rates in 1970, but tumbled to thirteenth place in 2001 and then again to twenty-fourth just a few years later. Test scores in the USA also slumped 10% during the 1990s despite the country riding an economic boom for much of the decade. In some cases, these statistics reverse trends that were in motion for over a century and a half. The steady, gradual expansion of literacy across social groups and classes was one of the greatest successes of the period of industrialisation that began in the mid-1850s.

B. This reversal of fortunes has led to widespread contention over the pedagogy of teaching literacy. What was once a dry and technical affair - the esoteric business of linguists and policy analysts rapidly escalated into a series of skirmishes that were played out in high-visibility forums: Newspapers ran special features, columns and letters-to-the-editor on the literacy crisis; politicians successfully ran their national campaigns on improving reading test scores; and parents had their say by joining Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and lobby groups.

C. The arguments around reading pooled into two different classroom methodologies: constructivism and behaviourism. The constructivist methodology grew from a holistic conception of knowledge creation that understood reading and writing to be innate, humanistic and interpretative practices that suffered when they were spliced and formalised within rigid doctrines, strict rules and universal skill sets. Constructivists associate words with meanings; each word might be thought of as a Chinese ideogram. Students are encouraged to learn individual words and skip over and guess words they do not understand, or learn to interpret those words by situating them within the lexical infrastructure of the sentence and the story's wider narrative. These practices materialise as learning processes centred on guided group reading and independent reading of high-quality, culturally diverse literature or textual composition that emphasises pupils conveying their thoughts and feelings for real purposes such as letters to pen pals or journal entries.

D. Behaviourism sees the pedagogical process in a less dialectical fashion taught not lexically, as vehicles to convey meaning, but rather sub-lexically, as a combination of features that can be separated and learnt in a schematic process. The behaviourist approach does not focus on words at all in the early stages of learning. Rather, it is centred on a universally applicable method of teaching students to isolate graphemes and phonemes with the intention that students will eventually learn to synthesise these individual parts and make sense of spoken words textually. In this way, individual components are not equated with the strokes of a brush on a Chinese ideogram, but rather as the focal pieces of interpretation as in, for example. learning to read musical notations or Morse Code. Because of its emphasis on universal rules, behaviourism is much more conducive to formal examination and the consolidation of results across regions and countries. The ability to master language is considered to rest in the acquisition of a set of skills that exist independently of individuals. Classroom learning is therefore based upon the transmission of knowledge from tutor to student, rather than seen as an internalised process that erupts within the students themselves.

E. So who comes out on top? It is not easy to say. Champions of behaviourism have claimed victory because constructivist learning took over in the late 1980s, just before test scores on literacy began sinking across the West. Constructivists, however, can make the valid claim that the behaviourist approach has a heavy methodological bias towards testing and examination, and that test results do not represent the ability of individuals to use and interpret language freely and creatively. Furthermore, different socio-economic groups respond in different ways to each method. Those from wealthier families tend to do well regardless of the method but thrive on the constructivist approach implemented in the 1990s. Children from poorer families, however, are better served by behaviourism. These outcomes have ramped up levels of socio-economic-based educational disparities in educational systems that have pushed the constructivist method. F It is unlikely that either constructivism or behaviourism will be permanently sidelined from curricula shortly. Most teachers find it easier to incorporate aspects of each approach. Constructivism may ultimately hold the trump card because of its proven success with pupils who come from families where they are introduced to reading and writing in various forms from a young age this process of 'living and learning' and immersing oneself in language is a sound principle. In a world rife with social inequities, households with illiterate parents and a scarcity of funding for education, however, the behaviourist approach may have the upper hand in teaching children to access the basic skills of literacy quickly and efficiently, even if some linguistic creativity is crushed in the process.

Questions 27-33

Reading Passage 3 has six paragraphs, A.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

27. A reason why constructivism might increase inequalities in society

Answer: E

Supporting statement: “......Furthermore, different socio-economic groups respond in different ways to each method. Those from wealthier families tend to do well regardless of the method, but thrive on the constructivist......”

Keywords: groups, different

Keyword Location: para E, lines 6-9

Explanation: Paragraph E explains that wealthier families benefit more from constructivism, while poorer families are better served by behaviourism, leading to increased inequalities.

28. Ways in which people debated the merits of different ways of teaching reading

Answer: B

Supporting statement: “......The reversal of fortunes has led to widespread contention over the pedagogy of teaching literacy...Newspapers ran special features, columns and letters-to-the-editor on the literacy crisis......”

Keywords: pedagogy, teaching

Keyword Location: para B, lines 1-5

Explanation: Paragraph B describes how different groups debated the merits of teaching reading through various public forums.

29. A comparison between forms of communication that build meaning from isolated parts

Answer: D

Supporting statement: “.....The behaviourist approach does not focus on words at all in the early stages of learning. Rather, it is centred on a universally applicable method of teaching students to isolate graphemes and phonemes.......”

Keywords: phonemes, Chinese

Keyword Location: para D, lines 2-8

Explanation: Paragraph D compares behaviourism's building meaning from isolated parts (graphemes and phonemes) to learning to read musical notations or Morse Code.

30. Reasons why a method that is theoretically superior might not always work effectively in practice

Answer: F

Supporting statement: “......"In a world rife with social inequities, households with illiterate parents and a scarcity of funding for education, however, the behaviourist approach may have the upper hand in teaching children......”

Keywords: parents, scarcity

Keyword Location: para F, lines 4-8

Explanation: Paragraph F explains why behaviourism might be more practical in certain socio-economic contexts despite theoretically superior constructivism.

31. An explanation of why measuring the success of different reading methods is difficult

Answer: E

Supporting statement: “......Constructivists, however, can make the valid claim that the behaviourist approach has a heavy methodological bias towards testing and examination, and that test results......”

Keywords: testing, examination

Keyword Location: para E, lines 2-5

Explanation: Paragraph E highlights the difficulty in measuring success because behaviourism is biased towards testing, which does not capture all aspects of language use and interpretation.

32. An example of an activity that might be used to develop writing skills

Answer: C

Supporting statement: “......These practices materialise as learning processes centred on guided group reading and independent reading of high-quality, culturally diverse literature or textual composition......”

Keywords: pals, journal

Keyword Location: para C, lines 8-10

Explanation: Paragraph C provides examples of activities, like writing letters to pen pals or journal entries, to develop writing skills in a constructivist approach.

33. Evidence of a national decline in reading standards

Answer: A

Supporting statement: “.....New Zealand, for example, was leading the world in literacy rates in 1970, but tumbled to thirteenth place in 2001 and then again to twenty-fourth just a few years later........”

Keywords: USA, test

Keyword Location: para A, lines 3-7

Explanation: Paragraph A provides evidence of declining literacy rates in New Zealand and the USA, indicating a national decline in reading standards.

Questions 34-36

Choose THREE letters, A-G.

Which THREE of the following are features of constructivism?

A. Students learn best by working on their own.

B. People are naturally inclined to develop language abilities.

C. It is vital that a disciplined and regulated approach is used.

D. It is important that students understand every word they encounter.

E. Language is best learnt as a single, organic process.

F. Everyone learns to read and write similarly.

G. Context can provide helpful cues to understanding words.

Q.34

Answer: B

Supporting statement: “......The constructivist methodology grew from a holistic conception of knowledge creation that understood reading and writing to be innate, humanistic and interpretative practices......”

Keywords: interpretative, practices

Keyword Location: para C, lines 1-3

Explanation: Paragraph C states that constructivism sees reading and writing as innate human practices, indicating that people are naturally inclined to develop language abilities.

Q.35

Answer: E

Supporting statement: “......constructivist learning...understood reading and writing to be innate, humanistic and interpretative practices that suffered when spliced and formalised within rigid doctrines, strict rules and universal skill-sets......”

Keywords: interpretative, spliced

Keyword Location: para C, lines 1-3

Explanation: Paragraph C indicates that constructivism views language learning as an organic process that suffers when broken into rigid parts.

Q.36

Answer: G

Supporting statement: “...... Students are encouraged to learn individual words and skip over and guess words they do not understand, or learn to interpret those words......”

Keywords: interpret, lexical

Keyword Location: para C, lines 4-6

Explanation: Paragraph C suggests that constructivism encourages understanding words through context within sentences and narratives.

Questions 37-39

Choose THREE letters, A-G.

Which THREE of the following are features of behaviourism?

A. The whole of a word is less important than its parts.

B. There is not a common set of conventions.

C. Students learn best by working on their own.

D. Meaning is created by connecting word fragments.

E. Linguistic capacities are built into people.

F. Students learn by receiving information from teachers.

G. It is difficult to judge how well students are doing collectively.

Q.37

Answer: A

Keywords: phonemes, not

Keyword Location: para D, lines 2-4

Explanation: Paragraph D explains that behaviourism focuses on the parts of words (graphemes and phonemes) rather than whole words. Hence A is the correct answer.

Q.38

Answer: D

Supporting statement: “......Rather, it is centred on a universally applicable method of teaching students to isolate graphemes and phonemes with the intention that students ......”

Keywords: phonemes, synthesize

Keyword Location: para D, lines 3-5

Explanation: Paragraph D indicates that behaviourism creates meaning by teaching students to connect word fragments. Hence D is the correct answer.

Q.39

Answer: F

Supporting statement: “......Classroom learning is therefore based upon the transmission of knowledge from tutor to student, rather than seen as an internalised process that erupts within the students themselves......”

Keywords: knowledge, tutor

Keyword Location: para D, lines 9-10

Explanation: Paragraph D describes behaviourism as relying on the transmission of knowledge from teacher to student. Hence F is the correct answer.

Question 40

Choose the correct letter.

Which of the following statements best

summarises the write general conclusion?

A. Constructivism is better, while behaviourism leads to negative social effects.

B. Each method complements the application and should be integrated.

C. Ideally constructivism would be used, but behaviourism is more pragmatic.

D. Neither is particularly useful, and there needs to be a new alternative.

Answer: C

Supporting statement: “.....In a world rife with social inequities, households with illiterate parents and a scarcity of funding for education, however, the behaviourist approach may have the upper hand in teaching children.......”

Keywords: parents, scarcity

Keyword Location: para F, lines 4-8

Explanation: Paragraph F concludes that while constructivism might be ideal in more supportive environments, behaviourism is more practical and effective in addressing basic literacy in less ideal conditions, even if it sacrifices some creativity.

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