IELTS Reading and Some Techniques to Improve IELTS Reading Skills for Students - Dinh Thi Bac Binh; Dinh Thi Kieu Trinh; Banking Academy

Oct 1, 2026

IELTS READING AND SOME TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE IELTS READING SKILLS FOR STUDENTS discusses reading as a discerning, high-importance skill in the IELTS framework and highlights the limited attention given to Reading compared with Listening, Writing, and Speaking. The paper examines what reading entails and presents componential skills such as automatic recognition, vocabulary and structural knowledge, discourse structure, background knowledge, synthesis and evaluation, and metacognitive monitoring. It also identifies challenges caused by intensive academic language and proposes applicable teaching techniques for learners preparing for IELTS Reading exams.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

General perceptions of reading

What is reading?

Classification of reading

Classification of reading according to the reading manner

Classification of reading according to the reading purposes

Intensive reading

IELTS READING AND SOME TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE IELTS READING SKILLS FOR STUDENTS Dinh Thi Bac Binha Dinh Thi Kieu Trinhb Banking Academy [a](a Email: dinhbacbinh@gmail.com)[ Email:](a Email: dinhbacbinh@gmail.com)[ dinhbacbinh@gmail.com](a Email: dinhbacbinh@gmail.com) b Email: [trinhdk@hvnh.edu.vn](trinhdk@hvnh.edu.vn) Received: 5/5/2019 Reviewed: 15/5/2019 Revised: 27/5/2019 Accepted: 10/6/2019 Released: 21/6/2019 DOI: [https://doi.org/10.25073/0866-773X/308](https://doi.org/10.25073/0866-773X/308) Te IrnetcerognnatioizednaaEangnscLouannguage Ttable tooelstting Systemo assess wh(IELetheTrSa) person is able to study or train in English. Every year, thousands of students sit for IELTS. However, the number of those who are recognized to be capable enough to take a course in English is somehow limited, especially for those who are not major in English at their universities. IELTS Reading is considered as a discerning skill and itisofthe equal importance to listening, speaking and writing in obtaining the objectives ofIELTS of band 6 or 6.5. Being teachers ofEnglish at a training institution, the authors recognize that students can make time-saving improvements in their reading command under their teachers’insightful guidance. Keywords: IELTS reading; Skimming; Scanning; Academic. 1. Introduction The burgeoning number of students entering overseas universities and the international labor market has prompted a necessity to establish a standardized language test for the evaluation of leaners’ language proficiency. As a result, one of the most extensively employed tests serving this purpose is the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) . IELTS has become a worldwide trusted mechanism to assess learners’ability, thus having been integrated in the curriculum of many education systems. The test covers four skills including Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking. Each skill demands distinctive teaching methods to stimulate the motivation in students. There has been numerous research into the strategies for imparting the modules regarding Listening, Writing, and Speaking whereas the field of Reading has not received much attention. Reading has never been considered as an interesting task, especially when it comes to reading tasks of more than 2000 words with intensive acquisition. Furthermore, the constant exposure to academic language together with extensive background knowledge has debilitated any attempt to conquer the lengthy and nerve-wracking IELTS reading passages. Hence, they have posed a real challenge to instructorsin the long-term for the maximum effectiveness of transferring the skills to learners of different levels. This study works on the effort to identify the applicable reading teaching techniques to IELTS Reading exam for leaners on the preparation of the test. 2. General perceptions of reading 2.1. What is reading? Reading can be regarded as an activity of intensive interaction between readers and the passage which leads to reading fluency. Reading requires a great deal of efforts from readers to decipher the true meaning by using a variety of linguistic and expertise knowledge. Moreover, the complexity of reading has triggered many researchers’ endeavor to perceive and work out the smooth reading process by scrutinizing the process of element skills (Grabe, 1991) . Consequently, researchers have pinpointed the componential skills as followed: 1. Automatic recognition skills 2. Vocabulary and structural knowledge 3. Formal discourse structure knowledge 4. Content/world background knowledge 5. Synthesis and evaluation skills/strategies 6. Metacognitive knowledge and skills monitoring Studies carried out over the last thirty years has changed our assumption of reading as a process of decoding. As Carrell and Eisterhold considered reading as a “guessing game’ in which the ‘readers reconstruct, as best as he can, a message which has been encoded by a wri

FAQs

Why does the paper emphasize IELTS Reading skills for learners?

IELTS Reading is treated as a discerning skill with equal importance to the other IELTS components, yet it receives less teaching focus in comparison with Listening, Writing, and Speaking.

What componential skills are proposed for reading?

The paper lists automatic recognition skills, vocabulary and structural knowledge, formal discourse structure knowledge, background/content knowledge, synthesis and evaluation strategies, and metacognitive knowledge with skills monitoring.

What challenges do learners face with IELTS reading passages?

The paper points to constant exposure to academic language and extensive background knowledge requirements, which can make long and demanding IELTS reading passages difficult for students to conquer.

Oct 1, 2026

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