Reading Comprehension Questions PDF

REVISION & RECAP Levels of reading comprehension Dr Shahizan Shaharuddin Reorganization or Inferential? Some of you might still be confused between Reorganization and Inferential inferencing and/or other levels of comprehension too. Level 2 questions (Reorganization) and level 3 (inferentia...

REVISION & RECAP Levels of reading comprehension Dr Shahizan Shaharuddin Reorganization or Inferential? Some of you might still be confused between Reorganization and Inferential inferencing and/or other levels of comprehension too. Level 2 questions (Reorganization) and level 3 (inferential) do overlap. In fact, at times, reorganization require students to carry out low level inferencing. That is okay. The idea is not to set a clear distinction or boundary between the levels but to understand that Barrett taxonomy is a framework to help us develop more balanced range of questions. So, these slides here are additional information to the previous slides “Designing Reading Comprehension Questions” MORE ON REORGANIZATION AS A LEVEL OF COMPREHENSION Reorganisation is a level of comprehension that involves many skills In general, this question type requires the reader to join or group separate pieces of information together (bringing together information from different parts of the text) in a new way; to make sense of the text. Oftentimes, this requires the reader to reinterpret information and make connection. The information is contained in the text Questions of this type require students to have a global understanding of the text instead of sentence by sentence. So, the reader may have to summarize, classify, (re)order and sequence information to pull information together. Understanding of writing requires some form of reorganisation on the part of the reader Example Can you see the difference between these two questions? Liz and I take turns feeding the cats. I feed the cats on Mondays. It is now Thursday, but I haven’t seen the cats being fed yet. - What day is it today? (Literal) The answer is directly and explicitly stated. I fed the cats on Monday. But that was two days ago. I still haven’t seen Liz come by to feed the cats. - What day is it today? (Reorganization) The reader needs to reinterpret “two days ago” Example As more industries sprung up, pollution increased. As a result, the number of light peppered moths grew less and less. The remaining ones adapted by changing to a darker colour. - Why did the number of light peppered moths grow less and less? Key words: Pollution/as a result/ light peppered moths grew less The reader would have to join two pieces of information using keywords in the text Example If you live by the sea, you can make salt by boiling and evaporating sea water, using driftwood for fuel. An iron pot to boil the salt water in is best. You should never use a copper pot. The copper and the salty sea water will react against one another and the pot won’t last long. - Why shouldn’t copper pot be used to boil sea water in? Key words: iron pot is best/ copper/sea water/ will react/Pot won’t last long (taken from Triune Initiatives Ltd. Wellington, NZ. https://comprehenz.com/wp- content/uploads/2016/05/REORGANISATIONGUIDESAMPLES3.pdf Example Taking care of the forest means that the pests have to be controlled. These include rats and cats as they eat birds’ eggs and take their food. Others are weeds that choke and kill trees. - What pests have to be controlled? Key words: These/ rats/cats/others/weeds Portions of the text joined by a reference word “these” and “others” taken from Triune Initiatives Ltd. Wellington, NZ. https://comprehenz.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/REORGANISATIONGUIDESAMPLES3.pdf Example The microwave oven was invented in 1948, but it wasn’t common in households until about thirty years after its invention. They are now considered to be one of the most useful items in the kitchen. These small ovens use very short radio waves called microwaves to cook or heat food. They make the molecules of water in the food vibrate and produce heat. Using this method, a meal can be prepared in a few minutes. - About when did microwaves become common in households? (calculate thirty years from 1948) - What makes the molecules of water vibrate? (keyword : reference word “they” joining two information) taken from Triune Initiatives Ltd. Wellington, NZ. https://comprehenz.com/wp- content/uploads/2016/05/REORGANISATIONGUIDESAMPLES3.pdf Example For two weeks the family had to go back to the 70s and live Jon’s childhood. The house was stripped of all modern gadgets. Hannah and Josh had to wash and iron their own clothes, do all the washing up, and help with the vegetable garden. At first there were tears and furious rows as the children tried to adjust. However, gradually Hannah and Josh learnt to appreciate small treats. They enjoyed eating the vegetables they’d dug up from the garden. They made some extra money selling cookies to their neighbours. - What tasks did Hannah and Josh have to do that they didn’t have to do before? (requires the reader to reinterpret & perform low- level inferencing) - What has happened up to this point over the two weeks of the TV experiment? (requires the reader to summarize the events from the start to the end of the experiment)  Example Instead of short answer questions, Reorganization level of comprehension can take the form of other reading tasks such as transfer of information. Transfer of information activity/task - T-chart of advantages and disadvantages/positive and negative aspects given in the text - A grid of comparison and contrast - Completing a diagram showing a process (recall our peppered moth activity) - (re)ordering of events in the story or the incident described in the text - Choosing an appropriate heading for each paragraph (inferencing involved) See examples below. Taken from Nuttall, C. (2005) Alternative Advantages Disadvantages 1 …………………………………….. Access to many facilities 2…………………………………………. Living in the city Health and safety 5……………………………… 3…………………………….. 4…………………………..... Living in the countryside Health and safety 7………………………………… 6…………………………….. and …………………………………. 8……………………………… Lifestyle 10…………………………………… 9…………………………………  With Reorganization type of questions, teachers can do a lot of ‘word-attack’ skills with students. These word- attack skills are numerous such as vocabulary, reference words, cohesive markers/devices and others Teachers can also utilize the questions to explore ‘text-attack’ skills such as rhetorical structure MORE ON INFERENCING AS A LEVEL OF COMPREHENSION Implied but may not often explicitly stated In general, it involves the reader bringing together pieces of information to make sense of the text and work out what it means to him/her. Example: - Why was Rahman proud of his son? (From “A Son to be Proud of”) - What differences would you find between trees in industrial areas and trees in non- industrial areas? - Why might Rosli’s family members stop playing traditional games like congkak and wau? - Is technology a good thing for the people in the text? Why or why not? Use the information in the text to help you. - What part of the story is the funniest; or the most exciting; or the saddest? MORE ON EVALUATION AS A LEVEL OF COMPREHENSION This type of question requires readers to make a judgement about the text both in terms of content and the writer’s message/intent or technique A largely top-down approach It gets readers to provide a response to the text and give reasons to justify. The answers however are still within the text, so the reader still needs to be sticking closely to the text and be working at the text for answers. - Compare the two main characters in the story. Which one is braver? - Which character in the story would you want to spend time with? - What is the author trying to say about technologies to the readers? MORE ON EVALUATION AS A LEVEL OF COMPREHENSION (CONTD…) - Is technology a good thing for the people in the text? Why or why not? Use the information in the text to help you. - Do you agree with the writer’s opinion regarding ……. For our local Form 2 or 3 students, it is best if teacher work with your students on the other comprehension questions first just to make sure that the students are getting the text right before tackling level 4 questions. MORE ON APPRECIATION AS A LEVEL OF COMPREHENSION This type of question requires readers to state his reaction to the text with or without assessing the writer’s techniques. Overlaps with type 4, as the reader still needs to understand the text adequately to give his response. Example: - What is your opinion of …. - How would you feel if you were…. - How far does your experience (with technology) agree with that described in the passage? - What would you do if you could go to the place the main character lives - Would you want the same experiment to be conducted here with your own family? What would be the outcome? Let’s use a question formed by a group in class for discussion “Do you think Rosli’s heavy reliance on technology is beneficial or detrimental to his family’s lifestyle?” Provide Specific examples from the text to support your answers - However, highly advanced linguistically: “heavy reliance”; “detrimental”. Substitute the words - Can be both inferencing (level 3) and evaluation (level 4), but more towards Appreciation - If level 2, there is not enough information in the text to find the answer - If level 3 (inferencing) not enough information to analyse and infer - If level 4 (evaluation), readers might find difficulties in making a response to the text (lack of argument given) and give objective reasons to justify - Perhaps, this is a level 5 (Appreciation). For form 2 or 3 difficult to find evidence from the text. Simplify. What can we do to revise the question? A few suggestions (for now): The passage/text talks about the benefits of technology for Rosli and his family. Is your experience with technology similar? Give an example. Can you think of instances when technology could be bad/could fail us/might do more harm than good? The moral of the ‘Appreciation’ story is to go slow and in stages; scaffolding required especially for weaker students Don’t forget questions to do with the writer’s techniques/intent These types of questions do not just ask about what is written but how and why the writer has written the text. Gets students to become aware with word-attack and text-attack skills as well as the various strategies Questions about the writer’s writing: use of words/phrases & meaning The main concern with this type of questions is to see how the writer says what she means These questions help students with reading strategies that they can use to tackle texts in general. They help students become aware of various word-attack or text- attack skills required to handle different kinds of texts. 1) What does the word “she” refer to in L2 of Paragraph 3? 2) What did the writer mean when she says, “she was too frightened to speak sensibly to him”? 3) What does the word ‘But’ in L2 of paragraph 3 indicate? Which two actions are being compared? Questions and the reading process Good questions support teacher’s approach and students’ reading strategies Questions at the beginning of reading help employ skimming or scanning strategies Questions tackling specific paragraphs help identify main ideas and details Some questions may focus on non-linear parts of the texts such as diagrams that help students interpret the text Questions of grammar makes students employ word-attack skills including vocabulary Some questions ask students to explore the structure of the text involving cohesion, or rhetorical organization (see “Peppered Moth” example) Presentation and types of questions Open-ended – usually the wh- and how/why forms – easy to create and used for any purpose. Require students to answer using the target language Multiple-choice (MCQs) – can be effective and useful discussion but difficult to set True/false – limited, but useful for discussion The language in your questions should be as clear as possible and should not be more difficult that the text! HOPE THIS HELPS! All the best everyone