Developing General Reading Skills
Reading Speed
For many students the ICFE Test of Reading presents a reading challenge. If students find, during a mock exam for example, that they are having difficulties with finishing the paper then there may be a number of reasons for this.
They could be applying the wrong reading skill to that section of the paper by, for example, always reading closely and not skimming or scanning where appropriate. The teacher will need to guide the students as to the appropriate strategies to be used in each part of the paper.
Some students may feel that they are simply reading too slowly. There are about 2,500 words of text, plus the questions and then any necessary re-reading as students locate the answers to the questions. As a wide range of financial topics and text types is covered in this paper, there is always the possibility that some will be more familiar to students than others. Most students, including the good readers, will appreciate help with their time management of this paper, as not having enough time is a common worry for students. Improving reading speed, therefore, can have the direct consequence of allowing the student to deal with the tasks quicker, as well as the indirect consequence of boosting their confidence as they see a measurable increase in their reading speed.