strategic comprehension skills

7/29/2019 Strategic Comprehension Skills

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STRATEGIC COMPREHENSION SKILLS

By :

ABIDAH BT SARAJUL HAQ

English Language Master Teacher

Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman , Ipoh

The comprehension skills in the PMR English language paper are testedthrough a series of different texts. These include articles, advertisements, notices,

pamphlets and short passages in different forms. The use of strategic

comprehension skills is thus, crucial as an effective tool in improving

students understanding before answering comprehension questions in the

PMR examinations.

I have written below some important steps to follow in order to

enhance your understanding of a text .

STEP 1

This is also called the predicting stage. All you need

PREVIEW to do is to look out for the headings, key words,

pictures, tables ,graphs or any other key information

in the text. In other words , this is also the skimming

process.

Hint By skimming the text , you are actually

looking out for ideas related to the topic.

Hint To identify the topic , underline or draw

circles around the topic word .This word

appears frequently in the text ( e.g water

melons in the passage provided)


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GOALS The goals ofpreviewing or skimming are for students

to :

learn as much about the passage / text as

they can in 2 3 minutes.

activate their background knowledge about the

topic.

Make predictions about what they will read.

STEP 2

SWITCH Students switch on and off while reading each

ON & OFF section of the text. Switch on refers to the

TECHNIQUE portion of the text that you understand and

switch off are the parts of the comprehension

that are not clear ( for example students do not

know the meaning of a certain word or

phrase).Switching on and off is designed to assist

students in monitoring their comprehension. In orderto help them to overcome their switch off

problems, you need to :

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Reread the sentence and Reread the sentence

look for ideas that help you leaving out the switch off

understand the word / phrase words / phrases in it and try to

get the general idea from it.

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Another skill that will help you to improve your comprehension of

the text is scanning. In scanning, you generally have a specific question

or idea already in mind ; you scan the text to find particular information

to answer your question or to confirm your idea. This is usually the process

you go through as you locate the answers for the PMR comprehension

questions.

Below are two different comprehension texts. Use the techniques

that I have discussed earlier to locate the answers. Continue this practice when you

identify other forms of reading text to improve your comprehension skills.

Remember to put your heart and mind in this practice ,for that is the secret of

success. Good Luck

Read the recipe below carefully and answer the questions that follow

BAKED CRAB

140 grams crab meat

1 medium onion (sliced)

4 button mushrooms (sliced)

can of Campbell Mushroom Soup

1 slice cheddar cheese

50 ml white vinegar

10 g unsalted butter

1 crab shell

1. Fry sliced onions and button mushrooms in butter till soft.

2. Add in crab meat followed by white vinegar. Stir on low heat.

3. When the vinegar is almost dried up, add in the mushroom soup

and mix well. Remove from heat.

4. Scoop the mixture neatly onto the crab shell and top with

cheddar cheese slice.

5. Place in a baking dish and bake in pre-heated oven at 200C until

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the cheese covering melts(for about 1-2 minutes). Serve hot

1. How much of crab meat is required in the recipe ?

a. 240 grams of crab meat

b. 70 X 2 grams of crab meat

c. 140 grams of crab meat

d. 340 grams of crab meat

2. The word pre heated oven means

a. the oven is heating up

b. the oven has been heated

c. a hot oven

d. a heavy oven

3. When do you put in the mushroom soup ?

a. When there is no more vinegar

b. When we remove the vinegar from the heat

c. When we stir on low heat

d. When the vinegar is about to dry up

4. Why must we fry the onions and button mushrooms ?

a. To make them tenderb. To mash them later

c. To heat them

d. To make them crispy

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Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

A watermelon is a large, sweet fruit. Watermelons consist of about

93 per cent water. They have a smooth rind ( hard outer skin) and juicy,

edible flesh. Most watermelons also have many seeds. The rind is striped or

solid and ranges in colour from grey-green to dark green. The flesh of ripe

watermelons is white, greenish-white, yellow, orange, pink or red. Most

watermelons weight from 2.3 to 18 kilograms, but some weight more than 45

kilograms. Their shape ranges from round to oblong.

Watermelons provide a good source of potassium and vitamins

A and C. They are eaten fresh , often in salads or as a dessert. The rind is

sometimes pickled and used to make relish.

Watermelons grow on vines. For this reason- and because they

must be replanted annually- watermelons are considered by horticulturists to

to be vegetables.

5. Watermelons

a. consist of less than fifty percent of water

b. are usually between 18 kg 45 kg

c. are of the same shape but of different sizes

d. have juicy and edible flesh

6. A dessert refers to

a. a spicy gravy eaten with rice

b. a sweet course eaten after a meal

c. a waterless place

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d. a hot drink

7. Which of the following is NOT the colour of watermelons ?

a. Dark green

b. Greenish white

c. Greyish white

d. Yellow

8. Why do you think horticulturists regard watermelons as vegetables ?

a. Because they are replanted every two years

b. Because they grow on vines

c. Because they are like salads

d. Because they are green in colour

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ANSWERS

1. b

2. b

3. d

4. a

5. d

6. b7. c

8. b

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