If you had a chance to take toefl, what format would you choose? Why?

21. Work in 4 groups. Read the following advice for improving your reading/listening/speaking/writing skills and tell the rest of the group what you should do.

Group 1. Reading skills

1. Read as much and as often as possible in English.

- Read texts on a variety of topics. (Read both academic and non-academic materials. Read about subjects that interest you and that DON’T interest you.)

- Write basic questions to test your understanding of a text. (Write questions and answers about the first paragraph. Then guess what might be discussed in the next paragraph.)

- Use your knowledge of grammar to try to comprehend difficult sections of a passage. (Think carefully about the relationship between independent and dependent clauses. Look at pronouns and find the nouns that they refer to. Look at relative pronouns (who, that, which, whom, whose) used in adjective clauses (for example, The student whose classmates are taking the TOEFL test....) and find the nouns they refer to.)

2. Continually expand your vocabulary knowledge.

- It is important to increase your vocabulary on many subjects because you will have to read about various topics at the university. (Review glossaries/lists of terms used in academic texts.)

- Develop a system for studying new words. (Write each word on a card and mix up the cards each time you study them. Write the context (the sentence the word was used in) to help you learn correct word usage. Group the words according to topic or meaning and study the words as a list of related words. Study vocabulary by making a list of opposites (words with different meanings) and synonyms (words with similar meanings).

- Expand your vocabulary by analyzing the parts of a word. This will help you understand some unknown words that you see.

- Use the context to guess the meaning of unknown words.

- Use resources to help you study vocabulary. (Use an English-English dictionary to learn correct meaning and word usage.)

- Practice correct usage by making sentences with new words.

3. Study the organization of academic texts and overall structure of a reading passage.

- Read an entire passage from beginning to end. (Look for the main ideas of the article. Look for the supporting details. Pay attention to the relationship between the details and main ideas.)

- Learn to recognize the different styles of organization that you find in articles in English in order to understand the way an article is structured. (Pay attention to the connecting words/transitions used for specific relationships.)

- Outline a text to test your understanding of the structure of a reading passage. (Begin by grouping paragraphs that address the same concept. Pay attention to how the key ideas in one paragraph relate to the main points of the next paragraph. Write one sentence summarizing the paragraphs that discuss the same idea. Look at connections between sentences. Look at how the end of one sentence relates to the beginning of the next sentence. Think about the connection between the ideas of the two sentences. Combine the sentences using appropriate transitions words to show the relationship between ideas.)

- Write a summary of the entire passage.

Group 2. Listening skills

1. Practice listening to something in English every day and gradually increase the amount of time that you listen.

- Listen to different kinds of materials. (Listen actively. Try to answer the “wh” questions. Listen passively to get the general idea of what’s being said.)

- Keep a listening log (a list of everything you listen to each day/week). (Write a one-sentence summary to remember the main idea of what you heard. Write down new expressions, idioms, and vocabulary that you hear.)

- Use dictations and other exercises to help your listening ability. (Ask an English speaker to dictate an article to you. Good sources of material are newspapers, magazines, and textbooks. First, write down exactly what you hear. Then only take notes on the important points that you hear. Do information gap exercises, using unfamiliar content and complex structures.)

2. Use the resources in your community to practice listening to English.

- Visit places in your community where you can practice listening to English.

- Watch or listen to programs recorded in English. (Watch television programs. Rent videos (turn off the captions!) or go to a movie in English. Listen to a book on tape in English. Listen to music in English and then check your accuracy by finding the lyrics on the Internet (e.g., www.lyrics.com). Listen to English language recordings that come with a transcript. Listen to each recording at least three times. The first time, take notes about the main ideas you hear. The second time, read the transcript and listen for the ideas you wrote down. The third time, write down any words and phrases that you didn't understand and look them up.)

- Go to Internet sites to practice listening. (National Public Radio (www.npr.org); CBS News (www.cbsnews.com); Randall’s Cyber Listening Lab (www.esl-lab.com); BBC World Service.com Learning English (www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish ).)

- Practice speaking English with others.

3. Begin to prepare for academic situations. (Visit academic classes in English. Record lectures or presentations and replay them several times.)

4. Listen for signals that will help you understand the organization of a talk, connections between ideas, and the importance of ideas. (Pay attention to the connections between examples. Pay attention to intonation and other ways that speakers indicate that information is important. Listen for pauses between important points.)

Group 3. Speaking skills

1. Look for opportunities to speak to native speakers of English. Interaction with others will improve your speaking ability. (Ask a native speaker to provide feedback on your pronunciation problems (if any). Join an Internet voice chat.)

2. Listen to the radio, and watch TV and movies. Pay attention to idiomatic usage of the language and different accents or speech patterns that are used.

- Write down new expressions you hear. Use the expressions in your everyday English conversations.

- Choose a character from a film or TV show. Repeat the character's words, following the intonation patterns, as he or she speaks. Include the gestures or other body language of the character you are imitating.

3. Practice speaking for a limited time on different topics without a lot of preparation. Time your responses to questions.

- Make a list of questions on topics that interest you (for example, hypothetical situations or academic topics). Answer each of the questions aloud. Try to speak for at least one minute.

4. Use books that come with audio recordings to study pronunciation, stress, and intonation in English.

5. Record yourself and then listen and transcribe what you said.

- Read a short article from a newspaper or textbook. Record yourself summarizing the article.

- Transcribe the recording and review the transcription. Think about other ways to say the same thing.

- Ask a teacher or English-speaking friend to review the transcription and mark any errors.

- Pay attention to your vocabulary and grammar mistakes.

- Correct the errors and check your pronunciation.

- Write down any changes to vocabulary and grammar you think will improve the recording.

Group 4. Writing skills

1. Practice listening to lectures and conversations in English.

- Record news and informational programs in English from the television or radio, or download talks or lectures from the Internet.

- Listen to these programs and take notes on the important points. Summarize the programs in English.

- Listen to them again to check your notes and summaries for accuracy.

2. Practice analyzing reading passages in English.

- Read two articles or chapters on the same topic or issue.

- Write a summary of each, and then explain the ways they are similar and the ways they are different.

- Practice combining listening and reading by searching for readings related to talks and lectures you or a friend or a teacher can find.

- Develop your vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening, and writing skills through extensive reading and listening in a variety of increasingly challenging academic areas.

- Write summaries and comparisons of what you have read.

- Get feedback from a teacher or friend on your comprehension, language, and writing.

22. Project task. Work in 4 groups. Prepare exercises (about 5 – 7) for training in reading/listening/speaking/writing skills according to the information you have read. Exchange your worksheets and do all the assignments. What tasks seem to be more helpful? Why?