Best ways to score 9+ in CELPIP Reading module

This article talks about the best ways to approach CELPIP reading tasks as most test takers face huge challenge in scoring better in the reading module.

Generally speaking, reading skill is on a descent among the youngsters these days. There are lots of platforms that cropped up to enable listening to audio books. Most of them read the books that the user can listen to. This had made reading a difficult skill while reading should be the most easiest (purposefully used double superlative) skill.

When it comes to CELPIP reading, it will be easier to the reader if they have an average to good proficiency in the English language. But the catch is, the questions may be tricky with the nuances of the language. If one can understand the question and know what they need as an answer, then it is pretty much easier to score.

Let’s look in some of the best practices to ace reading module.

Understanding the CELPIP Reading module:

To begin with, we need to understand the CELPIP reading module. This is the second module in the CELPIP Test. Total duration is 55-60 minutes with roughly 12-15 minutes to read the passage and answer the questions.

At the test centre, you will receive paper and a pen to take notes as you will not be able to make notes, highlight, or mark on the computer screen. All text and questions for each Reading part appear on the same screen. Use the scrollbars to move up and down to read the texts as and when required. For each question, choose the best answer from four options.

Moreover in each Reading part, you can change your answers as many times as you like until your time is up. When your time is up, the test will automatically move forward to the next part. You can’t go back to a previous part. The reading passages and questions increase in difficulty from Parts 1 – 4.

CELPIP Reading Tasks

In the reading module, there will be 38 questions in total. Each correct answer will carry one point. However, no negative score will be given for any wrong answers. Scores will be awarded by score equating process. This works as, the more number of difficult level questions attended correctly, the higher the scores will be obtained.

There are 4 tasks in this module.

Reading Correspondence
Reading to apply a diagram
Reading for Information
Reading for View Points

Task 1 – Reading correspondence:

This task has two readings – exchange of emails between two people. They will be known to each other. The tone and formality of the email would be conversational, friendly, social and familiar. Also, there won’t be any extreme informality in the slang or word usage.

10 questions will be asked totally, with 5 questions in first part as MCQs while 5 questions will be in the form of fill in the blanks in the second correspondence. Both parts will have all three question types, that are discussed below, which should be understood by the test taker.

Task 2 – Reading to apply a diagram:

Here, there will 1 email and 1 illustration in pictorial format. The test taker has to read the email and refer the picture to answer the questions. This picture could be

a transit, course, or event schedule
a brochure or flyer for an event or attraction
a guide to a typical community activity, like garbage disposal or applying for
an ID card

The tone/informality of the reading would be informative and helpful, but not personal. This will be concise with images and illustrations giving key ideas. Total number of questions will be 8 in 2 parts with 5 questions referring to the email and the images with specific information and inference types while the second part will have 3 questions of general meaning and inference nature.

Task 3 – Reading for Information:

In this task, a 4-paragraphed passage will be presented with 9 statements as questions. This reading will talk about any general topic that may be of a person, place, thing, process or anything of general interest. The tone and formality of the passage will be factual, formal, educational and descriptive. No viewpoints will be presented. Since it is a general topic, it is not targeted to any specific experts. The test taker has to check the statements and their conformity with the passage to select the answer.

Task 4 – Reading for view points

This task has 2 texts – 1 main passage and 1 reader’s comment to following it. This is similar to a blog or an online article. Main text will be an article that includes two or more opinions about a community issue having MCQ type of questions while the second text will be a short comment from a reader of the main text, with blanks to fill in.

The tone and formality of the texts will be formal and complex in nature like that of a news article. It will be conceptual with discussion of ideas, concepts and possibilities. Also, it will be persuasive with opinions presented and supported by details. Eventually, it will be a combination of both facts and opinions containing abstract and hypothetical ideas. This section will have 2 parts like Task 1 having 10 questions in each part with MCQs and Fill in the blanks type.

Now, let’s see how to answer the questions of reading task with these great 5 tips.

Basically, there will be three types of questions in the CELPIP Reading as well as Listening Modules.

General meaning – the big picture questions to understand the overall context of the passage.
Specific Information – asking for a specific word or detail.
Inference – looking for answers beyond the surface meaning.

Understanding the type of question is important while trying to get the concept of the passage/audio as well.

For example,

Task 1 will have General Meaning and Specific information types in part 1 and inference in part 2 mostly.
Task 2 will have more general meaning and specific information in part 1 and inference types in part 2.
Task 3 will have an equal proportion of all 3 types of questions.
Task 4 will have more general meaning and inference type of questions compared to specific information.

Here are the Top strategies to score high in the CELPIP Reading tasks.

Tip #1: Grammar and Lexical resource –

Learning any language would require a strong grammar and vocabulary. Both will have a huge impact in the CELPIP reading passages to answer the questions. Having said that, the reading modules is the most challenging for most test takers that lack in this space.

The first tip is to identify the grammar of the question and the answers and compare it with that of the text. This way, one can find the type of answer one needs to answer a question. It also makes the test taker to get the whole point of the passage.

On the other part, Vocabulary is equally important because the words given must be understood with their synonyms. Since the CELPIP reading texts will be paraphrased, having a different set of words to describe than that from the words used in the questions and the answer options, the test taker must be able to convert the read passage in their own words to verify their understanding. Particularly, the signpost words and the transition words should be known well as they may impact a lot in reading. If missed, this may cause vagueness in the meaning of the context.

Tip #2: Effective reading

While reading mustn’t be just reading the entire text, it should be done to get the overall context of each given paragraph. In any CELPIP reading task, each paragraph will have its own context that are not repeated in any other paragraphs.

While attempting to answer the question, the test taker must try to get the main idea of each paragraph by trying to give a topic with no more than 3 words. Skimming through the passage will give the overall picture of the entire reading. The reader will get the schematic understanding of the passage.

At this stage, the context of the questions must be checked and matched with the relevant paragraphs to get the answers. It must also be borne in mind that, the key words will be given in every paragraph but the content will be different. Now scan the answer using the keywords of the main idea.

Tip #3: Time Management

Time Management is of paramount importance as CELPIP is a 100% computed-based test that has a strict time limitations for each module. As discussed earlier, the time frame for reading module is 55 – 60 minutes. That means, to complete all the four tasks, the test taker has roughly 12-15 minutes per task. Within this time limit, the test taker has to read the text and answer the given number of questions. To do this, reading the text, understanding the context of the passage as well as the questions and finally giving the right answers must be done quickly and strategically.

Tip #4: Proactive Answering

Before answering the question, predicting the type of answers is as important as getting the overall picture of the text. Since the questions in reading tasks will follow order, except for the Task 3 – Reading for information, it is best to go question by question to follow the order of the passage to identify and locate the answer. If you miss the relevant section and feel that you have moved past it, just go with the next question. Don’t take more than 30 seconds per question. Keep the difficult questions for review at the end of the task.

Tip #5: Practice

After knowing all these strategies, it is cardinal that it must be practiced enough to put these into action. Only by practicing, the test taker can check out and experiment the reading task and get a clear understanding of the tasks and set their own strategy, manage the time well and score better.

Best approaches to ace CELPIP Reading tasks.

Before reading the passage:

Always remember, the questions will follow the order of the facts given in the passage.
In each reading, each paragraph will have its own idea.
Trying to understand the context of the paragraphs using skimming and scanning methods.
Giving a topic for them will be beneficial in understanding the overall text.
Try to understand context of the question is also important.
Comparing the context of the question and text will enable the test taker to identify the answer.
Keep tabs on the timing of each reading task. Don’t take more than 30 seconds per question.
Predict the type of the answers you need to answer the questions.
Don’t try to understand each and every word given. Just skim through the passage and understand the context by collecting some key words. YOU ARE NOT EXPECTED TO READ EVERY WORD IN THE PASSAGE.
Check the word form in the passage and the answer options. Check for paraphrases. Choose the right answer.
Follow the signpost words such as moreover, however, although, eventually, because, generally and so on. This gives the direction of the conversation.
Try to take notes in the paper provided in the Test Centre.
While eliminating the answer options, make sure they are wrong by looking at the evidence-based references.

While reading the passage:

Task 1: Reading Correspondence –

This task has 2 parts. For part 1 – Understand the context or the main idea of the passage paragraph-wise and give a topic. Follow the questions and check the relevant section of the passage and pick up the answer. For part 2 – Try to get into the shoes of the reader to understand the attitude and tone of the text and choose the appropriate answer as this is a sentence completion type. Grammar and context are very important to get the correct answer. Alternately, look out for the words like “As you mentioned”, “As you suggested” because this has the reference in the first reading which may be the hints for the answers.

Task 2: Reading to Apply a diagram –

In this task, carefully study the layout of the illustration and compare it with the text. Check for comparative and commonalty phrases to get your answers. Understand the attitude and character of the writer to answer the part 2 questions which are mostly inference types.

Task 3 – Reading for Information

This passage has 4 paragraphs explaining about different parameters of the given topic. First, the main idea of the text has to be identified. Then, the paragraph-wise topics should be marked to get an idea of the formation of text. If possible, trying to give a topic to each paragraph will help in identifying the relevant section to get the answers by comparing the context of the question.

Task 4 – Reading for Viewpoints

Here, there will be 2 readings – one is the main text such as an article or blog and the second one is the comment by a random reader.

In the 1^st part,

Read the questions first.
Identify the key words
Understand the context
Find the keywords in the text
Try to figure out the meaning around the keyword. 1 or 2 sentences before and after the keyword/context.
Find the logical and appropriate answers out of the options.

In part 2, which is a sentence completion type,

Follow the keywords which will roughly follow the order of the first text and identify the answers.
NEVER ASSUME OUT OF THE CONTEXT.
Get the pulse of the reader to identify the attitude and select the answers.
Also, check the grammar of the sentences to get the right word formation such as noun, verb, verb+ing, adverb or adjective or even phrases or clauses.
Predicting the type of answer needed solves half of the problem.
This applies to part 2 of the Task 1.

Though this might be a plenteous of information, once understood, it will be easier to crack the reading task in CELPIP with higher scores.

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