The Key to answering OET Reading Part B questions.
So before I get started on the topic of this episode, just a few quick reminders for you. Firstly, have you downloaded my free OET training yet? If not why not? It’s completely free and whether you’re taking OET for the first time or after a few failed attempt, this training will help you get on track by guiding you to get super organised and super focussed on the exact things you need to work on in order to get the score you need.
If that’s what you need right now then the link is in the show notes.
Also, my OET Training membership will be opening in January. This is a pay monthly membership where I guide you through every aspect of OET and show you how to get the score you need. If you are interested in finding out more about the membership programme or working with me 1:1, then you can book a free, no obligation 15 minute zoom call with me. The link to book is also in the show notes.
Ok, so this episode is all about OET Reading Part B and the key fundamentals you need to understand and practice in order to score well in this section. So by now, you should know how I teach and that the fundamentals always come from knowing the marking criteria inside and out and understanding what skills are being tested. Once this is clear in your mind, you can focus on those skills. Remember OET is designed to test the skills you will need working in the healthcare in whoever country you want to move to…..you have these skills already, working where you are now, you just need to convert these same skills in English.
Let’s first talk about what you can expect from reading Part B.
So Part B requires a deeper understanding of the text you are reading compared to Part A. You have 6 different short texts that are all unrelated in topic and which will be about different aspects of healthcare. The texts are extracts from important documents such as policy documents, guidelines, or instruction manuals, memos or emails. You are being tested on your ability to identify and understand the purpose, gist or main idea or a particular detail of the text and this will depend on the focus of the question which I’ll go into more detail about later.
Each text has a 3 option multiple choice question. Your job is to understand what the question is asking and choose the correct option.
Now, one important point you need to remember here is that you must manage your time really well with Part B. Part B and C are combined and you have a total of 45 minutes to complete both parts. Part C is much longer, and is harder so you need to allow more time for Part C. My advice to you would be to complete Part B in 12 minutes, so that’s 2 minutes per question. This is a really important point because you need to incorporate this time management factor into your preparation time so that you know you’re completing it in 12 minutes. It may seem really difficult at first, but so do most things and really good focussed practice on this will help you to get faster.
What also helps with getting through Part B quickly, or any section for that matter, is to have a clear strategy to answer the questions. If you sit there in the test and think, do I read the question, the options and then the text or read the text, then the question and then the options, you’ve wasted 2 minutes already. You need to know exactly what to do as soon as you start. More about that in just a second.
Another important point is that the questions are of two types. A normal question statement and an incomplete statement that you need to complete with the correct option, a bit like sentence completion questions. For example:
What point does the training manual make about anaesthesia workstations?
So this is a normal question.
The next type is the incomplete statement
According to the directive, health professionals should have access to ….
And you have to find the correct option to complete the sentence.
It’s important you are aware of the two types and comfortable answering both.
So what is the best strategy to answer the questions. So, as I’ve already mentioned that it’s your job to understand the question and the gist of the text. This is the key to doing well in Part B, understanding the question and the text. Once you can do that effectively, choosing the correct option will be easier. So, the best strategy is to read the question ONLY, ignore the options. Understand what the question is asking you and underline any key words. Then go straight to the text and locate the key words in the text. You won’t find the exact words but you’ll find similar phrasing and / or synonyms. Find the answer to the question yourself, just by looking at the text. Then go to the options and find the most suitable option. Read the question again and text and double check. Look at the other options and make sure you eliminate them as wrong…which is another way of getting to the right answer especially if the options are similar.
Another key skill being tested is vocabulary. I have said in previous episodes that vocabulary is the key to doing well in OET. It will help you understand the question, find the answer in the text and differentiate between the option choices because what you will find that the options will be very similar, so it will seem that all of the option are mentioned or all of the options are mentioned in the text. The only way to find the right option is to use your range of vocabulary to distinguish between the wording of the options and find the most accurate answer.
So as a round up, the skills being tested in reading Part B is your ability to read for gist and detail, to understand the question and your range of vocabulary. Focus on these areas, i.e. improving your ability to read a short text and finding the gist or the main idea, understanding the questions and identifying key words in the question and using vocabulary knowledge to find the information in the text and choosing the correct option and also improving your range of vocabulary. Focusing on these areas and become good at them will also help you to keep to the 2 minute per question rule for Part B which will then give you the right amount of time to focus on Part C.
So my question to you now is… what have you learnt from this podcast AND what are you going to do with that knowledge now? How are you going to implement this in your preparation? Even if you already know all about how to answer Part B reading questions, have you actually implemented this strategy, are you improving your vocabulary, can you answer Part B in 12 minutes? It’s one thing knowing what to do and another actually being able to do it and the only way to be able to do it is to, guess what? actually do it, practice , practice and practice.
So don’t be one of those students who watch all the free videos and download all the information and know everything but do nothing. The students that implement the knowledge and practice are the ones that get the score they need faster. It’s as simple as that.
Homework:
1. What 3 skills are being tested in Reading Part B?
2. What is the most logical strategy to answer the multiple choice questions: Choose a correct option.
a. Read the text, read the options and then the question?
b. Read the question, read the text and then read the options?
c. Read the options, read the text and then the question?
3. You must answer each question in Part B in
a. 2 minutes
b. 5 minutes
c. 12 minutes
4. Are there any new words in this podcast you can learn? Make a list and look them up in a dictionary. Learn the meanings, the pronunciation, the synonyms, the antonyms, collocations, the different tenses of that word and an example sentence with that word in it.