The Sunday News
Charles Dube
LEARNERS can get good marks in comprehension by making simple points. There are three golden rules in answering comprehension questions. The first rule is for the learner to make simple points in his or her answers. Secondly, get answers from the text — should not make things up and thirdly, quote to back up answers wherever possible. They are also encouraged to read each piece of writing carefully so as to know what it is about and what happens.
The next step is to read all the questions. After the learner has read the questions, she or he can read through the first bit of writing again with the questions in mind. Once the learner knows what the questions are, she or he can spot some things they had not seen before. Here is an interesting fact about answering comprehension questions. There are times when a learner has to state the obvious.
Learners should state the obvious as experts reckon that it is really important advice. Learners are advised not to be scared as they do not have to get all complicated to do well in English Language. They get plenty of marks for stating the obvious. Sensible points that a learner makes will get her or him marks even if they hardly seem worth saying at first. The point being made here is: “Even dead obvious things are worth saying — they get you more marks.”
More tips for reading (comprehension) — Pretend that the examiner does not know what you are writing about. Explain things properly and make their day. Imagine you have to explain everything to the examiners because they do not understand anything. This goes back to the point about stating the obvious. If a learner does not make the simple points, the examiner might not know that she or he has thought about them.
Learners should make sure that what they write is understood. It does not hurt to write properly. While it is true that one does not get marks for handwriting, but it helps attract the writer’s attention. Writing in proper sentences with proper punctuation makes it easier for the examiner to understand the points the learner is making. They should make sure they use the right punctuation for quoting.
Most of the time comprehension questions are short. Some of these questions are quite easy, but, some of them need that learners do a bit of thinking. They should read each question a couple of times before trying to respond to them. Some questions check the learners’ understanding. Such questions test that a learner understands what she or he has read. These types of questions are not usually hard and learners should not make a big deal out of them.
Such questions ask learners to find bits from the writing and write them down and they could ask the students to sum up part of the writing. Most short questions ask the reader about the style or the way things are written. The trick with style questions is to look at the detail. Look at each word and decide what it is doing there.
Everything you need to answer comprehension questions is there in the texts. Keep reading until you find answers. Do not make things up.
Of course, let us not forget that at times you get inference questions whereby the answers are not clearly stated in the passage. Learners are asked to work out what to do on some comprehension texts. At times they are told where to find the answer. The question always tells you where to look for the answer. Example: Explain how the final paragraph is an effective ending for the story. From paragraph three . . .
In such scenarios learners should not waste time going through the whole piece of writing for each question. They should go straight to the paragraph they are told to look at. If the question says “From paragraph 4 . . .” they should look at paragraph 4. The answer will be in there somewhere. Learners should make it a point to give the examiners what they ask for and nothing else.
Some questions are quite easy because they tell learners what to write. For example, write down two phrases or support your answer with a quotation. For the former the learner has to copy two phrases from the pieces they would have read. For the latter, they need to be sure to get that quote in their answer or else they will lose marks. When asked to write down three reasons they definitely should give three reasons — not two or four.
As stated earlier open-ended questions are trickier as they do not tell the learner what to say — they have to work it out. In this list we have how and why questions.
If the question asks how, use by in your answer. If the question asks why, use because in your answer. This is just part of what learners can do to improve their comprehension answers.
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