reading sub-test - test information

7/28/2019 Reading Sub-test - Test Information

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© OET Centre — Test information

The OET Centre

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Australia

Telephone: +613 9652 0800

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ABN 84 434 201 642

Occupational English Test

Reading sub-test Test information



General Information

Time AllocationThe Reading sub-test takes 60 minutes.

Part A = 15 minutes

Part B = 45 minutes

Test format and procedureThe Reading sub-test has two parts and is the same for all OET candidates:

Reading Part A

Part A is a new task type. Part A is a Summary reading task.

This requires test-takers to skim and scan 3-4 short texts (a total of about 650 words) related to a

single topic and to complete a summary paragraph by lling in the missing words.Test-takers are required to read the texts and write responses for 25-35 gaps in total, within astrictly monitored time limit of 15 minutes.

Part A is designed to test the reader’s ability to source information from multiple texts, tosynthesise information in a meaningful way and to assess skimming and scanning ability under atime limit.

Reading Part B

Part B is similar to the pre-March 2010 reading task type. Test-takers are required to read twopassages (600- 800 words each) on general medical topics and answer 8-10 multiple choice

questions for each text (a total of 16-20 questions) - within a time limit of 45 minutes.Part B contains fewer questions than the pre-March 2010 Reading sub-test. The two texts in Part Bare also shorter than those used in the pre-March 2010 Reading sub-test.

Part B is designed to test the reader’s ability to read longer texts in detail for comprehension.

Has the Reading sub-test changed?Candidates who have sat the Reading sub-test before March 2010 will notice the test format haschanged. A recent study undertaken at the Language Testing Research Centre at the University of Melbourne established, via the use of surveys and interviews conducted among a range of health

professionals, that there was a wider range of publications and reading genres likely to be read inthe workplace than the type of texts that had previously informed the OET Reading sub-test.

The specic reading skill of skimming and scanning a text was identied as a key component of surveyed health professionals’ work related reading; an ability that was not directly tested underthe old reading format. An important reason for the changes to the OET Reading sub-test thereforewas to enhance the quality of the test through a more accurate reection of real-world reading tasksand the underlying skills required to complete them.

A second reason for changes to the Reading sub-test concerns the desire to further increasethe reliability of test scores; more particularly by increasing the number of assessable items (agenerally accepted reliability-enhancement measure); in real terms, to increase the number of

items to above the previous 20-24 multiple choice items.



What will you do on test day?On the day of the test you will complete the Reading test in two parts. First you will be given Part A- TextBooklet and Part A- Answer Booklet. You will have exactly 15 minutes to read the texts and write youranswers to the summary. At the end of 15 minutes, both booklets will be collected from you.

The supervisor will then give you Part B- Text Booklet and Part B- Answer sheet. He/she will explain to youhow to ll in the Answer sheet. You then have 45 minutes to read the 2 texts and answer the questions bylling in your Answer sheet.

Remember you cannot go back to Part A if you nish Part B early. 15 minutes is a strict time limit.

Test topicsThe topics of the Reading sub-tests are chosen carefully to be accessible to all candidates of the OET. Theyare of general medical interest and cover a wide variety of issues. The OET is a test of English, not of medicalknowledge, and the test developers are careful in the test design to minimise areas where candidates mayuse prior knowledge rather than language skills to respond.

Topics will vary from administration to administration and while some topics may include content that isfamiliar to one particular health practitioner’s area of experience and expertise, the language tasks andquestions associated with the texts are designed to test language knowledge and ability, over and above, thecandidate’s knowledge of that eld. In other words, correct responses cannot be simply ‘predicted’ becausea candidate has experience in that area. Reading texts are selected for their concentration of content of ageneral health literacy nature; elements that can be considered common across multiple professions.

The topics of all texts are designed to be comprehensible to any educated lay native speaker, or highlyprocient non-native speaker, and this is regularly demonstrated through the trialling process (both internaland external).

The reading texts are developed according to strict specications (in terms of word length, difculty of vocabulary etc.) by test development specialists at the University of Melbourne. In response to feedbackon initial topic ideas and drafts of materials, texts are rened and then question and response formats aredeveloped by the university team. These are subjected to trialling, analysis and further renement. Throughthis process a marking key is developed for use by assessors. A sample key is included in the samplereading materials.

Test task typesPart A

Remember, Part A of the Reading sub-test requires you to complete a summary by writing the missing word

or several words (but only up to three words) within a strict time limit of 15 minutes. It is therefore importantthat you do not simply begin Part A by immediately reading all of the passages in great detail beforeattempting the summary task. This will take up valuable time and may result in an incomplete summary atthe end of the 15 minute period.

Instead, it is highly recommended that you begin by reading the summary passage which contains thenumbered ‘gaps’ (in the ‘summary’ column of the ‘Part A - Answer Booklet’). This will direct your attention tothe topic and focus of the rst paragraph so that you can quickly select which text matches the rst part of the summary passage. In other words, reading the summary passage rst will help you to know which one of the texts in the ‘Text Booklet’ contains the relevant information to choose the missing words for the rst partof the summary passage.



Part A of the Reading sub-test is a test of your ability to skim read and scan quickly across different textsto choose selected information in order to summarise. It is not a test of detailed reading for comprehensionpurposes - that particular skill is tested in Part B of the reading sub-test.

Remember also that the rst paragraph of the summary passage may not necessarily always directly relateto the rst text (A1) of the Text booklet. Information for the rst two or three ‘gaps’ in the summary passage

might only be located by reading another text. That is why it is very important to quickly establish a senseof the topic and focus of the rst paragraph; to direct your reading straight away to the appropriate texttherefore making efcient use of the time available.

Do

• Write at least 1 word, or up to 3 words for each answer.

• Consider words that are spelt with a hyphen (i.e., ‘-’) as ONE word. For example, ‘a low-cholesteroldiet’ (counts as three words) whereas ‘a low cholesterol diet’ (counts as four words and will NOTreceive any marks)

• Make sure you write your response in the same numbered box as the ‘gap’ in the summary passage

(see diagram below). Sometimes the numbered boxes in the Answers column may not line upacross the page with the same numbered gaps as they appear in the Summary column.

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constant

• If you miss an answer make sure you move on to the correctly corresponding numbered item beforewriting anything further. Don’t write, for example, your answer for the gap for item 15 in the box foritem 14 in the Answers column.

• Use correct spelling. Responses that are not spelt correctly will not receive any marks. American andBritish English spelling variations are accepted, e.g., color or colour.

• Use words with similar meaning to words in the texts if you can’t nd a word (s) directly from thetexts. These words are known as synonyms.

• If you are required to write down numbers or gures you can write either the full form (e.g., three,one hundred or one million) or the number form (e.g., 3, 100, or 1,000,000).

• Use the headings of the four texts in the text booklet to help you understand which text to use tocomplete different parts of the summary passage.

• Use words surrounding the gap for the missing word (s) in the summary passage to help you predictwhat kind of information is missing and to anticipate the type of missing word (s) you need to write.

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Assessors are trained to only consider responses given within the ‘Answers’ column (on the right).If a response is written in the Answer column or in the wrong box AND the candidate has NOT indicated clearly (e.g., with an arrow) where the response should be, it CANNOT be marked.



• Read the instructions carefully. Have the Text booklet open in front of you so that all texts are visibleat the same time. Have the Answer Booklet slightly to the side so that you can write your responsesas you read the texts.

• You may write your answers in either pen or pencil for Part A.

Don’t

• Write more than 3 words for each answer.

• Write your responses in the wrong gap. You will NOT receive any marks for answers written in theincorrect gap number.

• Write in the Summary passage itself. Responses must be written in the ‘Answers’ column on theright hand side.

• Write two options (separated by ‘/’ or ‘,’ or ‘( )’), even if they appear in the texts and mean the samething (e.g., if you write ‘greater/larger’, you will NOT receive any marks).

• Spend time thinking about whether a word should be capitalised or not. Capitalised and non-capitalised forms are accepted (e.g., ‘CANADA’, or ‘canada’, or ‘Canada’ are ALL acceptable).

Test task typesPart B

Remember, Part B is similar to the pre-March 2010 reading task but test-takers now read two shorter textsand answer fewer questions.

In Part B, test-takers are required to read two passages (600-800 words each) on general medical topics

and answer 8-10 multiple choice questions for each text (a total of 16-20 questions) within a time limit of 45minutes.

The two texts are on health-related topics and are similar to texts found in academic or professional journals.After each of the texts you will nd 8-10 questions or unnished statements about the text, each with foursuggested answers or ways of nishing (multiple-choice questions). You must choose the one responsewhich you think ts best.

The texts appear in the Text Booklet and there is a separate answer sheet to complete. You must indicateyour chosen response (A, B, C or D) to each question by shading the appropriate oval on the answer sheet.You must do this with a soft (2B) pencil.

Before you attempt Part B of the Practice test, consider some important tips below.

Do

• Answer every question. If you get to the end of Part B and are still not sure about a particularquestion, make an educated estimation. Record your answers accurately on the Answersheet before the 45 minutes is over.

• Take the sample test under test conditions beforehand so you know what it feels like. Set your timerfor 45 minutes and aim to spend approximately 22-23 minutes on each text in Part B.

• Bring and use a soft (2B) pencil. Remember you cannot use a pen to ll in the Answer sheet forPart B. It is a good idea to bring one or two extra 2B pencils as spares or a small pencil sharpener.



Don’t

• Get stuck on one question – keep going and come back to it at the end when you have answered allother questions. Marks are not deducted for incorrect answers.

• Cross out mistakes when you are lling out the Answer sheet for Part B. Unlike for Part A, in Part Byou need to erase wrong answers completely then ll in the correct answer fully. There are

clear instructions on the Answer sheet about how to ll in your answers.

• Fill in more than one box on the Answer sheet as the scanner will not be able to recognise youranswer and you will not receive any marks for that question.

Test AssessmentThe OET assesses all four language skills – listening, reading, writing and speaking – with an emphasis oncontextualised communication for professional purposes. The Listening and Reading sub-tests are commonto all candidates while the Speaking and Writing sub-tests are specic to each profession.

The Reading sub-test consists of a short answer response (summary completion) test (Part A) and a

multiple-choice questions (MCQ) test (Part B). Candidate answer sheets for Part A are marked by trainedassessors and score sheets for Part B are computer scanned. The item-level data are analysed using aRASCH analysis approach, for overall internal consistency and item quality. Any items found to be performingunacceptably (i.e., with t of above 1.3 or with discrimination levels of less than .25) are removed from thesubsequent analysis.

Test ScoresEach section of the new format Reading sub-test is weighted equally. That is, Part A is worth 33.3% and eachtext in Part B is also worth 33% of the total score.

Why is the Reading sub-test weighted equally when there are more questions (items) in Part A?

When you sit the reading test, you will get a raw score on Part A (between 25 and 35 depending on thenumber of items on that particular test) and a raw score on Part B (between 16 and 20 depending on thenumber of items on that particular test). Your scores will then be converted to a total score for the readingtest in which your score for Part A counts for 33.33% (one-third) of the total score, and your score forPart B counts for 66.66% (two-thirds) of the total score. Your total score for the reading test will then betransformed into a grade (A – E).

This type of weighted score conversion is very common. For example, in the listening sub-test, although onePart A might have more available marks than Part B, your score on each part is converted so that it countsfor exactly 50% of your total score for the whole listening sub-test.

The reason why there are different weightings for each part of the reading test is to reect the relative

importance of the skills we are measuring in each part in the overall estimation of your reading ability. PartA tests a relatively narrow set of reading skills – skimming and scanning – whereas Part B tests a range of different reading skills through different types of multiple choice questions.

Do I need to get the same score for each Reading section individually?

Part A and Part B scores are converted to a percentage (reecting relative weighting) that is then convertedto a total score. Data from your total score across both sections are used to calculate band-scores for eachadministration. The score is a combination of your total weighted scores for Parts A and B. Conceivably, youmay score slightly lower for one section but still maintain an overall higher level if your scores for the other

section are higher.

reading sub-test - test information

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