General Test Taking Tips regarding the TOEIC Exam- Reading Section

The Test of English for International Communications (TOEIC) will be changing in May 2016.  While this may be the case, there are many things regarding this test that will remain the same.  Below are some general test taking tips for this examination regarding if you take the test before or after May 2016:

1. There is no way around the fact that unless a student knows a lot of English, they can't score highly on the TOEIC test.  A good way to know if a student is ready or not for the exam is for the student to partake in a structured training program either in a class or on a one on one basis.  If the student misses most of the instruction simply because the instruction is give in English instead of their native language, they should wait to take the test till their English has improved.
2. A prerequisite to taking the TOEIC exam is for the test taker to be at a minimum at the upper beginner/lower intermediate level AND to receive instruction in English for a minimal score of 500.
3. The reading section demands the critical skill of time management.  This is managed by becoming proficient with the reading techniques of scanning and skimming.  Unlike the Listening Section, test takers can take Parts 5, 6, and 7 in various orders in an effort to manage the clock.
4. We suggest that students that are weak in the area of vocabulary to obtain a copy of the "Essential Words" for the TOEIC.  With this manual as your guide, start a word journal  and consistently find words that you don't know that are essential for success on the TOEIC and add to your word journal.
5. The "Essential Words" for the TOEIC is also good for the determining parts of speech due to the essential words being broken down in their word families.  
6. Are you able to look at a practice test problem and determine what "sounds" right?  If so, you are ahead of the curve and will be doing yourself a favor when it comes to time management.  Many have to look at the choices and eliminate based on the blank's position in the sentence or correctly choosing the right vocabulary word.
7.  If the student does not know the key words, there is little they can do about it during the test so they shouldn’t waste time.  One recommended approach for handling this part efficiently is called the ‘2-Pass’ technique.  
8. On the first pass the student goes through quickly answering all the questions they find easy. If they don’t know the answer within ten seconds, they skip to the next question. On the second pass, the student goes back to the more difficult questions left blank. If they still aren’t sure of the correct answer after 30 seconds they should guess and move on. This technique ensures that students don’t get stuck on the more challenging questions and end up wasting a lot of time.
9. The skimming reading technique is used in parts 5 and 6.  To skim is to read quickly and superficially, in order to pick up the important or significant details.
10. The scanning reading technique is used in part 7.   To scan is to look for specific information in the various targets in part 7.  The best technique for getting through this is to use PSRA.  This is to Predict what the target will be and how many questions, Scan the target by reading the questions and four possible answers before reading the target, Read around the scanned area if necessary, and the selecting your answer and moving on.  The whole PSRA process should take no more than 30 seconds per problem.  Two targets will have five problems and one target sets will have three problems.  If time management is a challenge, we suggest that you do Part 7 first.  

For more information and service request, contact Daniel Stone at daniel.stone@onestonelearning.com