Handling the IELTS Reading test with Skimming and Scanning skills

To excel in the IELTS Reading test, candidates must practice independently to improve their reading speed during the exam. When you can increase your reading speed, you will undoubtedly have a firm grip on achieving a high IELTS band score. Therefore, to help you excel in the IELTS Reading test, PREP would like to share about Skimming and Scanning skills - the key skills to handle IELTS Reading passages effectively. Please refer to the article below to fully grasp Skimming and Scanning skills.
 

I. Definition and Difference between Skimming and Scanning skills

1. What is Skimming?

Skimming is a strategic reading technique employed to quickly glean the main ideas, themes, and overall structure of a text without delving into every detail. It involves swiftly moving one's eyes over the surface of the text, selectively focusing on headings, subheadings, topic sentences, and concluding paragraphs to grasp the gist of the content.

2. What is Scanning?

Scanning is a targeted reading strategy employed to locate specific information within a text swiftly. Unlike skimming, which focuses on grasping the overall content, scanning involves searching for particular words, phrases, numbers, or other identifiable markers relevant to the reader's specific purpose. Scanners move their eyes rapidly across the text, looking for cues that match the criteria outlined in the task or query.

3. Importance in IELTS Reading

Skimming and scanning are integral components of the IELTS Reading test, where time constraints demand efficient reading strategies. In this high-pressure environment, the ability to swiftly extract essential information while ignoring irrelevant details can significantly impact one's performance. Mastering skimming and scanning techniques not only enhances reading speed but also improves comprehension and accuracy, thereby increasing the likelihood of achieving a higher band score in the exam.

II. How can skimming and scanning be helpful for reading?

1. Benefits of Skimming

• Firstly, Skimming helps you answer general questions in question types such as matching headings, summary completion, multiple-choice questions (MCQs), etc., most quickly and effectively.
• Secondly, Skimming helps you identify information, narrowing down the search area for detailed reading. For example, in the Matching headings task, you need to match each paragraph with the corresponding title. If you don't use Skimming, you would have to read the entire passage, but with Skimming, you only need to read the main ideas or topic sentences.

2. Benefits of Scanning

Similar to skimming, scanning is highly useful in:

• After skimming through the passage to get a general understanding, scanning helps you locate the specific information accurately to answer questions.
• Specifically, it helps answer detail-oriented questions in formats such as MCQs, short answers, Yes/No/NG, True/False/NG, etc.

III. Some effective ways to use Skimming and Scanning skills

1. Effective use of Skimming skills

To skim effectively, pay attention to the following characteristics: The main idea is key. The main ideas can be found in the first sentence, the last sentence, the second sentence, or even throughout the entire paragraph.

For example:

Henry Moore was born in Castleford, a small town near Leeds in the north of England. He was the seventh child of Raymond Moore and his wife Mary Baker. He studied at Castleford Grammar School from 1909 to 1915, where his early interest in art was encouraged by his teacher Alice Gostick. After leaving school, Moore hoped to become a sculptor, but instead, he complied with his father’s wish that he train as a school teacher. He had to abandon his training in 1917 when he was sent to France to fight in the First World War.

In the above paragraph, we have the opening sentence: "Henry Moore was born in Castleford, a small town near Leeds in the north of England."

 This sentence immediately helps us identify the main idea of this paragraph, which is about Henry Moore's early life, indicated by the phrase "was born".

2. How to apply Scanning skills effectively

• In the initial step of scanning, pay attention to keywords such as proper names, figures, dates, or key phrases in the question.
• After completing step 1, in step 2, use the keywords you have found to locate the relevant information in the passage to answer the question accurately.

IV. Practice Skimming and Scanning skills effectively with exercises from PREP

To practice Skimming and Scanning skills effectively, PREP has compiled numerous exercises and videos containing knowledge taught by teachers at PREP in the basic IELTS Listening - Reading course. Refer to the study plan for IELTS preparation at Prep.

This article has provided the most useful knowledge about Skimming and Scanning skills to help you effectively prepare for the IELTS Reading test. If you still have any questions about these two skills, please leave a comment below for Prep to assist you.