Chiến thuật làm bài đọc Ielts được sử dụng bởi những thí sinh đạt điểm cao trong kỳ thi học thuật Ielts

TNU Journal of Science and Technology 226(03): 64 - 71 
 64 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 
IELTS READING TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES EMPLOYED 
BY HIGH SCORE CANDIDATES IN ACADEMIC TRAINING MODULE 
Phi Thi Mui, Vu Thi Quyen
 *
TNU - School of Foreign Languages 
ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT 
Received: 08/3/2021 This research aims to illuminate how the successful IELTS takers 
perform their IELTS reading test and provide a useful guidance for 
anyone concerning about IELTS reading test. This study is motivated 
by two research questions: (1) What test-taking strategies frequently 
used by Vietnam test takers in performing IELTS reading tasks? (2) 
How are those English test-taking strategies related to test takers’ 
performance? The research employed multiple methods including a 
broad survey questionnaire of 100 participants and a thorough interview 
of 06 English language learners who had taken the IELTS test and 
gained at least 7.0 for reading skill to point out the common reading 
strategies used by high score test takers and indicate the influence of 
them on the test takers’ performance. The findings from the research 
illustrate the variety in application of test-taking strategies and the 
impact of strategies on the results when taking the test. The findings 
also prompt an encouragement to learn and sharpen basic approach 
when learners take reading tests, especially in IELTS reading, so that 
they can improve their reading skill. 
Revised: 30/3/2021 
Published: 31/3/2021 
KEYWORDS 
IELTS reading test 
Strategy 
Test takers 
Performance 
Skill 
CHIẾN THUẬT LÀM BÀI ĐỌC IELTS ĐƯỢC SỬ DỤNG 
BỞI NHỮNG THÍ SINH ĐẠT ĐIỂM CAO TRONG KỲ THI HỌC THUẬT IELTS 
Phí Thị Mùi, Vũ Thị Quyên* 
Trường Ngoại ngữ - ĐH Thái Nguyên 
THÔNG TIN BÀI BÁO TÓM TẮT 
Ngày nhận bài: 08/3/2021 Nghiên cứu này nhằm mục đích làm sáng tỏ những chiến thuật đọc 
thường được áp dụng bởi những thí sinh đạt điểm cao kỹ năng đọc 
trong bài thi IELTS học thuật. Hai câu hỏi nghiên cứu gồm: (1) Các thí 
sinh Việt Nam thường sử dụng chiến lược làm bài nào trong các bài thi 
đọc IELTS? (2) Các chiến lược làm bài thi đó có liên quan như thế nào 
đến thành tích của thí sinh? Nghiên cứu sử dụng phương pháp khảo sát 
đối với 100 người tham gia và phỏng vấn 06 người học tiếng Anh đã 
tham gia kỳ thi IELTS và đạt ít nhất 7.0 cho kỹ năng đọc; từ đó, chỉ ra 
các chiến lược đọc phổ biến được sử dụng bởi những thí sinh đạt điểm 
cao và ảnh hưởng của những chiến lược này tới kết quả của thí sinh. 
Các phát hiện từ nghiên cứu minh họa sự đa dạng trong việc áp dụng 
các chiến lược làm bài thi đọc IELTS và tác động của các chiến lược 
đến kết quả bài thi. Các phát hiện cũng khuyến khích người học tìm 
hiểu và trau dồi phương pháp tiếp cận cơ bản khi làm bài thi đọc, đặc 
biệt là trong bài thi đọc IELTS, nhằm nâng cao mức độ thành thạo đối 
với kỹ năng đọc hiểu của bản thân. 
Ngày hoàn thiện: 30/3/2021 
Ngày đăng: 31/3/2021 
TỪ KHÓA 
Bài đọc IELTS 
Chiến thuật 
Thí sinh 
Thành tích 
Kỹ năng 
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34238/tnu-jst.4107 
*
 Corresponding author. Email: vuquyen.sfl@tnu.edu.vn 
TNU Journal of Science and Technology 226(03): 64 - 71 
 65 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 
1. Introduction 
Test-taking strategies have been playing a crucial role for language learners as nowadays test 
is used as a reliable way of checking and evaluating learners’ knowledge. The International 
English Language Testing System (IELTS), which is the world’s leading English language 
proficiency test, has been recognized as one of the most secure, valid and reliable means in 
assessing English language proficiency for education, immigration and professional 
accreditation. IELTS test, which is a high stake test, success or failure, can have a life changing 
impact on candidates. As a result, smart and critical reading and thinking strategies need to be 
used sufficiently in order to be successful or to achieve the best possible score in the test [1], [2]. 
 There are numerous factors affecting the candidates’ results except for knowledge and 
ability. One of the most important factors is learning and test-taking strategies [1], [3]. Test-
taking strategies are simply defined as specific actions or techniques taken by users to aid them 
overcome the test easier, faster and more accurate. As Oxford [4] defines, learning strategies are 
“specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-
directed and more transferrable to new situations”. 
Test-taking strategies have been the focus of many studies [1], [5] – [7], [8] – [10]. In spite of 
many attempts made towards learning and test-taking strategies, few were devoted to test-taking 
strategies used in reading modules of IELTS while for many Vietnamese candidates, reading is 
regarded as the most challenging one. All of these reasons stated have become the motivations 
that stimulate the researchers to carry out the study named “ ... h use 
6 Look for key words in the questions and words or phrases 
with similar and related meanings in the texts, look for a 
paraphrase of each statement. 
3.87 1.169 High use 
7 Scan quickly for numbers, names, dates and words around it 
to get the answers. 
3.67 1.207 High use 
8 Remember that the questions follow the order of the passage. 3.58 1.241 High use 
9 Don’t try to read every word 3.02 1.318 Medium use 
10 Try to summarize after you read. 3.32 1.317 Medium use 
11 Read the first sentence of each paragraph for main idea. 3.33 1.256 Medium use 
12 Look for how the text is organized and ignore details. 2.86 1.223 Medium use 
13 Try to predict where the author’s points are leading. 3.45 1.192 High use 
14 Get the gist of each paragraph. 3.22 1.284 Medium use 
15 Pay special attention to the first part of the passage. 3.51 1.283 High use 
16 Find short sentences within paragraphs 3.18 1.123 Medium use 
17 Form ideas about the text while reading. 3.26 1.346 Medium use 
18 Relate what you read to what you already know. 3.34 1.265 Medium use 
19 Look for context clues for the meaning of unfamiliar or 
difficult word. 
3.59 1.240 High use 
20 Answer the questions you know first. 3.13 1.315 Medium use 
21 Avoid answers that are too specific or too broad. 3.22 1.079 Medium use 
22 Always look for answers that sound consistent with the idea 
in the text. 
3.02 1.435 Medium use 
23 Guess the meaning of any word in the stem you do not know. 3.25 1.373 Medium use 
24 Use prior knowledge to answer questions. 3.10 1.460 Medium use 
25 Guess if you cannot find the answer. 3.16 1.448 Medium use 
26 Make sure you find evidence in the text to answer the 
question, try not to use what you think is true. 
3.34 1.183 Medium use 
TNU Journal of Science and Technology 226(03): 64 - 71 
 68 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 
Oxford’s key to understanding mean scores on SILL-based instruments [12] was employed to 
report the frequency of English test-taking strategy use: 
High use = 4.5 to 5.0 (always or almost always used and 3.5 to 4.4 (usually used) 
Medium use = 2.5 to 3.4 (sometimes used) 
Low use = 1.5 to 2.4 (usually not used) or 1.0-1.4 (never or almost never used) 
As shown in table 2, in general, the mean overall strategy use was 3.00 on the 5-point Likert 
scale, which suggested “medium” use of strategy. There were 09 “high” use strategies, in which 
strategy 06 (Look for key words in the questions and words or phrases with similar and related 
meanings in the texts, look for a paraphrase of each statement) stood at the highest position with 
3.87 mean and strategy 05 (Highlight important information as you read the text ) ranked second 
with 3.73 mean, the third was strategy 02 (Budget your time.). Strategies 07, 08, and 19 (Scan 
quickly for numbers, names, dates and words around it to get the answers; Remember that the 
questions follow the order of the passage and Look for context clues for the meaning of 
unfamiliar or difficult word) also received lots of preference of IELTS test-takers. 17 strategies 
were categorized into “medium” use; however, strategies 12 (Look for how the text is organized 
and ignore details) stood at the bottom of the overall mean. 
Almost all the readers advise IELTS test-takers to take a look at the questions first instead of 
reading the text immediately in order to know what they are being asked about, and then direct 
their attention to the piece of information containing the answers. Sometimes they can paraphrase 
the questions and then find the similar information in the text. All of interviewees when being 
asked to describe the step to do the tasks, reported they often looked at the questions first, then 
paraphrase it to know what they were being asked about, finally found the similar information in 
the text. 
Pour Mohammadi & Abidin [7] demonstrated that questions previewing supported examinees 
know where to look for needed information. However, some participants when being asked why 
they did not preview questions first expressed that if they looked at the questions without 
skimming the whole text, it was very difficult to answer the questions without knowing the main 
ideas of the text and sometimes they would miss some key information that might help figure out 
something. 
Some interviewees also agreed that it was essential to highlight important information in the 
text because this step would help them find the key easier and formalize the main ideas about the 
text while reading. That is the reason why “highlight important information as you read the text” 
ranks second in terms of frequency. 
 “Scanning”; “Remembering the answers follow the order of the text” and “Looking for 
context clues for the meaning of unfamiliar or difficult word” are familiar tips with high score 
IELTS test takers. Most of the previous studies on reading strategies also revealed the 
significance of scanning strategies [1], [8], [9], [13]. 
On the contrary, some strategies prove not to be efficient with the majority of participants. 
One of the typical tactics is “Look for how the text is organized and ignore details”. It is quite 
comprehensible when it is the test, the more answer test takers get, the higher score they have. As 
a result, they do not need to read everything in the passage or pay attention to the text’s 
organization. This is in agreement with Phatiki’s and Cohen’s findings [8], [9] which revealed 
that scanning technique enabled the readers to “cover a vast amount of material very rapidly” 
without reading and understanding every word of a text. 
The analysis of the data collected from the survey also point out that IELTS takers 
employed varieties of strategies when reading including general strategies, text-related 
strategies and question-related strategies. By utilizing a wide range of strategies, the 
participants are able to comprehend the passages better. In other words, they may get more 
success in the IELTS reading module. 
TNU Journal of Science and Technology 226(03): 64 - 71 
 69 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 
3.2. The impacts of the English test-taking strategies on the test takers’ performance 
Correlation analyses were also run to investigate the relationship between English test-taking 
strategy use and candidates’ test performance by using ANOVA analysis, the results of which are 
shown in the table 3. 
Table 3. Correlation between English Test-taking Strategy Use and Students’ Test Performance 
 GEN TE QE IELTS score 
GEN 
Pearson Correlation 1 .253
*
 .120 .449
**
Sig. (2-tailed) .011 .235 .000 
N 100 100 100 100 
TE 
Pearson Correlation .253
*
 1 .329
**
 .428
**
Sig. (2-tailed) .011 .001 .000 
N 100 100 100 100 
QE 
Pearson Correlation .120 .329
**
 1 .368
**
Sig. (2-tailed) .235 .001 .000 
N 100 100 100 100 
IELTS score 
Pearson Correlation .449
**
 .428
**
 .368
**
 1 
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 
N 100 100 100 100 
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). 
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). 
With Sig < 0.05, it means the data are acceptable and there is a significant correlation between 
candidates’ test performance and English test-taking strategies in the research. According to the 
analysis, general strategies have greatest impact with β= 0.355, the text-related strategies come 
second with β = 0.259 and the last is question-related strategies (β = 0.240). 
O’ Malley & Chamot [3] and Oxford [4] in their thorough studies affirmed that the 
employment of test-taking strategies “facilitate and improve language learning and assist 
language learners in different ways” and certainly learners’ test scores would be improved. 
When being interviewed, all interviewees agreed that test-taking strategies had influence on 
test performance to some extent, especially in IELTS – the test of language ability. 
Overall, the data analyzed from the survey and the interview sections demonstrated clearly 
that test-taking strategies affect IELTS score to some degree. 
4. Conclusion 
First and foremost, on average high score test takers have “medium use” of test-taking 
strategies. The majority of testees agree upon that they come to the test with the position of a test 
taker; as a result, they often have the purpose of reading to answer the questions only. This 
approach somehow affects the strategies to handle the task such as they often read the question 
first, some even underline the key words in the questions to clear about what information to find 
in the text and finally look for similar or related paraphrases in the text. Moreover, while reading 
the text, they often have the habit of marking important information to easily follow the ideas of 
the text and locate the answers. Testees also watch the clock when taking the test because the 
time is neat, especially with new English learners who show greater concern about this aspect 
than the others. Some other familiar strategies are scanning, looking for context clues, and 
remembering that the answers follow the order of the passage. On the other hands, some 
strategies receive little preference of participants, for instance, “reading every word in the text”, 
“looking for how the text is organized and ignore details”, and “using prior knowledge to answer 
questions”. 
TNU Journal of Science and Technology 226(03): 64 - 71 
 70 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 
 In terms of how reading strategies affect the test takers’ performance, the findings 
demonstrate a close correlation between those variables. Of three examined strategies, general 
tactics have greatest influence, the second is text-related strategies and the third is question-
related ones. The findings of the study have lots of common with previous famous research [3], 
[4], [14]. Moreover, the collected data from the interview section also strongly support this 
conclusion, 100% of interviewees agreed that test-taking strategies played a crucial role in 
helping test takers improve their IELTS scores. 
It can be concluded that test-taking strategies improve test performance in one or another way. 
Accordingly, being familiar even having clear steps to deal with different task types needs to be 
prepared in advance, especially IELTS takers. IELTS trainers and English teachers should 
integrate test-taking strategies into teaching curriculum. An awareness of strategy instruction, 
even being presented or modeled will certainly help learners to benefit from test taking strategies 
and employ them effectively [14]. Anyone having tension to take the IELTS test can consult the 
findings of the study to apply into practice. 
One of the obvious drawbacks of the study is the number of participants. The study’s results 
would be more reliable if the number of the participants was increased. Therefore, the standard 
deviation in the data analysis process is somehow higher than expected. Moreover, the number of 
male and female participants in the study are not equal so it is hard to generalize the results 
representing for the whole group of people. 
The study only focuses on IELTS high scorers so the results are not diverse. Any 
researchers’ attempts to investigate in this field can conduct a study about the strategies 
employed by low scorers and high scorers to compare the similarities and the differences in 
test-taking employment of these two groups. Besides, an approach to examine the test taking 
strategies of singular task type such as Multiple Choice, Yes/ No/ Not Given or True/ False/ 
Not Given, Matching Headings or Cloze Test, Chart or Graph Filling can be considered as a 
new necessary topic for further study. 
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