The Student Room Group

QTS Literacy - Comprehension

Okay, so my literacy test is on Monday. By far my greatest weakness is comprehension. I've been using The Teachers Skills' Tests for Dummies (UK Edition) to help, but I'm worried that it's actually hindering me - or that my grasp of the topic is much worse than I suspected! A couple of practice exercises are provided in the book, including the type of question i dread the most: decide whether a statement is 'supported', 'implied', 'implicitly contradicted' or 'contradicted' by the passage excerpted. One statement given is, 'Schools should consider using teaching assistants to fulfil the role of teachers'. The answer given by the book reads: 'The article says nothing on this topic', but 'you can [...] say that the article implicitly contradicts this view'. However, in the passage I have found this bit: 'schools need to be clear on the fact that teaching assistants are not substitutes for teachers'. Now, to me, this explicitly contradicts the statement; isn't 'fulfil[ling] the roles of teachers' the same as saying 'substitut[ed] for teachers'? Is the book wrong, or at least a tad obscure?

Further question. 'From the list below select the two options closest in meaning to the following phrase as it appears in the context of the passage you have read'. The phrase is: 'There is a positive effect on pupils’ progress where teaching assistants are effectively trained to deliver specific support programmes.' I picked: 'Giving teaching assistants specific roles is likely to improve their effectiveness' and 'Pupils’ learning is better when teaching assistants are better trained', and felt pretty secure in these. But then the answer given is: 'Teaching assistants’ work is most effective when targeting specific interventions' and 'Specific support programmes have the greatest impact on pupil learning'! I hadn't even considered these. Please can somebody tell me why the latter are correct, or why my choices aren't?

I would be very grateful indeed for any pointers on this dastardly subject!
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by Perfuddled
Okay, so my literacy test is on Monday. By far my greatest weakness is comprehension. I've been using The Teachers Skills' Tests for Dummies (UK Edition) to help, but I'm worried that it's actually hindering me - or that my grasp of the topic is much worse than I suspected! A couple of practice exercises are provided in the book, including the type of question i dread the most: decide whether a statement is 'supported', 'implied', 'implicitly contradicted' or 'contradicted' by the passage excerpted. One statement given is, 'Schools should consider using teaching assistants to fulfil the role of teachers'. The answer given by the book reads: 'The article says nothing on this topic', but 'you can [...] say that the article implicitly contradicts this view'. However, in the passage I have found this bit: 'schools need to be clear on the fact that teaching assistants are not substitutes for teachers'. Now, to me, this explicitly contradicts the statement; isn't 'fulfil[ling] the roles of teachers' the same as saying 'substitut[ed] for teachers'? Is the book wrong, or at least a tad obscure?

Further question. 'From the list below select the two options closest in meaning to the following phrase as it appears in the context of the passage you have read'. I picked: 'Giving teaching assistants specific roles is likely to improve their effectiveness' and 'Pupils’ learning is better when teaching assistants are better trained', and felt pretty secure in these. But then the answer given is: 'Teaching assistants’ work is most effective when targeting specific interventions' and 'Specific support programmes have the greatest impact on pupil learning'! I hadn't even considered these. Please can somebody tell me why the latter are correct, or why my choices aren't?

I would be very grateful indeed for any pointers on this dastardly subject!


I was very weak in my comprehension too, and was scoring very low in that section in the practice tests.

The key to that section is actually: skim reading. You need to be able to pick out KEY points of the text and accurately decide if the statements apply.

I don't understand that contradictive stuff either. Luckily that type of question was not in my real test.

For my real test, I spent about 5 minutes on each comprehension section; skim reading the text for evidence and it seemed to work as I passed!
Reply 2
Original post by computed
I was very weak in my comprehension too, and was scoring very low in that section in the practice tests.

The key to that section is actually: skim reading. You need to be able to pick out KEY points of the text and accurately decide if the statements apply.

I don't understand that contradictive stuff either. Luckily that type of question was not in my real test.

For my real test, I spent about 5 minutes on each comprehension section; skim reading the text for evidence and it seemed to work as I passed!


Thanks for the advice - and the ray of hope! I've scored quite well on the practice tests. My skim reading is good, but I'm struggling to distinguish between what is 'explicit' and what is 'implicit'; being an English lit student, I'm accustomed to merging these together. When I've practised, I've usually ended up with half an hour for the comprehension section, which is plenty of time to think through my answers I suppose. I haven't sat a test in ten years! That's probably the greatest source of anxiety for me.
Fret ye not. The spelling test should yield 7-8 easy marks and punctuation a good 10-15. At this point you are over half way. The grammar is straightforward if your spoken English is good. This leaves the comprehension which might not be of the implied, decicive etc type. Chin up. You don't know till you know. If you are losing sleep over this test, teaching might not be for you because the skills tests were a doddle compared to the training.

Good luck!
Reply 4
Original post by ByEeek
Fret ye not. The spelling test should yield 7-8 easy marks and punctuation a good 10-15. At this point you are over half way. The grammar is straightforward if your spoken English is good. This leaves the comprehension which might not be of the implied, decicive etc type. Chin up. You don't know till you know. If you are losing sleep over this test, teaching might not be for you because the skills tests were a doddle compared to the training.

Good luck!

Thank you. And you make a good point at the end! I'm not losing sleep exactly; I just like to have a real grasp of things, and this comprehension lark bugs me. I wouldn't like knowing that I had scored terribly on a certain section, even if my performance in the others was sufficient. Plus, compounding my anxiety no doubt is the fact that I'm not actually certain yet that I'll be accepted onto the PGCE course - I'm applying through clearing.
What i did was read through the whole text and make short bullet points on each paragraph explaining the main issues raised. Putting the text in your own words forces you to understand it and also you know where to look to find the answers.
Reply 6
Original post by Perfuddled
Okay, so my literacy test is on Monday. By far my greatest weakness is comprehension. I've been using The Teachers Skills' Tests for Dummies (UK Edition) to help, but I'm worried that it's actually hindering me - or that my grasp of the topic is much worse than I suspected! A couple of practice exercises are provided in the book, including the type of question i dread the most: decide whether a statement is 'supported', 'implied', 'implicitly contradicted' or 'contradicted' by the passage excerpted. One statement given is, 'Schools should consider using teaching assistants to fulfil the role of teachers'. The answer given by the book reads: 'The article says nothing on this topic', but 'you can [...] say that the article implicitly contradicts this view'. However, in the passage I have found this bit: 'schools need to be clear on the fact that teaching assistants are not substitutes for teachers'. Now, to me, this explicitly contradicts the statement; isn't 'fulfil[ling] the roles of teachers' the same as saying 'substitut[ed] for teachers'? Is the book wrong, or at least a tad obscure?

Further question. 'From the list below select the two options closest in meaning to the following phrase as it appears in the context of the passage you have read'. The phrase is: 'There is a positive effect on pupils’ progress where teaching assistants are effectively trained to deliver specific support programmes.' I picked: 'Giving teaching assistants specific roles is likely to improve their effectiveness' and 'Pupils’ learning is better when teaching assistants are better trained', and felt pretty secure in these. But then the answer given is: 'Teaching assistants’ work is most effective when targeting specific interventions' and 'Specific support programmes have the greatest impact on pupil learning'! I hadn't even considered these. Please can somebody tell me why the latter are correct, or why my choices aren't?

I would be very grateful indeed for any pointers on this dastardly subject!


I passed! What a relief. The spelling and grammar were trickier than the online practice tests, and one of the comprehension questions totally flummoxed me! I wish I could find out what the answers were.
Original post by Perfuddled
I passed! What a relief. The spelling and grammar were trickier than the online practice tests, and one of the comprehension questions totally flummoxed me! I wish I could find out what the answers were.



Congratulations and well done!
When I passed each test, I also wanted to find out the same thing lol
Reply 8
Original post by computed
Congratulations and well done!
When I passed each test, I also wanted to find out the same thing lol



Hi,

Well done, what a relief.
I done mine today
Original post by Msceekay93
I done mine today


How did you find yours?

What kind of questions came up? xx
Failed by a mark. It’s mainly about statements and finding the right one to suit the comprehension titles; whether it has contradicting statement, misleading etc. There’s a letter that you have to put the right grammars and sentence in- by choosing the right answer.

Then you also have a paragraph that you have to punctuate accurately.
Hey, does anyone remember which words came up during the spelling test section?

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