Teaching IELTS and SAT Reading: Identifying Common Pathways and Routes of Divergence

Abstract

The need to be multi-skilled in today’s world is a challenge no ESL teacher can ignore. This adaptability includes the ability to guide and prepare students for any internationally recognised English standardised test. This paper highlights a small-scale study conducted on the teaching of the IELTS Academic Reading and the SAT Critical Reading components, with the objectives of identifying the features that distinguish both tests and common core strategies that can be applied for teaching and preparing students for both tests. The procedure employed included doing qualitative and quantitative text analyses and comparing the target reading skills and teaching strategies. The effectiveness of the strategies used was evaluated based on student performance. The paper concludes by highlighting student performance analyses for both reading tests and recommending some areas for further investigation.