3 Tips for English Comprehension (Open-Ended)

Hi everyone! I’m Miss Krittika, an English teacher at Lil’ but Mighty. For many of us, the Comprehension Open-ended section in Paper 2 can be quite an uphill task. Not only do we need to grapple with the ideas in the passage but we also need to understand the different question requirements in order to answer the questions accurately. However, fret not! Today, I’ll be giving you some tips on how to tackle this particular section. Alright, let’s jump right into 3 Tips for English Comprehension (Open-Ended)!

Tip #1: Annotate as you read

If you are wondering what I mean, the annotation technique is not something new. I am sure that your teachers in school have mentioned something similar. Simply put, to annotate means that as you read the passage, simply write a note, comment or question next to the text. This is a good way to jot down all your ideas and thoughts in relation to what you have just read. You can also consider using symbols. For instance, when you come across something interesting or important, you can put a star next to it. You can also circle any unfamiliar words or phrases and put a question mark whenever you chance upon any confusing ideas. For more ideas on how to interact with and annotate the text, check out this post!

How exactly does annotation help? Annotating helps you to slow down while reading, which in turn helps you comprehend a difficult text better and encourage active reading. It also prompts you to ask yourself questions about what you have just read in order to promote a deeper understanding of the text. Lastly, it enables you to understand details of the text which you might have missed if you were reading too fast while helping you to draw conclusions and make inferences. All this will consequently help you in to answer your questions accurately and in a concise manner.

Tip #2: Read the passage at least twice before attempting the questions

This is crucial in your understanding of the passage. Before you start reading the passage, you can skim through the questions to get a brief idea of what you should look out for. Upon the very first reading of the passage, try and understand the overall text as much as possible. This is so you get a good grasp of the topic at hand: this could be the gist of the story if the passage is a narrative text or the general idea that the writer is trying to communicate if the text is a non-narrative one. At this point, it is all right not to comprehend or remember every specific detail in the passage because you are just getting a broad idea of what the text is about.

The second time you read through the text, put on your thinking caps and start making your annotations as you go along. As mentioned in Tip #1, doing so will allow you to interact more closely with the text and understand it better. Pay special attention to the parts which you were unsure of earlier and see if you are able to comprehend them during your second reading. You should also start taking note of the important details in the passage, some of which might be useful later on when you are answering the questions.

Hence, by reading your entire passage twice, you actually save time because it allows you to retain information from the text and helps you familiarise yourself with the passage to ensure that you know where to find the answers to the questions. Of course you can read the passage as many times as you like (especially if it is one that is difficult to comprehend with many complicated parts) but do be mindful of the time, especially during tests and exams. Interested to know more ways on how to understand the passage? Find them in this blog post!

Tip #3: Pay attention to the question requirements

Now that you have read the passage (at least twice) and done your text annotation, the next step is to focus on the questions. It is important to always highlight the key words in your questions. You can finally whip out those colourful highlighters and put them to good use! The main purpose of highlighting is to draw attention to the important information in the questions.

However, that does not mean you can highlight anything that you like. First things first, identify and highlight the question type. This refers to the 5W1H words in the question – Who, What, Where, When, Why & How. This is essential in understanding exactly what the question is asking for and answering accurately. Refer to the table below for more details:

Secondly, you can either circle or highlight the tense word in the question so that you are aware of which tense your answer should be in – for example, if the verb ‘had’ is used in the question, then it tells you that you will need to use the past tense in your answer.

Thirdly, highlight other keywords that show you the focus of the question. This acts like a guide and helps you to locate the answer is in the passage. Take a look at the short example below that demonstrates the three steps that I have just mentioned:

Based on the example, highlighting the word ‘Where’ tells us that we need to find a place or location in order to answer the question. Do you see how the question key words ‘hide his gold coins’ are repeated in the passage? Being aware of this allows us to easily locate the answer, which is near where the keywords are found in the paragraph. Circling the tense word ‘did’ tells us that the verb that follows the subject in the answer needs to be in the past tense. Putting all the steps together, our final answer would be:

See how paying attention to the question requirements ensures that you answer your question in a clear and succinct manner? For a more comprehensive look at how to analyse the question requirements for different question types, check out this post!

I hope you find these tips helpful and will try them out the next time you attempt the comprehension open-ended section. Do let us know how it goes in the comments section below. I hope to see you around!

With the runway to the PSLE ever shortening, now’s the time to secure your child’s ticket to success. With Term 2 having just begun, let Lil’ but Mighty identify areas where your child may need additional resources or a different approach to get PSLE ready.