PSLE Cloze | 3 Tips to Revise with your Marked Comprehension Cloze!

One of the most common questions students and parents ask is, “Are there any tips on improving in comprehension cloze?”

In this video, I would like to share with you three tips on what you can do with the comprehension cloze passages that have been attempted, marked and corrected.

Other than identifying the common blanks, finding clues in the passage and understanding the passage as a whole, what else can students do to become more equipped to tackle this tricky component of Booklet B?

My advice? Revise. Rather than attempting cloze after cloze, it will be good to take some time to look through the comprehension cloze that you have done.

#1. Identify the kinds of mistakes committed.
There are three types of common blanks in Compre cloze:
Contextual - synonyms/antonyms, compare and contrast, etc.
Fixed phrases - phrasal verbs, idioms, etc.
Grammatical - connectors, verbs, etc.

The first thing students should do after taking back their cloze passages would be to identify the type of mistakes they often commit. To do so, take out two or three completed cloze passages and compare them side by side. You are bound to spot a common trend in the mistakes committed.

For example, you may realise that you struggle with tenses when the blank requires a verb. In this case, be extremely sensitive to the tense and highlight clues around the blank that point to the tense!

Identifying the common types of mistakes you tend to commit will help you to become more aware of what to look out for and highlight when you attempt your next comprehension cloze.

On top of that, knowing the types of blanks that you struggle with for comprehension cloze also means that you can ask your teachers for specific advice on tackling such blanks.

#2. Jot down phrasal verbs and collocations tested
What if there are quite a number of mistakes and you are unsure of how to identify them? Start off with something more manageable such as fixed phrases then.

Fixed phrases are idioms, phrasal verbs and collocations such as “solve a problem” where the words are commonly used together. Even though there are not many fixed phrases blanks in one comprehension cloze, it is still good to secure those 2 to 3 marks.

How to revise for phrasal verbs and collocations? Jot them down!
It is not enough to just write down the correct answer as it is only one word in a phrase.

Always write down the full phrase and the meaning of the phrase on your worksheet. While revising, it will help to see the phrase as a whole because this means you will be more aware of the words that go together. A plus point to this is that these phrasal verbs, collocations and idioms may appear in your grammar or vocabulary MCQ.

By jotting them down and learning the meanings of these phrases will help in your overall English revision!

#3. File the passages according to the different themes
Comprehension cloze can make use of passages of different text types such as narratives, biographies, recounts and a lot more

The easiest way may be to sort out the practices according to fiction and non-fiction. From the non-fiction pile, you can further split them in to specific text types like newspaper reports or information texts. OR , you can even sort them according to themes.

Some students might find it difficult to use the correct vocabulary in the different passages. However, some vocabulary or phrases can be thematic.

For example: Conservation, pay attention to/calls for attention, human activities, species, habitats, predator and prey…. → these words are all related to animals/environment.

To help you, some of the common themes are: animals, environment, people, science and technology, history of how things are made, places.

By filing your cloze passages accordingly it becomes easier for you to gather the vocabulary and phrases related to the different themes. This will help you tremendously when it comes to revision.

Comprehension cloze may seem daunting, but it is possible to improve and aim for full marks when it comes to this component in Booklet B.

No matter what, revision will definitely help you to become more aware of what to look out for when attempting your next compre cloze.

There is a quote that goes, “It’s not how we make mistakes, but how we correct them that defines us.”

So the next time you make mistakes in your comprehension cloze, do not panic nor feel defeated! Do your corrections well, and follow the 3 tips as mentioned to avoid committing the same errors!

Thank you for tuning in and I will see you again soon! Happy learning!

#English #LearnEnglish #Englishtips #Language #Learning #Fluent #Lessons #Singapore #Education #PSLE