It’ a well-documented fact that, out of the four test parts, Thai students generally do least well in the Reading Section of the IELTS exam
There may be several reasons for this but unfortunately it has to be said that one of the biggest factors is the poor reading habits of the average Thai student. This is something that many ‘foreign’ teachers and trainers see for themselves, and is a common complaint with those involved in trying to get students ready for the IELTS exam.
By the way, it’s something that is also backed up by plenty of Thai academic research and government reports so it’s not just your teachers you have to believe; a google search of “Thai students+poor reading habits” comes up with a lot of hits like this, including a great piece of research from Chiang Mai University.
“Read more” has been one of my most often given pieces of advice to students here in Thailand; obviously, practice makes perfect. So, to improve your chances of getting a good score in the Reading Section, you should really work on developing this skill.
There are quite a few extra reasons that you should do it too. If I was talking about this with a group of students, I would probably get them to do a quick two minute brainstorm of some of the other benefits to them of reading, so, if you want a bit of brain exercise, have a think about it before reading on – you could even write your ideas down!!
Reading can be a great way to help you improve your grammar: by seeing language in action you can build-up your awareness of how it operates and fits together. This can help you think about, revise or even perhaps learn for the first time, the different tenses and structures in a natural context.
Reading is a great way to learn new vocabulary: