Reading: Levels E, M, D, and A Study Guide for the TABE Test

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Percentage of Test Level Specifically Assessing These Skills

E	M	D	A
13.6%	13.6%	13.6%	13.6%

Reading is a valuable skill, but only if you can do something with it to make it meaningful to your brain. As you read, your brain is looking to make connections and to integrate knowledge and experience you already have to what you are reading now. Past experiences with other texts, ideas gleaned from previous reading, understanding of particular words and their impact—all of these things are being considered and weighed by your brain to help you make sense of whatever you are currently reading. Your brain is pulling information it has already gathered and locked away in order to apply it to this new text to help make meaning.

Using the Text

Effective readers use all parts of the text to help them make meaning. This means looking for illustrations, examples, graphics, headings, and other text features that are included to help explain the key ideas of the text. It’s important not to overlook these elements but to consider why they were included and what they add to the overall message from the author. They may provide examples or support intended to help a reader better understand the topic and the author’s claim.

Illustrations

In addition to visual additions to a text, like a photograph or drawing, illustrations also refer to examples and anecdotes included within the body of the text. They are specific examples designed to serve as evidence and support of an author’s claim. Maps are one type of illustration and they provide a graphic visual of a particular place. This helps the reader visualize the setting of the passage or helps to explain the information presented. Illustrations can help you answer the questions, “why, where, when, and how” about events.

Graphs

Graphic information requires identifying and disassembling several different pieces. It includes a wide variety of graphs and charts: bar graphs, pie charts, line graphs, plot lines, tables, charts, and graphic organizers. These graphs and charts contain elements such as titles, labels, lines, and bars. Here are some examples:

Flow Chart:

Tables

As graphic elements, tables offer readers detailed numerical information organized into rows and columns.

Graphs

Bar graphs and line graphs compare items at a fixed point in time (bar graphs) or over time (line graphs). Bar graphs may be created in a horizontal (landscape) or vertical (portrait) orientation. Line graphs are typically read from left to right. The data in graphs like these would be used to illustrate claims made in a text.

Bar Graph:

(horizontal orientation)

(vertical orientation)

Line Graph:

Pie Chart:

When looking at graphic information, first look at the title. The title identifies the purpose and focus of the graph. Next, look at the labels. In a bar or line graph, for instance, there are typically two labels: one for the vertical line and one for the horizontal line. Matching up these lines will deliver the graph’s information.

In a graph without two lines, such as a pie graph, look at the sections of the graph. This type of graph likely delivers percentage or other numeric information.

Other Information

Depending on the text, there may be other information and textual elements to consider. In a history textbook, for example, a reader may encounter a timeline. In an article about a research study, there may be tables to show findings of the research that was conducted. Workplace documents may have flow charts to explain the organizational structure of a company. Considering all the information presented, whether visually, orally, or quantitatively through images or graphics, will help the reader better understand the text in which these things appear.

Details

Finding the answer in the details of a passage requires several steps. To begin, read the question thoroughly and identify what is needed. From there, skim through the passage in question, keeping an eye out for key words related to the question. After you have identified key words, eliminate unnecessary or irrelevant information. Finally, take the information found and answer the question to the best of your ability.

The Author’s Reasoning

Not all authors use information in the same way. Some may make claims that seem to be supported by evidence, but when that evidence is more closely examined, it may not be what it appeared to be. Readers must evaluate the author’s reasoning and question whether it is reliable, factual information that supports the position or whether it is somehow being twisted, manipulated, or changed to meet the author’s needs.

Evaluating the Text

Using the elements of the text, evaluate it to determine its effectiveness. Did the author achieve their purpose? Did they consider their audience in terms of language level, tone, and word choice? Examine not only what a text says but how the author says it to determine its credibility and reliability.

Sound Reasoning

One of the most important things an author needs to do is to build credibility with their reader. This means the author must use sound reasoning and arguments that “pass the sniff test” and prove to be trustworthy, accurate, fair, and reasonable. If the author makes claims and then provides weak reasons as evidence in support, the reader is not going to find the author believable and will dismiss the author’s argument or claim, which means the author has failed.

Relevant and Sufficient Evidence

In addition to being sound, trustworthy, or credible, the evidence an author uses must be relevant and applicable to the topic being discussed and there must be enough of it to prove the point. Evidence or examples that don’t have a strong connection to the author’s claim or that weakly support it is not going to convince the reader of that claim’s validity or importance. If there’s not enough evidence or support, the reader may also question the acceptability of the author’s argument or claim. They may not be convinced.

False Statements and Fallacious Reasoning

Some authors purposely deceive or mislead their readers. They include false statements that they try to pass off as true, hoping their reader won’t question them too much or think too much about them. They may also use fallacious reasoning, or arguments that are faulty or invalid when really put to the test. Critical readers must question the evidence used by the authors of the texts they read and be on the lookout for false statements or invalid claims backed up by bogus evidence.

Text Features

The content of a text is important, but so too is its structure. When reading unfamiliar texts for the first time, consider taking a minute to do a quick skim of the text as a whole before diving in. How is it laid out on the page? Are there any identifying features like section headings, bolded or italicized text, keyword lists, sidebars, hyperlinks, or graphics? How long is it? How many paragraphs does it have? Read the first sentence of the first paragraph. Read the first sentence of a paragraph in the middle. Read the first sentence of the last paragraph. Can you get a sense of what the text is about from these three sentences?

Textual features will vary depending on the type of text you are reading. The features of a narrative text are different from those of an informational text, for example. But scanning for these features can help you identify from the start what kind of text you are about to tackle and give you a sense of the skills you’ll need to make meaning of it.

Captions, Headings, Subheadings, and Icons

In many expository and informational texts, authors will help organize their ideas for the reader by arranging the text into different and distinct sections. These sections are often identifiable by headings or subheadings that give the reader a sense of the focus or main idea for that portion of the text.

For tables, charts, images, or other graphics, including icons or symbols, the captions below the image will help to explain its purpose in being included in the text. Some readers skip over these captions as unimportant, but they can actually be valuable in discerning meaning from the text.

The Table of Contents, the Glossary, and the Index

When reading longer texts, it can be overwhelming to know where to find specific information. This is where using the table of contents and/or the index can be helpful.

The table of contents is located at the beginning of a text and usually lists the chapter, section names, or titles and the page number where each one begins.

The index (usually found at the end of a book) lists important ideas, concepts, terms, and key words and identifies which page(s) each of those can be found on within the text.

For example, a writing textbook might have a table of contents that lists the chapters (Grammar and Usage; Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences; Mechanics) while the index identifies that information on “Topic sentences” can be found on page 42 and “Verb tense shifts” on pages 98–99.

The glossary is a short dictionary or list of uncommon or domain-specific terms usually located at the end of the text, before the index. Just like in a dictionary, glossaries are organized as an alphabetical list of words or phrases and brief definitions are provided.

Electronic Menus, Sidebars, and Links

With more reading shifting to online sources, text features change somewhat but are still helpful to navigate through a reading. Many websites have the same or similar features as print text, with menus at the top or along the side (sidebar) serving like a table of contents to help readers navigate through different pages. Links to other pages or helpful resources may also be included and will often appear as a different color font to help readers distinguish them from the rest of the text on the page.

Print Differences

As you read, be on the lookout for differences in the print. Use of font size and style, underlining, bolding, and italicizing are never done accidentally. They serve a purpose, usually to draw the reader’s attention to certain ideas or aspects of the text. When something is written in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, it gets “loud” and grabs your attention. Italics are a quiet whisper or point of emphasis. Highlighting or changing the font color can draw the reader’s attention to a particular word, phrase, sentence, or section through its brightness and contrast it from the rest of the text.

Comparing Texts

Often, readers compare texts on the same topic. They read what one author thinks and then read the ideas of someone else writing about the same topic. Sometimes the thoughts, opinions, and ideas of these authors align, but other times they may not. Comparing texts allows the reader to evaluate the arguments and structure of different texts to determine which author more effectively made their point.

You will be asked to do this type of comparison on the TABE Reading test. This test may ask questions requiring readers to compare two authors’ versions of the same topic and note the similarities and differences of each writer’s point of view.

Conflicting Viewpoints

Everyone has an opinion. Sometimes those opinions align, but often they do not. These conflicting viewpoints find their way into texts and readers look to see how the authors handle multiple perspectives. Authors anticipate that not everyone may agree with them and so work to address conflicting viewpoints, or counterarguments, to make their point and explain why their point of view is valid and should be considered or accepted by the reader. An author may acknowledge a counterargument but will then explain how that viewpoint is flawed in some way and offer a perspective the other side might not have considered.

When readers compare texts that have conflicting viewpoints, they are evaluating the effectiveness of each author’s arguments, not necessarily to agree or disagree with the claim, but to examine how the author deals with differing perspectives and how effectively they support their own position.

Cultural Experience

Comparing texts can also move beyond viewpoints and consider cultural experiences. An American reader reading a text by a Nigerian author is going to have a different experience and understanding of the text than a Nigerian reader. A Jewish reader reading a text by a Muslim author will come to it with a different perspective than a Muslim reader. Authors must take the cultural experience and potential bias of their audience into consideration as they construct their texts to make them applicable to a wide variety of readers.

Analyzing Historical Documents

In addition to evaluating currently produced writing, the higher levels of the TABE Reading test may ask you to reflect on some historical documents that were written in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. Examples of this type of document include the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, and the Preamble to the Constitution. Questions about these readings will be similar to those about other types of text on the TABE and may deal with author strategies and purposes.

The language in documents like these is somewhat different from the way we write today, so taking a look at some of them would be good preparation for the TABE. You can search for copies online.