Part 1: Speaking tips for OET Nursing Students
Having tutored many nursing students in the speaking test I have noticed a number of common areas in which improvement can be easily made. In this blog (Part 1) I will explain the importance of context in shaping how you begin your role play, giving examples of appropriate introductions.
1. Introduce yourself according to the context of the role play.
*Do not use the same introduction blindly each time (eg “Hi my name is Sarah, I am the nurse) as it may be inappropriate for the context.*
a. Sometimes you may be a nurse in the emergency department and you can simply introduce yourself by name, position and by asking what has brought the patient in today:
“Hi my name is Sarah I am the nurse here today. May I know your name? What has brought you in today? etc
b. Other times your role play may require you to make a house visit – in which case it is inappropriate to introduce yourself in the same manner as you would if a patient had come to the hospital. In this second scenario it would be more appropriate to introduce yourself by name and position (eg community nurse) and explain to the patient why you have come by to visit them:
“Hi Robert, my name is Sarah and I am the community nurse. I have been sent here by your GP to show you how to administer your insulin injections. How are you today?” etc.
c. In another scenario you might be relaying a message from the doctor in a hospital to a patient who is agitated at having to wait. In this case you will already know the name of the patient, and should communicate empathetically by acknowledging their frustration/anger and try to defuse the situation:
“Hi Mr Smith? My name is Sarah and I am one of the nurses here at the hospital. I have been sent here by Dr X to let you know that she is still attending to an emergency call and will be another ten minutes. I understand you must be frustrated but she is doing all she can to attend to you as quickly as possible.” etc
Good Luck!
Nadishi Athulathmudali, OET Teacher
Reading Part B – Simple Tips to Improve your Approach to Answering Questions
Reading Part B can seem particularly daunting after the quick pace of Part A. Many students do well in Part A because they can quickly match the relevant word(s) to fill in each gap. However, many of these same students struggle to complete Part B as it requires a much deeper level of reading comprehension.
Here I will provide two tips to improve your ability to pick the correct answers in Part B, and hone your approach to answering each question.
- Read the questions before the text. Most of the multiple choice questions in Part B refer to one particular paragraph in which the answer is located. For this reason it is better to get straight to reading the questions and then reading the relevant paragraph only. This way you are not wasting time by reading the entire piece provided, then having to go back and re-read each paragraph as dictated by each question
- Once you have read the relevant paragraph look at the multiple choice answers to pick the correct answer. Many students make the mistake of reading the question and then reading the multiple choice answers immediately BEFORE reading the relevant paragraph. This is problematic sometimes because you may end up putting your own bias into the interpretation of the paragraph because your own prior knowledge or opinion on the topic has led you to have a pre-formed notion about which answer that you have read is most correct.
Hope this was helpful! Good luck!
Nadishi Athulathmudali, OET Teacher
Tips for Improving Reading at Home
Many of my students struggle to complete either part A or part B of the reading for a
number of reasons. Part A requires you to be able to quickly skim read and pick out key
words that will guide you to the answer, while Part B is a test of your reading
comprehension and will highlight a need to improve general vocabulary and understanding
of the written language. Below are some of my suggestions on how to improve your reading
at home.
1. Get into the habit of reading every day. Whether it is an English novel, the
newspaper or a magazine it is very important to read something every day, or as
regularly as possible to improve your reading speed and comprehension. For the OET
in particular it would be a good idea to read scientific journal articles online from
wites such as Medline, EBSCO and PubMed, or read information on https://levitralab.com medical websites
such as the BMJ (British Medical Journal).
2. Following on from the above suggestion, when you find a word that you do not
understand while you are reading, copy it down into a book with the dictionary
definition for future reference. I find that a lot of my students miss out on choosing
the correct answer in Reading Part A and B because they come across a word that
forms part of the answer but they do not know what it means. Therefore, it is
extremely important to read regularly and write down new words when you come
across them. To really improve your vocabulary put some time aside in your day to
also revisit the new words you have written down so that you learn them for the
future.
3. Finally be smart about what you read and try to summarise the meaning to test
how well you understand the text. This is an exercise you can do to see how well
you are able to understand what you have read. While you are reading a
book/newspaper/magazine pick a page, or a few paragraphs and read them, then try
to summarise what you have just read either verbally or by writing a small summary.
Hopefully these small tips will help improve your reading skills immensely. Best of luck in the future with the OET!
Nadishi Athulathmudali, OET Teacher
OET Listening Component
As well as listening out for word stress, intonation and specific vocabulary, you will need to familiarise yourself with the 12 occupations listed in the OET. These are:
| Dentistry | Pharmacy |
| Dietetics | Physiotherapy |
| Medicine | Podiatry |
| Nursing | Radiography |
| Occupational Therapy | Speech Pathology |
| Optometry | Veterinary Science |
This is important because not only do you need to be aware of subject matter –disease, illness, ailment, procedure etc. you must acquire some basic knowledge of the topics most likely to be discussed. The more familiar you are with any given subject matter, the higher the chance you will recognise occupation specific terminology.
At the beginning of every listening test Part A, they will tell you who will be involved in the discussion. Acquiring some basic knowledge of each occupation simply by reading a page or two on each, will give you not only the confidence you need but will allow you to anticipate what is http://premier-pharmacy.com coming. Remember that at no time are you tested on medical terminology, but being as comfortable and familiar with a topic as possible will certainly be place you in the best possible position.
Listening Shorthands
It can be difficult for students to keep up in the Listening section, especially if the passage is long or they are a slow writer. One way to make sure you don’t fall behind during each question is to use shorthands that you then fill in during the breaks between questions or at the end. For example, consider a question that asks you to list the symptoms of malaria, and then the audio lists them very quickly as below:
“Headache, fever, muscle pain, dizziness, anaemia, sweating, nausea….”
It can be hard to jot all these down in full without losing track of the speaker, and this is where shorthands come in. During the audio, you could write down
“Head…, fev…, musc…., diz…, ana…., sweat…., naus…”
This would take less time than writing out each symptom in full, and would mean you could keep up with the speaker better. You would then go back and fill these words in during the break after the question. It’s important to realize we do not recommend coming up with a short form for every word before the exam – rather, you write fragments of each word you meet that are recognizable enough that you can come back during the break and fill them out. You might not recognize “ana” as being short for “anaemia” a week later, but during the test the audio should be fresh enough in your memory that you can fill it in.
Good luck studying!
Tips for Improving OET Reading
Reading B – Assigning titles to paragraphs/articles
A common question type in Reading B is one where you asked “What is the most appropriate title for this paragraph?” or “What would make a suitable title for this article?”. It is useful to consider how best to answer these questions. The general principle that works for questions like this is to ask yourself “Which title covers everything in the paragraph, but is as narrow as possible?”. This principle might seem contradictory at first – how can a title cover everything, but be narrow? However, we will consider an example to illustrate the principle at work.
Example 1
Alcoholic cirrhosis is the most common cause of hepatic cancer in Australia, accounting for approximately 60% of diagnoses, closely followed by hepatitis B virus, which is responsible for an additional one fifth of these patients. Other, less common, aetiologies include other viral hepatitides, hepatitis of non-infectious causes, aflatoxin exposure, haemochromatosis, Wilson’s disease, Type 2 diabetes and haemophilia.
Which of the following titles is most appropriate for this paragraph?
A) Complications of alcoholic cirrhosis
B) Risk factors for hepatic cancer
C) Alcoholic cirrhosis in the aetiology of hepatitis B
D) Causes of hepatic illness
At first glance, answer A looks like it could fit – the text talks about alcoholic cirrhosis leading to the complication of hepatic cancer. However, this title only really applies to the first sentence, and the rest of the paragraph has no relevance to alcoholic cirrhosis. Similarly, answer C is incorrect because it only considers terms in the first sentence, and is also incorrect as the paragraph considers alcoholic cirrhosis and hepatitis B in the aetiology of hepatic cancer. Both B and D do fit the whole paragraph, but the most appropriate title of these two will be the one that is most narrow. The article doesn’t talk about hepatic illness in general, but instead focuses on hepatic cancer – D is too broad, where B fits the paragraph perfectly.
The same principle can be applied to questions asking you to give a title to the whole article – make sure that your title choice can be applied to any given paragraph in the article. Unlike Reading A, in Reading B you have a bit more time to read and process the text to get a general feel for the information in the article, and this can help your choice of a title.
Tips for Improving OET Reading at Home
Many of my students struggle to complete either part A or part B of the reading for a number of reasons. Part A requires you to be able to quickly skim read and pick out key words that will guide you to the answer, while Part B is a test of your reading comprehension and will highlight a need to improve general vocabulary and understanding of the written language. Below are some of my suggestions on how to improve your reading at home.
- Get into the habit of reading every day. Whether it is an English novel, the newspaper or a magazine it is very important to read something every day, or as regularly as possible to improve your reading speed and comprehension. For the OET in particular it would be a good idea to read scientific journal articles online from wites such as Medline, EBSCO and PubMed, or read information on medical websites such as the BMJ (British Medical Journal).
- Experts from the website https://opencuny.org/valiuym-10mg-for-sale/
found that Valium should be withdrawn by gradually reducing the dose in order to decrease the risk of withdrawal and rebound syndrome. Abrupt withdrawal of Valium after the long-term treatment (or the use of the drug in high doses) can lead to withdrawal syndrome. Transient syndrome (i.e. the condition when the symptoms that caused the drug prescription relapse and even get worse) or rebound syndrome can be also accompanied by mood swings, anxiety, etc. - Following on from the above suggestion, when you find a word that you do not understand while you are reading, copy it down into a book with the dictionary definition for future reference. I find that a lot of my students miss out on choosing the correct answer in Reading Part A and B because they come across a word that forms part of the answer but they do not know what it means. Therefore, it is extremely important to read regularly and write down new words when you come across them. To really improve your vocabulary put some time aside in your day to also revisit the new words you have written down so that you learn them for the future.
- Finally be smart about what you read and try to summarise the meaning to test how well you understand the text. This is an exercise you can do to see how well you are able to understand what you have read. While you are reading a book/newspaper/magazine pick a page, or a few paragraphs and read them, then try to summarise what you have just read either verbally or by writing a small summary.
Hopefully these small tips will help improve your reading skills immensely. Best of luck in the future with the OET!
How to Improve Speaking at Home
Most students ask me for tips on how they can improve their speaking when they’re at home, without a Sydney Language Solutions teacher/tutor to practise with. Below are some of my suggestions.
- The first and most obvious suggestion is to practise with someone who speaks English at home. Perhaps a family member. Perhaps a friend. Or, even better, a friend or family member who is ALSO doing the Occupational English Test. Get them to practise different tasks with you and give you feedback afterwards about your fluency, the clarity and speed of your speech and about the language you used.
- Another way is to practise by yourself. This can involve, for instance, recording yourself speaking! For this exercise, I particularly encourage you to check your speed (tell yourself to SLOW DOWN!) and to check whether or not you say words like “um”, “uh”, “like” or “er” which can affect your fluency. Count how many “um”s you say!
- One final suggestion is, indeed of speaking, you can PLAN out the conversation and write down what you would say in the scenario. This can improve both your grammar and your sentence structure. Think of different phrases you can use to reassure patients, to advise patients or to ask clear questions.
Hope these help! Good luck!
The Most Important Thing to Remember about the OET
Whether it is your first time, or your second/third/fourth time, sitting the Occupational English Test can be very nerve-racking. Your palms will sweat, you’ll feel palpitations and your breaths will be shallower. A common feeling is that you’ll feel as if you can’t remember a SINGLE thing medically-related because you’re so nervous.
Luckily for you, the most important thing to remember about the OET is that: The OET does NOT test your medical knowledge. It is simply testing your ENGLISH.
So what does this mean?
For the listening, it means that, even if you don’t know anything about the topic/s being discussed, you can still pass if you listen to the conversation carefully.
For the reading, it also means that if the topic is something you have never read about, you can still pass both parts A and B through careful reading and analysis of the texts. The answers require no prior medical knowledge.
For the writing, it means that when you come across a completely new scenario in the case notes, you can just base your letter on the notes given (obviously).
And finally, for the speaking, it means that you can actually – and a lot of students don’t realise this – make information up! You will not get penalised for incorrect content, as long as you sound confident in what you’re saying.
So there you have it. Don’t stress if you come across a new topic!
Common General Questions about the OET
In this blog, I will outline some of the common general questions that students in my classes have asked me regarding the OET. In fact, most of this information can be found on the Occupational English Test official website but I have discussed them here for easy access.
How do I sign up for the exam? Does Sydney Language Solutions do it for us?
Signing up for the exam is easy – you just log onto the official Occupational English Test and follow the links. Sydney Language Solutions tutors aim to help you to learn strategies to pass the exam, we will not sign you up for the exam. That is for you to do in your own time. If you have any issues though, you can always discuss with our teachers.
I’ve just paid for the exam but they haven’t told me the venue or time?
Don’t worry! The venue and time of your exam is emailed to you one week prior to the test date, so wait until then for this information. If, during that week, you still haven’t received anything – then it’s important to contact the OET centre and check your registration.
Should I use pen or pencil in the exam?
For MOST of the components, it actually doesn’t matter if you use pen or pencil! My best advice is to use whichever writing utensil you feel most comfortable writing in because you will be using it a LOT on the exam day. However, for reading part B, you will need a pencil to fill in the multiple choice answer sheet.
These are all very common concerns for the OET student – you’re not alone!
All the best.
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