Responding to written materials – WJECStrategies to help you understand

If you are asked some questions based on a piece of written text, there are some strategies that you could use in order to find the information quickly. For example:

For questions beginning with Pam? – Why? look for...

• achos in order to find the reason

For questions beginning with Pwy? – Who? look for...

• a capital letter to denote the name of a person, for example John
• a type of job, for example athro, nyrs, actor

For questions beginning with Pryd? – When? look for...

• a day or night of the week, for example dydd Llun or nos Lun
• a time, for example hanner awr wedi saith
• a date, for example Mawrth y cyntaf
• a time-related word or expression, for example wythnos nesaf, yfory, penwythnos, bob nos

For questions beginning with Sawl?/Faint? – How many? look for...

• a number, for example un, wyth

In addition to this, you could scan the text for the key words which are in the question – to see whether those words, or similar words, also appear in the text.

Read the next paragraph, which is taken from a letter Sioned has written to a magazine to express her opinions about TV programmes – rhaglenni teledu.

Yn fy marn i, mae rhaglenni realiti yn sbwriel a hoffwn i weld mwy o raglenni chwaraeon a rhaglenni comedi ar y teledu. Mae llawer o raglenni realiti ar y teledu achos mae pawb eisiau mynd ar y rhaglenni yma – maen nhw eisiau bod yn enwog. Mae’r rhaglenni yma ar y teledu bob nos!

Read the question:

Beth ydy barn Sioned am raglenni realiti? – What is Sioned’s opinion of reality programmes?

The key words in the question are: barn and rhaglenni realiti. Look for these words in the text – remember, they may have been mutated.

Can you now answer this question? In order to give a full answer, you could say:

• Yn ôl Sioned,… – According to Sioned,…
• Mae Sioned yn dweud bod… – Sioned says that…