what is ielts? presented by: julia hedges managing director envision language and training center
TRANSCRIPT
agenda
• What is IELTS? • Listening• Reading• Writing • Speaking
• Why do our students need IELTS?
• Reading practice & test strategies
IELTS
• International English language testing service
• English language placement exam
• Higher education and global migration
• Middle East, Europe, and now the United States
Listening
• There are four sections
• You will hear the listening only once
• Approximately 30 minutes long
• 10 extra minutes to transfer answers
• Same for both general and academic IELTS
• Various question types
A few Strategies
• Read two questions ahead
• Read questions carefully
• Watch spelling
• Transfer answers carefully
• Make predictions wherever possible
• Understand you may hear something different than what you read
Reading
• Approximately 60 minutes (for both general & academic)
• 40 questions
• No time to transfer answers
• Three academic reading texts with 9-14 questions
• Shorter articles for parts 1 and 2 for general IELTS
• Various question types
A few Strategies
• Skim for main idea & skim questions prior to reading
• Scan for details or for a particular answer
• Look for synonyms in the text
• For paragraph matching, read the first and last few sentences
• Don’t read everything….you do not have time!
• Yes, No, NG, turn the statement into a question, look for key words and or synonyms
Quick comprehension quiz
• How many minutes is the IELTS reading?
• How many times can you hear the IELTS listening?
• Do you get extra time to transfer your answers for the reading?
• What is one reading strategy and one listening strategy?
• Which skill is different between general and academic IELTS?
Writing
• 2 writing tasks: report or letter (task 1) essay (task 2)
• 60 minutes for completion
• 20 minutes for task 1 (150 words)
• 40 minutes for task 2 (250 words)
• Grammar and vocabulary does matter for both
• Task 1 is different for general and academic IELTS
• Don’t be short on word count! It comes off your mark.
Writing band descriptors
Some examples from each of the 4 criteria based on a band 7
• Task Achievement • (Academic) presents a clear overview of main trends, differences or stages
The main trends show that…
Overall, the diagram illustrates…
• Coherence and Cohesion • logically organizes information and ideas; there is clear progression
throughout
• Lexical Resource • uses a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precision
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy • uses a variety of complex structures
Writing strategies
• Prewrite (web or an outline)
• Practice developing your ideas fully
• Write your essay using a clear framework• Hook or reword the question (introduction)• Thesis statement (introduction) • Topic sentences (bodies 1&2) • Supporting sentences (bodies 1&2) • Examples (bodies 1&2) • Summary (conclusion)• Opinion if needed (conclusion)
Task 1 example
• What is the overview? • We can see that• The main trend to notice is that• Overall, …• As an overview, the line graph shows
• Work in pairs
• Model given at end of presentation
Speaking
• 12-14 minutes
• Conducted with an examiner
• Three parts
• Part 1: general questions about you
• Part 2: given a topic that you must speak about for 1-2 minutes with 1 minute to prepare answer
• Part 3: continuation of part 1 with more general questions
Speaking examples
Part 1 (4-5 minutes)
Do you work or do you study? Do you live in a house or an apartment?
Part 2 (3-4 minutes)
Describe your favorite holiday
Part 3 (4-5 minutes)
How has tourism changed in your country?
Speaking criteria
• Fluency and coherence • Speak at length without noticeable effort
• Lexical resource • Use vocabulary flexibly to discuss a variety of
topics
• Grammatical range and accuracy • Use a range of complex structures with some
flexibility
• Pronunciation • Can generally be understood throughout
Ways to improve speaking
• Avoid repetition
• Rephrase appropriately
• Use a wide range of vocabulary (teacher, instructor, facilitator)
• Use signposts (well, also, actually, when I was younger)
• Speak at just the right pace (not too fast and not too slow)
• Practice your verb tenses
Tips for practice
• Speak into a mirror
• Watch speaking candidates online (band 7 and above)
• Read, read, and read in English to improve vocabulary
• Download AudioNote Lite (a free recording app)• Record yourself• Listen for errors• Go back and record again making changes
Quick Comprehension quiz
• How many minutes is the speaking exam?
• How much time do you get for the writing?
• How are you marked for the writing?
• How are you marked for the speaking?
• What is one way to improve your speaking?
Why do our students need IELTS?
• College
• Graduate school
• Some jobs require IELTS
• Government and private colleges might have different expectations (students need to check)
• Studying overseas (now accepted in the United States)
IELTS Resources
• http://www.ielts.org
• http://www.envisiondxb.com/what-is-ielts/ (basics of this presentation)
• http://www.ielts-exam.net/practice_tests/ (practice for all four skills)
• www.writefix.com (focuses on improving writing)
• http://www.dcielts.com (helpful IELTS blog with vocabulary and grammar practice)
Reading practice
• 10 minutes to complete questions (less than 1 section, which would be 20 minutes)
• Use your paragraph matching and Yes, No, NG strategies • Paragraph matching: read the first few sentences
and the last• Yes/No/NG: Turn statements into questions/Search
for key words or synonyms
• If time runs out, guess quickly
• Check answers