Introduction
to Teaching IELTS
Teaching
IELTS is a combination of English language training and the IELTS
examination requirements and procedures in order that when students
take this exam they are better able to produce their best
results. There is no magic remedy for getting a high band in the
exam. Students will still have to have a good knowledge of
English to achieve a band score which will make them eligible to enter
a University abroad. By taking an IELTS course students are
however much better prepared for questions types, exam format and good
time keeping. The teaching pages on listening, reading, writing
and speaking will discuss the types of questions and exercises which
can assist students to become more confident with taking the IELTS
exam. Most importantly students should still participate in the
process of English language practice and probably most important is
oral fluency coupled with the knowledge of what is required to do
their very best in the IELTS exam. There are many students from
Asia who have had 6 years or so English language training but
still cannot speak it, they can however quote nearly every grammar
rule in the book.
It
is very important to grade students before giving them IELTS
training and students should be at least intermediate level
or approximately band 4.5 and above after all they are trying
to achieve maybe band 6 in IELTS and it is a pointless exercise
to allow them to train for IELTS when they cannot possibly
achieve it. Most students are very eager to participate
in an IELTS course and willingly work at any material which
has an IELTS label, however a diet of test material
is not on its own the panacea to success. It is a good
idea to test the students on entry to a course and give them
a taste of the real exam format and timing. In addition, ttest
them after a few weeks to monitor their progress and give
them tutoring and encouragement on their weaknesses.
A staple diet of test material can sometimes only serve to
discourage students when they see little or no progress or
even achieve a lower test score than previous thus making
their learning more difficult. Most Asian students are
being pushed along by their families ambition and are encouraged
to achieve the impossible in a very short time and for some
students this can lead to a downward spiral caught between
their families aspirations and their own lack of achievement.
It
is highly recommended that any person who is involved in teaching
IELTS should experience some of the stress and strains students
go through in the lead up and taking of the IELTS test.
Actually sitting the IELTS exam can give a teacher great insight
into what test day is like and is a good investment in their
future career. Even a native English speaker will be
surprised how difficult it is to achieve the band 9 score.
Being able to share first hand knowledge is of great benefit
in the teaching process. When teaching IELTS the teacher
has to be extremely well prepared with the resources and especially
when proving answers, it is not enough just to give an answer
but it is critical to be able to show why and where and detailed
reasoning which relates to the answer. A good way to
do this is for a teacher of IELTS to take each of the practice
material tests before using them and thus better comprehend
where students might have difficultie, and of course no peeking
at the answers in advance.
The
pages on listening, reading, writing and speaking are a guide from
personal experience and more comprehensive information can be found
at: http://www.cambridgeesol.org/teach/ielts/index.cfm
