OE_IELTS_TricksOfTheTrade_LS&SP_Edited.pptx

OE_IELTS_TricksOfTheTrade_LS&SP_Edited

1. Tricks & trades: TEACHING LISTENING and SPEAKING in ielts Presented by: mark gil mariot Sources: I teslj , Springer Nature, Wiley, British Council, IDP: Australia

2. WHAT is ielts ? The International English Language Testing System or IELTS, is an international standardised test of English language proficiency for non-native English language speakers. It is jointly managed by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge Assessment English, and was established in 1989.

3. Exam procedure Ielts is composed of two test types: general and academic There are four modules in ielts . Examiners are tested in this particular order in one sitting: listening, reading, and then writing. The speaking module Is given on a separate day.

4. SUB Skills Listening Reading Writing speaking Key skills Grammar Vocabulary

5. Common misconceptions on ielts You need to speak and learn British English in IELTS You cannot make up facts You should take notes while you listen You must ALWAYS use high-level academic words You should control the conversation in the speaking test

6. Our mantra We aim to be smart . We personalise . We teach in chunks. We do mock tests.

7. Teaching ielts (listening) Set realistic goals Unlock key concepts and vocabulary Analyse questions together Drill spellings and numbers Diversify accents Listen for corrections Flash listening and comprehension Discuss errors

8. Set realistic goals In order to achieve a good score of IELTS 7.0, your students need to answer 30 out of 40 questions correctly. Hit them hard with this point. Drum it into them. Lead them out of the perfectionist mindset and get them thinking more pragmatically about what constitutes a good performance in the test.

9. IELTS SCORE CONVERSION

10. Unlock key concepts and vocabulary It is an ardent belief that one blind man cannot lead another blind man, but a one-eyed man can be KING of the visionless. No matter what the lesson is, it is as perennial as the grass for us to unlock the essential ideas and scripts that will be used later on. Targeted Concepts : imagine you arrived at the airport one hour ago for a flight that departs soon. recall all the announcements in the past hour. Of course you can’t, because we only listen for information relevant to our own flight.

11. Analyse questions together A lways give students much more time to read the questions than they will receive in the real IELTS Listening test. allow them to read through all ten questions at their leisure. Analyse each question with regards to information type and grammatical contexts. Later on, students can be pushed to perform similar analysis under much more time pressure.

12. Drill spellings and numbers IELTS examiners are expected to be able to spell answers correctly. However, English Language allows multiple spellings of names, so you can expect these words to be spelled out, e.g. I.E.L.T.S. Though it may sound so kindy and elementary to us, drills in spellings and numbers are just as essential.

13. Diversify accents Unlike in TOEFL, candidates in the IELTS test can expect to hear a variety of accents, from regional British accents to North American and Southern Hemisphere accents such as Australian and South African English.

14. Listen for corrections Among the many distractors that test-writers incorporate, one of the most common is to have the speaker correct a previous statement, especially if it’s a spelling or number. Therefore , students should write down the final version that they hear, not the first. Add a bit of variation to your spelling and number drills by introducing corrections .

15. Flash listening and comprehension This is the concept of ‘ sukang pinakurat .’ Personally, I am a big fan of this idea. This concept posits that quick and unprepared listening tasks can lead to better retention and absorption. Of course this contradicts the unlocking scheme discussed earlier. But remember, let’s be eclectic.

16. Discuss errors Don’t just tell your students the correct answers. Walk them through the recording one more time, pausing at the critical moments to explain how each answer is given. The difference between a mediocre IELTS teacher and an outstanding one is that the best teachers are active and alert during listening passages for signs that reveal where their students are struggling.

17. “because limits, like fears, are often just illusions.” ―   Michael JeffreyJordan

18. Teaching speaking ( ielts ) Focus on each section Avoid group work, stick to pair work. Involve the listener Record activities (video or audio) and post feedback in class Model answers at par with IELTS band scores Discuss common errors Introduce expanding answers Feedback tools

19. Focus on each section There are three sections in the IELTS SPEAKING TEST: The Pleasantries The long turn The View Teach and introduce the test in parts.

20. Avoid group work, stick to pair work. Since the IELTS Speaking Module takes the form of a one-on-one interview, it’s best to stick to this pattern in practice. Avoid whole-class interactions as much as possible and maximise time for pair practice instead. It’s a common myth in language teaching that learner pairs simply replicate each others’ mistakes. Research shows that they actually develop more advanced negotiation and explanation strategies with another learner than they would with a native speaker.

21. Involve the listener One classroom problem when teaching IELTS Speaking occurs when students don’t listen to their partner’s answers because they’re too busy thinking up their own. Keep students involved especially during Part 2: the individual long-turn by requiring everyone to ask a follow-up question. Another is to get students to tick off the different prompts ( tbd @ latter part) as they are answered.

22. Record activities (video or audio) and post feedback in class These days, taking a video can be very easy in our classroom activities. The challenge though is that some students are not comfortable with this. We can use audio recordings in these situations. The efficacy of this is just the same as taking a video. We can also let students view actual IELTS exams. Videos like these are readily available in Youtube but let’s be careful in choosing the right videos.

23. Model answers at par with IELTS band scores Often the reason students fail to improve is simply that the models they are offered by trainers are so far beyond their ability that they have no idea how to apply them when speaking. A more effective classroom technique is to model different answers for Bands 4, 5, 6 and 7, making only minimal changes to each answer. *Discuss the catch.

24. Discuss common errors students appreciate detailed correction in one-on-one teaching situations, but in group situations it’s better not to highlight errors made by individual students. It’s also better to highlight errors after rather during an activity. Your notes could form the basis of a grammar workshop later on, one that is more relevant to your students’ real needs than the exercises in the textbook.

25. INTRODUCE EXPANDING ANSWERS This task is centred on part 3 of the Speaking test but it can be as effective in parts 1 & 2. Our students have a tendency to stick to the ‘I think X because Y’ linear approach. Our job is to introduce practice activities that force them to expand in other ways. One technique is card prompts: Personal Example, Example from Knowledge, Three Reasons, Attribution, Compromise, Recommendation, Prediction, and Comparisons and Contrasts. Answers will sometimes become incoherent or even surreal but that can add to the fun of the exercise.

26. Feedback tools Pair practice becomes much more rewarding when students have the right tools to give feedback. a simplified feedback sheet based on the IELTS Speaking scoring criteria that breaks down each of the four scoring criteria into three basic skills that your students need to demonstrate, will save you the trouble of explaining the more complex and jargon-filled band descriptors.

27. Thank you. I always tell the truth, even when I lie.