How to prepare students for their IELTS exams?
What is IELTS?
Meaning
the International English Language Testing System is the world’s most popular
English language exam to check the level of foreign students who want to get
access to the university, work or to get a nationality of a English speaking
country.
“Organisations in over 140 countries rely on
IELTS to select the right people. These include all universities and the vast
majority of education providers in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, over 3,000
institutions in the US as well as most universities in Canada. Some
universities in non-English speaking countries, where English is the language
of instruction, also require an IELTS score.”
(IELTS.Org)
What do you need to pass this exam?
You
will be assessed in all of your English skills: reading, writing, listening and
speaking.
How are students prepared to be able to pass this exam?
Students
are required to get through at least 6 different levels in order to achieve the
required level to pass the IELTS examination. Teachers will check your previous
English knowledge and will assign you a specific level to start with. Students
have several essays and pieces of work to do in each level so later they will
be evaluated by the teacher in charge. The teacher will decide whether a
student has the minimum level required to be able to pass to the next level or to
stay in the same level during three more weeks.
What is the minimum grade required to pass the IELTS
examination?
To access to an undergraduate degree:
·
Applicable to all
undergraduate programs except those specified below 6.0 Overall And 6.0
Speaking 6.0 Writing
·
Arts – High Achievers
Program Midwifery Nursing (Pre-Registration and Graduate Entry) Nutrition and
Dietetics
6.5 Overall
And 6.0 Speaking 6.0 Writing 6.0 Reading 6.0 Listening
·
Nursing (Post-Registration) 6.5
Overall And 6.5 Speaking 6.5 Writing 6.0 Reading 6.0 Listening
·
Law and Legal Practice Law
and Legal Practice (Honours)
Speech
Pathology 7.0 Overall And 6.5 Speaking 6.5
Writing 6.5 Reading 6.5 Listening
·
Education Medicine
7.0 Overall
And 7.0 Speaking 7.0 Writing 7.0 Reading 7.0 Listening
Postgraduate degrees:
·
Applicable to all
postgraduate programs except those specified below6.0 Overall And 6.0 Speaking 6.0
Writing
·
Accounting Arts – TESOL Audiology
Business Administration Business Midwifery Nursing Social Work Teaching English
as a Second Language (TESOL) Laws (International Law and International
Relations)
6.5 Overall
And 6.0 Speaking 6.0 Writing 6.0 Reading 6.0 Listening
·
Speech Pathology Physiotherapy
Nutrition and Dietetics
7.0 Overall
And 6.5 Speaking 6.5 Writing 6.5 Reading 6.5 Listening
·
Medicine Cognitive Behaviour
Therapy Juris Doctor
7.0 Overall
And 7.0 Speaking 7.0 Writing 7.0 Reading 7.0 Listening
·
Psychology (Clinical)
7.0 Overall
And 7.0 Speaking 7.0 Writing 7.0 Reading 7.0 Listening
·
Teaching
7.5 Overall
And 7.5 Speaking 7.5 Writing 7.5 Reading 7.5 Listening
Higher degrees:
·
Applicable to all higher
degrees by research except those specified below
6.5
Overall And 6.0 Speaking 6.5 Writing
·
Psychology (Clinical)
7.0 Overall
And 7.0 Speaking 7.0 Writing 7.0 Reading 7.0 Listening
Stages of language learning:
1. Silent/Pre-production:
Students spend their time acquiring the new vocabulary and practicing
pronouncing. Students might repeat what they hear and try sounding the words
out.
2. Early Production:
Students start developing a vocabulary of about 500 to 1,000 words. They start
learning how to make short phrases.
3. Speech Emergence:
Students usually gain a vocabulary of about 3,000 words. They start improving
on putting phrases together, form sentences and start asking questions. They
also start comprehending the grammatical rules. Students start reading and
writing in the foreign language they are learning.
4. Intermediate Fluency:
Students will have learned about 6,000 words and will start using more complex
sentences in their writing and speech usage. Students will start using
strategies from their native language to learn content in the new language they
are learning.
5. Fluent/Advanced Fluency:
To improve a foreign language, it takes practice and consistency. The more you
practice, the more you will become fluent.
The exams:
IELTS Listening
test lasts for about 30 minutes. It consists of four sections, listening to an
audio. The test is played once only, and the questions for each section must be
answered while listening.
IELTS Reading
test lasts for 60 minutes. Students are given an Academic Reading test, or a
General Training Reading test.
IELTS Writing
test also lasts for 60 minutes. Students must perform two writing tasks, which
require different styles of writing.
IELTS Speaking
test consists of a recorded interview. This interview will last for
approximately 11-14 minutes.
Links:
I find very interesting this theme because English is the most important language of the world at the current time. We live in the globalization world so it is necessary to know English to be able to communicate with people from other places.
ReplyDeleteAs future teacher I would like to work or to study in a foreigner country. I think that it would be a wonderful experience. Therefore it is a good idea to do IELTS exam.
I like the structure of the IELTS exam because it has 4 sections as other kind of English exams: reading, speaking, listening and writing. But I find very difficult to pass this exam because for example on the listening section students just can hear it once. Furthermore doing the whole exam takes a long time. I think it is very long. So you have to be very good at English to do this exam.
Hi girls!
ReplyDeleteI knew this exam some weeks ago when I read an article in the “Speak up” magazine and it was very interesting post.
I didn´t know that there are two kind of exams, one for people who wants to study at the university in a foreing country, and another one for people who want to work there.
I must say that some friends of mine, did this exam some months ago, and they say that it was very difficult to pass it. They think that the writing and the speaking skills were easy, like in the “Escuela de idiomas” in Spain, but the listening was very difficult because they only listened to the audio once and it wasn´t enough. They were very disappointed because they studied a lot for this exam and they didn´t pass it.
In my case, Im not interested in doing this test because at least for now, I don´t want to go to study or work abroad.
Hello girls!
ReplyDeleteI have no idea about this test, I thinked that you have to choose between Cambridge a TOEFL.
I think it is a very useful exam because it is accepted in a lot of countries.
Thanks, Noelia and Tania A. Have you done these exams yourselves? If so, what was your experience of them? I’d be interested to know why you chose this topic, what the personal angle is... An important point to bear in mind in relation to your post is that large parts of it are drawn (copied and pasted) verbatim from the sources which you (quite rightly) cite in the links at the end – this is not good academic practice!
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