Lesson 7
In our seventh lesson I started by giving you feedback from your Writing Task 1 essays from Practice Test 2. Most of you showed some improvement from your previous effort.
Some key points to remember for Task 1:
- You should begin your essay by describing in your own words (as best as possible) what data has been presented to you in the question.
- Each paragraph should have a SINGLE identifiable main topic.
- You should describe the key points of the data (referencing the specific data details to support your observations).
- Your essay should contain an overview of the data. This overview does not provide specific details, and should be in it’s own paragraph separate from the paragraph/s that outline the key points of the data.
Here is a good video which will help you describe data for your Task 1 essay:
After giving you feedback on your essays we began by looking at the Speaking Test section of the textbook. For homework you should try to continue reading through this section.
In our final class I will give feedback for your Practice Test 2 Writing Task 2 essays, and then we will try to do some Practice Speaking Tests.
This is the final blog for the course. I hope you have found it helpful.
Steve
Lesson 6
In our sixth lesson I started the class by giving you feedback on your Writing Task 2 essays.
Some key points to remember for Task 2:
- Your introduction should always contain a paraphrasing of the question.
- Each paragraph should have a SINGLE identifiable main topic.
- You should give a balanced analysis of the issue: you need to consider OPPOSING POINTS OF VIEW of the issue, not just the view that you agree with.
- Your conclusion should not raise any new ideas. It should simply give an overview of your essay, and your own personal opinion on the issue.
After giving you feedback on your essays, we then did a Practice Reading Test. At the end, we went through the answers together and discussed easily avoidable mistakes.
For homework you were asked to complete Writing Task 2 from Practice Test 2 (page 188 in the textbook).
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 5
In our fifth lesson we began to look at the Reading Skills section of the textbook.
We did some of the exercises in class, but you are expected to do most of them at home. This was your homework for this lesson.
In terms of writing your answers for this text, the Reading Test is similar to the Listening Test.
Some of the common errors to avoid:
- Follow the specific instructions in the question booklet for each question carefully. Do not write more words or numbers than you are allowed.
- Be sure you use the correct noun form: singular or plural. Only one form is correct for each question.
- Spelling is important in the Reading Test. Grammar is also important. Incorrect spelling or grammar will not be given a mark.
- Do not leave any question unanswered. You do not lose marks for incorrect answers, so if you don’t know an answer you should at least have a guess (especially for multiple choice, T/F/NG, or Y/N/NG questions).
If you have not completed Writing Task 1 of Practice Test 2 on page 188 of the textbook, you must complete it and give it to me in our next lesson on Wednesday. I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS ESSAY NEXT WEEK.
At the beginning of our next class I will be giving you feedback for your Writing Task 2 essay that you completed last week. Please be in the classroom by 6 p.m, as I will not wait for late students. Once we have discussed that essay, we will be doing a Practice Reading Test in class.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 4
In our fourth lesson we continued to look at the IELTS Listening Skills section of the textbook. We then did a Practice Listening Test. After the test we went through all the answers, and discussed various mistakes that can be made which will cost you marks.
Some of the common errors to avoid:
- Listen to all the instructions you hear during the recording. Read questions when told to do so. Check your answers when told to do so.
- Follow the specific instructions in the question booklet for each question carefully. Do not write more words or numbers than you are allowed.
- Be sure you use the correct noun form: singular or plural. Only one form is correct for each question.
- Spelling is important in the Listening Test. Grammar is also important. Incorrect spelling or grammar will not be given a mark.
- Do not leave any question unanswered. You do not lose marks for incorrect answers, so if you don’t know an answer you should at least have a guess (especially for multiple choice, T/F/NG, or Y/N/NG questions).
For homework you were asked to complete Writing Task 1 of Practice Test 2 on page 188 of the textbook.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 3
Hello again.
In our third lesson I began by giving you back the Writing Task 1 exercise that you had completed for homework for our first lesson.
I had made SOME corrections and changes to your essays, but please remember that I did not correct ALL your mistakes. (I’m not going to re-write your whole essay for you! 😀 )
I also made some comments which you should read and compare with the Band Score Indicator sheet that I gave you in the first lesson. I gave you a score for each component (Task Achievement, Coherence & Cohesion, Lexircal Resource, and Grammatical Range & Accuracy). I then used these component scores to give you an overall score. These scores are only to be used as a rough guide. I am not a qualified IELTS Writing Examiner. I simply used my experience as an English teacher, and the Band Score Indicator sheet, to give you my opinion as to what I believe would be your approximate score.
After we finished reviewing the Writing Task 1 homework, we began to look at the IELTS Listening section of the textbook (which starts on page 13).
We did some exercises to help with ‘Understanding the Context’ when listening to spoken English.
I spoke about the importance of understanding the spoken alphabet, as during the listening test you will hear people spell names, addresses, or other words, which you will then need to write on your answer sheet. Here is a video with a broad British accent and a broad American accent pronouncing the letters of the alphabet:
I recommend that you listen to a variety of English accents as possible. English, American, Australian, and New Zealand accents are most likely to be heard in the listening test. You should easily be able to find videos (or audio recordings) of these various accents either by streaming TV programs or movies from these countries, or by playing videos from news websites from these countries, or even by searching on Youtube.
Here are some news website options:
bbc.com (English/British)
abc.net.au (Australian)
edition.cnn.com (American)
stuff.co.nz (New Zealand)
That’s all for now.
See you in class!
Steve
Lesson 2
Welcome back to the blog.
In our second lesson we focused on Writing Task 1 and Writing Task 2.
WRITING TASK 1
For the Academic Writing Task 1, the following things need to be included to achieve a good Task Achievement Score:
- Give an overview of the main information provided (summarise)
- Describe the most relevant and significant information using data to support your observations (select and report)
- Point out the key differences and similarities in the data (make comparisons)
- Only include information that is given in the data
- Write at least 150 words
To achieve a good Lexical Resource Score you need to display a wide range of vocabulary, using a variety of less common (or better yet, uncommon) terms accurately. This is an Academic Writing test, you you should be writing in a formal style. You also require minimal (or better yet, zero) spelling errors, and to avoid repetition of terms where possible. Your introductory statement description should use your own words, and avoid simply copying words and phrases from the question.
To achieve a high Grammatical Range and Accuracy Score you will need to accurately use a wide range of grammatical structures, and also be accurate when referencing data to support your observations.
For a high Coherence and Cohesion Score your writing needs to be easy to understand, organised in a logical way and with appropriate use of paragraphs, and you should use appropriate cohesive devices to connect your ideas. Click here for more information about cohesive devices.
WRITING TASK 2
For Academic Writing Task 2 you need to fully address all requirements outlined in the question. This includes giving a balanced analysis of the statements and/or quote given in the question. You must offer your own opinion with relevant ideas about the statements and/or the quotation, and the reasons for your opinion. You can support your opinion using examples from your own personal experience BUT these must be relevant to the question.
Your essay should be logically organised, and use paragraphs appropriately. Your essay should have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Planning your essay is the best way to ensure it is coherent . Each paragraph should have a clear central topic.
The best way to start your introduction is by restating the question in your own words (paraphrase the question).
As with Task 1, you need link your ideas using appropriate cohesive devices.
Lexical Resources are assessed by the same criteria as Task 1.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy are also assessed by the same criteria as Task 1.
Your conclusion should be a brief summary of your argument and ideas, and is often a good place to give your own opinion.
That’s all for today.
Steve
Lesson 1
Hello everybody, and welcome to the course blog!
This blog is intended to help you get the most out of this course. I will update it with a brief outline of what we cover in each lesson, as well as inform you of the homework that has been set. In future blogs I may also include links to videos or other web pages to read to assist your learning.
This course is very intensive. You will be expected to do a lot of reading at home, as there is too much information to cover in only 8 lessons. Furthermore, this course’s only goal is to prepare you for the IELTS Test. It is not an English course – we will not be studying grammar, vocabulary etc. If you need to improve your English skills, you will need to take a separate English language courseto do so.
We began our first lesson by introducing ourselves to each other. I then gave you some course details.
The textbook we will be using is The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS for Academic & General Training.
You can buy the book from various sources, but I recommend buying it from Studium Bookshop, Karlavägen 4, Stockholm. If you tell them that you are a student at Folkuniversitetet you will receive a discount. If you purchase the book from the store it may cost slightly more than an online retailer, but you will be able to receive a copy of the book immediately without having to wait for delivery.
The book has a DVD-ROM. However, you can download the accompanying mobile app instead if you prefer.
Click here for the link to the App for Apple devices.
Click here for the link to the App for Android devices.
You were all given an information booklet for IELTS Candidates in class which you should read.
The booklet lists several websites which should be able to answer all of your questions about the test itself:
www.britishcouncil.org/takeielts
www.ieltsessentials.com/prepare
www.cambridgeenglish.org/ielts
If you are taking the IELTS test at Folkuniversitetet and you have any administration related questions related only to taking the test at Folkuniversitetet, you can send an email to ielts@folkuniversitetet.se and they can help you.
After looking at the booklet, I gave everyone a copy of the public version of the Band Descriptors for the Speaking Test, the Writing Test Task 1, and for the Writing Test Task 2.
I also gave you information about Band Scores for the Listening & Reading components of the IELTS exam. *PLEASE NOTE: The raw score required to hit a particular band score in Listening and Reading will vary slightly from examination to examination.
Each examination is rated by Cambridge as being of a particular level of difficulty and this will be a determinant on raw score requirements. This calculator is based on average scores over multiple tests.
Finally, we began to look at the IELTS Writing Section for Task 1 in the textbook (pages 91-112 for the Academic Test, or pages 113-118 for the General Training Test). You need to finish reading the relevant section for you for homework.
I also gave you a writing task for homework. You need to complete WRITING TASK 1 of the Practice Test 1 for Academic Training on page 171 of the textbook (or Task 1 on page 299 for the General Training Test). Please bring it with you to our next class and I will collect them for assessment.
That’s all for today. I’ll see you in our next class!
Steve