11.8.07

IELTS Tips and Tricks - Doing Well in the Listenting Task

The IELTS Listening test comes first, and many candidates find it a hard, sometime even discouraging, way to get started. The IELTS Listening task tests a diverse range of skills, and many people find it challenging.

There are many ways to prepare for this portion of the IELTS exam. There are, for example, many practice tapes and CD sets on the commercial market. While all of them are helpful to some degree, the one thing you can be sure is that none of them will be the IELTS Listening test you take.

The good news is that the best forms of IELTS Listening practice are available free, or at least readily and at low cost. They’re also more fun. They are radio, TV, and movies!

If you have access to an English-language radio or TV station, listen to it as often as possible. The benefits are many.

- You become familiar with a wide variety of accents and individual ways of speaking

- You get the rhythms of spoken English sentences in your ear

- You become more familiar with the way native speakers pronounce English words

- You start to hear word patterns and notice the way English sentences are put together

- You begin to learn new vocabulary by hearing it in context

- You simply become accustomed to the sound of spoken English, which may be the single most important thing of all

English radio and TV talk shows give you good exposure to the way native speakers – not English teacher – actually use the language. They familiarize you with slang and other colloquialisms.

English radio and TV news programmes give you great background for the multiple-voice, nonacademic setting section of the IELTS Listening test, which often uses a mock radio broadcast. Hearing up to four different individuals talk about the same incident from different personal perspectives, in different acoustical situations, and in a variety of accents (including those of second-language speakers) is exactly the kind of training you need to perform well on this portion of the test, which some candidates find the hardest.

Watching English, Australian, American, and other movies in English – in any format – is also highly useful in giving you exposure to the way “real people” speak English. As with all languages, it’s not the same as classroom English.

If you see such movies in the theatre, try to look at the subtitles as little as possible. If you watch them on DVD, watch them once with subtitles, so you learn the situations and dialogue – and then switch the subtitles off and watch them again and again, until you can understand what is being said without “translating.” Many local cable-TV providers show movies many times over the same time period. If you have access a movie channel on such a service, get the schedule, watch the movies you want once with the subtitles – and then, on repeat viewings, tape over the bottom of your TV screen so you cannot use the subtitles.

What’s important is that you expose yourself to the sound of spoken English as much as possible between now and the time you take IELTS. Use time that you otherwise might waste. When you’re getting dressed or eating breakfast in the morning, have the radio or TV on, set to an English station. If you are doing tasks that don’t require your full attention, like cooking or cleaning your room, have the radio or TV on in the background. If you spend a lot of time stuck in traffic, turn the car radio onto an English news or talk station.

Of course, you will benefit more the more you concentrate on what you hear. But even if you don’t focus on what you hear only, trying to understand what is being said, simply letting the sounds into your ears will help. Educators are now convinced that there is such a thing as “passive listening.” That means that you’re often learning even when you’re not trying to. If you have English on – even “in the background” – your brain is trying to figure out what is being said even if you’re not concentrating on it.

Most important of all, the day you actually tale the IELTS exam, make sure that the first time you hear English that day is not when the tape for the Listening test starts. That may be too late, and you could miss a question or too while your ears “adjust” to the sound of English. Even if you’re nervous and feel like you can’t concentrate on it, have the radio or TV on while you’re getting dressed, eating breakfast, or getting to the IELTS exam. You’ll be glad you did!

IELTS Tips and Tricks - Mastering the Writing Task

Everyone’s biggest problem with Writing Task is finishing both tasks on time. What no one tells you is that if you don’t finish either one, you lost a whole band point. This never has to happen to you!

The key to making sure that you report and essay qualify as finished is that they have a clear Conclusion paragraph. That paragraph can be one sentence long, if necessary. And the best news of all is, you have already written that sentence!

At the end of the Introduction (paragraph 1) of the Writing Task 1 report, you have written a summary of the information. In the same position – at the end of the first paragraph – in Writing Task 2, you have written your Thesis Statement. Simply be repeating both of those sentences at the beginning of a Conclusion paragraph, you have made your writing qualify as finished – even if there is more you wanted to write. And you don’t lose a whole band point needlessly.

Here’s what you do:

1)Make sure you do write a good summary in Writing Task 1 and a good Thesis Statement in Writing Task 2. (Your report and essay won’t work without them anyway.)

2)Watch your watch! No one is going to keep you on track as far as elapsed time is concerned. It’s up to you to monitor your own progress.

3)In Writing Task 1, if 18 minutes have passed and you’re still writing Body Paragraph sentences, finish the sentence you’re writing, quickly. Then, start a new paragraph (and make sure it looks like a new paragraph), and begin it with the words, “In conclusion,…” Then rewrite the summary. If you can, change a word or two (but not the meaning). If not, just write it exactly the way you did at the end of the Introduction.

4)In Writing Task 2, if 38 minutes have passed and you’re still writing Body Paragraph sentences, finish the sentence you’re writing, quickly. Then, start a new paragraph (and make sure it looks like a new paragraph), and begin it with the words, “In conclusion,…” Then rewrite the Thesis Statement. (This needs to be done in any case. It is an essential part of the essay.)

5)Ideally, in Writing Task 2, you should write the Restatement in reverse order of the Thesis Statement. For example, if it is an opinion essay, and you wrote your opinion and three reasons in the Thesis Statement, write the three reasons first, and then the opinion, in the Restatement. Again, if you have time and can, change a word or two (but not the meaning). If not, just write it exactly the way you did at the end of the Introduction.

6)Make sure you finish these “In conclusion,…” sentences on time. The task ends at exactly 60 minutes.

Obviously, this will not save you any lost points if all you have is a few sentences and your essay is far too short in the first place. But if you have written most of the essay, and followed the format, it’s essential that you not lost a whole band point just because it isn’t finished. So make it look finished!

10.8.07

Change to the General Training Reading Paper

From 1 May 2009, we are making a small but important change to the General Training Reading paper.

Currently, Section 2 of the General Training Reading paper focuses on the training context. From 1 May 2009, this section will focus on the work context (e.g. applying for jobs, company policies, pay and conditions, workplace facilities, staff development etc).

The General Training module is increasingly recognised by employers, professional bodies and immigration authorities. This change will ensure that the module will more closely meet the needs of candidates who take IELTS for employment or immigration purposes.

The other sections of the General Training Reading paper will remain unchanged.

Half Band Scores

From 1 July 2007, we're making a small but important change which will make IELTS Band Scores more informative.

Scores for each part of the test will still be reported on the scale from 1 to 9, but now the Writing and Speaking tests will be reported in whole or half bands in the same way as the Reading and Listening tests.

Why is score reporting for the Writing and Speaking tests being changed?

This is the latest in a series of enhancements to IELTS, based on continual consultation with test takers, teachers, Recognising Organisations and other stakeholders around the world.

This range of scores - using whole and half bands - is already used for Listening and Reading. We have consulted a large number of organisations that use IELTS scores, and their feedback tells us that they find the half band scores very helpful as they allow them to specify required language levels more precisely. Many teachers and test takers have also told us that they would like more detailed information on performance in each skill.

What will the benefits be?

There will be three main benefits:

Recognising Organisations will be able to set their requirements for admission, recruitment, etc, more precisely, based on more detailed information about the test-taker's performance in each of the four skills.
The Test Report Form will give test takers more precise information on their strengths and weaknesses.
IELTS scores will be easier for everyone to understand because test taker performance in all skills will be reported in the same way.
Does this change the way the Writing and Speaking tests will be assessed?

No. Examiners will assess test takers' performance in exactly the same way as at present using the Writing and Speaking assessment criteria.
The scores for each criteria will then be processed by the IELTS scores calculation system to produce a final Writing or Speaking band score which may be a whole or a half band.

Since there will not be any change in the way examiners assess the test takers' performance, the meaning of the overall IELTS Band Score will remain unchanged. Therefore, Recognising Organisations do not need to change their IELTS score requirements unless they specify a Writing and Speaking band score in addition to the Overall Band Score.

Should teachers and test takers change the way they prepare for the Writing and Speaking tests?

No, because the tests and the way they are assessed will remain exactly the same.

Can test takers get half band scores for tests taken before 1 July 2007?

No, it is not possible to issue half band scores for Speaking and Writing for tests taken before 1 July 2007.

Where can I get more information?

Later this year, we will issue new versions of the Information for Candidates, IELTS Handbook, Official IELTS Practice Materials and the IELTS Scores Explained DVD. In the meantime, updates will be available on the IELTS website so that you can update older copies of these publications if you already have them, and we will be including printed updates with materials we send out.