IELTS preparation: syllabus design

I first started to design IELTS course plans for my school in early 2020. There used to be only ten-hour group courses on Saturday mornings, and the programme would focus on the key aspects of the four IELTS test modules: Listening, Academic Reading, Academic Writing and Speaking.

Came the pandemic and, as we all know, teaching and learning shifted suddenly to the online space. My subsequent task was therefore to re-design the programme of the ten-hour course. The listening and the reading diagnostic tests were moved to the asynchronous learning space as homework. There was no point for the students to turn up and otherwise spend an entire lesson doing those mock tests. Another change was a new addition to the range of courses. Twenty-hour group courses were introduced so that there would be room for giving the students language support towards certain task types. For example, candidates often need to use the narrative tenses to recount personal events in Speaking Part 2. Despite the focus on language in some parts of the course plan, the twenty-hour course was still structured in the same manner as the ten-hour one - training in test techniques and certain key task types in the four IELTS modules.

While the above course plans were overall successful in preparing students for IELTS, they posed certain limitations to individual learners. The most obvious challenge is conflicting learning needs within a class. In Academic Reading, some students were weaker in matching paragraph headings, whereas others needed greater support in table completion. There were also students who didn't really need work on their listening and reading skills, but they could do with intensive practice at writing and speaking. Finally, there was the issue of placing students of mixed language levels, ranging from B1 to C1, in the same class. This was beyond the scope of syllabus design, of course.

Fast forward to 2023, group courses have changed to individual courses. IDP Australia is now offering IELTS online practice (i.e. mock tests) and most students are increasingly getting more competent at listening and reading. In my local context in Italy, almost every student explicitly asks for training in writing and speaking when they come to their IELTS preparation lessons. Consequently, I've found myself embarking on a different design of the syllabus.

Rather than follow a one-size-fits-all approach, I'm able to respond to my students' learning needs in one-to-one settings. Those I've recently taught said they would like to get a higher band score in the Speaking test. Most of them were often hindered by their limited range of vocabulary.

If we look at the questions in published IELTS test papers (e.g. IELTS 17), it is easy to spot a topic-based arrangement in all three parts of the Speaking test. This has informed the way I plan my lessons - I now give my students vocabulary input by topic through gap-fill or matching tasks before we move on to recurring Task-Feedback cycles of test practice. Depending on the band score my students need to achieve, I adjust the range of lexis for any lesson so that somebody aiming for Band 6 won't be inundated by too many complex collocations or idioms targeted at Band 8. On this note, I've found some useful material and resource that enables me to realise my new syllabus design, including vocabulary banks of General English coursebooks and the multi-level English Vocabulary in Use.

For grammar, I use a cross-topic approach so that my students can apply a target structure to their responses. In Speaking Part 1, students can practise using 'used to' and 'would' to talk about habitual actions and states in the past. The same can be done with modality when students speculate about certain topics in Speaking Part 3 or provide solutions to issues in Academic Writing Task 2.

Exam Preparation: 'The truth and nothing but the truth' in IELTS Speaking

I was preparing a student for IELTS Speaking earlier this week. We worked on his spoken fluency and spent a great deal of time expanding his range of productive vocabulary.

At first, I used the techniques of rephrasing and upgrading from Thornbury's Dogme Approach. It seemed to have worked by the middle of the week. This student would always hesitate and search for language before he spoke more fluently on repeating the same task.

However, candidates don't get a second chance in IELTS Speaking test. They must be able to perform well on the spot. So I decided to introduce another technique. Using a topic-based approach, we looked at the vocabulary banks of some Advanced-level coursebooks. With substantial pre-task lexical input, this student should be better able to use a wider range of collocations and a more precise set of vocabulary. Perhaps you can already tell what I'm going to write next by my choice of 'should'.

Finally, I introduced yet a new technique which I had never tried before teaching this student. I asked him to lie to me - give me 'false' responses to a set of Part 1 questions - and he shouldn't say anything true about himself or others. Eureka! This did the trick of liberating his formulation process; he was subsequently able to speak more fluently. I guess it's easier for most people to talk about something they already know but more demanding to invent ideas when they're speaking. The opposite holds true for this student!

Note: Candidates need not say what they honestly think in IELTS Speaking. It is a test of one's language ability.

IH Journal: Issue 50

The IH Journal has been relaunched! The most recent Issue 50 coincided with the 70th anniversary of International House World Organisation.

The articles I'm most interested in reading are those on ChatGPT, Project-Based Learning, and English as a Lingua Franca. I've been thinking about all these topics recently.

As a first-time contributor, I felt like shouting all the way across the channel to Fleet Street for help! Here comes a big thank you - and congratulations - to Chris the journal editor!

Read the IH Journal (Issue 50) here.

Here is the direct link to my article - Developing Word Recognition Sub-skills in Listening.

Personalising YL classroom management

Personalisation is often discussed in the context of motivational theories. The received wisdom is that learners will perceive greater usefulness of lesson practice if they can use language relevant to their real-life needs.

The usual way

My default position, which is influenced by my British upbringing, is to refrain from imposing blanket classroom rules on my students. I have instead explored various ways of implementing classroom management:

• Teens - I usually ask my students to discuss what kind of classroom environment they would enjoy, so that they can learn effectively and achieve their end-of-year goals.
  

• YLs - I usually ask my students what is good and what is not so good for their classroom.

The result is more or less similar across all classes - my students almost always come up with generic rules, such as 'listen to the teacher' or 'be nice'.

Personalising rules

Every class has a different set of characters.

For quieter Young Learners or Teens groups, any explicit classroom management would be an unnecessary step for the teacher. In fact, I didn't have to use any when I taught a KEY for Schools class of five young teens last year.

For energetic and lively groups, I find it works more effectively when I respond to specific challenging situations by adding new rules. This is what I mean by personalising them.

• With a Teens PET for Schools class, we negotiated a deal of using more games in exchange for less disruptive chattering in the students' first language. Those students who earned themselves a bad name last year have become more willing to participate in lesson activities. Chattering is tolerated so long as it does not impede task achievement or make the whole class feel cliquey. (I also focus on the positives and ignore the petty negatives with a disapproving stare.)
  
  
• With YLs, rules have to be devised on the spot as we encounter any new challenging situation. Such new rules include 'going to the washroom once', 'leaving the classroom for water breaks once', and 'English only for five minutes' among others. 'One person speaks at a time' is also helpful - except in pair or group work. Those YLs who keep talking randomly are now better at understanding when they are supposed to listen.
  

Both the teacher and the students are happier now.

Tribute to Her late Majesty

Queen Elizabeth II was a great role model for our country. Her dedication to service, as well as stoicism in times of uncertainty, sustained modern Britain throughout the large part of the twentieth century, carrying the nation into the twenty-first. She witnessed the transition from Empire to Commonwealth, suffered losses of some of her closest family members, and saw the transformation of the United Kingdom from the analogue to the digital age.

I have come to this world as Her late Majesty's subject, in a hospital named after her, and in a land that was her realm. Thank you and rest in peace. God save the King.

(It was some time in 2012 when I was on a Virgin West Coast train from Manchester to London. As the train was travelling south of Milton Keynes, a Deutsche Bahn locomotive suddenly caught up with us. Then one of the passengers remarked loudly, 'that's the Royal Train!')