Page 29 - ELG1709 Agu-Sep Issue 450

RESOURCES .

Be

an

Ielts

oracle

Greg Archer, teacher and co-author of the new Mindset for Ielts course,
shares his tips for making the sometimes disorientating move to teaching
test preparation successfully

Teachers who transition into an Ielts Learner expectations in an As such, when you have identified and
class, particularly those less qualified or Ielts classroom need to be explored some aspect of the language that
experienced, are often wrong-footed when managed closely you know the group could benefit from,
they find that the communicative approach – From the learner who expects to direct your learners to consider which part of
so prevalent in their training and popular in 3get from 5.0 to 6.5 in three or four the exam it might be useful for.
general English classrooms – is met with more weeks, to the student who believes that Modals of speculation and hedging phrases?
resistance than they had anticipated. Here, they will most likely improve their score by Great for Speaking Part 3, for example.
I explain six important things you need to repeatedly going through past papers in class, Signpost everything.
remember if you are making the move: the individual needs of every group of Ielts
learners will often vary wildly. If their aims
Ielts teachers need to be and expectations are unrealistic, help them Ielts teaching can be a good
oracles of test procedure, to understand why, and what you can do to move (career and personal)
question types and exam support them. Ask any academic manager or
skills director of studies: demonstrable
1In an Ielts class, perhaps more than 6Ielts-classroom experience will
any other, trust is everything. Your students Don’t believe the myth that always enhance your CV and employment
expect a lot from you. So make sure you ‘an Ielts classroom is not a prospects. A private tutor well-versed in
know how to answer any questions about language classroom’ the test will never want for clients. And,
the basics, e.g. how long is the listening test, There is a purely linguistic less prosaically, Ielts teaching pushes you to
what happens on test day, as they will ask. 4challenge to every question, in re-evaluate your teaching beliefs. Are those
As for exam skills and strategies, the tips every section, that a confident language approaches and those go-to lessons that have
and teachers’ notes in the Mindset series teacher should be able to expand upon. always worked before really what this group
introduce these simply and clearly, and serve There is an opportunity for language of learners need? Challenge those beliefs,
as a springboard for you to develop your own work within each text, if mined correctly. and yourself.
set of Ielts teaching tools. Language also emerges from the learners
for you to explore during class time, as you n Mindset for Ielts is the new multi-level course
would in any other. from Cambridge, the producers of the Ielts test.
Ielts teachers need to be Just…don’t overdo it. Spending a full hour Its blend of print and online content can easily
primed contrasting ‘Will’ and ‘Would’, generally be tailored to individual requirements.
Before each class, become entirely speaking, doesn’t/won’t/wouldn’t go down
familiar with the material you plan to particularly well.
2use. For example, in multiple choice
questions, you need not only to be able to
explain why a particular answer is the correct Contextualise your language Greg Archer is a
one, but also why the other options are wrong. teaching within the test Delta-qualified
Anticipate why one of your students might Be aware that, in the minds of many teacher, teacher
have chosen the ‘distractor’ option – will they students, they have come purely trainer and writer
have missed or misunderstood an adverb? Might 5to ‘pass’ the Ielts test, and not to and the co-author
they have paraphrased something incorrectly? improve their English. of Mindset for Ielts.

28 August/September 2017

p28-29.indd 2 8/25/2017 12:58:25 PM