In this edition:
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Introduction
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Preparing For The Speaking Test Alone
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IELTS Examination Tip - Answer All Questions
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Preparation For The Reading Test
Introduction
Welcome to the September 2006 issue of the "Your IELTS Guide" newsletter. This month we have three very useful articles, two cover preparing for IELTS and one provides tips for during the test.
Many candidates want to prepare for IELTS on their own. Most course books require students to work in pairs and most Speaking tips you read involve talking to other people.
Our first article, Preparing For The Speaking Test Alone gives some very useful advice on how you can prepare for the IELTS Speaking interview on your own.
Next we have an article written by an outside author giving valuable advice on maximising your score in the Listening and Reading modules by answering all the questions.
Time is a major problem for candidates during the Reading test. The advice given in our final article covers different ways to read and how to practice them, thus making better use of your time.
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Preparing For The Speaking Test Alone
The IELTS Speaking test is often quite nerve wracking for candidates because of course it is a face to face interview. We believe that some candidates do not make the most of the Speaking test and often end up with a lower mark than they are capable of. The most fundamental point to remember is that if a candidate does not speak, there is no speech for the examiner to grade.
This article will help candidates prepare for Part 1 of the Speaking test. Most course books and classes prefer candidates to work in pairs or small groups for speaking practice. It is our view that much can be done by the candidate working alone to overcome nerves and increase confidence exactly when needed, that time being during the 11-14 minutes of the Speaking test itself.
What You Know About Part 1
The IELTS Information for Candidates says "in Part 1 candidates answer general questions about themselves, their homes/families, their jobs/studies, and a range of familiar topic areas. This part lasts between four and five minutes".
How can you make use of this information?
The examiner will introduce him or herself to you, ask your name, check your identity (this is why you take your ID into the room) and then start to ask you questions. It is your job now to think about what those questions might be.
a. Take a piece of paper and at the top write Homes and Families. You will do the same later for Jobs and Studies.
Then write down the question words. These are the WH question words + how. You should have Who, What, When, Where, Which, Why and How.
Your task now is to write down lots of questions you could be asked about your home and your family using these words. Some examples are How long have you lived in your town? What sort of local facilities are there? How many people are in your family? What do your brothers and sisters do?
You will notice that with these questions, you cannot just answer 'yes' or 'no'. You should always try to answer with a little bit extra so that the listener, in this case the examiner, becomes interested in what you are saying. How does this work with the question about the facilities in your town? You could say 'There's a nice swimming pool and lots of parks around. There's also a library that I try to get to every other day'.
Remember there are no right or wrong answers to the questions in this section. You just have to speak.
b. What is meant by a range of familiar topic areas? Take a piece of paper and make a list of some topics that you think are familiar topics. When you started learning English you would have learnt to talk about your hobbies or interests such as the type of music or films you like, your holidays, the weather, sports you watch or take part in, pets, food, your future ambitions etc. All these are what are known as familiar topics and your list should contain some of these.
Using the same question words, make up questions about as many of the topics as you can. You will probably be asked at least 2 questions on each topic the examiner chooses, so you need to be fully prepared. You need to have thought about many different topics, both questions you could be asked and extended answers.
Remember
Some candidates panic when they are asked about a topic they are not interested in and therefore cannot answer easily, losing coherence perhaps. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers. You only have to answer the questions and it therefore does not matter in slightest whether or not you tell the truth. Learn to use your imagination and speak about topics you are not personally interested in.
Once you have prepared for Part 1 as we have suggested, you can practise confidently with a partner, taking turns to ask and answer questions.
For more information on the Speaking test check out our
IELTS Speaking Module,
IELTS Speaking Tips and
IELTS Speaking Preparation
pages.
IELTS Examination Tip - Answer All Questions
By Svend Nelson
In the Reading and Listening tasks of the IELTS exam, band scores are determined only by the number of questions answered correctly. There usually are about 40 questions on each of the two tests.
Many candidates who do not understand the questions or do not know or are not sure of the answers leave blanks on the answer sheets for those questions. Never leave questions unanswered! Always write something on the answer sheet. No answer is automatically wrong, but you may guess the right answer, in which case you receive the point for it.
To score the highest number of correct answers:
- Do your best to understand the question and answer it correctly.
- If you do not understand the question or know the answer, figure out what kind of answer is required – T (true) or F (false), F (fact) or O (opinion), the letter or letters that correspond to the correct answers to multiple choice questions, short answers, and the like – and write an answer that is possibly correct. It may be.
- Keep careful track of question numbers so that you put answers in the correct places. One of the problems with not answering a question is that you may forget to leave a space for the answer. If you answer the next question on a line you have left blank, you could create a situation in which a whole series of answers – some of which might be correct – will be scored as incorrect. Examiners who correct answer sheets do so from master answer sheet keys and do not make allowances for answers that appear on the wrong line.
- Pay special attention for some answers that come in a series. Sometimes IELTS questions ask you to put a number of answers in a particular series. In some of those cases, if some of the answers in the series are in the correct order, they are considered correct. Do your best at getting the entire series right, but if you are confident of only a portion of the series, make sure those answers are in the proper order.
- Even with short answer questions, put some words in the blanks – but never more than three – of questions whose answers you are not sure of. In the case of IELTS Reading task short answer questions, choose words that come directly from the text, as they are more likely to be correct.
- To maximize the number of correct answers in the IELTS Listening test, mark the answers you choose in the question booklet and then, in the 10 minutes you are allowed for transferring the answers to the answer sheets after the tape is finished playing, carefully transfer them to the answer sheet. If you are unsure of the correct answer to a question while the tape is playing, mark the answer you think is best. You can think about it more after the tape has finished. Remember: do not use the time after each section of the IELTS Listening test tape has finished to “check your answers” (as you will be instructed to on the tape). Instead, go on to read the next set of questions, to add to the time you have to read them. You have nothing to check your answers against after the tape has finished.
- In the IELTS Reading test, if for some reason you have not allowed yourself enough time for the third reading, give yourself enough time before the 60 minutes has elapsed to look at the questions and see what kinds of answers are required. Then guess.
In all cases, never leave answers blank on IELTS answer sheets!
Svend Nelson is a university lecturer and Internet entrepreneur. He is director of UniRoute Limited, a Hong Kong based company with offices in Bangkok and London providing IELTS preparation and a free online application service to study abroad in UK including courses like tourism management. Svend lived and worked in various countries across Latin America, Europe and Asia and currently lives in Thailand.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Svend_Nelson
For more information on the Listening test check out our
IELTS Listening Module,
IELTS Listening Tips and
IELTS Listening Preparation
pages
and for the Reading test check out
IELTS Reading Module,
IELTS Reading Tips and
IELTS Reading Preparation.
Preparation For The Reading Test
The IELTS Reading module lasts an hour. You have to answer 40 questions and there are different task types, such as matching headings to paragraphs, multiple choice and sentence completion answers. The General and Academic Reading tests are different but the following advice applies equally to either of the Reading tests.
Reading Strategies
Think about how you would read the following:
- A letter from a friend who is studying in England.
- A review of a book your teacher has recommended.
- Directions for reaching a friend's house.
- A list of student names and times for a tutorial at college.
- An article in an English newspaper.
- A newspaper in your own language.
You should have thought about the time you would take to read each different piece as well as the detail you would go into whilst reading. You should also have thought about what information it is important to look for depending on what you are reading.
We use different reading strategies as we read different pieces of writing for different purposes.
Skimming - This involves running your eyes over the text quickly to get a general idea of the text. You should try to avoid reading every word as it isn't always necessary to understand everything. You are looking for the main points without bothering about the details.
Probably the best way to get an idea of the main points of a text is to read the title and headlines; read the first and last paragraphs; and read the topic sentences in each paragraph.
Scanning - You scan when you are looking for specific information. In the Reading Test you will scan a passage to look for relevant key words. These may be names of people, products and places etc and these words may all begin with capital letters. Other detail may consist of numbers for dates, ages, prices, quantities etc. and may include symbols such as £ or %.
Remember - you may not be looking for an exact word match - look for synonyms, too.
Reading for detail - When you read part or all of a text for detail, you study it carefully in order to understand it fully and not to miss any information.
Now go back to list a - f above and think about the strategies you would use to read the texts. Practise these strategies every time you read a text and you will improve your reading ability in preparation for the IELTS test. Read anything and everything you get the opportunity to read in English. Read often.
For more information on the Reading test check out our
IELTS Reading Module,
IELTS Reading Tips and
IELTS Reading Preparation
pages.
