IELTS Test Preparation Course Outline

This course is designed to prepare students to achieve success on the IELTS exam through instruction and guided practice. Upon completion of this program the successful student will be able to reach his or her IELTS score goals by having developed language skills useful to taking a language test as well as by having become familiar with the expectations, format and content of the IELTS exam.

 

  • The course consists of 310 instructional hours (25 hours/week over the course of 13 weeks)

  • Students learn through lectures, instructor-led discussions, as well as individual, pair, and group work

  • Students will be provided with all necessary material, including books and software.

  • Students will receive written feedback from the course instructor through an evaluation of a weekly coursework portfolio in Weeks 1-12

  • Students will take a Test Preparation Assessment Test in Week 13. Students who earn a minimum score of 5.5 will receive a Certificate of Completion

Students will learn through a variety of activities and practice exercises that will help them prepare for the four sections of the test: Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing. They will familiarize themselves with the different kinds of questions that appear in each section of the test and, through guided practice, they will become skilled at answering all question types. They will also practice grammar structures, vocabulary and functional language relevant to each section.

 

SAMPLE OF COURSE OUTLINE

WEEK

SECTION

AREA

FOCUS

1

 

Listening

Conversations

Interactions between two people in an everyday social context

Interactions between two or more people in an educational or training context

Lectures

Speech about news, bicycles, museums & student banking (Everyday Social Context)

Topics in Education, Health Sciences, Business & Sports Studies (Academic)

Questions

Overview of Question Types; Approaches to Identifying the Right Answer

Reading

Vocabulary

Topic Vocabulary & Roots

Passages

Topics in Biology, Chemistry & Physics

Questions

Overview of Question Types; Approaches to Identifying the Right Answer

Writing

Task 1

Scoring rubric and scored essays; identifying the main features; interpreting data; making comparisons

Task 2

Scoring rubric and scored essays; analyzing a question, brainstorming ideas, developing a position and organizing paragraphs

Skills

Planning and proofreading

Speaking

Part 1 Questions

Developing a response on a familiar topic

Answering questions about home and hometown, family, relationships, studies and jobs

Skills

Elaborating, describing and providing details

Using different tenses and verb forms

WEEK

SECTION

AREA

FOCUS

2

 

Listening

Conversations

Interactions between two people in an everyday social context

Interactions between two or more people in an educational or training context

Lectures

Speech about expeditions and tours, dorm rules & student unions (Everyday Social Context)

Topics in Sports Sciences, Economy, Geography & Human Psychology & Behavior (Academic)

Questions

Multiple Choice Questions

Reading

Vocabulary

Topic Vocabulary & Roots

Passages

Topics in Astronomy, Geology & Climatology

Questions

Matching Headings and Short Answer Questions

Writing

Task 1

Bar Charts

Task 2

Personal Characteristics & Behavior Topics

Skills

Grammar and vocabulary

Speaking

Part 1 Questions

Developing a response on familiar issues

Answering questions about food, hobbies, travelling and transportation

Skills

Expressing and supporting a preference

Using different tenses and verb forms