A SENSE OF ENGLISH

A SENSE OF ENGLISH

This is the last of our series of looking at the IELTS exam. Each skill that is tested in the exam – listening, speaking, reading and writing – requires different techniques to be employed for success. We’ve been looking at some of these over recent weeks.

This makes it quite different from studying English per se. A Taiwanese student came to me recently confused about how to approach the exam.

His question was: “Do I need to study specifically for IELTS, or do I need to study general English first?”

He was holding a copy of “English Vocabulary in Use” (intermediate level) in one hand and explained that his father was pushing him to take IELTS as soon as possible and try and get on a Masters course in January.

I told him clearly that you can only prepare specifically for IELTS when you have a certain level of general English. IELTS is not separate from general English, but some aspects of it do require particular preparation.

If a student has an advanced level of general English, preparation for IELTS will not take long. If they don’t, they should seek to acquire this first.

Trying to prepare for IELTS before having mastered the basics of English grammar and learnt a substantial amount of English vocabulary is like trying to run before you can walk.

That’s a simple analogy, but it hits the nail on the head. (How many of you know that expression? Go and find out if not!)

IELTS is a very well thought-out test. It’s a very fair and reasonable way of assessing a student’s ability to cope with the demands of studying at university level in English.

Last time I said we would have a brief look at the second part of the Writing exam.

Ability to write well in another language is always improved by how much you read. Exactly the same relationship exists between your speaking ability and how much you listen to English.

So, reading a lot of similar articles to the kind you have to write in IELTS is the best thing you can do to prepare. There is no shortage of such articles to be found on the internet as well as in your set language books.

Part 2 requires you to analyse an opinion or some sort of problem and write an appropriate response. As with all IELTS tests, make sure you fully understand what you are supposed to do.

There are many key sentences structures that you will almost certainly be able to use. Make sure you are fully familiar with the three basic conditional sentences and the nuances between them (these are always winning grammatical structures with examiners).

Your response will involve expressing your opinion, so make sure you are fully equipped with a wide range of suitable sentences and structures. Remember how important variety is; the examiner doesn’t want to read the same expressions over and over again.

You will be marked on whether or not you have covered all the requirements of the task. It’s not just about getting the grammar right – your ideas and the way you express them must have both cohesion and relevance.

Make sure you get the right help from your teacher about format. Your sentences and paragraphs should have a progression and a
logic to them and should start and finish in the right place.

Ideas are conveyed in distinct ways in different languages, so what may seem logical to you (as you translate from your native language) might be clumsy or unclear in English.

Developing a sense of English in your writing, as in your spoken English, is vital for IELTS success and your future studies at university. Wishing you all the very best!

621 words

Charlie de Wirtz is a highly experienced international teacher of English and Spanish and the author of two books, Spanish with Carlos (ISBN: 978 0954608804) and A Sense of English (ISBN: 978 0954608842). He also proofreads personal statements, university essays and dissertations for university students. In the 1990s he started and ran his own EFL School in Eastbourne where he currently resides, continuing to devote his time to teaching and writing language material.