17.03.2020
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How to Teach IELTS Writing Online?

There are more and more students who want to take IELTS. There are different reasons: to enter university, to apply for a job or just immigration reasons. Moreover, teaching and studying online is becoming more popular as well. Students do not have to spend time commuting, they can choose any time of lessons, they don’t need to carry heavy books, etc., so it’s quite convenient.

So, how do we prepare for IELTS online? In several articles, we’ll cover different parts of the exam. In this article, we’ll have a look at the Writing part.

Read out How to teach IELTS Reading online? and How to teach IELTS Listening online?

Let’s firstly remember the structure of the IELTS

The Writing section is divided into 2 parts in both modules: General and Academic. Students have 1 hour for all the tasks.

In the first part of the General IELTS module

students have to write a letter to a friend based on different situations. Students have to ask something in the letter. This part assesses students’ ability to write letters, provide the information, to complain about something.

In the first part of the Academic module

students have to describe diagrams or graphs.  It should be approximately 150 words. This part checks students’ ability to evaluate and compare data, to describe the process, to systemize the information.

In the second part of both Academic and General

modules students have to write an essay. Candidates have to write their opinion about the task or the statement. This part checks students’ ability to discuss, provide arguments, give the opposite opinion, argue, make conclusions.  Coherence and cohesion are one of the main things students have to pay attention to.

It’s better to spend 20 minutes max on the first part and 40 minutes on the second part.

Low scores are typical for students who do not understand the task fully or make many mistakes. There are 4 main criteria of assessment:

  • Lexis;
  • Grammar;
  • Cohesion and structure;
  • Cover of all the necessary points of the topic.

So, how can we teach writing online?

Personally, I think it’s much easier and more convenient to teach this section online.

Let’s take Part 1 of the Academic IELTS module as an example

Firstly, I work on the vocabulary students will need for the task. For example, the topic is «Health, Diet and Nutrition». I share the screen in Zoom and ask students to match the words with the definitions (in turn, or they can assign each other). You can use Quizlet for this.

How to teach IELTS Writing online?
Source: Quizlet

It’s convenient to use it as students can revise the vocabulary further at home so you don’t need to create new exercises. In addition, to make practice even more interactive, you can use Kahoot (give the definition, students have to find the correct word).

How to teach IELTS Writing online?
Source: Kahoot

You can use the wheel to make a game. Split students into 2 groups, spin the wheel with the words and groups have to explain the word. You can set the timer.

Then, I can open an online whiteboard and draw a graph with different types of lines and type some verbs, e.g. rise, fall, peak, etc. Students draw lines from verbs to different types of lines on the graph.

How to teach IELTS Writing online?
Source: Idroo

Using the same graph, I can elicit or pre-teach adjectives, adverbs for example, gradual, sharply, dramatically, modest, etc.

Then, I upload a document with an exercise, where students fill in the gaps of the sentences with necessary verbs, adverbs, nouns and adjectives. This way they practise spelling too.

The next step is applying this new knowledge to graphs. I open another graph with different time frames and a reading passage.

How to teach IELTS Writing online?
Source: Essay Writing for IELTS, Collins

Students read it

and I ask to circle the examples of the past tenses, the dotted line under the present perfect and draw a solid line under the future forms. We discuss when we use different tenses. Then, we do a gap-filling exercise based on the new graph to practise adjectives and verbs, but now they have to use correct tenses.

I can also provide two texts that describe the same graph so the students find similarities and differences. They can do this in pairs or in groups. Thi way students are provided with several models of the final task.

Finally,

I show the graph for their homework. We brainstorm the main features, the useful language that can be used and type them on the board or in the Google document, so students can get back to it when they’ll do their homework and have some support. I like to do it together during the lesson, as students give samples of language themselves, I can see what they remember and what they forgot, what else we need to work on more; this way they revise the language once again.

At home, students write Task 1 in Google documents, then, they send the Task to me and I underline vocabulary and grammar mistakes and highlight phrases that can be improved, try to stretch their language; I leave comments about the structure, cohesion and content issues. I send it back to the students, so they can do some error correction themselves. Then, they send it back and I do the final check. Next lesson, I can share some typical mistakes and inaccuracies so we discuss them all together and brainstorm how it can be improved. I also provide examples of good language used.

The same tools and ideas can be used for Part 1 of the General module and for Part 2 of both modules.

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