Hanoi, Vietnam

9 March, 2014
 About IELTS
Vietnamese candidates strengths & weaknesses
Challenges with IELTS
Difficulties in each skill
Studying IELTS @ RMIT
Road to IELTS
 Began testing English language 25 years ago

Accepted by over 8,000 organisations

worldwide, including RMIT University Vietnam

Last year, over 2 million tests were taken

 Tests your ability to communicate in English
Not just how many grammar mistakes you
make
Four skills, each worth 25%
Overall band score from 1 (non-user)
to 9 (expert user)
Can get 0.5 bands overall but
not in each skill

Figure 1. Adapted from IELTS 2009.

 Vietnamese candidates perform stronger than
China, Thailand and South Korea

Source: IELTS 2013.

 Vietnamese candidates: stronger in receptive
skills (R & L) than productive skills (W & S)

Source: IELTS 2013.

 IELTS is a language test to do well you
need good language
But good language is not enough
There are many tricks / traps in each skill
which can affect your score
Many candidates are not aware of these traps

Figure 2. Adapted from Global Trader 2012.

 Particular things you must do for a high score
Good English but limited strategies may not result
in a high score

Source: IELTS 2013.

 WRITING

Many Vietnamese candidates have difficulty because

they do not know some important requirements
 Writing Task 1
Different types of writing for different tasks
Ex.: describe a process & changes in maps

Figure 3: Reproduced from: ADMC n.d. Figure 4: Reproduced from: Wang 2013.
 Particular things you need to do in Task 1

Figure 5: Adapted from IELTS 2008.

 Writing Task 2
Task Response

Different task types different essay types

Must address all parts of the task equally with
a clear position throughout
Figure 6: Adapted from IELTS 2008.
 Writing Task 2

Coherence & Cohesion

Clear topic sentences

Required for 7 or above

Referencing & substitution

Required for 6 or above
Very few students know how to use these
Figure 7: Adapted from IELTS 2008.
 SPEAKING

Many Vietnamese candidates have difficulty because

they misunderstand some task requirements
 Speaking

Many candidates are not familiar with:

Procedures of the speaking test
What kinds of questions are asked in each part
How long responses should be in each part
How to give logical answers

Figure 8. Reproduced from: English 2012.

 Speaking
Almost every single Task 2 topic will fall under one of these categories:

Place Object

Past
Person
Event
Describe

Many candidates have problems organising their Part 2 response

 Speaking
Pronunciation & grammar take a long time to improve

But there are things you can improve in a

short time: Figure 9. Reproduced from: Harrow 2009.

Fluency & Coherence

Lexical Resource (vocabulary)

Figure 10. Reproduced from: Cole 2008.

Speaking

Figure 11: Adapted from IELTS 2008.

 LISTENING

Many Vietnamese candidates have issues in

Part 1 & 2, losing easy marks
 Listening
Different question types some are unusual
Multiple choice
Short-answer
Sentence completion
Complete the notes/table/summary/flow-chart
Labelling a diagram
Classification

There are tricks for maximizing your score in Parts 1 & 2

Common tricks by IELTS test writers
Letters / postcodes / credit card numbers
How to not get lost on a map
 READING

Many Vietnamese candidates do not finish in

60 mins.
 Dealing with time pressure
Reading too much
You do not have time to read every word

Difficult question types

T / F / NG & Y / N / NG
Figure 12. Reproduced from: McDermott 2014.

Reading skills
Skimming & scanning
Annotating & highlighting
Guessing unknown vocabulary
 BENEFITS
Taught exclusively by IELTS experts
Years of experience teaching IELTS
Aware of Vietnamese candidates difficulties
Experienced in teaching Academic English
 BENEFITS
Practice tests with detailed feedback
Advice on how to improve in all four skills
Detailed feedback on your writing
Individual support
Teachers are available for questions and advice
Intensive
Be ready for the
IELTS test in
just two weeks
 For candidates with good general English
who want to gain insider tips and strategies
40 classroom hours 2 weeks
All four skills
Flexible: the specific skills YOU need to work on
Feedback: from teachers & peers
Authentic practice tests
Official IELTS practice materials real tests!
Road to IELTS
 Comprehensive online IELTS course
Videos, advice, practice tests & feedback

Figure 13. Reproduced from: British Council / Clarity 2013.

Features

e-books and videos

Practice activities to improve your language
Sample videos with tips from previous candidates
Teacher tutorials highlighting what to do, and what
not to do, in your test
Timed practice tests
Compare your performance with other students
worldwide
Figure 14. Reproduced from: British Council / Clarity 2013.
Figure 15. Reproduced from: British Council / Clarity 2013.
How will Road to IELTS help me? What to
do in speaking
Instant feedback on your performance
Monitor your personal progress
Correct answers for practice exercises so you
can understand your mistakes
Hints and tips to help you improve
Exercises based on real IELTS test tasks to
help you develop confidence before your test
www.rmit.edu.vn/english-ielts

Hanoi.Enquiries@rmit.edu.vn

04 3726 1460

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