Target 4.5 and 5.5
The goal of the IEL360 intermediate courses are to empower students with effective educational tools for practicing and improving English language skills in order to accomplish the highest possible score on the IELTS test, and further their future English language study goals.
The courses are designed for Vietnamese adults preparing for the IELTS Academic Module. A standard communicative approach is used designed to train students in the use of strategic skills for IELTS, and help them improve their grammar and vocabulary. Course content also includes a variety of topics with a focus on Vietnamese life, culture, history and traditions.
The following principles guide the program:
1. Progression from test familiarization to test practice.
2. Progression from strategic skills training to strategic skills practice.
3. Extra focus on key strategic skills necessary for all four IELTS tests, namely paraphrasing and cohesion.
4. Continuous and progressive grammar review with an emphasis on functional language for IELTS and sentence structure variety.
5. Continuous vocabulary expansion with an emphasis on topic variety, pronunciation and flexible use.
6. Ongoing classroom assessment is based on continuous teacher feedback and error correction, peer-analysis and student self-analysis.
Key Strategic Skills
a. Paraphrasing
b. Cohesion
Strategic Skills for Individual Tests
a. Reading: Skimming for gist, question analysis, scanning for information, deduction
b. Listening: Question analysis, deduction & prediction
c. Writing: Task analysis, brainstorming, outlining
d. Speaking: Question analysis, brainstorming, visualization & mnemonics
The courses will progress from simple language to more complex grammar and more sophisticated vocabulary.
Target 6.5 and 7+
Other institutes rely on textbooks filled with long lists of vocabulary to practice and grammar exercises to complete. This way of teaching IELTS simply repeats English “skills” students have been learning since grade school. If relearning high school with English in a textbook worked, most graduates would be able to get 6.5 without much difficulty. Clearly, that’s not the case.
What makes us different?
IEL 360’s highest level courses are designed to help students “beat the test” through targeted memorization of vocabulary, which is used to create a “template” through which students can express themselves in ways designed to meet requirements of the IELTS scoring system. As such, they focus not on traditional-style education but on teaching students how to effectively use test-taking tactics. Custom-designed by a teacher and examiner with extensive IELTS experience, these programs offer a kind of study that is unique in Vietnam. IEL 360 is the only institute in Vietnam that offers original IELTS materials that help students “crack the code” of the test. The T 6.5 and T 7.5 courses are based on the following principles:
1. “Real education” will not help students do well on IELTS.
2. Success on IELTS is based on “telling examiners what they want to hear” based on targets in the scoring system.
3. Some targets in the scoring system are easier to meet than others. Know the easier ones and how to take advantage of them.
4. Learn as little grammar and vocabulary as necessary, and only what is necessary.
5. Memorize structures for writing and speaking that can be used with any topic and question type.
6. Learn based on speaking and writing question types and functions, not topics.
7. Students must be actively engaged with all aspects of the learning process, including outside the classroom.
Key strategic skills and knowledge
1. Targeted memorization of vocabulary
2. Targeted memorization of grammatical forms
3. Simple, quick, and effective development of ideas
The above skills with be practiced with less teacher input and greater degrees of student independence, including student-led “free” practice, as the course moves forward. Practice activities are designed to be student-centered and engaging, but require a business-like mentality by both students and teachers to achieve the best results.
