Listening & reading are receptive, speaking & writing are productive. Listening & Reading can be learned by pure determination, dedication & motivation. With reading & listening, there is really no excuse, you don’t require a teacher, the resources are practically in all places, & free! 90% of the net is said to be in English, Itunes is a plethora of listening archives.
Feedback loops are: When an event is part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop, then the event is said to “feed back” into itself.
Due to the speed of speaking, & the objective of fluency, harnessing the power of a feedback loop is more difficult. It means stopping & correcting the student in the midst of their sentence destroying any fluency they may have.
However with writing, it is a different story, it is possible to use feedback loops.
For writing the best way is practice, but frequent practice on a frequent basis. One session a week together with your tutor is OK but progress will be contingent on the number of times you see your tutor.
Imagine the difference multiple articles a week would make? Not only would you have regular exposure to your mistakes but with proper work, you would also see improvements & you will undoubtedly be more motivated.
With writing there is an actual opportunity to capture the power of a feedback loop, firstly the student does the exercises on the internet whereby they translate short sentences or vocab & the computer program can correct your work. These are great for beginners, but for IELTS students it is probably quite simple.
An essential skill for writing is the ability to spot your errors, in the event, you can do this I am positive you can eliminate at least 30% of the mistakes on your paper. Time after time I see IELTS papers where the third person singular S has not been written. Generate the habit of checking your written tasks, looking for common mistakes. With the writing task practice and experience are invaluable.
Another skill to acquire is a surpassingly grand vocabulary, English is undoubtedly one of the richest languages in the world so words such as; nice, large, went down, etc. Should really be substituted for more advanced or technical words.
For the second task I Have pasted an essay structure that is ideal, it is taken from the Hong Kong University Pdf which is a brilliant guide.
Arrange your written answer into the following paragraphs; Introduction, Body 1, Body 2, with the conclusion unmistakably the last part to be written.
Keep in mind that the examiners need to see a well introduced, thought out essay. In case you have terrible handwriting, work to improve it, nothing is worse than trying to decipher scribbled writing.
The student ought to also make use of WHITE SPACES i.e space out the paragraphs, leave a few empty lines worth of space, this aids visual presentation.
Introduction.
1st Sentence: This won’t use the exact task exam text but will rephrase it to mean something similar.
2nd Sentence will be the context of your text.
3rd Sentence will be a brief outline of your essay & ought not to be confused with the fourth.
4th Sentence will briefly state your personal opinion.
White space
White space
5th Sentence will introduce the first body text, the next sentences (6th,7th, & 8th) will justify it.
White space
White space
9th Sentence will introduce the second body of text, the next sentences (10th,11th, & 12th) will further justify it.
White space
White space
13th Sentence: To conclude, etc, then restate your own personal opinion.
14th Sentence is a brief summary of the earlier points.
OK, you have done, don’t hand in your paper & sprint for the door just yet! Did you keep in mind to check your work?
Did you find the mistakes your English tutor pointed out in your last paper?
Do you have a native English speaker to check for mistakes on practice papers?
