TESTING & ASSESSMENT
IELTS as a native
speaker
John Byrne takes IELTS and sees what he can learn to help his students.
T
he idea was proposed during a
brainstorming session with my DOS.
We were working on ways to deliver
a better learning experience for IELTS
prep students. One of the main things
we discussed was what happened
during the test. And would it be a good
idea to take the test and put myself in
the shoes of a student?
At first I was unaware of how common
it was for native speakers to take this
exam. After a quick phone call to an
examination centre they informed us
that native speakers regularly take the
test for a variety of reasons, for example
applying for a long-term residency visa
in Canada requires every applicant to
take the test. So there it was, I was going
to take the test so I could experience
for myself how my students may feel
when they go for an exam like this and
by doing this hopefully help them better
prepare for their exams.
Preparing for the test
I consulted the main IELTS website and
found there was a section specifically
for native speakers and they stated
that it was just as important for native
speakers to prepare for IELTS as it is
a skills examination and you will be
expected to do certain tasks that are
not ‘everyday’ tasks, such as tasks in
the reading section and the interview
or speaking stage. Speaking at length
on a random subject is not something
people think about and can cause you
to falter in the exam if you get a topic
you are not familiar with, and the worst
thing you can do in a speaking exam is
stop speaking.
n Volume 23
n Issue 4
I had to prepare!
I had been preparing students for IELTS
for some time and on occasion took
a few sample exercises to do along
with the students which set alarm bells
ringing early when I discovered the
reading and listening questions were
occasionally confusing and required a
lot of concentration.
As the final week before the exam
approached I tried to cram as much
practice in as possible by taking
online practice tests from IELTS.org
and the sample papers in Cambridge
IELTS coursebooks and by Thursday
I had an awful foreboding feeling as
Saturday loomed closer – as a native
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speaker what if I got a bad result – the
shame of it all! Then it hit me, I may
get a ribbing from my fellow teachers,
but what did a bad result mean for
the students? For many, a bad result
means no immigration to some
countries such as Australia which has
a current IELTS requirement of 6.0
minimum or no acceptance to their
college of choice. Nursing in Ireland
requires a score of 7.0 and engineering
courses require 6.0 (Cork IT) to 6.5
(UCD overall academic score).
Towards the end of the final week I had
the chance to do several practice exams
and I had started on a high with 8.5 –
8.0 but couldn’t reach that all elusive
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TESTING & ASSESSMENT
9.0. Friday dealt a near fatal blow to
my confidence when I attempted three
partial tests and my third attempt came in
at 7.5. I needed a break but I still hadn’t
been able to get the time to get someone
to review my writing (a fellow teacher
had kindly offered to review anything I
produced) nor had I a chance to practise
my speaking skills, and I was painfully
aware that as a native speaker I had
(and still have) a few bad habits which
I needed to focus on, for example using
colloquial language when I get relaxed
which may not be recognised as such in
exam conditions and mixing up ‘I did’
and ‘I have done’ on occasion. I read
several 8.0 and 9.0 essays as examples
of the requirement of these score bands
in lieu of actually writing anything, in an
attempt to discover what was required
to achieve these scores. Speaking would
have to take care of itself.
Exam day
On the morning of the test I was nervous
and didn’t really sleep much (typical of
many exams I had taken in the past) so
I was able to get into town early. At 8.30
I went over to the test centre and there
were students already queuing, many
were speaking their first language and I
remembered the advice that I had given
to some of my students that they should
try to speak English on the day of their
exam as changing back from L1 to L2
can slow them down. I still believe this
to be true especially for the speaking
section, as in class students perform
better when staying in one language and
confuse themselves when changing.
Then I saw the most peculiar thing
– someone holding an Irish passport –
native speakers – I wasn’t alone (but
the native speakers are making sure not
to make eye contact with other native
speakers for some reason which I put
down to them either really focusing on
the upcoming exam – one woman was
reading notes during registration – or
they were self-conscious of being native
English speakers taking an English test).
We went upstairs single file and were
processed and sent to waiting rooms
which only seemed to multiply the
butterflies that were circling. Then we
were on our way to the exam hall.
“Time is the
biggest enemy
in any exam,
especially when
testing skills”
First up was the listening which
personally I thought was difficult. As
expected it was easy to begin with but
progressively got more difficult: at one
stage I was waiting for a specific section
but missed it completely leaving me to
guess the answer. This made me wonder
how one of my students may feel if the
same happened to them.
9.0 gone straightaway – panic 8.5
and falling.
I have since told my students to ignore
these kinds of thoughts as they do not
help you during the exam. The last thing
they need to worry about is band scores
during the exam.
Reading – One hour to read three
sections: in practice this was easy
but in the exam the first 20 minutes
disappeared and I was still on section 1
(apparently the easiest section and I’m
still looking for answers with 40 minutes
to go. What’s going on?).
I finish the reading with three minutes
to spare. This reinforced my belief
that students need to work to these
deadlines in class. I felt like relaxing but
I decided to quickly check my answers
and luckily I did as I noticed question
19 had two parts and I had written them
into two sections on the answer sheet
instead of one, meaning I had omitted
the answer to question 20 and would
therefore have gotten both answers
wrong. A quick amendment and I finish
with about 20 seconds to spare before
they call ‘pens down!’.
Writing next – this is relentless. Having
practised writing with my classes on
data lists, charts and graphs I was given
a map to write about! I had never seen
this task type before, not that it is a new
question type but from all of the samples
I had done before it never came up, so I
had to improvise. I thought, if one of my
students had never seen a task like this
before how would they react? Would
they have the vocabulary or grammar
necessary to deal with it?
Twenty minutes have passed – the
invigilator calls out, indicating you
should be about to start Task 2 to
allocate enough time to answer it. I’m
still on Task 1.
Twenty-five minutes in and I’m about to
start Task 2. Headache!!
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n Volume 23
n Issue 4
TESTING & ASSESSMENT
I had written over 50/60 words like I was
Shakespeare when I realised I was writing
an argument instead of an introduction.
At this point I was kicking myself and
laughing a bit as I tell all of my students
that the first thing they should do before
they write anything is plan – Start,
Middle, End – I had ignored my own
advice. Erase and restart, 30 minutes left.
The two-and-a-half hours flew by, proving
time doesn’t only fly when you’re having
fun. Pens down and the exam ends. Time
to get some fresh air. I had an hour and
20 minutes to pass until my speaking test
– detour to Burger King.
I arrived at the centre for the speaking
test and I was put in a waiting room
with five other students. It was eerily
quiet considering it’s the speaking part.
Personally I feel the students should be
encouraged to talk to each other at this
point: if nothing more, it may loosen
them up before the interview.
“We call them
skills for a reason,
and a skill is a
learned ability
we improve
through practice
and exercise”
We are brought to a series of rooms and
sat down until called by an examiner.
The door opens and my examiner brings
me into the interview room.
Immediately I felt relaxed by the
interviewer so I fell into a natural
rhythm which I feel would not be
possible for many students. The second
stage of the interview – the long turn –
did throw me a little bit as I was asked
to speak about an ideal meal and my
mind went blank, but I was able to
bring in other topics like atmosphere
and locations to boost my story.
n Volume 23
n Issue 4
For me, speaking was the easiest part of
the exam, but it was the only time I felt
the advantage of being a native speaker
during IELTS and what little preparation
I had done in class from interviewing
students did help. Talking about random
subjects on cue would trip up anybody
if you aren’t prepared to some degree,
more so if you don’t know a wide
range of vocabulary to deal with many
different topics. On this point I have
directed students to read newspapers,
many of which have several different
sections covering everything from
entertainment to finance.
So what did I really learn?
As a teacher:
The most important aspects which I
found difficult:
1. T
ime skills
Time is the biggest enemy in any
exam, especially when testing
skills. So getting students to practise
completing tasks to tight deadlines
is crucial. Time seems to disappear
in the exam so keeping ahead of
deadlines can be beneficial.
I have given numerous topics
(found in IELTS course books) to
students just to practise writing
different amounts of words at
different lengths, i.e. 100 words in
20 minutes, then 100 words in
15 minutes, then 10 minutes, so
they are used to writing and
writing to limits.
4. Scan, gist, detail
The reading section was the most
disappointing part of the exam for
me (and part of me wants to re-sit
the exam just to get a higher
reading score).
Being able to peruse three sections
of text successfully requires a lot
of training.
Again, I have guided students to
read newspapers for help on this
section as they contain a wider
range of topics for them to read
and would contain articles with
similar word length as the exam,
also magazines which may contain
similar content to the exam topics.
As a test taker:
Completing tasks to time limits can
help students to increase their speed
and replicate the pressure they will
feel during the exam.
2. L
istening
Listening skills are difficult to master
and knowing what to look for is the
key to success. Keywords and phrases
from questions can help.
I have asked students to listen to
news reports and podcasts (5 to 10
minutes maximum as the listening
section is not long) and write down
key information from these then
go back over them for more detail.
Keeping the listening short not only
replicates the time in the exam but
maintains the students’ interest also.
If they have to listen to long boring
sound bites repeatedly, it can only
make it more tedious for them.
3. Writing skills
Being able to produce 150/250 words
in 20/40 minutes is difficult; keeping it
relevant to the topic is even harder.
www.modernenglishteacher.com
I learned that a language examination
requires as much effort and attention
as any other test I have taken, from
college to driving. If you don’t
prepare, you won’t suceed. They
cannot be taken for granted. Just
because you think you’re a natural at
something doesn’t mean that you will
test well. We call them skills for
a reason, and a skill is a learned
ability we can improve through
practice and excercise.
John Byrne is from Ireland. He previously
worked in environmental and energy
engineering before taking up teaching
two years ago. He works on exam
preparation classes for IELTS and CAE.
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