Preparing
students for
the IELTS Exam
Conducted by:
THAIS TARANTINO
www.ielts.org
THAIS TARANTINO
 Major in English & Portuguese language and literature;
 ESL teacher for 16 years;
 IELTS Examiner for 3 years;
 Cambridge Main Suite Examiner for 2 years;
 Owner of Connections Assessoria em Idiomas.
www.ielts.org
WORSHOP PROGRAM
 Introducing the IELTS;
 Knowing the exam;
 Sample tasks;
 Hints and tips for teachers and students.
www.ielts.org
QUIZ
 What does IELTS stand for?
 Which institution applies the IELTS in Brazil?
 Which countries mostly require the IELTS?
 How many versions are there?
 Which abilities does the IELTS test?
 How is it scored?
www.ielts.org
QUIZ ANSWERS
 International English Language Testing System
 The British Council
 Australia, Canada, New Zealand, England and USA
 Two. Academic and General Training
 Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing
 On a scale from 0-9 with half bands
www.ielts.org
RECOGNITION IN BRAZIL
CAPES
FAPESP
CNPq
OAB
Universities & Colleges including: FAAP,
USP, UNICAMP, UNIP, UFPE, UFAL,
UERJ, FGV
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IELTS IS USED FOR:
 Exemption from English classes
 Post-graduate course entry
 Study abroad courses, Internship and
scholarship programmes
 “Exit” exam for courses delivered in English
(ELT, International Relations, Tourism and
Hospitality, etc)
www.ielts.org
IELTS OVERVIEW
There are two different IELTS Exams:
The General Training exam:
For candidates who wish to immigrate and
work abroad.
The Academic Exam:
For candidates who need to do the exam to
study in an English speaking environment.
www.ielts.org
THE 4 SKILLS:
Speaking: 11-14 minutes, 1-2-1
Listening: 30’ + 10’ transfer time
Reading: 60’
Writing: 60’ for two tasks.
Task 1: 20’
Task 2: 40’
Total time: 2 hours 55 minutes
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SCORES
Bands 0-9, with half bands.
Band 0 – Did not attempt the test.
Band 1 – NON-USER. Few isolated words.
Band 2 – INTERMITTENT USER. No real
communication is possible. Great
difficulty understanding.
Band 3 – EXTREMELY LIMITED.
Understands only very familiar
situations.
www.ielts.org
SCORES
Band 4 – LIMITED. Basic
competence,problems in
understanding, unable to use
complex language.
Band 5 – MODEST. Partial command, many
mistakes, basic communication in
own field.
Band 6– COMPETENT. Effective command
with innacuracies.
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SCORES
Band 7 – GOOD. Operational
command,occasional inacuracies,
handles complex language well.
Band 8 – VERY GOOD. Full operational
command,occasional inacuracies,
handles detailed communication.
Band 9 – EXPERT. Full command,
appropriate, inaccurate and fluent.
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LISTENING OVERVIEW
30’ + 10’ transfer time;
4 Sections;
40 questions (10 each section);
Variety of accents;
Once only;
Progressive difficulty;
Same for AC/GT.
www.ielts.org
LISTENING
Section 1
Topic: Social needs
Input: Dialogue
Focus: Listening for and noting
specific factual information
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LISTENING
 Section 2
Topic: Social needs
Input: Monologue
Focus: Listening for and noting
specific factual information
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LISTENING
Section 3
Topic: Academic
Input: Dialogue 2 – 4 people
Focus: Listening for specific
information and opinions.
www.ielts.org
LISTENING
 Section 4
Topic: Academic
Input: Monologue
Focus: Listening for main ideas,
specific information and opinion
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READING OVERVIEW
60’, NO transfer time;
3-5 texts;
40 questions;
Variety of topics;
Authentic texts.
www.ielts.org
ACADEMIC READING
Module format:
3 passages and 40 questions. Each one is
worth one mark.
Texts:
The passages used in the test are based
on authentic texts, from sources such as
magazines, journals, books and
newspapers.
www.ielts.org
GT READING
Module format:
3-5 passages and 40 questions. Each one
is worth one mark.
Texts:
The passages used in the test are based
on authentic texts, from sources such as
magazines, journals, books and
newspapers.
www.ielts.org
TASK TYPES
1 - Multiple Choice
2 - Short-answer Questions
3 - Completion
4 - Labelling
5 - Choosing Headings
6 - Matching
7 - Classification
8 – Yes/No/Not Given
9 - True/False/Not Given
www.ielts.org
WRITING OVERVIEW
60’;
2 texts;
General Training: letter + essay
Academic: analysis + essay
Pen or pencil.
www.ielts.org
WRITING REGULATIONS
 Candidates must write their answers on the
Answer Sheet provided.
 If they write less than the minimum word limit they
will be penalised.
 They will be penalised for irrelevance if the
response is off-topic.
 They will be severely penalised if their writing is
plagiarised (i.e. copied from another source).
 They will be penalised if their answer is not written
as full, connected text (e.g. using bullet points in
any part of the response, or note form etc.)
www.ielts.org
AC WRITING TASK 1
Line graph
Bar chart
Pie chart
Table
Process
www.ielts.org
GT WRITING TASK 1
Letter
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SAMPLE GT TASK 1
You are planning to spend a two-week holiday in an English-speaking
country where you have a friend. You need some advice about travelling
there. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
Explain why you have decided to visit the contry and give some details
of your trip;
Ask about the places you should visit;
Ask if you can stay at your friend’s place for a few days.
Write at least 150 words.
.
www.ielts.org
SAMPLE AC TASK 1
.
The graph below shows the differences in wheat exports over three different areas.
Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information shown below.
.
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SAMPLE GT TASK 2
Some countries invest a lot of money in space research.
While some people believe that this money could be better
used to solve other problems on Earth, others argue that
speace research brings many benefits for life on Earth.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant
examples from your own knowledge and experience.
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SAMPLE AC TASK 2
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Present a written argument or case to an educated reader
with no specialist knowledge of the following topic.
In order to reduce the environmental problems caused by
our reliance on cars, governments should encourage
alternative forms of transport and laws should be passed
to control car ownership and use. To what extent do you
agree with this statement?
You should use your own ideas, knowledge and experience
and support your arguments with examples and relevant
evidence.
You should write at least 250 words.
www.ielts.org
ASSESSMENT AC/GT
Task Achievement - how effectively the candidate has
identified, illustrated and reported the key features of the
information in the task.
Coherence and Cohesion - how well the information and ideas
are organised, and how well the information is linked.
Lexical Resource - the range of vocabulary used, how
accurately it is used and how appropriate it is for the task.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy - the range of structures
used, how accurately they are used and how appropriate they
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are for the task.
POINTS TO REMEMBER
Stick to the correct level of formality.
Always give examples to back up your ideas.
Give your opinion if asked.
Remember to use paragraphs. Miss a line/indent to make
them clear.
Make sure to use adequate punctuation.
www.ielts.org
SPEAKING OVERVIEW
• Part 1: 4-5 min.
Introduction and interview
After introductions and identity check, the examiner asks the candidate
questions about familiar topics.
• Part 2: 3-4 min.
Long turn
The candidate receives a task card with a topic. S/He then has 1 minute to
prepare and make notes before speaking about the topic for 1 to 2 minutes.
• Part 3: 4-5min.
Discussion
The examiner discusses with the candidate more abstract aspects of the topic
in Part 2.
www.ielts.org
CANDIDATE SHOULD NOT:
 Give a pre-prepared and memorised answer.
Give short yes/no answers to the questions.
Ask the examiner questions.
www.ielts.org
Speaking Part 1
“In this first part I would like to ask you a few questions
about yourself. Let’s talk about what you do.”
• Do you work or are you a student?
• What kind of work do you do?
• Do you meet many interesting people in your job?
• What are your future professional plans?
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Speaking Part 1 (2 sets)
Let’s move on to talk about shopping.
• Who does the weekly or daily shopping in your
household?
• What other shopping do you enjoy doing?
• Is there anything you don’t like about shopping?
• What future developments in shopping can you
predict?
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Speaking Part 2
For this you have some paper and a pencil, and here is
your topic. I would like you to:
Describe an interest or hobby you enjoy.
You should say:
• what the job or course was
• what you had expected before you started
• -hat happened on your first day
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TIPS FOR THE SPEAKING
•Use your one minute preparation time;
•Answer all parts of the question. It is ok to deviate once
this is done;
•You don’t have to tell the truth. You can make up
something if this is easier;
•It is ok to self-correct yourself during the exam;
•Make it easy for yourself. Don’t try to speak about a
difficult and complex subject unless you have the
vocabulary for it.
•Be friendly, look the examiner in the eye.
www.ielts.org
Speaking Part 3
Leisure time
• In your country, how much time do people spend on work
and how much time on leisure?
• Would you say the amount of free time has changed much
in the last fifty years?
• Do you think people will have more or less free time in the
future?
www.ielts.org
MORE TIPS
1)Remember that the examiner is interested
in your language NOT your opinion.
2)Use delaying tactics, if necessary, to give
yourself time to think.
3)Don’t try to give your real opinion if it is too
complex and you don’t have the language
for it.
www.ielts.org
THANKS FOR COMING!
THAIS TARANTINO
WWW.PASSENOIELTS.COM.BR
THAIS@PASSENOIELTS.COM.BR
FACEBOOK: IELTS EXAMINER THAIS TARANTINO
www.ielts.org