Academic IELTS Preparation Course
The Academic IELTS Preparation course's main purpose was to prepare the students for the IELTS test. Students were required to take an Entry Test, a number of practice tests, and an Exit Test. All the tests were taken from the chosen textbooks. The Entry and Exit tests aimed to assess students' level before taking the course and their progress after taking the course. The practice tests helped them to be prepared for the real IELTS test challenges and to apply what they have learned in class.
There is a wide range of IELTS preparation books. I decided to use The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS: For Academic & General Training as the main textbook because it was available in the center and the lack of time to order other books.
As I believe that there is not a perfect textbook, I used the two books that I have in my own library to provide supplementary materials. The Barron's 3rd edition of IELTS and the Academic Writing Practice for IELTS gave me the chance to provide the students with a variety samples as well as use the model tests for practice. I have also provided handouts that were created using information from different web pages that are devoted to IELTS preparation.
To make the course more motivating and less stressful, I included three assignments that would encourage students' participation and enhance their learning.
Classroom Discussions: Each class, students discuss a certain topic. Students either watch videos or read short articles before they discuss the topics.
Presentations: I gave the students the right to choose between giving a PPT/poster presentation or creating a video that explores a topic that I have approved. Students who preferred to write, they wrote narratives and gave presentations about what they wrote.
Facebook Discussions: Another assignment that was designed to make homework fun included Facebook. So, I created a Facebook group and added all students. In this assignment, students were required to choose TED Talks videos/an article, create questions, and post them to their peers. Other students were required to comment on the videos and the article.
Sample class activities
Samples of students' work