IELTS

Course Summary

The IELTS course aims to provide students with the knowledge and practical skills required to successfully prepare to take the IELTS Academic Test. IELTS, which stands for International English Language Testing System, is a globally-recognized test of English language proficiency. It is a popular choice for students wishing to study at a university in an English-speaking country. This course will prepare you to take the IELTS Academic Test with confidence. It has been developed by a team of highly-qualified and experienced language educators from the Institute of Continuing and TESOL Education at The University of Queensland (ICTE-UQ), an IELTS test center and one of the world’s leading centers of learning.

The IELTS course offers a comprehensive introduction to the IELTS test, with over 80 hours of interactive practice materials. Like the test itself, course content is organized into the four main skill areas: Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing. Each section of this course includes engaging multimedia presentations reviewing key test-taking skills, strategies and techniques. In each of the four test areas, course participants will be given information about the format of the test, as well as advice about the skills and strategies that will be useful when taking the test. Interactive practice activities are provided so that participants can practise those skills and strategies in order to feel better prepared for the IELTS test. Realistic IELTS-style practice test materials give course participants the chance to test their skills and get a taste of what it is like to take the IELTS test. The course features an extensive bank of video and audio resources which are used to support the learning program.

As the course is self-paced, you can complete all of the course units in sequence, or only select the areas you want to focus on to prepare for the IELTS Academic test. Then, when you are ready, you can test yourself with an IELTS-style practice test for each skill. In completing this course, you should feel more prepared to take the IELTS Academic test.

• TIME PER WEEK

2 hours per week

• COURSE DURATION

12 weeks

Learning Objectives

In this course you will:

• learn about the IELTS test procedure and format

• learn useful test-taking strategies and skills for the IELTS Academic Tests

• practice and develop skills and strategies by completing IELTS-style practice tests in reading, listening, speaking and writing

• develop your reading, writing, listening and speaking English skills

Course Outline

LISTENING

Unit 1

• Facts about the Listening Test

• What the Listening Test Assesses

• Listening for the Main Idea

• Listening for Factual Information

• Understanding Speakers’ Agreement

• Following Academic Explanation

• Understanding Speakers’ Responses and Attitudes

Unit 2

• Listening Strategies

• Before Listening: Using Audio Instructions and Predicting

• While Listening: Being Ready to Hear and Listening While Reading

• After Listening: Checking and Transferring Answers

Unit 3

• Conversation - Section 1

• Multiple Choice Questions

• Skills: Listening for Synonyms of Keywords

• Form Completion

• Skills: Predicting the Type of Answer

• Skills: Listening for Numbers

• Matching

• Skills: Identifying Paraphrases

Unit 4

• Talk - Section 2

• Short Answer Questions

• Skills: Understanding the Question

• Labelling a Diagram, Plan or Map

• Skills: Following the Speaker

• Table Completion

• Skills: Money, Numbers and ‘s’

Unit 5

• Academic Discussion - Section 3

• Sentence Completion

• Classification

• Skills: Recognising Speakers

• Skills: Recognising Opinion and Attitude

Unit 6

• Academic Monologue - Section 4

• Notes Completion

• Listening for Signpost Language

Unit 7

• Listening Practice Test

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SPEAKING

Unit 1

• Facts about the Speaking Test

Unit 2

• The Interview - Part 1

• Part 1: The Introduction

• Focus on Grammar: Likes and Dislikes

• Focus on Fluency: Extending Your Answer

• Focus on Vocabulary: Showing Range

• Focus on Pronunciation: Essential Aspects

Unit 3

• The Individual Long Turn - Part 2

• Making Notes

• Beginning Your Talk

• Saying More

• Ending Your Talk

Unit 4

• The Discussion - Part 3

• Focus on Fluency: Extending Your Answers

• Focus on Vocabulary: Discussion Topics

• Focus on Grammar: Past, Present, Future

• Focus on Grammar: Comparison

• Focus on Pronunciation: Clarity

Unit 5

• Speaking Test Review

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READING

Unit 1

• Facts About the Reading Test

• What the Reading Test Assesses

• Distinguishing between Fact and Opinion

• Spelling and Grammar

• Distinguishing Main Ideas from Supporting Details

Unit 2

• Reading Skills and Strategies

• Skimming and Scanning

• Identifying Paraphrase

• Identifying Reference

Unit 3

• Short Answer and Sentence Completion

• Short Answer Questions

• Sentence Completion

Unit 4

• Headings and Global Multiple Choice

• Headings

• Global Multiple Choice Questions

Unit 5

• Locating Information and Multiple Choice

• Locating Information

• Multiple Choice

Unit 6

• Labelling and Noting

• Labelling a Diagram

• Summary Tasks: Notes/Table/Flow Chart Completion

Unit 7

• Identifying Information, Views, and Claims

• True, False, Not Given

• Yes, No, Not Given

Unit 8

• Classification and Matching

• Classification

• Matching

Unit 9

• Reading Practice Test

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WRITING

Unit 1

• Facts about the Writing Test

Unit 2

• Task 1 of the Writing Test

• Introduction to Writing Task 1: Visuals

• Understanding Task 1 Questions

• Topic and Overview

• Analysing and Describing Key Features

• Focus on Language: Describing Data

• Skills Focus: Selecting and Grouping Information

Unit 3

• Task 2 of the Writing Test

• Introduction to Writing Task 2

Unit 3 Continued

• Getting Started with Task 2: Question Analysis, Brainstorming and Planning Practice

• Paragraph Structure

• Writing the Introduction

• Grammar Focus: Complex Sentences

• The Essay Body

• Skills Focus: Coherence and Cohesion Practice

• Writing the Conclusion

Unit 4

• Writing Practice Test

Assessment

Opportunities for formative assessment are offered throughout the course, for students to gain feedback on completed tasks and evaluate their ability to use the recommended skills and strategies. For example, each unit features an authentic IELTS-style practice task which students can complete. These practice tasks are accompanied by feedback tools such as answer keys, advice on wrong answers, and self-evaluation checklists.

As this is a preparation course, we recommend that participants should take a real IELTS test when they feel ready to do so, so that they can receive an IELTS score and gain further information about their English language proficiency.

Accessibility Options

As this is an online course, you will need a device with an Internet connection. The eCollins platform is best viewed with the latest version of the Google Chrome browser. We recommend you download this free browser or update it to the latest version if you haven’t already done so. Please be aware you may experience some technical difficulties in accessing all parts to this course if you are on any other browsers.

All video materials in this course come with a transcript. Listening practice materials are also accompanied by a transcript. Where possible, images are accompanied by descriptive text.

To get the maximum benefit from Collins eAcademy, we also recommend that you have headphones or speakers, a microphone, and a webcam.