IELTS

The task

To create an IELTS exam course to be presented through moodle and 'taught' or supported through the same means. I am creating this course for MKLC the same on-line school I studied at for my DTLLS.

The Course

I have spent several months collecting web resources and using text books, namely 'IELTS Graduation' Mark Allen, Debra Powell and Dickie Dolby (Macmillan) and 'Improve your IELTS reading skills' Sam McCarter and Norman Whitby (Macmillan). Web resources that are particularly worth mentioning are The British Council IELTS , Cambridge ESOL IELTS, Dominic Cole's IELTS blog and IpassIELTS. These sites and books (amongst others) have provided me with a lot of ideas and most importantly practice material to base a course around. The course itself is based around giving students the skills to approach the different types of questions that may be asked. The rationale behind this approach being that students could be from anywhere between level 4 and level 9 but exam technician is a ubiquitous skill that is required at all levels. Within each course there are suggestions for grammar and vocabulary and where possible I have tried to provide a range of levels but it is also stated in the course preview that the course tutor (hopefully me) will be on hand to suggest extra materials for practice based on individual student needs. I have also tried to find as much exam style practice as possible from the internet which of course was easier for some skills than others. The major hurdle was always going to be how to provide speaking practice through an on-line portal but I will come to that later.