Job Discussion Forums

[Sashadroogie]

Don't really follow this at all. Where's the monopoly supposed to be. Cambridge exams are used for admission by many universities, not just Cambridge. Examiners do not need to have Cambridge EFL certificates. And IELTS isn't even the exclusive domain of Cambridge.

Even less idea about what is meant about 'all the standards coming from one organ and the result that we face on the ground from it.'

[wangdaning]

This might be revealing your lack of knowledge with regards to Chinese learners in China. Who cares what you teach in class when getting a mark on the "exam" is what determines your eligibility? This is what I meant by the effect on the ground. Every student I have had who was trying to take the IELTS has performed very poorly in class (regardless of the points they got on the test). If they avoid the test and finish year one they can go to pretty much any UK university. Blame the students, blame the test, I don't know, it is stupid either way. I feel the exam gets in the way of my ability to teach my students how to be more successful in their studies with no connection to that system.

I somehow think this topic is rife for miscommunication over a forum, I will withdraw myself. I am not saying you, ielts, or anything is wrong, it is just too complicated to discuss, and many things cannot be discussed so openly with an examiner.

[nigel2]

What monopoly?

How about this one https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/407785/April_2015_Approved_Secure_English_Language_Tests_and_Test_Centres_v1_0.pdf

Trinity tests are the only exception within the UK. The rest of the world MUST take IELTS.

[RW8677]

[quote="nomad soul"]Since the IELTS is a frequent topic on this forum...

Top 10 Myths about taking the IELTS exam
by Kristy Chase, English Outlook instructor
Source: http://www.englishoutlook.com/myths-about-ielts


1. Non-native speakers can’t get a band 9 on IELTS
Many students have said this to me - that it’s impossible for a non-native speaker to get a band 9. Of course, this just isn’t true. The test is based on how good your English is, not where you come from. The band 9 rating is described by IELTS as ‘expert user’. It’s perfectly possible for people who are non-native speakers and who are excellent speakers of English to get a band 9. Not only that, but the opposite is true too. Not all native speakers can get a band 9, even on speaking!

Nonetheless, I'm willing to bet the percentages achieving 9 is considerably higher amongst native speakers, sure, if your only criteria are 'some' and 'none', but, you know, thats just dumb

2. I have to keep practising tests to improve my score
This is a big myth but a very common one. IELTS is a test of English, not a test to test how well you know the test! The only way to improve your score, once you are familiar with the test, is to improve your English in all 4 macro-skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking. Doing more and more tests doesn’t really help you to improve. It just fills your head with answers. I know students who know all the answers to certain listening tests and can get 39 out of 40 but this doesn’t help their listening and on the real test they may only score 24 or 25 out of 40. Listening intensively to a variety of things - conversations, radio, news or even songs is the answer to improving your listening. Practise your listening micro-skills by going to the free practice exercise links on this page.


People who practice, do better, very few achieve their desired result first time, the practice, retake, improve, to believe anything else is just dumb.

3. I need to learn long lists of vocabulary to be successful
Of course vocabulary is important for IELTS to get a good score but you don’t need to learn long lists. You need to be familiar with words in all their forms and be able to use them accurately and appropriately. This is far more important than knowing a long list. Knowing a good variety of words and using them well and correctly will be enough for most people to get the score they need. Common topics in IELTS include education, environment and culture. Look at IELTS course books which will give you a good idea of what kind of words you need.

If you don't know vocab, you can't pass IELTS period, or else you have to go learn it, believing anything else is just dumb.

4. They make the IELTS test too hard so overseas students can’t get into university



The IELTS test is an independent test of English used by governments and educational institutions to get information about a person’s English level. The governments and colleges or universities set the level themselves independently so that is why different universities have different IELTS test score requirements. IELTS is not connected with them in any way and has no influence on what band scores are required for different tasks or institutions

No - they make it hard, and unfair, so students have to take it repeatedly = cash cow


5. If I don’t understand the examiner in the speaking test, I will get a low band
The speaking test is only about your speaking proficiency and listening is tested in the listening test. If you don’t understand what the examiner says, ask them to repeat or ask the meaning of a word. The speaking test only measures speaking proficiency, not listening.

If you cannot understand her, and she repeats the question, and you still cannot understand, and she repeats - this could go on all day, if you CANNOT UNDERSTAND, you cannot answer, you fail

6. Grammar is not important in the IELTS
It is true that grammar does not have a separate test in IELTS but of course it is still very important. You will need grammar for all the skills and it is specifically part of the assessment in both writing and speaking (25%). In reading and listening your knowledge of grammar can help you write in the correct word form in an answer so it is necessary throughout the test.

So you need grammar but not vocab? That is a conversation I want to hear.

7. If I take the test in my country, I will get a better score
You may get a better score in your country if you take the IELTS test there, but this will more likely be due to the fact that you may feel more comfortable in familiar surroundings in your home town, rather than the test itself. All tests on the same day are the same everywhere in the world so the test itself is not any easier and is the same one you would have taken if you had taken the test overseas. IELTS examiners are highly trained to be reliable markers, so your score should be the same. If you are feeling a little more relaxed in your home town, you could get a better score, but this is a factor which affects you and your performance in the test. The test is not easier.

If I take the test in my country, I will get a better score[/b]
You may get a better score in your country.......right.......cool
8. The examiner is looking at the clock in the speaking test so I must be very boring
This cannot possibly be true! The examiner has to keep to strict times so is looking at the clock to make sure he or she is within those times. Please don’t worry about those things.

9. There will be certain question types at certain times of the year for the writing

I heard this myth recently, where students were saying that a certain task comes up in May or June! IELTS would not be so predictable as to have certain task types on a given month of the year. Just prepare all your task types for the writing as normal.

IELTS rotate questions, supposedly randomly, but students can and do occasionally detect patterns

10. Examiners at some centres are stricter than others in another centre
All examiners go through careful training and retraining throughout their examiner life. If they are too strict someone will notice! It’s not the examiner, but more likely your performance on the day just wasn’t as good as on a previous occasion or in class, due to nerves or illness or something similar. It is hard, I’m sure you’ll agree, to tell how well you did in an exam! Sometimes you think you did a good job, but in fact it wasn’t so good.

Currently in China IELTS is in crisis due to changing govt regulations and they are hoovering up questionable examiners from around the world to fill the void. An examiner of 20 years standing, recently was chastised for intimating that a new recruit was essentially unintelligible to her, reasoning that, if she could not understand the woman's accent, the students had no hope. The seasoned veteran was accused of racism and told to mind her business. Indeed students are now actively lodging complaints about several of these new recruits. Student challenges are way up and the proportions of those being successful is at an all time high

[nomad soul]

On a related note...

English deficit leads to cheating
By Tony Tysome, The Times Higher Education | 7 July 2006
Source: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/english-deficit-leads-to-cheating/204142.article

Language difficulties among Chinese students on courses in the UK are so acute that some are resorting to cheating in a desperate attempt to pass their exams, academics have warned. Chinese students are employing a wide range of cheating methods, from writing on erasers or other objects they take into exams to memorising and reproducing entire essays written by others or adopting a copy-and-paste approach to written assignments, The Times Higher has been told.

But academics who have witnessed cheating and who sometimes struggle to help their overseas students to overcome the language barrier say that institutions are often creating the problem with "unscrupulous" recruitment strategies.

Swansea University, where about 35 Chinese students have been accused of cheating in exams, uses home-grown rather than international English-language tests as part of the process of assessing applications from overseas students. One Swansea academic, who did not wish to be named, said: "The reason the university does this is because it wants to maximise its fee income." He said that instead of using international language tests, such as the International English Language Testing System relied on by most universities, Swansea uses its own. "The university has been offering students courses it knows they cannot benefit from," he added.

Colwyn Williamson, co-ordinator for the Campaign for Academic Freedom and Standards, who has been counselling one of the students accused of cheating, commented: "The university is recruiting these students as cash cows and therefore accepting them with a level of linguistic competence that presents a major problem." Chris Shei, a Taiwanese lecturer in linguistics at Swansea who conducted research into plagiarism among Chinese students, said: "There is a definite connection. A student with a high language proficiency will not have to cheat. This is a big problem that requires serious investigation."

Beatrice Merrick, director of services and research at the UK Council for Overseas Student Affairs, said some students with language problems tried to get by using "patch writing" - interspersing passages of other people's work with their own. She blamed deficiencies in the International English Language Testing System and said: "It is not a perfect test. Students are not required to write anything at length in English until they get to the UK, when it can come as a bit of a shock to the system."

Andy Gillett, principal lecturer in the School of Combined Studies at Hertfordshire University, one of the UK's top recruiters of Chinese students, said overseas students sometimes had "unrealistic expectations" about how their language skills should improve. He said: "There are some who should not be here - where we do not know how they got the required scores on their English tests. Sometimes we just want to say 'go home, and save your parents' money'."

A Swansea spokesperson said: "The number of students caught cheating in examinations is very small but fluctuates from year to year. The number of reported cases this year is above average. With due process of unfair practice investigations and appeals under way, it would be premature and potentially prejudicial to individual students to speculate on whether there is a systematic reason for this increase."

(End of article)

[7969]

[nomad soul]

[Deats]

"There is a definite connection. A student with a high language proficiency will not have to cheat. This is a big problem that requires serious investigation."

What a load of bull. Chinese students of all majors cheat in China. It has nothing to do with ability, it is their culture.

I have been saying for years that it is a scandal that Asian students record the best international results and are so highly commended for their hard work. It just isn't true. EVERY student in China cheats. Even the angelic ones that were my friends cheated. They say that it isn't fair that the 'real' cheats get away with it as they get higher scores and better jobs than people who take the tests fairly. Therefore the 'good' students must cheat or they will pass with lower scores and not get a good job.

The system in Asia is a mess. Not only are students not punished for cheating, but they are actively encouraged to cheat.

One of our friends missed out on a very expensive scholarship to Aberdeen University because she missed her IELTS score by 0.5. She openly admitted her boyfriend wrote her dissertation. Can't believe the UK gvnt nearly blew 10s of thousands of pounds on her....

I wouldn't employ anyone with a Chinese degree. Period.

[Sashadroogie]

Again, nearly all of the above comments are relating failings that are nothing to do with IELTS