Job Discussion Forums

The Great Wall of Whiner · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 4946 Location: Blabbing

My friend is seriously considering this position, but I know little about this position. Has anyone worked for the British Council before? I tried explaining to her that 5k a month is far too low for Shanghai, but she did not seem too concerned about it.

Anyone work for them or know someone who did? What are working conditions like? The school asks for a 2-year contract, not the usual one year. And they are always advertising.

JayCee86 · Joined: 07 Mar 2011 Posts: 82

Whatever job your friend has been offered it is not as an IELTS examiner. They are paid per test they do not a set amount a month.

Signing a contract with a school is definitely not something an IELTS examiner does. It sounds like your friend has been offered a job teaching English at a middle school but the placement has been organised by the British Council.

yaramaz · Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 9:16 am Post subject:

This is absurd. IELTS is not a school. It's a contractor job, piecemeal. You do speaking tests and get paid per interview; you mark essays and get paid per script. There are no monthly salaries. The contract isn't so much a contract as something you sign that says you can do stuff with them if you want. It is a secondary job, as they don't do work permits.

The Great Wall of Whiner · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 4946 Location: Blabbing

OK well whoever or whatever it is, she declined because of the two-year contract stipulation. Thanks for the um.... advice.

igorG · Joined: 10 Aug 2010 Posts: 1473 Location: asia

yaramaz · Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 11:36 pm Post subject:

IELTS examiners generally do sign contracts... with their main visa-sponsoring job. Examining is a side gig for most people (unless they've been able to wrangle work-friendly residence permits through another means, which some long termers have). The jobs I've had for the past 3 years (both Oz joint venture uni programs) have all liked the fact that I'm an examiner because I can more accurately do assessments of the kids who will need a 6.5 to move on to the Oz end of their course.

Baozi man · Joined: 06 Sep 2011 Posts: 214

Yaramaz,

How about doing an informational thread on just what it is that IELTS examiners are looking for in the oral English task? For example, if a student can use the simple past, present, and future tenses without error, exhibit a large vocabulary, proper preposition use, correct pronoun usage, and clear pronounciation how will they do? Assume that their basic grammar is also good.

Can you give examples of weighted errors that will seriously damage their score?

I'd appreciate hearing whatever you have to say. If inclined, please give a brief sketch of your own experience as an IELTS examiner. Are you a beginner or a seasoned examiner?

yaramaz · Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:17 am Post subject:

Hi Baozi man,

I've been doing speaking and writing exams for about 3 years now so I guess I'm experienced. Unfortunately, I can't give details about the detailed assessment criteria as it's hard core confidential and I could get in big trouble. There are some more basic rubrics that are available to the public---

http://www.ielts.org/pdf/UOBDs_SpeakingFinal.pdf
http://www.ielts.org/pdf/UOBDs_WritingT1.pdf
http://www.ielts.org/pdf/UOBDs_WritingT2.pdf

JayCee86 · Joined: 07 Mar 2011 Posts: 82

Yaramaz is correct, IELTS examiners do sign contracts with their main visa-sponsoring job but they certainly don't sign a contract with a school as part of being an IELTS examiner.

Preparing a student and later examining them is pretty much impossible to do - you don't get to choose where you examine, and once there you don't get to choose your candidates.

yaramaz · Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 3:32 am Post subject:

Also, until recently, there was a strictly enforced rule that if you teach IELTS prep, you can't be an examiner (and vice versa). I guess too many examiners were being bribed to give out the assessment criteria. This has actually led to a big problem in that IELTS prep courses are being run/taught by people who have no idea what the criteria really is. We get so much memorized BS from candidates that it's embarrassing.

And yeah, you don't know where or who you'll examine. I've tested everywhere from Hangzhou to Dalian. As far as part time gigs are concerned, it's well paid and actually useful for my day job. I'm definitely a better teacher now, as I have a stronger grasp of the building blocks of language acquisition.

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

Some helpful info on this thread. Thank you.

igorG · Joined: 10 Aug 2010 Posts: 1473 Location: asia

yaramaz · Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 5:10 pm Post subject:

igorG · Joined: 10 Aug 2010 Posts: 1473 Location: asia

Baozi man · Joined: 06 Sep 2011 Posts: 214

There are five areas which determine the IELTS oral English score: vocabulary, pronunciation, fluency, coherence, and grammar.

Vocabulary is the easiest task of language acquisition. Studying vocabulary with pronunciation should be a major focus of oral English.

Many grammar mistakes have to do with verb tenses, pronouns, and prepositions. It's best to focus on the simple past, present and future tenses. Make sure the students have mastered them before moving on to more complex verb tenses. Preposition drills are also useful. People smile "at you," not "to you." This stuff is not difficult.

Another major focus of my instruction has been on liaison, the merging of words in oral English. This has a lot to do with fluency in the language and contributes to the overall impression of the student's English mastery.

I often do chorusing drills for pronunciation practice, including sentences which include various connected words [words ending in a consonant followed by a word starting with a vowel] to familiarize the students with liaison.

What are others doing?