Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Skaborough]

I am teaching iBT prep for middle school students. I am having a little difficulty finding resources which are appropriate for that age group (mainly since everyone seems to realize that the test is for adults and high school students, not bloody 13 year olds). Does anyone know of a good resource page?

Or, can anyone suggest some exercises to help develop note taking/speaking for Type 1 through Type 6 questions? I have a few exercises that the kids enjoy for Types 1/2, but the listening/reading/summary exercise I have are boring these poor little bastards to death.

Any and all help is appreciated, or a point to any preexisting threads (I have had little success with the search function on this borad).

Cheers,
p

[robot]

yeh, it's pretty sad that 12-year-olds have to struggle with a test designed for university-bound students.

still, they can do it... we've got tons of 13-year-olds scoring over 100.

i use real iBT materials even at that level, coupled with very through pattern sheets i made for each question type. getting them engaged is all in the sell...

but i think if you know the test inside-out and can teach students to score high (for example, when teaching speaking type #5, i guarantee every student at least a 3/4 after one class of studying its 4-part P/S1/S2/O pattern), you'll have no problems keeping them awake.

doesn't seem like many people want to put their stuff online. the TOEFL forums on this site are a decent start, though... ^^

[VirginIslander]

I just started teaching one preIBT this week, twice a week for speaking. I don't know too much about the subject but it amazes me that younger students are preparing for this test.

At their level, wouldn't it more appropriate to have them read novels and write essays so that they'll be prepared to handle similar assignment when they study abroad? Ok, you can speak for a minute but here's 50 pages of Catcher and the Rye: go home and read.

In regards to notetaking, I have intenet access in the class so I'm going to record short video clips of my friends making appropriate responses to IBT questions. Then, my students will have to take notes and summarize.

As I said, this is my fist week. On Tueday we discussed General Education vs. Having a Speciality. I wrote a short paper about the former and how it prepares students for specialzed work at the University level. Then, we read an article about how Florida is requiring students to choose a major in High School.

Afterwards I broke the class of 14 into two groups, A's and B's. An A had to expain if he or she suppored having a major in High School or not. The A students had 15 seconds to prepare their thoughts and 45 seconds to explain to their B partner. Introducation, 2 points, 2 examples, conclusion.

Then, I asked the B partners what the A's said. I did the same for the B's.

Tommorow, we will discuss why we study certain subjects and what is the purpose of studying (I would like to know if the students strictly view education as means to and ends and not an ends in itself.)

Then, I'll break the class up into groups of two and assign them a subject. They have to defend why their subject is the most important. Afterwards they will present their arguments. Introduction, 2 points, 2 examples, conclusion.

Finally, I will give them another school subject and they'll have to explain why that subject is the least important. Responses for gym and home economics should be interesting.

I dont know if what Im doing is right but its only the first week and its the last class at school so I want it to be relevant and fun.

Other topics I thought of are living an a homogenous society vs. hetergenous society; public school vs. homeschool (I met my first Korean homeschooler recently; attending a large school vs. attending a small school.

Do you have a list of good topics?

[Skaborough]

[K-in-C]

One word says it all 'Boost.'

[robot]

it's nothing ed degree-related.

problem/solution 1/solution 2/opinion: the basic answer pattern in a type 5 speaking question.

before teaching a standardized test like the TOEFL you need to research all the patterns. otherwise there's the danger of wasting time, or just teaching background info that'll help kids' overall english ability (which is awesome) but won't help this kick this test's butt. done right, it's more than teaching them to be robots -- it's showing them how to recognize packages and patterns in english.

the terrible thing is that most TOEFL books don't have all the best tips and tricks, as many were published before the iBT came out as many companies wanted to be the first to get in on the market. so you'll need to do a lot of independent research. but as for good TOEFL books, i'd recommend ETS' official guide as a trustworthy source that could explain the test's basic structure.

good luck.

[Skaborough]

Cheers Robot.

Not sure if anyone else is in the same boat as I, but I've been ''teaching to the test" for a while now though with a poor understanding of the test. I've found a few resources that might help others. I was a little disappointed with the other forum here.

http://esl.about.com/cs/toefl/a/a_toefl.htm

and

http://esl.about.com/od/toeflieltscambridge/bb/bytaketest.htm

If anyone knows of some better ones I'd be eternally in your debt.

Payce,
p