There’s a lot of chatter around how we can best help our IELTS learners score well in ESSAYS.
Because yes, I agree that LANGUAGE matters.
WORD COUNTS matter.
SENTENCE COMPLEXITY matters.
Knowing enough (ACADEMIC) VOCABULARY matters.
…but what’s most important, in my opinion, is that we help our students write COHERENTLY…
…while responding to ALL the PROMPTS in the task.
And in my experience they will only be able to do this if
-they are familiar with the TYPES of essays they might encounter (e.g. opinion, for and against, solution, discursive, or a ‘hybrid’ of any two)
and
-have been taught how to BRAINSTORM clearly so that they collect RELEVANT, CLEAR, and DISTINCT enough ideas even BEFORE they begin writing.
Thoughts?
What’s YOUR biggest priority?
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Hi. I’m Fatime. I’m an IELTS Teacher Trainer, helping CELTA-qualified English language teachers become better at teaching SKILLS, as opposed to just testing them.
Check out my courses here:
How to Teach IELTS Listening:
How to Teach IELTS Reading:
How to Teach IELTS Writing:
How to Teach IELTS Speaking:
