IELTS in the Community

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) aims to provide comprehensive training for international students in the special features of general and academic English, and to develop their ability to express themselves in English to the level expected by various professions and their future and universities and colleges. There are four modules in the course, designed to address the four basic communication skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. All the four modules focus on developing an overall linguistic proficiency in English which students need in order to be able to:

· read and understand professional and academic texts

· listen to and understand general speeches, lectures and academic debates

· speak and write so that they can express what they mean, as well as express their opinion about what others mean

· develop accuracy in grammar and pronunciation to an internationally intelligible level

· use familiar and unfamiliar vocabulary to speak and write about new things

· write continuous prose coherently, accurately and cohesively on a variety of topics, using appropriate styles

· develop reading strategies for different types of professional and educational materials

· cultivate the speaking strategies necessary for successful professional interaction and class participation

· communicate effectively in small, multi-cultural groups

· be familiar with and accurately use a wide variety of registers appropriate to different communication contexts

· become independent learners

· question, evaluate, problem-solve and analyse

· demonstrate basic word-processing skills

· integrate into the wider English speaking community

Listening Module: The listening module exposes students to both the linguistic aspects of lexis, grammar, phonology and discourse and the non-linguistic aspects of the context or situation, the topic and the purpose of oral communication. It trains students to be aware of the meaning carried by stress and intonation, as well as the underlying attitudes and opinions of speakers.

Speaking Module: IELTS speaking module develops students’ speaking skills in the four broad areas of fluency and coherence; lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy and pronunciation.

Reading Module: The IELTS reading module develop students’ ability to identify main ideas, supporting ideas, writer’s opinions and specific information from standard texts covering various subjects and topics.

Writing Module: This module seeks to train students to be able to write different kinds of continuous prose coherently, cohesively and accurately, using relevant formal, informal and discursive styles. Students are also trained to present solutions to problems, present and justify opinions, or evaluate and challenge ideas, evidence or arguments in a wide range and appropriate vocabulary.