Sunday, July 29, 2018

Technology in Education: Food for thought

Material provided by the Hellenic American Union for their 2014-15 essay contest:
http://www.hau.gr/?i=examinations.en.info-for-the-new-contest 

Videos and Articles: The History of Technology in Education
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFwWWsz_X9s 

8 Ways Technology is Improving Education
http://mashable.com/2010/11/22/technology-in-education/ 

Computers can’t Replace real Teachers
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/08/opinion/kopp-kids-real-teachers/ 

What will the School of the Future Look Like
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6HWl9UqOEo 

About flipped classrooms mentioned in the video:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipped_classroom 

Flipped classroom or flip teaching is a form of blended learning in which students teach and switch roles with teachers. They also learn content online by watching video lectures, usually at home, and what used to be homework (assigned problems) is now done in class with teachers and students discussing and solving questions more personalized guidance and interaction with students, instead of lecturing. This is also known as backwards classroom, inverted classroom, reverse teaching, and the Thayer Method.

Friday, July 27, 2018

Reading strategies as described in our classes

Basic reading strategies 1. Skimming – quickly read the text to get the main ideas (the gist)- how?- look at the introduction, the title, the topic sentence of each paragraph (first sentence) 2. Scanning – quickly read to find a detail- how?- search for key words/phrases

What to do with unknown words 1. Read the sentences before and after. 2. Think of words in the same family. 3. Figure out what part of speech it is, based on its suffix or place in the sentence. 4. Guess its meaning according to what the sentence is intended to say. 5. Worst-case scenario: ignore it, guess what information may fill this gap and move on. Advanced exams reading tasks and how to deal with them (You need to have skimmed the text before you do any of the following activities.) 

1) Multiple-choice questions a. Skim the text. b. Underline keywords in the question (at first, read the questions only, not the answers). c. Spot the key words (or their synonyms) in the text – this is where the answer is. d. Choose the correct answer that is true based on the text and not your general knowledge.

 2) Missing Sentences Skim the text. Scan the given sentences and underline key words in them. Look at the text and find the sentences before and after the gap. Do they match the pronouns and nouns of the sentences the activity gives you? After you finish, quickly re-read all the text. Does it flow? Do the sentences you added tie in with those before and after them?

 3) If you are asked "Which paragraph contains this information?" (e.g. IELTS book 8, p.20) Skim the text Find key words in the given sentences Locate the key words (or their synonyms) in a specific paragraph in the text Quickly check your answers after you finish the activity

 4) If you are asked to "match events with nationalities/ dates/ etc." (e.g. IELTS book 8, p.20) Spot the key words of the given sentence in the text. Find the nationality/ date/ etc in the text Choose the correct answer

 5) If you are asked to "label a diagram" (e.g. IELTS book 8, p.21) Spot the paragraph(s) in the text that contain the information needed (the title of the diagram can help you decide on its main idea) Find the word(s) missing in every gap- make sure they are important words that explain the diagram simply and fully.

 6) "Choose from a list of headings the appropriate heading for every paragraph of the text” (e.g. IELTS book 8, p.22) Skim the text. Get the main idea of every paragraph. Scan the list of headings to see which fits perfectly the MAIN idea of the paragraph you are reading.

7) "Is the sentence true/ false/ not given?" (e.g. IELTS book 8, p.25) Underline the key words of every sentence. Spot the key words in the text. If you choose 'true', make sure all the words contained in the given sentence are absolutely correct according to the text and not your general knowledge.

8) "Match the sentence halves so that they convey the same meaning as in the text." (e.g. IELTS book 8, p.28) Spot the first half of the question in the text. Understand the general meaning conveyed by this sentence in the text. Choose the second half so that meaning of the newly created sentence is the same as in the text.

9. "Complete the table" (e.g. IELTS book 8, p.29) The tables are usually divided into main sections (e.g. Studies A and Studies B) and subsections (e.g. description, result, etc) Spot where each section is mentioned in the text. Then, locate the subsections. For example, if you find where Studies A are, you will also see a description of them, their results and so on. Find the missing words. The words should be important for the meaning of the sentence. Remember to use 3 words the most.

10) "Complete the summary using the list of words." (IELTS book 8, p. 48) Skim the summary to get its main idea. Also look carefully at the given words. Spot where the main idea of the summary is mentioned in the text. Spot where the given words are mentioned in the text and their context. Go back to the summary and fill in the gaps according to the information in this specific part of the text. 

11) "Complete the sentences with no more than two words" (e.g. IELTS book 8, p. 67) Underline the key words in the given sentences. Spot them (or their synonyms) in the text. Find what information completes the sentence in the text. Use important and simple words to fill in the gaps. (Use two words the most.)

12) "Which 5 of these beliefs are reported by the writer of the text?" (e.g. IELTS book 8, p. 72) Scan the given sentences and underline key words. Eliminate the ones you are sure not to be true after skimming the text. Spot the key words (or their synonyms) of the remaining sentences in the text. Make sure the sentences you choose to be true are 100% correct according to the information in the text. All words in a true sentence need to contain accurate information.

Revising before the writing test

Practice tests and sample activities

Friday, May 11, 2018

Free apps to practise vocabulary!



Also pay a visit to: 

IELTS Topic Vocabulary on https://www.ieltsspeaking.co.uk/ielts-vocabulary/

*This is where you will find IELTS vocabulary categorised in common exam topics.
*When you’ve completed each lesson, try using the vocabulary in an IELTS-style practice test


Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Writing Task 2: Information in the age of the Internet





The graphic above gives some idea of just how fast data is accumulating on computer networks. Because it is now so pervasive, the Internet and how we interact with it via social media, information searches etc. will often appear in exam questions. Here are two relevant articles:

1. How trustworthy are the qualitative and quantitative data we find when performing searches? How can we separate the wheat from the chaff (distinguish between what is useful and what is worthless)? Here are some warnings and tips from an online encyclopaedia.

2. And what of information overload, or "infobesity"? The volume of data on the Internet doubles every 18 months. Is there simply too much out there now? Wouldn't it be better just to go back to the warmth of our favourite library and sit down with a well-thumbed copy of an encyclopedia written and edited by experts? See what this journalist at The Economist makes of the data smog.


Thursday, April 26, 2018

Body Language and the Speaking Test


Although it is never mentioned in the assessment criteria for speaking exams, your body language will count for a great deal. Being aware of how you project your body image and interact with the examiners will help boost your score. In short, this popular TED Talk argues that your body language may even shape who you are. Looking confident will help you feel confident. Try some of the techniques suggested here: you may be surprised at how effective they are.

IELTS Speaking Criteria

Familiarising yourself with the assessment criteria is one way of boosting your score on almost any exam, as it enables you to give the examiners what they are looking for. Here is a useful guide to the Speaking Criteria from IELTS Advantage, a user-friendly site that anyone preparing for IELTS should know about.

Sunday, April 22, 2018

The IELTS Academic Task 1 Writing



The Introduction
You don't need much here. You only have 150 words to fully answer the question and this is not much. So, you need 1 or 2 sentences describing the following:
The type(s) of graph you are describing
The titles of the graph(s)
The date of the graph(s)
The scale (see the paragraph above)

You might not have all this information but you should report what you do have. So, for example, your beginning could look like this:
In this report I am going to describe 2 graphs. The first one is a bar chart showing the relationship between age and crime and the second is a pie chart showing the types of reported crime in the UK in 2002.
Describing Graphs for The IELTS Academic Task 1 Writing

What you need to do here is factually describe the graphs. You don't need to analyse the data, For example you don't need to give reasons for why figures are high or low. Sometimes, when there is more than 1 graph, there is a relationship between the two and you can bring in some comparison but more than this is not necessary. In the same way, no specialised knowledge of your own is needed or wanted nor your opinions.
Remember the function of many graphs is to describe a trend so be sure that you describe the trends. A trend is how values change generally over time and it is important to describe the changes along with some of the individual values. We will look at trends a bit later under line graphs.
One important issue with The IELTS Academic Task 1 Writing is how much detail to include in your report. This depends really on how much detail there is in the question. If there is only 1 graph and it doesn't have much numerical data in it, then you will be expected to include all or nearly all of the numerical detail. If, however, you have 2 graphs, both of which are very complicated with lots of values, you will not be expected to include everything as you only have 150 words to do the job. What you will have to do is to include a selection of what you feel is the most important and significant detail that needs to be included to accurately describe the graph. With practice from good IELTS practice tests, you will improve at including all the necessary detail with the right amount of words.
You must always have some numerical detail though.
Now let's look individually at the types of graph that you are likely to meet in the exam and how to describe them.
Bar Charts for The IELTS Academic Task 1 Writing
Hopefully you will have described the title of the bar chart in your introduction so you can go straight into the description. Basically, with a bar chart, you need to describe the bars and their values. When describing a bar chart you first have to decide in what order to describe the bars, highest value to lowest value or lowest value to highest value. It may be a mixture of this. If there are very many bars, you can sometimes group together for description 1 or 2 or 3 bars which have similar or the same values. If there are very many and you can't group them, then just describe the ones that are the most significant.
Pie Charts for The IELTS Academic Task 1 Writing
Pie charts are relatively straightforward as they only usually have a few sections though this is not always the case. You need to describe the segments and their values. If there are very many then just describe the ones that are the most significant. The values are often expressed in percentages but not always so be careful what scale you are using.
Tables for The IELTS Academic Task 1 Writing
These can sometimes be tricky as they provide a lot of information and it is often awkward and difficult to describe every piece of information. You have to decide and describe the values and sections that are the most significant.
Line Graphs for The IELTS Academic Task 1 Writing
The function of a line graph is to describe a TREND pictorially. You therefore should try and describe the trend in it. If there are many lines in the graph(s), then just generally describe the trend. If there is only one or two, then use more detail. So, describe the movement of the line(s) of the graph giving numerical detail at the important points of the line.
To describe the movement, there is some language which will always be useful. Below is a list of language you can use. Check with your dictionary words that you don't understand and practice using the words/phrases so you use them in the right way. As you will see, there are a number of words which are similar in meaning. This means that you will be able to use a variety of vocabulary which gives a good impression to the examiner who will read and mark your writing. The words below are particularly useful for line graphs but they can also be used where appropriate to describe the other types of graph.
Expressing the Movement of a Line

Rise (to), a rise, Increase (to), an increase, Go up to

Grow (to), growth, Climb (to), a climb, Boom, a boom, Peak (at), (reach) a peak (at)
  
Fall (to), a fall (of), Decline (to), a decline (of), Decrease (to), a decrease (of), Dip (to), a dip (of), Drop (to), a drop (of), Go down (to)

Reduce (to), a reduction (of), A slump
Level out, a leveling out, No change, no change, Remain stable (at), Remain steady (at), Stay (at), Stay constant (at), Maintain the same level

Dramatic
dramatically
Sharp
sharply
Huge
hugely
Enormous
enormously
Steep
steeply
Substantial
substantially
Considerable
considerably
Significant
significantly
Marked
markedly
Moderate
moderately
Slight
slightly
Small
Minimal
minimally


Describing the Speed of a Change

Rapid
rapidly
Quick
quickly
Swift
swiftly
Sudden
suddenly
Steady
steadily
Gradual
gradually
Slow
slowly


Describing a Process for the IELTS Academic Task 1 Writing

We have looked at the various types of graph that you might be asked to describe but you also might have to describe a diagram representing a process.

First of all, the introduction and the ending should be more or less the same.
Then, work out the various stages of the process. Take each one separately (it's only probably going to have a limited number of stages) and describe them fully. Fully is the important word as reaching the word limit has proved harder in this task. If you have this problem, don't be afraid to use your imagination to add to detail about the process.
Other Hints for the IELTS Academic Task 1 Writing

DON'T copy any part of the question in your answer. This is not your own work and therefore will be disregarded by the examiner and deducted from the word count. You can use individual words but be careful of using long "chunks" of the question text.
Don't repeat yourself or the same ideas. This gives a bad impression and the examiner realises that it isn't adding to the content of your report.
If you are weak at English grammar, try to use short sentences. This allows you to control the grammar and the meaning of your writing much more easily and contributes to a better cohesion and coherence mark. It's much easier to make things clear in a foreign language if you keep your sentences short!
Think about the tenses of your verbs. If you're writing about something that happened in the past, your verbs will need to be in the past tenses. If you're describing the future, you will need to use the future tenses. If it's a habitual action, you'll need the present simple tense and so on. If you have time, a quick check of your verbs at the end of the exam can help you find errors. For describing graphs you will probably need past tenses whereas, for describing a process, you will probably need the present simple. Think about the verbs while practising and then it will become easier when you do the exam.

Don't be irrelevant. Although you can use your imagination to expand on your answer, if any part of your report is totally unrelated to the question and put in to just put up the word count, then the examiner will not take it into account and deduct it from the word count.

Official speaking sample video and commentary



Video address on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcaIOTRV64g

Download IELTS scale and video comments and worksheets