Quite often when I start to work with students they have some ‘beliefs and rules’ that have been picked up from various places and people - across the internet mainly - which are actually stopping them from achieving a high score and sometimes making the whole process more arduous. I want to ‘explode’ some of these in this article so that if you are following them, you may be able to understand why they are more of a hindrance then a help.
1. Focus on just one part of IELTS at a time
This might probably take you a very long time. The point is that language comprises 4 main skills and these are all tested in the IELTS exam. Other things like grammar, vocabulary, punctuation, pronunciation are a part of these four skills and it is hard to separate everything. Listening can help your speaking and vice versa and the same applies to reading and writing so by omitting any part of the exam you are limiting your skill development.
Another problem can arise when you over focus on one area and that is that the other parts of the test may start to decline over time. This can often be seen where students achieve adequate band scores in all but one area and so for the next exam they focus only on this area and in the next exam this improves but sadly the others fail to reach the required level and so the exam must be taken again. Where all scores except one are very high (7/8/9) then there may be a case for focusing on just one but it is still advisable to practise the others from time to time.
2. Memorising Writing Tasks
I have to say that this practice is not as prevalent as it used to be but some students try to memorise tasks that they have found which have high band scores so that they can use them in the exam. Be aware that examiners are very quick to spot this – almost always these pieces of writing will seem ‘unnatural’ and ‘contrived’ as indeed they are. IELTS Writing questions are similar but not generally identical so the focus may be a little different from the one you have memorised and your answer won’t fit the question adequately.
It is fine to memorise new words and phrases but you should always make them your own by trying them out in your own writing before you use them in the exam.
It is far better to use the time you might spend memorising, practising and improving your own writing skills so that in the exam you are able to write well and naturally and answer the question accurately.
3. Thinking too much about vocabulary and grammar in the speaking exam
Of course you must produce great vocabulary and grammar to achieve a high band in the speaking. However, I have met many students who actually speak very well but somehow in the exam they are not achieving high band scores. When I test them myself in speaking I often find that they are hesitant, not fluent and make long pauses when they speak. This is strange because in normal conversation they are the opposite of this. What I often discover is that when they are given a question they immediately start to think about some really good words, which tenses to use and if they might have an idiom they can pop in. The problem with this is that all spontaneity is lost and often it ends up with them asking me to repeat the question as it has already been forgotten.
This is a tragedy. The speaking is primarily about communication and so being spontaneous and giving a good, clear and relevant answer is the most important thing. If you focus on what you want to say rather than how you want to say it then the outcome will probably be better. In my experience focusing on the question and the answer you want to give allows the good language that is already in your memory to come out naturally. If you feel you need to improve it then the only way is by doing a lot of practice. Learn new idioms, words and sentence structures but practise these a lot until they become part of your natural speaking.
4. Using the listening time badly
The IELTS Exam setters who design the exams organise everything in a way that helps you to maximise your performance in all parts of the test. These people are experts in English language training and testing. In the listening exam they know that having a little time to check over the questions before the tape begins will be beneficial to candidates and help them to be prepared for the start of the listening section they are about to hear. As this short time has been built into the exam, it makes sense therefore to use it.
I have come across some students who use this time instead to go back over their previous answers. It is very hard to recall what you heard once it has gone. The better your listening skills the more you may recall for a short time, but even here it will only be a little. It therefore makes little sense to use the time for going back thereby jeopardising the next part of the listening test (and you will already have been given 30 seconds to check at the end of the previous section).
It is far better to write down and word or two of what you remember as an ‘aide memoire’ and move on to check the next set of questions as instructed by the test.
These words (and you can write them in your own language) may help you to work out the answer later when you transfer on to the answer sheet.
5. Expecting reading answers to be in chronological order
I am not sure why this rule is followed by so many students. It really limits you and can stop you from finding answers which are quite easy to locate.
Clearly if you are doing the first question in the passage it is logical to start with the first paragraph unless there is a very good reason not to. After that the questions may be anywhere in the text (within reason) and to apply an arbitrary rule which stops you looking at previous paragraphs seems to be totally illogical.
In passage one the answers may be closer to one another and therefore more easy to locate but when you come to passage 3 anything might be possible. I have on many occasions seen really good IELTS students miss answers because they did not go back to look at previous paragraphs after locating the first one or two answers and what could easily have been a score of 30+ remained at 25 due to this ‘rule’
6. Only reading the first and last sentences in a paragraph
Again this is a reading rule that can be very dangerous. It is often used when doing heading questions. In my opinion, the heading should be an ‘overview’ of the main information in a paragraph so skimming the whole paragraph and asking yourself what it is telling you is a better approach. I have on many occasions seen a first sentence followed by ‘but’ or ‘however’ which tells us that the true information will be the opposite of what is written in the first sentence. Many students have been caught out by this and chosen the wrong answer.
It is far better to improve your skimming skills and speed reading than try to stick to these short cuts which only have limited benefit.
7. Matching key words too rigidly
I am a huge fan of key words and I see that they are definitely the key to IELTS Reading. However, along with key words, skimming, scanning and all the other techniques that you have to apply in reading you also need some common sense. Where techniques are applied too rigorously and ‘rules’ are followed too rigidly common sense goes out of the window and crazy choices are made.
For the most part key words are the best way to locate your answers in the text, however, and this is often true of passage 3, sometimes the key words just don’t match up one for one and you may need to look more widely at the sentences - perhaps going back to the previous one, forward to the next or even skimming the whole paragraph. Paraphrasing can sometimes be a better choice of action than key words.
Language is not a science it has many anomalies and irregularities and can often be rather illogical. This is time you need to employ common sense. Step back and really think about the question and what is in the text. Don’t try to squeeze and answer out through using a rigid set of expectations but just think about what is in front of you and trust your instinct.