Teaching Writing Test Preparation to Adults

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
1

I’ve been teaching test preparation for writing tests (i.e. TOEFL and IETLS) for some time now, and want to get some input from those of you have related experience.

A few questions I’ve been mulling about in my head, as I prepare two new courses, and upgrade my teaching materials for my TOEFL and IETLS courses:

Is it really necessary to teach students to construct a sentence, or should I start at the paragraph level?

Is it better to teach from the top down (essay structure, then focus on paragraphs, then sentences), or from the ground up (sentences first)?

In an eight week writing course, is it truly helpful to provide students with vocabulary and example sentences related to various writing topics/prompts?

I teach a four step essay writing preparation process, which includes topic analysis, definition of vague words and phrases, brainstorming, and preparation of a formal outline. Do any of you teach anything similar? In other words, how do you teach them how to think before they write?

What is the optimal method of practice essay marking?

Any input you have, or ideas you’d like to exchange, will be much appreciated.

2

Did you learn Chinese by focusing on paragraphs and essay structures? No, you learned Chinese in baby steps, by first learning how to construct simple sentences. What makes you think learning English is any different? First vocabulary, second how to use that vocab to make a simple sentence, then grammar, then and only if they’re highly advanced do you even begin to approach properly constructed paragraphs.

Of course examples are always helpful! And English has 300,000 words. No matter how well they write & speak it, there’s always, always room for more vocabulary. Even us native speakers are constantly learning new words and polishing our sentence structures.

3

Thomas,

I’m working on this right now myself. I’ve been working with a private student on getting ready for the IELTS exam. First, I did my research on the exam to figure out what would be required. I asked him whether he would be taking the academic or the other IELTS (I forget the name right now, but it’s the non-academic test). He will be taking the academic one, so I studied the instructions and examples for that one, which is a pretty focused task–analyzing and describing a chart or graph on some topic. So, I game him a practice writing task with a chart and asked him to write a passage for practice on this chart. Unfortunately, this particular student didn’t do it, and I then proceeded to give him the Jerry Mcguire-“help me, help you” speech. He still hasn’t done it, so I’ve been focusing on the other skills for the test.

Based on what I have seen when focusing on other skills with him, his English level overall is pretty advanced, and he has quite an extensive vocabulary. I’ve worked with other Taiwanese students on their writing (my M.A. is in writing, and therefore I get asked to do this). So, I know some generalities that I can apply even if he doesn’t do it. Mainly, if they are at a level where they can write a decent paragraph, you don’t have to spend too much time on vocabulary. Here’s how I would split up the time:

Five percent of the time at the beginning: a certain vocabulary set which I think they will need the most for their particular test. After that, I will try to use and practice that vocabulary in every class thereafter.

Twenty-five percent of the time Focusing on getting them to notice and correct certain common, often low level errors that even advanced Taiwanese students continue to make. So, you might want to focus on some of those. Here’s some that continue to plague them:
a) subject verb agreement
b) singular and plural of nouns
c) prepositions
d) connecting sentences, thoughts, and ideas without overuse of certain connecting words and conjunctions (hence, therefore, moreover)
d) unclear use of this/its/their/they’re to refer back to something. (for example: Whacky-thing-a-ma-jingers and bootely-boops both require extensive and sophisticated examination. This one also requires three dedicated modules for processing. (It’s unclear what “this one” refers to)Many native writers also have this problem.

Seventy-five percent of the time
Most of their problems, and therefore your time, should focus on their organizational skills, and getting them to brainstorm, organize, and think about what they’re going to write before they write it. This is their worst problem, and the most difficult to stamp out. They are too well-programmed to just start writing immediately. You may have to physically take away all writing tools and materials for awhile and have them think it through (you can be in charge of writing down ideas on the board). Show them some passages with different alternatives for organization-general to specific, specific to general, etc. and then get them brainstorming on ways to organize an assigned topic.

This last one is the real doozy and the bane of all Taiwanese students writing problems. Unfortunately, it is easier said than done to work on this problem, and takes serious patience. Not to be judgmental but observational here, their whole culture trains them to “just do it” and not to take any time for analyzation, reflection, musing, etc. So this naturally gets reflected in their writing.

Well, these are generalities that I’m still working on myself, but hopefully it gets the ball rolling.

4

After reading the initial post, I realized that I didn’t directly address some of the questions, and I also wanted to point out that my plan is aimed at students who can write a paragraph fairly well.

I guess I assume that if they are taking the TOEFL or the IELTS that they are at this level, otherwise they really aren’t ready for that sort of test. For beginners, yes, I certainly begin with simple vocabulary, sentences, and constructions.

5

[quote=“alwayslol”]After reading the initial post, I realized that I didn’t directly address some of the questions, and I also wanted to point out that my plan is aimed at students who can write a paragraph fairly well.

I guess I assume that if they are taking the TOEFL or the IELTS that they are at this level, otherwise they really aren’t ready for that sort of test. For beginners, yes, I certainly begin with simple vocabulary, sentences, and constructions.[/quote]

No, you are correct in assuming that the majority of my students come equipped with a basic vocabulary and the ability to construct a sentence, albeit not always correctly. Those who don’t understand a word of my teaching materials (they are written primarily in English, peppered with Mandarin when it is useful) will weed themselves out very quickly and go back to basic level classes.

Thank you for your insightful and helpful post. I’ve obviously got my own ideas, but I’m looking to compare notes with people who know what they are talking about.

6

Though I didn’t do much direct test prep yet, my writing classes focused on academic style writing, and I quickly realized that the same essentials were found in the TWE and some other tests. I wonder how it compares with IELTS writing.

I’m afraid that students rarely take much notice of feedback from the teacher, though it is very effective. However, you need some way to get your point across by assigning an approximate grade. Also, this semester I had a guest editor who helped out, students were later able to meet him. They realized then I think that they weren’t just writing for the teacher. Therein lies the fundamental issue: if you can get students to believe they are writing for a real purpose of some kind, it should be easier to get them to work at it.

Kenneth

7

[quote=“KenTaiwan98”]Though I didn’t do much direct test prep yet, my writing classes focused on academic style writing, and I quickly realized that the same essentials were found in the TWE and some other tests. I wonder how it compares with IELTS writing.

I’m afraid that students rarely take much notice of feedback from the teacher, though it is very effective. However, you need some way to get your point across by assigning an approximate grade. Also, this semester I had a guest editor who helped out, students were later able to meet him. They realized then I think that they weren’t just writing for the teacher. Therein lies the fundamental issue: if you can get students to believe they are writing for a real purpose of some kind, it should be easier to get them to work at it.

Kenneth[/quote]

The IELTS Task 2 essay task is closely comparable to the TWE. The IETLS topics tend to be a bit more ambitious in scope, making the pre-writing process even more critical.

I painstaking go through each essay with a red pen, writing notes in margins, then assigning a score. I also provide an individual evaluation of things like structure, development, support, unity, grammar, and usage. Lately I’ve also been cooperating with a guest marker, an IELTS examiner who does a fine job. I find that my students do in fact read their evaluated essays carefully, though they often repeat the same mistakes. I emphasize a proofreading step as a final, icing on the cake, step in the test essay writing process, and I regularly point out the importance of looking at one’s past work carefully enough to learn something from one’s mistakes.

8

alwayslol, thanks for your post! Will be helping a friend’s cousin out who will be taking his IELTS exam in March and agreed to help as a favour is sort of due. Don’t ask…looong story.
Any other advice or info. would be SUPER!! Thanking you:)