1. Hanoi, Vietnam
9 March, 2014

2. • About IELTS
• Vietnamese candidates’ strengths & weaknesses
• Challenges with IELTS
• Difficulties in each skill
• Studying IELTS @ RMIT
• Road to IELTS

3. • Began testing English language 25 years ago
• Accepted by over 8,000 organisations
worldwide, including RMIT University Vietnam
• Last year, over 2 million tests were taken

4. • Tests your ability to communicate in English
• Not just how many grammar mistakes you
make
• Four skills, each worth 25%
• Overall band score from 1 (non-user)
to 9 (expert user)
• Can get 0.5 bands overall but
not in each skill
Figure 1. Adapted from IELTS 2009.

5. • Vietnamese candidates perform stronger than
China, Thailand and South Korea
Source: IELTS 2013.

6. • Vietnamese candidates: stronger in receptive
skills (R & L) than productive skills (W & S)
Source: IELTS 2013.

7. • IELTS is a language test – to do well you
need good language
• But good language is not enough
• There are many tricks / traps in each skill
which can affect your score
– Many candidates are not aware of these traps
Figure 2. Adapted from Global Trader 2012.

8. • Particular things you must do for a high score
– Good English but limited strategies may not result
in a high score
Source: IELTS 2013.

9. WRITING
• Many Vietnamese candidates have difficulty because
they do not know some important requirements

10. Writing – Task 1
• Different types of writing for different tasks
• Ex.: “describe a process” & “changes in maps”
Figure 3: Reproduced from: ADMC n.d. Figure 4: Reproduced from: Wang 2013.

11. • Particular things you need to do in Task 1
Figure 5: Adapted from IELTS 2008.

12. Writing – Task 2
Task Response
• Different task types  different essay types
• Must address all parts of the task equally with
a clear position throughout

13. Figure 6: Adapted from IELTS 2008.

14. Writing – Task 2
Coherence & Cohesion
• Clear topic sentences
– Required for 7 or above
• Referencing & substitution
– Required for 6 or above
– Very few students know how to use these

15. Figure 7: Adapted from IELTS 2008.

16. SPEAKING
• Many Vietnamese candidates have difficulty because
they misunderstand some task requirements

17. Speaking
• Many candidates are not familiar with:
– Procedures of the speaking test
– What kinds of questions are asked in each part
– How long responses should be in each part
– How to give logical answers
Figure 8. Reproduced from: English 2012.

18. Speaking
• Almost every single Task 2 topic will fall under one of these categories:
• Many candidates have problems organising their Part 2 response
Describe
Person
Place Object
Past
Event

19. Speaking
• Pronunciation & grammar take a long time to improve
• But there are things you can improve in a
short time:
• Fluency & Coherence
• Lexical Resource (vocabulary)
Figure 9. Reproduced from: Harrow 2009.
Figure 10. Reproduced from: Cole 2008.

20. Speaking
Figure 11: Adapted from IELTS 2008.

21. LISTENING
• Many Vietnamese candidates have issues in
Part 1 & 2, losing easy marks

22. Listening
• Different question types – some are unusual
– Multiple choice
– Short-answer
– Sentence completion
– Complete the notes/table/summary/flow-chart
– Labelling a diagram
– Classification
• There are tricks for maximizing your score in Parts 1 & 2
– Common tricks by IELTS test writers
– Letters / postcodes / credit card numbers
– How to not get lost on a map

23. READING
• Many Vietnamese candidates do not finish in
60 mins.

24. • Dealing with time pressure
• Reading too much
– You do not have time to read every word
• Difficult question types
– T / F / NG & Y / N / NG
• Reading skills
– Skimming & scanning
– Annotating & highlighting
– Guessing unknown vocabulary
Figure 12. Reproduced from: McDermott 2014.

25. BENEFITS
• Taught exclusively by IELTS experts
– Years of experience teaching IELTS
– Aware of Vietnamese candidates’ difficulties
– Experienced in teaching Academic English

26. BENEFITS
• Practice tests with detailed feedback
– Advice on how to improve in all four skills
– Detailed feedback on your writing
• Individual support
– Teachers are available for questions and advice
• Intensive
– Be ready for the
IELTS test in
just two weeks

27. • For candidates with good general English
who want to gain insider tips and strategies
• 40 classroom hours – 2 weeks
• All four skills
– Flexible: the specific skills YOU need to work on
– Feedback: from teachers & peers
• Authentic practice tests
– Official IELTS practice materials – real tests!
• Road to IELTS

28. • Comprehensive online IELTS course
• Videos, advice, practice tests & feedback
Figure 13. Reproduced from: British Council / Clarity 2013.

29. Features
• e-books and videos
• Practice activities to improve your language
• Sample videos with tips from previous candidates
• Teacher tutorials highlighting what to do, and what
not to do, in your test
• Timed practice tests
• Compare your performance with other students
worldwide

30. Figure 14. Reproduced from: British Council / Clarity 2013.

31. Figure 15. Reproduced from: British Council / Clarity 2013.

32. How will Road to IELTS help me? What to
do in speaking
• Instant feedback on your performance
• Monitor your personal progress
• Correct answers for practice exercises so you
can understand your mistakes
• Hints and tips to help you improve
• Exercises based on real IELTS test tasks to
help you develop confidence before your test

33. www.rmit.edu.vn/english-ielts
Hanoi.Enquiries@rmit.edu.vn
04 3726 1460
Ask us today!