Volume 8, 2008, Paper 1
Paper 1: An ethnographic study of classroom instruction in an
IELTS preparation program
Authors
Dr Peter Mickan
Johanna Motteram
University of Adelaide
This study documents practices in an IELTS preparation class to
investigate which features characterise instruction and to explore
the implications for IELTS preparation programs.
ABSTRACT
This is a report of an observational study of classroom
instruction in an IELTS preparation program. The study documented
the pedagogy of an IELTS preparation class managed in an ELICOS
adult education centre. (ELICOS – English Language Intensive
Courses for Overseas Students.) The main purpose of the study was
to provide a description of the pedagogy, and a discussion of
implications based on an analysis of the classroom discourse. The
qualitative study recorded the classroom practices in an eight-week
program designed for students who planned to take an IELTS Test.
Documentation for the study included observational notes of
classes, video-recordings and audio-recordings of selected lessons,
interviews and discussions with students and the teacher, and
materials used for instruction.
The analysis of classroom instruction showed an eclectic
teaching approach that covered information about the Test format,
practising the Test tasks, awareness-raising of the constituent
parts of the tasks, practical hints and strategies for doing the
Test tasks, and recommendations for independent learning. Language
skills were treated separately in line with the design of the IELTS
Test. Much of the class work involved rehearsal for the Test with
the teacher modelling and scaffolding exemplars of texts.
The study showed the complexity of preparation for the Test
which engaged students in multidimensional social practices.
Instruction constituted a process of socialisation into test-taking
behaviours and into the priorities embodied in the Test.
