چکیده:
The aim of this study was to discover teaching practices and strategies employed in IELTS preparatory courses taught via strategy-based vs. nonstrategy-based instruction in Isfahan, Iran. In so doing, two preparatory courses: strategy-based vs. nonstrategy-based instruction were selected. Courses were observed by employing Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching (COLT) which is a standard observation scheme (Hayes, 2003). The results revealed that positive washback was observed in both strategy-based and nonstrategy-based classes and candidates in strategy-based group outperformed their counterparts in nonstrategy-based group in reading and writing section of IELTS. In contrast, nonstrategy-based group performed significantly better in speaking section. There was, however, no significant difference between the two groups' performance on the listening section of the test. The findings of the study will have implications for both IELTS teachers and preparation centers in determining effective teaching methods for the courses they offer.
خلاصه ماشینی:
"2. Literature Review Research investigating the consequential validity of the IELTS Test has considered washback on teaching practices (Green 2006a, 2007; Mickan & Motteram, 2008), teaching materials (Saville & Hawkey, 2004), learners’ approaches to test preparation (Brown, 1998; Elder & O'Loughlin, 2003; Green, 2007; Read & Hayes, 2003; Mickan & Motteram, 2009), learners' perspectives on IELTS preparatory course expectations and outcomes (Green 2006a) and score gain (Elder & O'Loughlin, 2003; Green, 2007; Humphreys et al.
In accordance with Alderson and Hamp-Lyons' (1996) study in the TOEFL context, this study revealed that teachers' practices in IELTS preparatory courses may be based on the test or the other way round.
2 IELTS retired test A retired IELTS test adapted from Cambridge IELTS series was employed to both homogenize the participants and make sure that they all have the same level of proficiency and also to measure the efficacy of strategy-based as opposed to nonstrategy-based methods of teaching IELTS preparatory courses.
As the result revealed, in strategy-based class teacher was mainly concerned with broad topics that included talking about the test itself and strategies and tips needed to carry out the tasks successfully and this is an indication of washback.
This is in line with study conducted by Elder and O'Loughlin (2003) which claimed that using interactive tasks and group work comparing to teaching strategies have more significant effect on candidates' performance in speaking section of IELTS.
Based on the observations and the results of the posttest strategy-based course, focusing on familiarizing candidates with test-taking strategies, instances of positive washback were observed, especially on reading and writing sections of the test."