Written by Mr. Stephen Holyoak of The Education University of Hong Kong

Word Form

Point out to students that this is a common source of error in IELTS. In Task 1 Writing, transformations from verb/adverb to adjective/noun often result in errors such as, there was a dramatically increase, while in Task 2 Writing and Speaking, statements like, hiking is very enjoy, doom candidates to lower bands.

To raise awareness of the problem, run frequent word form exercises – they work particularly well as lesson warmers. I mostly make selections from academic word lists, call out a word and have students write down a nominated alternative form e.g. valid ….  Noun? …. validity; solution …. Verb …. solve.

Later, extend the exercise by locating the target language in sentences, showing students that command of word form not only eliminates error, it can also produce less common (Band 7+) words. For example, Women are generally more …………….. than men [COMMUNICATION].  Point out that while communication & communicate are common forms, the adjective, communicative, is less common and therefore has the potential to impress an examiner.

Idioms

Advise students that in IELTS Writing, the only idioms that should appear are those that have become so embedded in the language that they pass entirely without notice, even in formal English e.g. the head of an organization; a branch of science; a career path.

On the other hand, flexible use of idiomatic language is rewarded in the Speaking test. But here, too, there is danger. Make these 2 points:

1. Selecting idioms from a dictionary is risky as many of the entries are old-fashioned and tend to sound comical when produced in the test. For example, it’s raining cats and dogs probably went out of common usage some time between the world wars, perhaps earlier, and would now only be used ironically. But we do still say that we’re not out of the woods yet and that we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Advise students to run their idioms past someone with native-speaker skills before unfurling them in the exam.
2. When candidates use an idiom in the Speaking test, they often attempt to draw attention to it by stressing the relevant words. Generally, however, idioms should be delivered as ordinary language – without stress. Get them to practise some of their favourite idioms, speaking them aloud in sentences in a relaxed, low-key way ... e.g. The English test last week was a piece of cake (we still DO say this!), sounding super-casual on the final three words.

Collocation

A huge area of language and one that is specified for the higher bands under Lexical Resources. Encourage students to look for the ways that words combine, especially when they are reading. Show them how common academic-writing words like issue, factor and view can be the basis of eye-catching collocations (e.g. divisive issue, decisive factor, orthodox view).

Warn them, however, against risk-taking in this area. Since collocations are simply word combinations that native speakers have made over a long period of time, it is unlikely that experimentation in an exam would lead to success. Our students have to have seen/heard the collocation before, and be aware of the context in which it can be used.

There are plenty of collocation exercises on-line and in printed vocabulary development material, but encourage students to focus on collocations that they think they are likely to be able to use in IELTS Speaking/Writing tests.

Stephen Holyoak obtained a Masters in Applied Linguistics from the University of Southampton, UK. He has taught English at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai and Sharjah, UAE, and here in Hong Kong at both Lingnan University and, for the last 9 years, EdUHK.