Attended IDP's masterclass yest here in sg, quite informative so thought to share some dos and donts with u guys..
Speaking- band decriptors are the ff: fluency & coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, pronunciation.
Note that even if you are not familiar with the topic it is important to vocalise what's in your mind instead of pausing for a rather long period, for example say "i am not really familiar or i have not encountered such before so let me think etc etc.." We are being tested with our english speaking ability so better speak 🙂 just say anything with fluency and continuity.. No right or wrong answers so do not be afraid to say just anything. Express your answers with intonation and feelings and should be natural.. Speaking with accent that is not your natural is a NO NO unless you can be consistent with it all through out the 15 mins test 🙂 you also have good chances of getting high scores if u manag to round off your 2 min speech by ending it with " and that's what happens etc etc.." but u must know how long you can speak for 2 minutes to anticipate your ending phrase/sentence and of course lots of practise and prayers 🙂
Writing academic - we are being scored based on the following: task achievement, coherece and cohesion, lexical resource or in lay mans term our vocabulary and/or spelling usage and grammatical range and accuracy.
task 1- first, you must have an intro (a must) which mainly consists of questions as to what, where and when (if necessary).. Following para, must know how to select, report and compare based on the question given. Identify process and linking words such as however, nevertheless, subsequently etc etc is equally important. (Btw, For task 1, you dont have to write every detail from the graph, chart or table given and dont interpret or analyse or explain if the examiner wants a summary of information only.) Second, numbers/figures are very important to support your statements could be comprises of fractions, % or numbers in decimal. Lastly, write an overview/summary at the end or what we are commonly used to calling them concluding paragraph. In addition btw, it is advisable to have at least 160-170 words coz copied words from the question are deducted from your scores- this is just to play safe..
Task 2 - the most vital part in writing section - analyse the question properly. For Qs where asked to agree OR disagree, choose one opinion ONLY and keep to it. It is also OK to acknowledge others ideas based on your experience but stick to your point. For Qs on discussing both views following your opinion, you construct your para as follows: 1st para - view 1 and your opinion 2nd para - view 2 and your opinion 3rd para - you may want to agree with any of the views and elaborate a bit 4th para - conclusion/closing para. Another option is for u to separate your opinion from both views and put it in 3rd para and so on...
Please also avoid using short form words such as don't won't shouln't couldn't - complete it by saying do not, will not etc etc..
Listening - very simple as you will only have to pratise and practise on how the test is being conducted to get familiar. Please also make it a point to read the questions (follow as what instructions said on the recording) while identifying synonyms for the key words. Note also that generally answers can be identified based on the intonation such as falling tone, rising tone and pausing tone - so be alert 🙂 please also be careful to note word limits- if the instructions says write no more than two words, u need not have 3 words as u will get no point for this - the less word the better.
Reading academic - this is where i struggle most 🙁
Ok, the norms skimming, scanning and read details as quick as you can.. for review purposes read a lot of English text as this will help us to develop the ability to read quickly. Read Qs first before reading the passages - this is a must! Qs are equally important as the passages so please read it properly. Try underlining key words and ideas in each para as i read to help u understand key messages. If there are Qs you cannot answer pls move on to the next and go back to them if u still have time. Make sure that you write the answers with the correct spelling.
So thats all folks thanks for reading, these are just basic dos and donts and hope u find themi helpful and all the best to us! Please know that our success is on its way as God promised!! 🙂 claim it! 🙂