One of the most common questions which comes up
I see all the time is
Why didn't that student use academic language?
and the question today is
"Is IELTS an academic test?"
So my name is Chris from IELTS Daily.
Let's talk about this topic quickly now.
So the question "Is IELTS an academic test?"
It's not as easy to answer as you might think
and I'm going to split this video
and talk about each section of the test
and we will talk about the academic training
and the general training types of the test that we have.
Remember If you learn something from this test,
we always really appreciate
giving a video a thumbs up and a like
because remember the more you do that
the more it helps us
and if you want to become a paid member of the channel,
you can do just follow the instructions on the page.
So let's talk first about the listening section.
Here's one common myth that you need to think about
when doing the listening section of the test.
Remember that both the general training
and the academic training types of the test,
they use the same listening.
So, there's no difference really
in the type of questions that are going to come up
and in both cases
this is an interesting point
you do not need to have academic understanding of the English language
The types of questions that are going to come up
are testing your overall comprehension.
So you don't need to be thinking about academic language.
All of the answers that you're going to put in the spaces
are always going to be testing more General English
So please bear that in mind when you're preparing .
You don't need to be studying difficult words
and you don't need to be able to kind of understand
some science subject or geography
when you are thinking about the academic
when it academic or the general training of the listening test.
So please bear that in mind.
So the answer to this question
"Is listening test academic?"
Not really.
Things are a little bit different for the reading test in IELTS.
The first thing that you should remember
is that you have two different types of tests
when you're doing the general training and the academic training.
When you do general training,
you're going to have four sections
which are 10 minutes
and you're going to have one section which is 20 minutes.
The four sections which are 10 minutes are usually very general
in in the type of language they use.
So you should be prepared
for having a really general knowledge of English in these cases.
The third section
the 20 minutes section is a little bit more difficult
but again you're not going to be faced with kind of a scientific on language
or anything that's really too difficult.
It's a little bit different in the academic training test
because when you sit there the academic test
you've got three sections and they're all 20 minutes
and they're a bit longer
and the language that you use is going to be a bit more difficult
but but but and I should remind you
the answers that you give
and kind of the responses that you're required to think about
will not be academic in nature.
The the text itself might have some academic language
but you do not need to understand certain principles
or it might be for example
the latin name for something
you don't need to know those in the test
you do need to understand the overall ideas around them
but in terms of the the individual and the detailed content
you don't need to have academic understanding
So even though it's called the academic training,
the reading section
you don't really need to have an academic knowledge
So that's something that you need to consider.
A bit different to the listening section but overall,
Do you need to have an academic understanding?
Not really.
You have to have a good reading speed
and you have to have general good overall comprehension
but not really academic comprehension
Super.
So we've looked at reading
we've looked at listening
Let's talk about speaking now
and this is where we get lots of questions in videos that we make
A good example is when we give mock exams to to students
and you guys watch these videos
we get lots of comments to say
"Why did she not use academic language?"
"I didn't hear any academic language in her speech."
Let me tell you now
and if you learned something today please give this video a like.
The speaking section of the test does not does not does not require you
to have academic language featured in your answer
and you will notice that from the band descriptors
Always pay attention to the band descriptors.
If you don't know what they are,
I'll put them in a link in the description below.
Please remember that you do not need to use academic language
in the speaking section.
Speaking is your ability to make yourself understood
to have ideas flow
you need to expand on some ideas
but you don't need to include academic language.
We get lots of people asking can you know can you use questions?
or can you use rhetorical questions?
can you use language such as filler phrases like you know or like?
Absolutely, it's completely normal.
and that's everyday language
I would use that in my test.
You should definitely use it in yours.
When I've taken the test many times,
I've always scored nine
and I have used language such as "you know"
So it's totally natural language
and remember
in the vocabulary
the lexical resource section of speaking
it asks you to use some less common language
some less common vocabulary
but that doesn't mean that you have to use academic language
and that's where the difference lies
You'll find that some tutors around the world
may be in your country
they tell you that you have to use academic language
So please you do not need to use academic language in your speaking test.
You have to use natural flexible and appropriate language.
I hope you learned something from that one.
Let's talk about writing now.
and the final section of the test is obviously the writing
We need to talk about this in two different forms
because you have to do your general training and the academic training.
So for the general training test,
you're going to have your first answer which is your letter
and you don't you definitely don't need to use academic language here
and even if you're writing a formal letter
the the type of language that you're using
and needs to resemble what of the tone of a formal letter
so you do need to learn some kind of important vocabulary there
and for your essay,
you definitely need to use language
which expresses your ideas
and it doesn't need to be academic in its content
and this is a really important point
and this is where there is some overlap
between the general training and the academic academic training test
because it asks the same type of question
The academic training might be a little bit more abstract
and it might involve different styles of topics
but the overall answer should be somewhat similar
because in the test, it specifically asks you to give reasons for your answer
and it asks you to provide relevant examples
from your own knowledge and experience
and I see lots of comments
which say "you used the word I I believe that or in my opinion"
Well, let me tell you that because the question asks you
to use examples from your own knowledge and experience
that's part of the task response
and you need to cover all parts of the task response
Therefore, it is reasonable
and it is totally appropriate for you to use
"I and in my opinion" for example
and we can talk about this till the cows come home in english as we say
but I want to remind you
that this is really important part of your test.
You are taking the academic training test
but you do not need to use specific high-level academic words
So please bear that in mind when when doing the writing.
Remember that you should always follow the band descriptors very very important
and let's have a look now at some homework
because I'm going to give you some homework now
I know that many of you require homework
and you need a little bit of motivation
Well done for getting to the end of this video.
First of all you're doing a great job
and remember you've got to study a couple of hours every day
if you want to improve your overall language
It's important to listen to podcasts.
It's important to read news from you know native english sites
really really really critical that you do that
but let's look at some homework now
If you want to do this homework,
it is completely optional
and you can write your answers in the comments section below.
We love to read answers.
We can't always give feedback on some answers
but we do require you guys to help each other
give some feedback on each other's writing
It's a great opportunity for you to practice under the time conditions
and remember only spend 40 minutes on your test
because that's how long you get in your real test.
The question is on the screen now.
You should be able to see that
and it says "Some people say that students should be given more homework.
Others say that children should be free to enjoy their youth
Discuss both views and give your own opinion"
and as I mentioned before it does say
give reasons for your answer
and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience.
So please try and do that when you do your test.
It's really important that you include those answers.
Thanks so much for joining me today.
I hope I've answered some of your questions.
Don't forget we've got lots and lots and lots of free videos
free content sample answers
everything that you could possibly need for your IELTS preparation.
On the IELTS Daily website, you can see the link to that on the screen now.
We can also give you lots of other free content every week.
We have a free live class every wednesday.
I hope that you enjoy that class and I hope to see you at that class
because it's great to see that people are so motivated
to to achieve their band score that they want
Well, that's the end of today's session.
Thanks very much for joining me.
My name is Chris from IELTS Daily
and please if you like this video
if you learned something
please give me a thumbs up like on the video
Take care of yourselves and I'll see you for another video very soon.