Investigations

in university teaching and learning

vol. 6 (1) spring 2010

ISSN 1740-5106

Designing for Successful Learning:

redesign of an IELTS preparation short course
Belinda John-Baptiste
European Languages Services
London Metropolitan University

Keywords: curriculum design, language proficiency,

Context
The IELTS (International English Language Testing System) test is the worlds
second i leading proficiency test ii of English language. The Evening IELTS Preparation
Course trains students for the Academic version iii , whose scores are requested by
further and higher education institutions as evidence of prospective non-native
students English language abilities. The test comprises four modules: reading,
writing, listening, and speaking, and each module is scored using a 9 level scale; the
highest achievable level being 9 and the lowest being 1. iv
The students on the Evening IELTS Preparation Courses are non-native speakers of
English from a range of countries and cultures. They have different native languages,
learning backgrounds and are of varying ages, ranging from late teens to forties.
Motivation on the course is mainly extrinsic; the students principle aim being to
improve their chances of achieving the required/desired IELTS exam scores to
enable entry to UK degree programs. Consequently, student expectations are high
and commensurately motivation levels are high. Classes tend to be dynamic, with
eager student participation, and completion rates of homework assignments are
good. However, students usually have demanding day commitments; therefore they
are generally tired by the time they arrive to class, and may struggle to focus.
The students tend to be comfortable with technology and open to its use as part of
study. There is a wide range of learning styles; however, the students are rarely
aware of their own styles and their importance.
The course is a 50 hour programme: five hours per week (over two evenings) for
ten weeks, and is run by the ELS (European and Language Services) department. The
IELTS Evening Preparation Course has run numerous times, but has never had a
written curriculum, and relies on a more organic curriculum, based on a coursebook
and the lecturers decisions on content.

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In general the course is taught by Hourly Paid Lecturers (HPLs). These lecturers are
experienced English Language Teaching (ELT) professionals, however, most do not
have IELTS examining experience and hence rely on published materials to inform
them and assist in assessing student writing and speaking level scores.
While the Evening IELTS Preparation Short Course at London Metropolitan
University has been running for several years, it has not benefited from a formal predetermined syllabus. This paper reports on a redesign of the course which was
undertaken to enable students doing it to finish with a better ability to achieve their
required/desired IELTS exam score.
Rationale for the Redesign
There were several grounds for redesigning the course. Firstly, having recently
qualified as an IELTS examiner, my more accurate and comprehensive knowledge of
the test meant that I could design and deliver a more effective course; one which
would better prepare its students for IELTS exam success.
Another factor was the courses lack of a written curriculum; this meant that there
could be no standardisation of teaching and learning on the course, nor could there
be effective monitoring of student progress and to what extent the learning
outcomes were achieved. Although students had generally expressed satisfaction
with the courses v , it was apparent that a written curriculum would be an asset.
According to Walker (1994, pp.5-7), key criteria that learning outcomes should
meet are that they be achievable and assessable; however, without a detailed
course plan (and therefore no agreed learning outcomes) there could be no
guarantee of either criteria being met.
The redesign project also sought to address the gap in linguistic teaching on the
course.Success in the IELTS test requires that candidates have good accuracy and
range of grammar and lexis. Accordingly the ELS (European Languages Service)
English Language Programme 2009-2010 brochure states that course content
includes grammar improvement and vocabulary development. However, analysis
of previous formative assessment results vi highlighted that neither students accuracy
nor range of these language areas markedly improved by the end of the course.
Previous end of course feedback vii indicated that students felt that they would have
benefited from more instruction regarding grammar and vocabulary. Additionally, a
needs analysis conducted at the beginning of the latest course viii showed that
students felt they needed to work on grammar and lexis and expected these to be
significant elements of their course.
A further area which needed to be addressed was the courses lack of summative
assessment. Without one, it was virtually impossible to accurately evaluate student
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progress and the extent to which learning outcomes and course objectives had been
met. While students were given test practice on an ad hoc basis, a lack of end-ofcourse testing meant that students were unable to have an accurate idea of their
progress, the IELTS test scores they could expect to receive, or the areas in which
they needed to improve. Of equal concern, the teaching team did not have the
information needed to check the validity of the claim that the course would improve
students levels of English and IELTS examination skills.
Limited contact hours meant that better independent study would be imperative to
ensure learning outcomes be met, particularly those relating to the development of
grammatical and lexical knowledge and use. A further justification for attempting to
develop students self-study skills was that in an HE environment students should be
encouraged to develop their learner autonomy skills in order to be successful as
language learners and users (Benson, 2001), so as to prepare them for their planned
degree courses, and to improve possibilities of lifelong learning. It was also
important that students receive help with their self-study: guidance to assist them to
develop autonomous learning abilities. Start of course needs analysis revealed that
most students were happy to spend between 5 and 10 hours a week on
independent learning, with guidance from their teacher(s).
Similarly described IELTS preparation courses are offered in hundreds of centres in
the UK, including language schools and further education colleges, but I did not lose
sight of the fact that our students make conscious decisions to take their courseat a
HE institution. Therefore when redesigning the curriculum, I kept in mind the higher
education context of the course in order to ensure coherence and adherence to
London Metropolitan mission and policy, as well as national HE policy and aims.
Curricular Approach
At the time of the redesign, the course followed a mixture of curricula. It used a
competency-based curriculum (Richards & Rodgers, 2001) and a negotiated
curriculum (Jordan, 1997). A competency-based curriculum focuses on learning
outcomes as opposed to class input. This type of curriculum is designed based on
what the learners will have to do with their knowledge and skills at the end of the
programme. A negotiated curriculum is one where learners contribute to decisions
about the curriculum and course content, enabling the course to match student
needs more closely. The IELTS course also used a non-predetermined curriculum,
which can be more responsive as the learning facilitator continuously makes
curricular decisions depending on what (s)he believes the students need.
However, with limited contact hours, challenging learning outcomes and course
objectives, and the fact that the course is preparation for a high-stakes examination,
this course needed more structure. A better structured course would better meet
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student needs and ensure better learning experiences, a view which DAndrea
(1999) supports: she states making teaching/learning intentions more explicit
improves the learning experience of students (p.41).
In order to achieve the course objective of improving students abilities to achieve
their specified examination scores, students need to become competent in the
relevant exam skills and also in their grammatical and lexical accuracy and range,
they also need to master a range of communicative and academic skills. Accordingly,
I found that no one curriculum type would meet the needs of this student base and
therefore decided upon a hybrid of ELT and HE curricula: structural curriculum
(White, 1988), which focuses on aspects of grammar and lexis, grading and teaching
them depending on students capabilities and needs, and the outcomes-based
approach (DAndrea, 1999, pp.41-56), which focuses on the proposed outcomes of
a course.
The Curriculum Design Process
Planning Learning Outcomes& Sequencing Topics

The first and arguably most important stage for this particular course design project
was the determination of learning outcomes and sequencing of topics. There is a
direct correlation between the learning outcomes developed for this course and the
skills and knowledge students need in order to achieve scores of above Band 5.0 in
the IELTS exam.
The sequencing of the topics was straightforward as it was agreed that the course
would use a coursebook (a textbook specifically designed for groups of language
learners), whose units would be followed in the order, hence providing the
sequencing of topics for the curriculum.
Assessing Student Characteristics

Following the guidelines in DAndrea (1999, pp.53-55), data on student

characteristics was gathered for the four categories listed: knowledge on entry,
personal characteristics, demographics and learning style. As many of the students
who enroll for the course do so very shortly before the start of course, or even a
couple of weeks into the programme, it was difficult to access information regarding
the students on the next course. Therefore information gathered and documented
from previous courses in 2008 and 2009 was used. For this step several sources
were used: information from student registration forms, pre-testing results, start of
course questionnaires, student feedback during the courses, review and analysis of
class conversations, formative assessment results, and feedback from teachers
regarding previous sessions of the course. In addition to DAndreas recommended
categories, I also evaluated general student strengths and weakness in grammar,
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lexis, academic skills, and exam skills. Following collation and analysis of all data, a
class profile, student characteristics and, arguably most importantly, student needs
were established.
Designing Teaching/Learning Units

Determining the actual course content was unquestionably a key stage and mistakes
made during this stage would negatively impact on the outcomes of the project.
There were two parts to the planning of course content: determination of class
content and determination of the independent learning content.

For this curriculum the most important part of content planning was selection of
course materials. Discussing the subject of materials in ELT classes, Richards and
Renandya (2002, p65-66)) emphasise their importance stating Whether the teacher
uses a textbook, institutionally prepared materials, or makes use of his or her own
materials, instructional materials generally serve as the basis for much of the
language input learners receive. They go on to highlight eight main advantages of
the use of coursebooks on an English language programme; out of these, four were
key justifications for using a coursebook on this programme of study: 1)
coursebooks provide structure for a programme of study; 2) they provide
standardisation of instruction, better enabling the teaching team to ensure that each
course run provides similar knowledge and skills; 3) they provide a variety of
learning resources, as most coursebooks are accompanied by audio CDs, DVDs,
additional practice workbooks and other materials; and 4) they can train teachers;
an important consideration, as the course tends to be taught by HPLs, who are in
general less experienced than permanent members of the teaching team.
A range of coursebooks was considered and the textbook IELTS Express Upper
Intermediate was chosen. This book, designed specifically for intensive IELTS
preparation courses, is accompanied by audio CDs, a teachers book, a workbook
with additional exercises, and a DVD. Having assessed and tried out the book
before the curriculum design project, I believed it to be perfect for achieving the
proposed learning outcomes of this course, to be the most suitable for the average
level of English on the courses, and to be the best fit for the duration of the course.
It also matched well with other departmental needs regarding cost and available
materials and teaching resources; the cost of a book for each student had already
been considered and figured into the course fee students pay, so would not come as
an additional cost to the department. In addition, having one main teaching material
meant that the department would save on printing and photocopying, as much fewer
copies of resources would be needed.
One drawback of the selected coursebook is that it provides little grammatical input
and the range of topic specific vocabulary is not broad. In order to overcome this
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disadvantage, the syllabus listed various grammar and lexis to be taught each week,
the language areas selected were judged to be the most useful areas for successful
IELTS examination performance. Due to restricted available time in class to dedicate
to language, online and print resources were selected for completion at home; they
would be followed up with the lecturer in the following lesson.
Additional materials and resources for the course (for both language and skills) were
selected taking into consideration the student characteristics and needs and the
proposed learning outcomes of the course. This additional class material included
not only the coursebooks accompanying resources, but also authentic material from
the press, activities and exercises from other coursebooks held in the English
Language departments resource room and the lecturers self-produced materials.
It was decided that the independent learning content would be made up of
worksheets, Internet website exercises, and specified online and print reading,
listening and writing tasks. As part of the courses independent learning component,
I had intended London Metropolitan Universitys Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)
platform (WebLearn) to be the primary independent study resource, as its has a
comprehensive range of functions and uses. I was particularly eager to use the
discussion feature to encourage use of language and skills studied in class, and also in
an effort to create improved rapport amongst the courses participants, who tend to
be more removed from the university culture and environment as they only attend
in the evening.
Many HE professionals agree that asynchronous online discussion is a valuable
teaching and learning tool. Bloxham and Boyd (2007, p213) recommend its use
because of its flexible nature, enabling students to participate at their own pace and
convenience. Stacey (1999) discusses the role of social interactions in online
discussion in bringing about a reduction in feelings of isolation for learners (cited
in Bloxham and Boyd, p.214). However, logistically it was very difficult to
incorporate WebLearn,as the students on this particular course generally do not
receive ID cards for at least one week into the course, or often longer, they cannot
be registered on or use the WebLearn system until weeks into the short course.
Seeking a more easily accessible alternative VLE, I turned to the online social
networking website Facebook. While it did not allow use of the same number of
learning and teaching features as WebLearn, it did allow links to be added and
allowed online discussion.
Assessment was another key part of the curriculum design. It seemed
unquestionable that an exam preparation course should feature assessment in order
to prepare students, measure progress and to evaluate achievement of learning
outcomes. More structured use of formative assessment was therefore built into the
course. Each lesson would include a minimum of one IELTS test practice activity, the
scores of which would be recorded by the teacher in order to document progress.
Additional formative assessment was set for homework; this would be an IELTS
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writing exercise or a reading exercise. I then advanced to the planning of the new
summative assessment. During the last week an IELTS mock exam would be given
for three of the four modules (reading, writing and listening). Including a mock
speaking test proved to be a challenge. The individual 14-minute tests could not
feasibly be worked into the existing allotted class time as, based on the average
number of students in the class, it could consume up to two entire lessons (a whole
weeks class time).
Implementing Learning/Teaching Strategies
In order to achieve the courses learning outcomes, not only would lessons need to
cover key skills and language and give ample IELTS test practice with feedback, but
they would also need to employ learning and teaching strategies appropriate for the
students on the programme.
Firstly I considered strategies for presenting new knowledge and skills. Tooheys
simple model of the learning process (1999, p54) informed my decisions regarding
how teaching on the course should occur.

Source: Toohey, S. (1999) p154

Although the process on paper seems linear, in fact it is a cycle. Using this model, I
noted that there should be regular assessment of all language and skills studied on
the course, with teacher guiding students as to how they could build on their
knowledge.
I decided that formative assessment by means of IELTS test practice would be part
of this learning/teaching approach. Feedback from the completed start of course
questionnaires highlighted that students wanted to spend a considerable part of class
time working on IELTS practice tests; students specified that between a quarter and
a half of each class should be spent on this. I agreed that this would be an
appropriate amount of time to spend on test practice, in order to provide
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opportunities to put into practice language and academic skills in the context for
which they were studying training. The only concern was that IELTS exam practice is
a sedentary activity, which is far from ideal on an evening course whose trainees are
tired from their days commitments.
This led to the consideration of learning and teaching strategies which would
stimulate the students on this course, maintaining their focus and motivation at such
a late hour in the day. I also wanted the strategies to match the students learning
styles and be coherent with the higher education context in which the course takes
place. I decided that these classes should be faster paced than other ELS classes, and
involve a range of activities and activity styles in each 2 hour lesson. The
incorporation of against the clock language activities at danger points in the lesson
(points in which student energy levels, motivation levels and focus are more likely to
wane) helped in this area. However, I believed it important to highlight that there
should always be an explanation of the aims and benefits of such activities, so as to
avoid any student concerns about time wastage. In fact, I felt that students should be
aware of the aims and benefits of all activities,as this would result in students
pushing themselves to stay focused in order to benefit from each activity.
The inclusion of a range of media (including audio, video and SMART Board),
activities involving movement, stimulating topics and different types of formative
assessment (to show progress or areas for improvement and therefore motivate
students further) were also incorporated into the curriculum to encourage constant
levels of energy and focus.
Evaluation
After its first implementation, curriculum design, delivery and outcomes were
assessed. This involved reviewing formative and summative assessment, mid-course
student feedback, end of course student feedback and lecturer feedback.
The data indicated that the curriculum was implemented with relative success.
Progress was evident and student satisfaction was high. Nevertheless, improvements
are needed:
While the increased vocabulary and grammar training was a valuable addition,
with students using a wider range of language more accurately, vocabulary and
grammar assessmentin these areas is needed in order to regularly check that
learning has taken place.
More formative speaking assessment is needed. This will require more meticulous
planning of each lesson in order to ensure a balance of language skill practice and
assessment.
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 It is clear that a summative speaking assessment would be an important addition;

it is not only critical to the students exam preparation and progress, but also to
the evaluation of the courses success.
There needs to be consideration of strategies for evening IELTS student
registration and ID number generation at least a week before the course begins,
in order that a WebLearn environment can be set up for the class.
The department should investigate the possibility of producing E-pack provision
for the IELTS courses (both afternoon and evening); this would contribute to the
students self-study and would help achieve learning outcomes.
The coursebook selection would benefit from review. There is some lecturer
dissatisfaction as the current coursebook has flaws (a range of mistakes and some
texts are poorly written) causing student and lecturer confusion. However, this
selection cannot be made superficially, it must be multi-dimensional,
contemplating the length of course, number of contact hours, proposed learning
outcomesand student characteristics, among other considerations.
Conclusion
There can be no doubt that a well-designed and well-implemented English Language
course curriculum results in better programme structure and more appropriate
content and assessment.
However, ELT professionals need to be mindful that there must be more to the
process than selecting a coursebook. Despite the range of coursebooks on the
market with good methodology, content and resources, using an appropriate course
design model remains a key requirement to curriculum development. Every course
is different, with different learning outcomes and different student characteristics,
consequently different courses need different curriculum approaches, content,
assessment and learning and teaching strategies. Using DAndreas (1999) systematic
approach to curriculum design, and carefully considering a range of factors when
developing the Evening IELTS Preparation Course resulted in a more structured
programme, which was more successful in achieving its learning outcomes.
References
Benson, P. (2001) Teaching and Researching: Autonomy in Language Learning. Harlow:
Pearson Education Ltd.
Bloxham, S. & Boyd, P. (2007) Developing Effective Assessment in Higher Education: A
Practical Guide. Maidenhead: Open University Press
DAndrea, V. (1999) Organising Teaching and Learning: Outcomes-based Planning. In: Fry,
H., Ketteridge, S. & Marshall, S. (eds). A Handbook for Teaching & Learning in Higher
Education. London: Kogan Page Ltd.
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Hallows, R. et al (2006) IELTS Express Upper Intermediate: Coursebook. London: Heinle.

Richards, C. & Renandya, W.A. (2002) Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology
of Current Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jordan, R.R. (1997) English for Academic Purposes. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Richards, J.C. & Rodgers, T.S. (2001) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, 2nd
Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Stefani, L. (2008) Planning Teaching and Learning: Curriculum Design and Development. In:
Fry, H., Ketteridge, S. & Marshall, S. (eds). A Handbook for Teaching & Learning in Higher
Education. 3rd Ed. London: Kogan Page Ltd.
Toohey, S., (1999) Designing Courses for Higher Education. Buckingham: The Society for
Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.
Walker, L. (1994) Guidance for Writing Learning Outcomes. Oxford: Oxford Brookes
University.
White, R.V. (1988) The ELT Curriculum. Oxford: Blackwell.

Biographical note:
Belinda John-Baptiste teaches on the English Language Programme that is part of the
European Languages Service, in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Languages & Education, at
London Metropolitan University. Email: [email protected]

Notes
i.

The international leader is the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

For more information on this exam consult: http://www.ets.org/toefl/.

ii.

A proficiency test determines the level of a candidates knowledge and use of a given
language.

iii.

The other version is General Training, which is required for immigration purposes
in Australia and Canada.

iv.

More information on the IELTS exam is available from www. ielts.org/.

v.

Student end-of-course feedback in 2008 and early 2009 had been overall positive.

vi.

Formative assessment in 2008 and early 2009 had included written work, speaking
tasks in class and language testing.

vii.

This comprised informal discussion and end-of-course questionnaires.

viii.

Students completed questionnaires regarding their perceived needs and their

expectations of the course in the first week of the Spring 2010 course.
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