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By Lee Ik-hoon & Sophie M. Ju
Students take a mock TOEFL test at a lecture room of the Lee Ikhoon Language Institute in southern Seoul. /Courtesy of the Lee Ikhoon Language Institute |
A new form of the TOEFL exam will be held beginning in May 2006 in Korea and most potential toeflers are now concerned about how challenging the test will be. Important changes in language learning have taken place and the TOEFL exam in some ways reflects those changes. As English instructors, our duty is to introduce practical ways for students to understand the new ideas so that they can take the exam with confidence. Without doubt, in the past, there was a heavy focus on learning about and analyzing the English language itself, but little emphasis was put on authentic communication. Major English exams did not require practical communication. In other words, real communication or interaction was not needed either between people or between areas of language use. As a result, students could score highly on tests and yet not be able to communicate in real life.
Lee Ik-hoon |
Here in the Lee Ikhoon Language Institute, we suggest some ideas for those potential test-takers. The new form of TOEFL test will measure the language ability of students, not only academic understanding but also communication skills in various settings. In short, we call it integrated-skills approach. Of course, finding ways to incorporate this type of approach can be challenging for instructors who teach in large lecture halls filled with students. But, even in such settings, it is possible to use interactive tasks by, for example, asking students to partner with students to their right or left. This integrated-skills approach can be highly motivating for students because it lets them participate in authentic tasks that challenge them to practice communicating in English. With this approach, learners gain a true understanding of the richness and complexity of the English language and build their confidence in their communication skills. Before I suggest some helping aids for preparation of the TOEFL Internet-based test (iBT), I here want to mention that if you students or instructors keep in mind that now English is not seen as separated sections anymore, and teaching separate sections may not be a practical or desirable method of study anymore. Because of those short-sighted teaching methods, most of us often focus on certain language areas in isolation from others, such as vocabulary and grammar. But to successfully help our students develop the skills they need to effectively navigate English-speaking environments, instructors need to remember that, while it is important for students to learn to use language accurately, they do not need to have perfect vocabulary and grammar to communicate effectively in English but to simply know how to use them.
Sophie M. Ju |
So if you are careful, then you will find your own methods easily and confidently because the desire to study English in a more practical way has been in our minds for a long time. While we are studying we sometimes ignore the fact that is very basic and critical to learning a language _ motivation. While we can safely say that integrated-skills and task-based learning help to motivate students, we also know that successful language learners are highly motivated on their own to find ways to practice communication. The next generation TOEFL now uses tasks that assess integrated skills because most test researchers believe this is the most valid way to test students’ language proficiency, so we would like to show some integrated study methods too. First, for reading comprehension, try to build up your power of predicting the subject of a text based on its title, or information learned from associated captions or pictures. Second, try to discuss or think about a subject before reading or hearing about it. Guessing the meaning of vocabulary from context can be another good reading methods, too. Now for listening, how about breaking a sentence or word into parts to understand its meaning, focusing on essential information when listening to or reading a text. Third, use stress, intonation, redundancy, and organizational clues to identify the main idea of a text during practice.
Organizing notes in an outline into main and subordinate categories is a very certain way to summarize what you have heard or read. Fourth, for integrated writing, use some key words and try to omit articles and other unnecessary words when taking notes. That helps you analyze and synthesize information. No matter how well you understood before you answer the question, you have to be very well organized in gathering critical information. Fifth, for integrated speaking, use notes and outlines to plan what to say before beginning a task. We might urge you to practice these critical ways to prepare TOEFL not only in the classroom but also anywhere possible. Try to practice everyday, and to do so, students can find some English-speaking partners or have some friends corresponding with each other through e-mail letters in English. Some methods sound simple and some are not. We are not suggesting those methods to burden you or make you struggle but to let you know that instructors are prepared to help you and guide you. We wish you all the best in studying TOEFL. Lee Ik-hoon is president of the Lee Ikhoon Language Institute. Sophie M. Ju is a TOEFL instructor at the institute. |