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3. Course Proposal The course is a 20 hour excerpt from a much longer course for IELTS preparation. The lesson take place Monday to Friday 9 to 11am each morning and 1pm-3pm each afternoon. Overall Course aim: To improve the students band score in the writing and speaking papers of the IELTS exam by half a band score. Although I need to improve learners score by a full band in order that they meet their targets, I feel that 0.5 of a band is more achievable in a 20 hour course. (Richards 2001:120) Goals and Objectives To accomplish the course aim, I have divided it into goals and objectives, which Richards, 2001, describe as being both precise and feasible, informing the selection of course content and lending themselves toward the measurement of the success of a course (Graves 1996:27). It is possible to set the goals and objectives of the course having first completed the DT/NA. Hedge (2000:344) describes the former as being more general and the latter more specific. More explicitly, goals are the purpose of the programme which can be attained by completing particular objectives (Graves 1996:17), which constitute learnable, teachable units (Graves 2000:76). Goals can be further sub-categorised into cognitive, affective, learning and communicative ones (Nunan 1998) and should be reached by executing objectives which are both measurable and observable as well as being limited to a particular time scale (el Fadil 1985:100). I have already discussed the nature of exam classes and outlined the data collected during the DT/NA, where I described the classs needs, lacks and wants and motivation as being both extrinsic and instrumental, all of which have directed me towards establishing performance orientated goals (Ames and Archer 1998). Goal 1: To improve the learners score in both task 1 and task 2 of the IELTS writing paper (Move them up by a half a band score) Objective 1: To be better able to respond to the prompt Objective 2: Objective 3: Objective 4: Objective 5: To be better able to use checklists and the error correction code as a way to notice errors and upgrade their own writing. To be better able to use a variety of complex sentences To be better able to present an overview which highlights main trends/ key features. To be able to paraphrase the prompt more effectively in task 1/2

2 Goal 2: To improve learners score in the speaking paper by half a band overall. Objective 1: Objective 2: Objective 3: Objective 4: Objective 5: Objective 6: Objective 7 To be better able to maintain a flow of speech and give more extensive answers in Part 1 To be better to use strategies for dealing with hesitation To be better able to use repair & clarification strategies To be able to plan more effectively for Part 2 To be able to use the one minute planning time before the long turn to brainstorm non-common lexis & grammar and base their speech on these. To produce syllable-final consonants, word stress in multisyllabic words, stress-timed intonation and chunking more accurately. To produce regular past tenses more accurately

Syllabus Type The design of a syllabus incorporates the specification and ordering of content (White 1988). The designer must decide how best to ensure the maximum transfer of learning in addressing the learners lacks (Nunan 1993:23). The syllabus is, therefore, both product and process orientated. Moreover, it is, to some large degree, negotiated, as I have let the findings, i.e. the needs, wants and lacks, of the NA/DT dictate the syllabus. Skills: The course is skills-based (Richards 1990). It endeavours to improve the learners score in the weakest areas identified by the DA/NA, namely the writing and speaking papers. The skills are subdivided into sub-skills (my course objectives) and supply a framework around which the course will be based. The students lacks are mostly skills-based, although they do have certain systems deficiencies as well. Product: Focuses on results. Endeavours to improve the learners final product by focusing on the outcome of the course (Nunan: 1998) Process: Focuses on how the learners will attain the abilities to achieve the product. Targets the acquisition mechanism and can be linked to the operations involved in language learning outlined by Faerch and Kasper (1983). Synthetic: The course will follow, in part, Wilkins (1976) theory of presenting language as discrete items which the learners are expected to synthesize into a meaningful whole. Approaches: The writing part of the course will be in line with the process genre approach as outlined by Badger and White (2000) as this puts the utmost importance on producing written work which is satisfies its particular purpose and facilitates the process that competent writers follow. As Burgess and Head (2005) point out, when writing for exams, planning and proofing, as well as the consideration of the conventions of genre, are essential. To this end, both product focused lessons where we examine the genre features of model texts and process informed sessions where attention will be paid to idea generation and paragraphing.

3 In order to become familiar with the exam, the learners will be given a total of 10 full mock speaking exams and 10 timed task 1s and a similar number of timed task 2s. Individual feedback, based upon the public band descriptors (IELTS.org), will be given after each attempt. This will feature one to one commentary on in class writing/speaking as well as electronic criticism using screen and voice capture software such as jing.com. Feedback will not only be based simply on structural issues and error correction, reformulation, the basis of Wilbergs (1987) theory of auditing, will also be used. The teacher will focus on gaps in the learners knowledge and encourages learner autonomy by getting the learner to notice the gap (i.e. draw the attention of the learner to focus on the deficiency), recall it in later production and audit or reproduce it. Furthermore, during the latter stages of the course, the learners will be asked to watch a video of a news item on the BBC World Service and report back to the teacher on it. This will allow the learners to see how the features of natural English, which are being addressed in class, are employed in real contexts. This will give ownership of the learning to the students and promote learner autonomy. Course content and Materials I have selected materials based on the objectives of the course and the approaches outlined. A combination of both published resources and authentic materials has been used. The former used to provide input from both trusted and reliable sources, and the latter to fill the gaps which arose when no published resource could be found. Everything in the course has been linked to specific tasks from the listening and speaking papers. I also have attempted, where possible, to link the objectives to specific language from the band descriptors. This should result in the students being able to see their improvement linked to their performance in task types and as a result be very motivated by the course content. The course is strongly linked to my finding in the DA/NA and it pertains to areas where students were found to need extra support. Therefore, all objectives will appear justified to them In order to minimize the effects of backwash, the main thrust of the syllabus is centred upon what the students need to so in order to reach their target band scores as Hughes recommends (2003).

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