Lexical Proficiency

There is general agreement among researchers about using global models for assessing lexical proficiency. The models use breadth and depth of lexical knowledge; however, there are exceptions when using these two dimensions. The research also says that in natural language production, there are two categories namely lexical diversity and lexical sophistication. This article examines the research study about lexical proficiency and its implications for teachers.

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Phrasal Verbs

Why are phrasal verbs so useful in helping language learners to improve their vocabulary? More importantly, how can they help students begin to sound far more natural and improve their IELTS speaking proficiency?

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Do you have questions about teaching, English or IELTS that you would really love an answer to? Send them to
colin.barnett@britishcouncil.org.cn or
mark.o'sullivan@britishcouncil.org.cn

Remember, we also have a Frequently Asked Questions list on www.chinaielts.org, for you to visit!

“Will candidates lose marks in reading / listening if they use all capital letters, or use only lower-case letters, for their answers?”

This is a very common question with regards to the proper form of answers for reading and listening. The short answer is: no, it does not matter. Answers are accepted in either form, even for items like proper nouns (official names). In some of the very early Cambridge IELTS past-paper books (books 1 – 3) there were guidelines about the necessity of proper capitalisation. However, in more recent publications you will notice that this rule has been updated and clarified. The one area that does matter (and one where candidates may often lose easy marks) is on the proper form and spelling of answers. For example, for something like Section1 of the IELTS listening test, recording dates or times are often a common feature. If the answer is: ‘1st November’, then candidates must write the answer in full-form with proper spelling. Abbreviations and note-form are not accepted. So, recording the answer as: 1 Nov; Nov 1; 1st Nov; 1/11; 11/1, would not be counted as correct.