institute of english homework record

IOE - Faculty of Education and Society

Resources for academic reading and writing

Understanding assessment requirements

• Reading critically
• Writing critically

Referencing and avoiding plagiarism

Argument, voice, structure

Reviewing, editing and responding to feedback

Open and self-access resources from the IOE Academic Writing Centre to help you improve your academic reading and writing.

This is a collection of free, open, self-access resources for students. These guides help you understand what an assignment asks you to do. They clarify what reading and writing critically means in an academic context. Here you can also find guidance on how to reference and avoid plagiarism. The section on argument, voice and structure is useful to express and support your ideas. Advice is also available on how to review and edit your text, and how to respond to feedback.

Academic reading: Reading critically

Academic writing: Writing critically

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• Speaking exams
• Typical speaking tasks

Talk about yourself

This is a very common task at the beginning of a speaking exam. It is something you can prepare at home and practise. If you know what to say, you will feel more relaxed and confident at the start of the exam.

Instructions

Watch the video of two students talking about themselves in a speaking exam. Then read the tips below.

Examiner : Hi. What’s your name?

Kelvin :  My name is Kelvin.

Examiner : Kelvin, OK. So, Kelvin, I’m going to ask you a few questions. I’d like to ask you about your school. So, what subjects do you like most?

Kelvin : I think I like economics most because I can study different kinds of demand and supply theory and I can use it in my daily life to observe the market. I think that’s very interesting, yeah, and very useful.

Examiner : OK. And are there any subjects that you don’t like so much?

Kelvin : Actually, I don’t like physics too much because I need to calculate many difficult questions and all those mathematics words. I’m not really used to them. So, I don’t like physics.

Examiner : I see. All right. Well, how about in the future? Are you hoping to go to university?

Kelvin : Yeah, sure.

Examiner : OK, and what would you like to study there?

Kelvin : I think I would like to study something about business. So, I think nowadays we can only make a lot of money by participating in the financial sectors. So, I would like to study something about financial business. I want to get rich, yes.

Examiner : OK, that’s great. Thanks, Kelvin.

Melissa : My name is Melissa.

Examiner : Melissa?

Melissa : Yeah.

Examiner : Hi, Melissa. And, can you tell me about your family?

Melissa : I’ve got no sisters and brothers. I live with my father and mother and my dog.

Examiner :  And your dog?

Melissa : Yeah!

Examiner : Great. All right, I’d like to ask you a few questions about your school. So first, what subjects do you like most?

Melissa : I like mathematics the most because I think it’s satisfying to calculate the solution.

Examiner : OK. So, mathematics ... is there any other one?

Melissa : And English, I think, because it’s fun to learn a language.

Examiner : Great, OK. Which subjects do you think are most useful for you?

Melissa : I think accounting is the most useful because every company needs an accountant and to be an accountant I need to study this subject.

Examiner : Sure, OK. And are there any subjects that you don’t like?

Melissa : I hate Chinese because it’s difficult to study the passages. Yeah, and I don’t really understand what it’s about.

Examiner : OK, that’s great. Thanks, Melissa.

Here are our top tips for talking about yourself in an exam.

• Think about the types of topics and questions you may be asked before the exam. School, family, free time, daily routines and future plans are common topics.
• Practise answering simple questions about yourself. Work with a friend to practise or record yourself and listen to the recording.
• Listen carefully to the questions. If you don’t understand the question, ask your teacher to repeat it.
• Give complete answers in full sentences.
• Look at the examiner. His/her face may tell you when you’ve said enough and he/she is ready for the next question.
• Memorise your answers. It’s good to have ideas ready, but it’s better not to memorise long replies to typical questions.
• Just reply with ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
• Panic if you are asked an unexpected question. Take a few seconds to think before you answer it.

Here are some examples of things you can say about yourself:

My name’s ... I’m from ... / I live in ... I was born in ... I’m ... years old. I go to ... school. I like ... because ... I don’t like ... because ... In my free time / After school, I ... My best friends are ... because ... My favourite (school subject, actor, pop group, sport) is ... because ... I have ... brothers and sisters. In the future, I’d like to ... because ...

Check your understanding: true or false

Check your language: ordering - questions, worksheets and downloads.

Everyone loves talking about themselves! Have you ever had a speaking exam like this? Can you think of any other sentences that might be useful?

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Integrating homework and class work

Homework setting sometimes becomes an automatic reflex in my classes and its fit with my lessons and syllabus is dubious.

It’s good to make an effort to include it as an active and key element in the staging of a class, so I try to find ways in which homework can be, for example, as the presentation stage or the freer practice for new language, or the teach stage of a test-teach-test approach. This gives it more meaning both for me and learners. By Paul Kaye

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