Abstract:

This study explores the challenges Russian first-time IELTS test-takers experience while preparing for the examination. To investigate this matter a group of educators conducted a mock exam consisting of two modules (Listening and Reading) at the beginning of the IELTS preparation course for first-year students enrolled into a Bachelor program Philology: English Language and Literature, Translation Studies in Leo Tolstoy Higher School of Russian and Foreign Philology, Kazan Federal University (Russia). Group 1 (n=19) took an exam in an unadapted format, whereas Group 2 (n=28) was given a head start in the form of an adapted version of the exam. They listened to the recordings twice (which is against the exam format); they could spend up to 1 hour 30 minutes to do the Reading module (not the recommended 60 minutes).

The results of the mock exam underwent a quantitative analysis. In addition, focus group discussions were organized at a post-exam stage for more in-depth understanding of the challenges experienced by the students preparing for their first IELTS test.

The results of the mock exam revealed that among the four sections of the Listening module, the first section where the examinees had to complete the notes of an everyday conversation was the most challenging part (average score is less than 6 points out of a possible 10). During the post-exam discussion it was revealed that the examinees were unready to write down spelled words and numbers. The difference between Group 1 and 2 in their results was slight and did not exceed 0.6 points.

As regards the Reading module, the majority of the examinees had problems with Reading Passage 3. The average score of Group 1 accounted for less than 4 points out of a possible 13. Group 2 showed a better result of the average 8.5 points. The gap between the groups’ results stemmed largely from different time limits. Group 2 had twice as much time as Group 1 where, consequently, 63% of the candidates did not even start doing the task. Thus, lack of time management skills might be one of the main obstacles in the way of Russian IELTS test-takers. In addition, the focus group discussion analysis showed that the examinees faced difficulties with text comprehension because they were ‘written in academic style’ and ‘contained many unfamiliar words and phrases’.

Notably, the students admitted that they often encountered difficulties due to the transition from the format of the Russian Unified State Exam in English to the IELTS exam format: the two have significantly different types of tasks and requirements.

This study highlights the gap of knowledge regarding the challenges test-takers face while preparing for the IELTS exam in Russia. We believe that the findings can be applied by IELTS practitioners in other similar educational contexts.

Keywords:

IELTS preparation, mock exam, listening, reading.