Abstract:

IELTS preparation is a learning unit taken in the eighth semester in the Bachelor Degree of English Language at the Universidad Autónoma del Carmen prior to their graduating. Due to low marks in the listening section of the diagnostic test, we implemented a learning strategy to complement IELTS practice in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to evaluate students’ improvements in this specific skill, identified as the weakest of the four skills assessed in this certification. Twenty-eight subjects participated in this study. Their practice was individually done and recorded without their professor’ supervision and it was an extra class activity without any mark. The learning strategy, designed before the semester, was a guideline of YouTube links for IELTS free practice per week in a total of sixteen weeks. In this action research design, we used a quantitative approach in order to collect and analyze the information, and the type of research was longitudinal. The instruments used to collect the quantitative data were a diagnostic test, the recording of the sixteen activities, and the last exam. The outcome showed most students did and recorded the listening activities, their grades in the listening activities improved as the strategy proceeded and in their final score, but more significant, students demonstrated a higher listening comprehension improvement. To sum up, the learning strategy evidenced to be useful to complement students’ preparation before taking an IELTS certificate test.

Keywords:

Youtube, IELTS practice, improvement, EFL classroom.