Faced with AI, social media, and ‘intercultural communicative competence’, students must engage with critical thinking. Here’s how to do it.
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Placement testing
General English
IELTS for teachers
Why an adaptive test is the only answer
At the ELITE conference in Malang, Indonesia last week Dr Adrian Raper explained why a placement test must be adaptive. This is a summary of his talk.
Extended edition: All series
Sometimes we come across a topic that we can’t fit into one post. So we created blog series. Take a look at our first four series here.
The quest for VoiceGPT
The voices we hear in day-to-day life aren’t always what they seem. In this post, we’ll identify the benefits of using computer generated voices as a resource for teachers, students and publishers – then we’ll ask whether the technology is up to the job yet.
Intonation: Guidelines, not rules
We discovered the hard way that generally accepted ‘rules’ for intonation are often misleading. Clear Pronunciation 2 balances ‘rules’ and ‘guidelines’. Here’s how.
Can I test 2,000 students before lunch?
Running placement tests for a large cohort of new students can be time-consuming, costly and tedious. Dr Adrian Raper’s five-question framework makes it totally efficient. Test it here.
Online proctoring: A new and changing world
Online proctoring can help make remote assessment programmes more accessible and flexible. But what should you look for in a provider?
For refugees, language is just the first step…
At JALT 2018, Matthias Prikoszovits (MP) from Universität Wien tells Sieon Lau (SL) about the importance of providing vocational experience, cultural knowledge and help on understanding legal language.
A placement test gives HOPES to Syrian refugees
This case study describes the role of the Dynamic Placement Test in an international project to help young Syrian refugees enter higher education.
The CEFR and… cooking
Andrew Stokes presents an ingenious technique for demystifying the CEFR. The idea, devised by Sean MacDonald of telc, is to compare it to cooking.
Pronunciation at university: A case study
This study details how Ningbo University married textbook instruction of English pronunciation with digital resources. Here is how they did it.
Grammar: A refreshing revisit
Grammar has a reputation for focusing on errors. With Tense Buster, we focus on communication. Here is how.
EdTech over time
Andrew Stokes and Samuel Sheinberg look back on how EdTech has changed over the last 30 years and what we can expect in the future.
Reading is the new Speaking
How can we best equip migrants with the language skills they need to integrate effectively into their communities? It starts with Reading.
Clarity at 30: Down memory lane
Some of our partners and customers have been with us since we started 30 years ago. Here are a few memories from the early days.
IELTS in Zambia: ‘I’ve been speaking English since Grade 1, why should an English test worry me?’
Andrew Stokes asks Idah Chunga and Justina Kilumelume how the British Council helps IELTS candidates in Zambia.
Road to IELTS Speaking – What’s new?
Sarah Philpot led the team which redesigned the Road to IELTS Speaking section. In this post, she describes the program features and the approach behind the update.
Planning IELTS Prep: A Life Hack
Andrew Stokes points to a life hack that helps IELTS candidates optimise their preparation time.
How to pass IELTS first time
Lucas Gade discusses a successful strategy for reducing the number of expensive, time-consuming IELTS retakes.
Helping your students get the IELTS score they need
Clarity is committed to supporting teachers preparing students for IELTS not just through Road to IELTS, but through a host of other support materials too.