How Teaching Test Preparation Classes Differs from Teaching ESL Classes
In an ESL class, students learn the basics of reading, writing, listening and speaking using good grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. In test preparation classes, by contrast, there is no more time for the basics. There is a completely new sense of urgency, and students need a powerful set of skills to deal with it, including meeting strict time limits, understanding content and instructions while under pressure, and creating and presenting content or responses in a highly structured format.
Many students of test preparation courses come from a background of discipline and hard work. They are not in Canada for a holiday and to learn conversational English. They are here to prepare for admission to college or university. Their expectations of a test preparation class are high: strict discipline, lots of homework, and a very focused lesson. They will give the teacher a tough assessment right from the start. There is little room for playing it by ear and none whatsoever for not knowing the subject matter or not teaching specifically to the test.
Drill, strategies, formulas and practice tests¾they are the stuff of which test preparation is made, not the rehashing of material students should have learned long ago. These students want to learn to divide the TOEFL independent essay into fifteen sentences¾each with a specific role¾that will fit at least three of the four most common essay types. They want the closest thing they can get to an exact formula, a guarantee of success, and the onus is on the teacher to make sure they get it.