Secrets to Success - Tips and Techniques in Task 1

In this lecture we’re going to take a look at some tips and techniques which didn’t seem to fit into any of the other lectures or sections very well so this is more of a look at some secrets let’s say secrets to success. Some key tips and techniques for finding success in task one academic. So we have four strategies and tips that I want to look at here. Now the first one is called split the tenses. Let’s look at this in detail. So we have a new graph here. Now this graph here is looking at the future. So we’ve got 1960 all the way up to the present day and into 2014. Percentage of spending in the U.S. school on four different subject areas. So the point here is that these tasks can be a little bit daunting when they include both the past and the future because it can be quite tricky to talk about both of those things within a single sentence. And so when you’re following a particular line through the line graph that can be quite challenging but there is a way around this. Instead of splitting the categories into different paragraphs. So instead of looking at languages and sports in one paragraph and then science math and arts in the other paragraph instead split the times. So the first detail paragraph can focus on the past all the way up into the present and the second detail paragraph can look from the present right up until the further state away in the future which is 2040 when we do it this way we can avoid this difficulty of including multiple tenses in the same sentence so we can just use the past simple and potentially the past perfect when we look at the first paragraph and in the second detail paragraph we will use the future however secret number two is related to which tense we should use to talk about the future and the idea here is that we should be very careful not to say what will definitely be we shouldn’t use will unless we are using will with a particular word because we should be predicting the future. Not saying what the future is because no one really has the possibility to do that. We can just make predictions because nobody can be certain of what the future will bring. We need to use particular verbs and their corresponding nouns to help us in this regard. Predict prediction estimate estimation project projection expect expectation forecast and forecast. So we will use these verbs and nouns to make sure that we don’t make any inaccuracies when we are presenting the data. Let’s have a look at an example of this. So I’m going to look at what I mentioned before that detail paragraph specifically here the second detail paragraph focusing on the future bringing both of these secrets to success together looking to the future whereas funding for science or math is expected to slip to 29 percent of the budget by 2040 spending on languages and arts is forecast to continue rising to around 30 percent. Projections suggest sports will suffer the most plummeting from 35 percent to just 10 percent within the final three decades. Notice here that we have used the word will but we have tempered that word with the word projections. So we’re showing that we do not know what will happen in the future the graph does not know what will happen in the future. But these are the projections the predictions the estimations that the third secret to think about here is to actually not do something to forget range. So there’s a lot that can go wrong in academic task once so it’s very important that we prioritize our aims sensibly. Accuracy communication these are your most important things. These are Paramount’s and the same is true of covering the key features making comparisons and finishing on time below that you can also think about grammatical accuracy very important spelling very important linking your ideas cohesively. Also quite important what is less important. Well what’s less important is your range of grammar and also your range of vocab. Try not to worry too much about paraphrasing in task one if you struggle to think of synonyms or a certain way to paraphrase or a certain grammatical construct you could be doing differently just underline that word or underline that expression and come back to it later if you have time. But much more important for the Examiner What he wants to see or he or she wants to see is all the things that I mentioned at the top of this slide. They’re going to be focusing much less on grammatical range on lexical range lakes could range is probably more important and grammatical range in fact but both should be lower down on your list of priorities. Accuracy communication those are the most important things. Now I am aware that we have spent a number of lectures looking at how to achieve grammatical range. We looked at how to create complex sentences and how to use other grammatical constructs are a little bit more difficult. And that’s because this is important is written there in the in the band descriptors. However in the exam you should focus your attention and time on the accuracy of the communication covering key features and trust your ability to produce this range of grammar automatically. And what that means is that you should be practicing and practicing a lot beforehand. Notice all the examples that I’ve used within this course. That’s what I want you to be producing every day trying to create that range of grammar automatically so you don’t even need to think about it during the exam and you can focus your attention on more important things. The final thing to talk about here is a supposed less related to the exam itself or more to the practice. And this is to experiment with ordering. Now there are a number of teachers out there who suggest that you should begin your writing test with Task 2 and then move to task 1. The idea behind the strategy is that you will not be rushing through the part of the test which is worth the most points and that’s a good idea. To an extent but do be careful because not everyone performs at that best level immediately and it can be useful to begin with task one as a sort of warmup. For some people they get through task one very quickly as well and therefore it gives them more time for task too. But my advice is to experiment here try a few practice tests starting with task one and then try a few practice test starting with task to work out what works best for you and that is true of so much when it comes to practicing files. Lots of teachers will give you lots of different strategies. Use them all. Work out what works best for you and then apply that to your own learning and take it into the exam. Everybody is a bit different and we appreciate that. Then we will definitely make sure that we have a much better chance of success on ials day.