To what extent is communicative language teaching a feature of IELTS classes in China

This report examined the teaching methodology used in IELTS preparation classes in China. The research used Hu's six element framework for describing teaching methods: - pedagogical orientation - instructional content and presentation - language practice activities - teacher and learner roles - learning materials - assessment. It started with the hypothesis that teachers were making methodological choices between communicative language teaching (CLT), audio-lingualism and grammar translation methods. Research methods included: questionnaires completed by just under 80 IELTS teachers; stand-alone interviews with 10 teachers; and three stimulated recall interviews following classroom observations. We found that the most common methodology used approximated to CLT but that teachers took a more dominant role and used more Chinese than would be characteristics of CLT.

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