1. What are the aims of the research?

The original aim of this study was to explore the relationship between instructional
discourses and performance on the IELTS Test to gain insights into the conditions for
development of discourse skills tested in IELTS. The aim was to investigate the
language of instruction in the preparation of students for the IELTS Test, and in
particular, to explore pedagogic discourses experienced in class as preparation for
taking the IELTS examination.

2. Why did the researchers apply ethnography research method ?

This project applied an integrated, ethnographic approach to the analysis of the

discourses of classroom instruction because the method was to describe the
instructional practices in the preparation class and to investigate how the instruction
prepared students for the Test.

3. Mention the setting of place and time.

The IELTS preparation course ran over eight weeks for three hours each Friday
morning. There was a nominal total of 24 teaching hours but classes regularly ran into
break time. IELTS preparation or attendance in a General English class.

4. Who were involved as the subjects of the research?

The IELTS preparation course was offered to ober 20 students enrolled in General
English in intermediate and higher level classes as an elective. Student ages ranged
from 18 to 39 years. The students came from various South-East Asian countries
(Appendix 1).

5. How did they collect the data? What data did they need to answer the research
questions?

The following analysis is based on the transcripts of the lessons, observational notes
taken during lessons, notes from discussions with the teacher and documents such as
worksheets used for teaching. The focus of the study is on pedagogy so the analysis of
the transcripts concentrates on the identification of significant patterns and regular
features of the teacher’s practices.

6. What are the instruments they used to collect the data?

The decision to transcribe each of the audio-recorded lessons also resulted in ample
data and an opportunity to revisit each of the lessons to develop a rich picture of
events. Seven of the eight sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed. The two final
sessions were video-recorded. Worksheets and handouts used in lessons were
collected by the researcher. Samples of student work, practice tests, homework and an
IELTS course placement test administered after the seventh session were also
collected.
7. How did they analyze the data? Elaborate your answer .

The documentation and analysis of an IELTS preparation program underscores the

multiple factors invoked in high-stakes assessment such as the IELTS Test. The
pedagogy in the class observed in this study covered knowledge of the Test format,
practising the tasks which make up the Test, awareness-raising of the constituent parts
of the tasks, practical hints and strategies for doing the test tasks, and
recommendations for independent learning.

8. What are the findings of the research?

In the program that researcher observed, the pedagogic choices differed between
attending to students’ English language expressions and rehearsing procedures and
tasks for the Test. However the distinction between the two was not clear cut, as the
procedures for doing the Test, what might be called the techniques or strategies, were
bound up with an understanding of such matters as the social purposes of texts, which
determine register and therefore, the lexicogrammatical choices.