2017518 (1)AdayinthelifeofanIELTSExaminer

AdayinthelifeofanIELTSExaminer
20114722:41

Q:HowdidyougetintoexaminingforIELTS?
A:IvedonepostgraduatestudyinlinguisticsandEnglishlanguageteachingto
speakersofotherlanguages,soIvegotalongbackgroundinteaching.In
recentyearsIvemovedintolanguagelearningthroughthemediumof
computers,whichhasgraduallytakenmefurtherandfurtherawayfromthe
actualclassroom.IwasawareofIELTS,ofcourse,butIdneverreally
consideredexaminingforituntilsomeonesaid:whydontyougiveitago?As
IdidnthaveasmuchcontactwithstudentsasIusedto,Ithoughtitwouldbe
quitenice.SoIattendedacertificationcourse,andpassedit!
Q:Howdidyoufindthetrainingandcertification?
A:Itsprettytough!Theressomuchtotakeinyouvegottolearnhowthebanddescriptorswork,thendoa
lotofassessingofscriptsandinterviewstomatchthemtothebands.Thenanotherchallengingthingis
learninghowtoorganiseyourselfintheinterview.Sotheresawholerangeofthingsyoulearnsomeof
themareintellectualsuchasunderstandingthebanddescriptors,buttherearealsothosemotorskills
involved,keepingthetimingandthesekindofthings.

Q:ForspeakingandwritingExaminershaveasetofbanddescriptorsincludingfourcriteriatomark
candidatesagainstineachbandsohowdoyougivethemanoverallscore?
A:Wellinthespeakingtestforexampleyouarelisteningfortheseparateparametersofeachbandlistening
forthepronunciation,whethertheyaremanagingcohesion,typesofvocabularyandstructuresbeingused
etc.Yourjobistochoosethecorrectbandforeachofthosefourassessmentcriteriaandtheoverallscore
iscalculatedbyanalgorithminthesoftware.

Q:Ismarkingpronunciationverydifficult?
A:Well,itsabitlikeajudgewhosays:WhatwouldthemanontheClaphamomnibusthink?!Youvegotto
putyourselfinthisidealisedspeakerlistenerstateyouvegottosay:Wouldtheaveragepersoninthe
streetfindthisaccentdifficult?Wearetrainedtoensurewemaintainanobjectiveviewofit.

Q:Doyoupreferspeakingorwritingexamining?
A:Speakingismoreinterestingbecauseyoureactuallyengagingwiththeperson.SoonthewholeIdsayI
preferthespeakingasitsmuchmoreimmediateyouvegotthepersonthere.

Q:DoyouthinkanotherskillasanIELTSExaminerisbeingabletoputpeopleatease,astheymust
beverynervous?
A:WellinfactIvehadquiteafewwhocomeinverynervousandattheendofittheysay:Ohitsfinished?
Thatwasactuallyquitepleasant!Itsbecausetheyfeelasiftheyvejusthadachatwithyou.Youneedto
putthecandidatesattheireaseasbestasyoucanbyyourdemeanourcertainly.WhereIexamine,the
candidatesareinawaitingareaandyouhavetogoandcollectthemandtakethemtoyourroom.Soeven
thereItrytohaveafriendlymannerandsmilebutnotengagetheminconversationatthatpoint,becauseif
youaskthemaquestionandtheytripoverittheymightthink:Ohmygoodness,whatamIgoingtodowhen
Igetinthatroom!Butontheotherhand,youdon'twantthemtofeelthatyourecoldandunfriendly.
Sometimesyoulookatacandidateandyoucanalmostimaginetheirheartbeatingsoyoucansaytothem:
Justtakeaminutetorelax,takeadeepbreathe,andtellmewhenyouareready.Thenyoustartthe
recorderandstarttheinterview!

Q:SowithinteractionwithatrainedexaminerbeingakeyelementoftheIELTSspeakingtest,
whatsyourpersonalopinionontheuseofcomputersfortestingspeaking?

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A:Theresalwaysthatquestionofwhatexactlyisthesoftwareassessing?ItmakesmethinkofthatEric
IdleofMontyPythonquotehewastalkingaboutthethingsthatcomputerscantdo,andtherewereseveral
whichIwontrepeat,butonewas:Theydontdoironyeither!Theydontlaughandtheydontdoirony!
Wecandobothofthose,andsocanthecandidateinafacetofaceinterview.Somecandidateswilltellyou
littlestoriesaspartoftheirinterviewandlaugh,andyouwilllaughwiththembecauseitsthenaturalthingto
dotheywillfeelthatitsarealconversation.

Q:Sowhatsbeenthefunniestthingyouvebeentoldinaninterview?
A:Gosh,everytimeIdoatestIcomebackandthink,wellthatwasinteresting!Oneexamplewaswitha
veryniceNigerianmanhewasaskedsomethingabouttellingthetruthandhesaid:WellI'mareligious
man,soyoushouldalwaystellthetruth,butwhenIwasalittleboyIdidthatanditdidntdomeanygood!I
askedhimwhyandhesaidhedhitalittlegirlinhisplaygroupandshehadtoldhermother,sothemother
cameandaskedhimifheddoneit,sohetoldthetruthandadmittedit,butendedupgettinganevenabigger
cliproundtheear!Soheburstintothisheartylaughterandsaid:Itsnotalwaysagoodthingtotellthe
truth!

Q:IfyouhadtopickonefavouritethingaboutbeinganIELTSexaminer,whatwouldyouchoose?
A:Thatsadifficultone.Icantthinkofonethingitssatisfying,likedoinganygoodskill,whenyouperform
thatskillreallywell,itssatisfyinginitself.Itsoundsabitarrogantinaway,butyouthink,yeahImgoodat
doingthat,IcandothatandIcandoitwell,andyoucantakealotofprideandsatisfactioninit.Whynotdo
somethingsatisfyingwhichyouenjoyandgetpaidforit?!

Q:WhatdoyouthinkthefutureholdsforIELTS?
A:Ohh,thatsaverydifficultquestion!Itssowellestablishednowitsdifficulttoseethatitcouldfadein
anyway.IfyoulookatitfromtheEnglishlanguageteachingprofessionpointofview,generallyIthinkthe
professionregarditveryhighly,andmaybedirecttheirstudentstowardsit,particularlyasitisarequirement
formostuniversitiesandIthinkitsalwaysgoingtobethereforthat.Idontknowifitwillgettothepoint
whereitcantgetanybigger.Ifitdoes,thatmeansvirtuallyeveryonemovingaroundtheworldtoEnglish
speakingcountries,orstudyinginEnglishspeakingcountriesistakingIELTS!Imean,howmanypeople
wouldthatbe?Millionsuponmillions!Soyeah,theresstillroomforgrowth!

<p>MoreonexaminingforIELTS:</p><p>Rigorousproceduresgovernthetrainingandcertification
ofnewExaminersandtherecertificationofexperiencedExaminers.TheIELTSProfessionalSupport
Network(PSN)integratestheseproceduresthroughaglobalsystemofrecruitment,induction,
training,standardization,certificationandmonitoring.Examinersaretrainedandmonitoredby
ExaminerTrainersexperiencedseniorExaminerswithextensiveprofessionalexperiencein
trainingandintheoperationofaperformancemanagementsystem.ExaminerTrainersare
supervisedbyExaminerSupportCoordinators,whohaveregionalresponsibilities.Toqualifyasan
IELTSExaminer,potentialapplicantsmustmeetthefollowingminimumprofessionalrequirements:
</p>

ExpertuserofEnglish(i.e.IELTSlevel9)
TESOL/TEFLqualification(suchasaCELTAorDELTAoraMATESOL)
Atleastthreeyearsrelevantteachingexperience
Undergraduatedegree(orequivalent)

Applicantsundergoafullscreeningofqualificationsandaninterview,andonceapproved,theycomplete
fourfulldaysoftraining.TrainedExaminersmustbesuccessfullycertifiedbeforetheycanbegin
examining.ThecertificationprocessassessestheExaminer'sunderstandingofandabilitytoapplythe
ratingcriteria,throughtheircompetencyinevaluatingarangeofwritingscriptsandspeakinginterviews
takenfromdifferentglobalsources.Thecertificationprocessisrequiredeverytwoyearsthroughafaceto
facestandardizationtrainingconductedbyanExaminerTrainer,andsuccessfulcompletionofnew
certificationmaterial.Examinerperformanceisthoroughlyandconsistentlymonitoredthroughoutthetwo
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2017518 (1)AdayinthelifeofanIELTSExaminer

yearcertificationperiod.WhenmonitoringExaminers,theExaminerTrainerreviewstheaccuracyofrating
writingandspeakingsamples,andalsoadherencetothestandardizedspeakingtestformat.Examiner
monitoringoccursaminimumofthreetimesbeforetherecertification,evenforthosewithexemplary
performance.Examinersperformingatlessthanexemplarylevelsarerequiredtoeitherundergoretraining
andfurthermonitoring,orareremovedasExaminersforseriouserrors.

http://ielts.org
http://britishcouncil.it/ielts

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