Private class for a proficiency test

Private lessons, purposes, and objectives:

The main objective of his private lessons: To make sure he is going to pass the English proficiency test demanded to enroll in a US College using grants from a Brazil - USA government international cooperation program in the field of Education. The test applied is going to be the IELTS  (International English Language Testing System) or the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). The student can choose between one of them.

 

Context and strategies:

Mario is a college student at a renowned public university in Brazil, and because he is a great student he was considered apt to try to join in an international educational cooperation program in his education field. He studies electrical engineering, and he is going to enroll in a college in California state. The cooperation program was signed between the minister of education of his country and the Education Department of the USA.

To enter higher education in the USA, students are required to take tests called SAT, SAT II, and ACT, which are tests equivalent to the National Exam of Middle Education in Brazil. Nevertheless, Mario was excused from the aforementioned tests because the agreement signed between the countries provides for this. There is no need for these tests because the student is already attending university in Brazil.

 

The purpose of his private classes is to become able to understand English at the specific level that is demanded, foreign students to attend classes in the University environment in the U.S. He needs to achieve the C-1 level of the Common European Framework.  He is currently a B-2, or upper-intermediate level student of the foreign language and he has been having lessons of the demanded level which is a C-1 advanced level in a regular English course in his hometown. He also has experience in reading academic engineering books in the English language because some books of his field are only written in the foreign language and have not been translated yet to his native language that is the Brazilian Portuguese.

 

He has some difficulties in verbal tenses, phrasal verbs, in the use of prepositions and articles and needs to enrich the vocabulary to be able to understand complex texts required in the university environment. So, merely technical English in the engineering field or even the B-1 level that he already achieved maybe would not be enough to have his enrollment approved and validated for the course in the USA.

 

 

He only has three months to prepare for the proficiency test, so he needs daily private lessons, two hours long each, and two more hours of individual studies daily to make sure he will succeed and pass the required exams by the American university.

 

The activities follow the line of reasoning of tests applied to students native to the United States, this is why the Brazilian student who wants to enter a university needs this specific leveling. The American University, however, already has the understanding that the Brazilian student has merit in the higher engineering course, so he will only be charged, in this stage, the general and specific knowledge of the English language to enter the engineering course in the same area in California.

 

Classes will be taught using specific books and audiovisual methods designed to achieve the intended goals. Part of the material will be provided by the university in Brazil, following the guidelines of the US Ministry of Education and the State University of California.  Although, he is going to have to acquire, at his expense, a specific book of the tests he is going to use in his private lessons with the teacher.

 

 

Methodology:

 

Preparation for general and specific knowledge issues. Focus on specific issues in the target academic area. Individual classes with the use of proper material. Classes and exercises that aim on the most required language skills, especially for the first year at university in the USA. The time for performing the simulated tests must be measured.

 

Classes will be taught with a focus on how the English language proficiency test is applied, including all its stages and the required knowledge to be able to pass the exam.

 

 

It is important to notice that this method has already been tested and obtained excellent results on previous occasions. The methodology used proved to be highly effective. And to achieve the goals, routine, dedication, effort, patience, and responsibility were required. The concepts of the SWOT analysis which are: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats also integrate the methodology, and with that, it was possible to maximize the gains in the relatively short period to reach the desired ends.