As specialists in interactive courses and content for language learning, Dexway has developed and incorporated new courses for the preparation of official exams of English (UK/USA) into their extensive educational catalogue.
With practice for internationally recognized exams such as the B2 First and C1 Advanced, the new Dexway courses for the preparation of official English exams train the student using efficient learning techniques, focused on achieving success within the international official certificates independently of their level (Common European Framework for Languages). These exams can play a vital role in the academic or professional goals that people set for themselves, and as such Dexway has created a series of courses that will accompany the learner throughout the language learning process: English Dexway Certificate B2 + B2 First Exam Preparation y English Dexway Certificate C1 + C1 Advanced Exam Preparation.
The courses for the preparation of official exams use the same format as the official exams they are focused on in order to familiarize learners with their structure and thereby combat the fear of the unknown as far as possible. Exams can be a very stressful experience for the candidates, but thorough preparation and practice can help to alleviate these nerves. The courses focus on core skills such as reading, use of English, listening and writing through exercises and activities that reinforce each linguistic area and evaluate them using similar criteria to the official certificates. The repetition of exam style tasks will create a feeling of security and confidence when the exam day comes.
- Reading and use of English: working with texts and their subsequent activities to test comprehension and vocabulary in general, learners are presented with authentic exam tasks. Included in this section are grammar and vocabulary exercises to practice with sentence transformation and areas such as phrasal verbs, modal verbs and colloquial expressions which are common in the use of English paper. This section is notoriously difficult for students as it is a test of their linguistic skills in areas that are tricky to practice for. That’s why we have incorporated similar exercises throughout our courses, even from lower levels, so that students have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the task and gain confidence in their approach to them.
- Written expression: after studying examples of the various formats that writing tasks can take, such as letters/emails both formal and informal, a budget, a report, a review, etc, learners will produce their own examples of answers to exam-style tasks. Writing under the pressure of an exam setting can cause students problems which is why we included concrete examples and structured guidance throughout the course with the aim of giving students extensive practice at all the possible styles that could appear in an exam.
- Listening comprehension: students listen to a range of audios in order to carry out exam tasks such as matching, summarizing and ordering as well as answer comprehension questions related to the audios. At higher levels, exam candidates will be face regional accents and extended audio recordings with distractions and misleading information. In response to these challenges, our courses offer extensive listening practice – with the opportunity to listen multiple times if necessary.
- Oral expression: speaking practice, with exercises that present a topic of conversation and follow-up questions, partnered with the most advanced voice recognition system on the market give the student the opportunity to practice oral expression on an individual level, as well as in study groups where they can converse with other students about similar topics to those found in the actual exams. The course models and encourages natural speech, giving the opportunity to focus on individual sounds as well as extended speech.
Each part of the exam has a chronometer function which is set to the same time as the relevant official exam, so students have the chance to master the time needed to complete each part. Learning how to manage one’s time under the pressure of an examination is a vital part of the preparation process, meaning that candidates can feel confident that they are not going to run out of time, or rush through the tasks too quickly, thereby making careless errors.
Academic rigor and the unmatched interactivity of the Dexway courses enable educational institutions to train their students to an advanced level of English and prepare them to use English for academic or professional purposes. With careful preparation and the correct guidance, students will be able to progress methodically through the exam preparation courses at their desired speed, working towards academic and professional success, passing the official international certificates they choose with ease.