COURSE FACTSHEET
Vacation TOEFL Who is this course for?
Included in the price
This course is ideal for students who want to prepare for the TOEFL exam, yet still have plenty of free time to explore their surroundings and practice their English outside of class. In addition to developing TOEFL skills and strategies, students improve their overall academic English proficiency so that they are better equipped for studies at a US college or university.
à2 0 instructor-led TOEFL skills lessons per week àW elcome Information Pack àP lacement test on arrival, weekly assignments, group participation, and progress tests à Course materials àG uidance and information on testing dates. àU se of Computer Learning Center àA ccess to Classmate, the Kings online learning platform àW ireless internet in the Center à Optional weekly lecture program àT wo free social activities per week àE nd-of-course certificate (90% or higher attendance required)
Key Facts Start dates: Every Monday: 7 January – 9 December 2019; 6 January – 7 December 2020 Locations offered: Boston
Los Angeles
New York
Level: Kings Level 5 (Intermediate) Length: 2 – 12 weeks Lessons: 20 lessons (15 hours) per week (45 minutes per lesson) Minimum age: 16 Average age range: 18 – 30 Maximum class size: 15 Learning outcomes: à Fluency in all main areas of academic English à Development of specialized exam skills and strategies à Familiarity with exam format and question types
Please note that the exam fee is not included in the cost of the course.
Course structure and content The Vacation TOEFL course is the most convenient TOEFL test preparation course at Kings. The course has 20 instructor-led TOEFL skills lessons per week. Each Kings lesson is 45 minutes long. It is designed to improve students’ overall English language proficiency, build academic vocabulary, and enhance student performance on academic tasks in all sections of the exam. The course not only improves test scores but it also prepares students for success at US colleges and universities. Experienced instructors with a track record of results teach the TOEFL classes. They help students achieve the maximum TOEFL score possible (depending on length of study) by creating an individual study plan and by providing regular feedback. Additionally, students have access to full-length practice tests so that they become comfortable with the exam’s online format and the time pressure.
1. Context Embedded The Vacation TOEFL course is based on the communicative approach to learning and focuses on meaningful communication skills. This motivates students to read, listen, speak, and write. A variety of different high-interest academic topics are used to teach key testtaking strategies and to keep the classroom content engaging. 2. Multimedia Support This course uses interactive multimedia such as news videos, audio recordings and presentations to assist students in building background knowledge as well as improving their comprehension of academic content. Continued overleaf æ
Sample timetable (class times may vary by location) Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
9.00 – 10.30
TOEFL skills
TOEFL skills
TOEFL skills
TOEFL skills
TOEFL skills
10.30 – 11.00
Break
Break
Break
Break
Break
11.00 – 12.30
TOEFL Strategies
TOEFL Strategies
TOEFL Strategies
TOEFL Strategies
TOEFL Strategies
COURSE FACTSHEET
Course structure and content (Continued)
4. Authentic Practice The course content provides daily opportunities to practice for the test using authentic questions and listening and reading materials from actual TOEFL tests. Students also regularly practice under exam conditions to develop timed test-taking strategies. Students are able to practice speaking with a headset and microphone and are given many timed writing assignments to ensure full preparation for the time constraints of test day.
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Assessment Continuous assessment helps students check their progress towards their goal and see their own improvement on a regular basis. Students begin with a diagnostic test and are then assessed on a weekly basis with assignments, participation, and tests. Students review their incorrect answers with detailed explanations of the correct answers.
I studied in GIE course and TOEFL at Kings approximately for one year. I thought I knew English Grammar well back in the past on the first day at Kings since I’d studied it in South Korea, but I realized that I couldn’t make a correct conversation with native speakers. I believe that I’ve rapidly improved my speaking and writing, and my grammar and reading have been solidified at Kings with awesome teachers and staff.
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Ryan Hur, TOEFL iBT Preparation student
Extra information: Depending on their level, some students may require more than 4 weeks of study before taking the TOEFL exam to achieve their test goals.
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The teaching at Kings was really effective. It really prepared me to do TOEFL, I didn’t have any surprise when I did the test because it was really what I saw in class. It was a bit easier than the actual test, but still I was prepared for that. I enjoyed doing the writing part, or reading paragraphs and really finding the idea that mattered in the paragraph, or just being able to write in a concise way and expressing your ideas in a clear way, which in English wasn’t something I was used to — using more, different, vocabulary, not just the same words. That’s what I liked most about it. We had max 10 people in the class, we didn’t have many. It varied each week and you could interact with other students any time. There were lots of exercises where you had to work in a group of 2 or 3 people and it was always good. We had people from level 5 to level 7, so we didn’t have all the same level of English so we were able to teach each other things. TOEFL is not really learning English, it’s about how the TOEFL works, so learning with higher level students can help other students to improve.
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Samy Belakbir, TOEFL iBT Preparation student
1981 08/19
3. Academic Word List Students are introduced to the Academic Word List (AWL) and have opportunities to practice these words which occur in high frequency in academic contexts. Studies show that students who master the AWL are more likely to succeed in an academic setting.