For EL, I have developed my own system that balances exam oriented work (working through exam papers, strategy, question identification, time management etc.) as well as formal language training (grammar rules, grammar drills, vocabulary, etymology), and finally exposure and immersion (mainly from extensive close reading and writing responses to challenging articles/stories). This method has constantly shown good results, but more importantly, students under my tutelage develop interest, confidence, and mastery over the language, empowering them for a lifetime of effective communication. (Please see attachment for an example of one term's resource package)
For GP, there are 3 main focus areas during lessons. (1) Exam focused teaching. This includes identifying question types and question requirements, learning the correct way to answer the specific questions that always come out, formula and framework for dealing with Summary & AQ, and comprehensive close reading. (2) Content. The GP exam makes use of a small pool of repeated topics, by understanding what these topics are and focusing on key areas of contention, I help students specialise in topics that interest them and that they have the skills to handle. It is a myth that the GP syllabus is too broad to prepare for, and I am able to direct students to the correct way to prepare for this exam. (3) Immersion. 35% of the marks in GP come from the candidates language use. This makes it very important that my lessons are immersive and engaging, because true mastery over English (and consequent excellence in GP) must come from constant and consistent high quality exposure.
For all levels, materials are provided. These materials are compiled from numerous resource books and past year papers – to buy all of them independently would easily cost parents several hundred dollars; I have curated and extracted the most relevant/useful materials and combined them with my teaching notes, to save parents’ money, and my students’ time so that they get the most benefit from a wide range of material, without wasting effort/energy going through material that does not help them improve.
