The importance of context

Background knowledge and context is such an important element of learning, especially for people from diverse backgrounds.

For example, the students who need to do an IELTS listening test can't just answer the questions based on their listening skills. In section 3 of the IELTS listening they need to understand western academic contexts and the ways that university function. In some cases they need to understand why university students conduct research, how they evaluate methodology such as questionnaires and sample sizes and the ways in which their results are analysed. Not only that, but they need to consider the implications of their finding, and what questions do they pose for future study.

As a result, students need to know the importance of academic style in Western institutions, not only the academic phrases related to academic study. This is often ignored by language teachers who simply teach students methods for passing a test, without doing into what any of the information actually means.