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IELTS English speaking course - Simply IELTS

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  1. Introduction

    General Overview of IELTS Speaking Test
  2. Evaluation criteria to assess IELTS Speaking test
  3. Do’s and don’ts in IELTS Speaking
  4. Frequently asked questions on IELTS Speaking section
  5. Speaking Test – Part 1
    IELTS Speaking Part 1 format and general approach
  6. Tips for IELTS Speaking Part 1
  7. Speaking Test - Part 2
    A step by step guide to IELTS Speaking Part 2 or cue card
  8. IELTS Speaking Part 2 topics
    Describe your first day at school IELTS Cue Card
  9. Describe an aquatic animal IELTS Cue Card
  10. Describe a bag you want to own IELTS Cue Card
  11. Describe a time you got up early IELTS Cue Card
  12. Describe an art or craft activity IELTS Cue Card
  13. Describe a person who solved a problem in a smart way IELTS Cue Card
  14. Describe an exciting book that you enjoy reading IELTS Cue Card
  15. Describe a cafe you like to visit IELTS Cue Card
  16. Describe a plan in your life that is not related to work or study IELTS cue card
  17. Talk about an article which you have read about health IELTS Cue Card
  18. Describe a time you were friendly to someone you didn’t like
  19. Describe a time you bought something from a street or outdoor market
  20. Describe a time when you are waiting for something special that would happen
  21. Describe a place you visited on vacation IELTS Cue Card
  22. Describe a creative person whose work you admire
  23. Describe a difficult decision that you once made
  24. Describe a good service you received IELTS Cue Card
  25. Describe a famous athlete you know IELTS Cue Card
  26. Describe a habit your friend has and you want to develop
  27. Describe a bicycle/motorcycle/car trip you would like to go on
  28. Describe a decision made by others/someone that you disagreed with
  29. Describe a businessman you admire
  30. Describe a town or city you would like to live in the future
  31. Describe an activity that you do after school/work
  32. Describe a foreign person who you have heard or known that you think is interesting
  33. Describe a time when you tried to do something but weren’t very successful
  34. Describe a piece of equipment that is important in your home
  35. Describe someone older than you whom you admire
  36. Describe an argument two of your friends had
  37. Describe a natural talent you want to improve
  38. Describe a law on environmental protection
  39. Describe a puzzle you have played IELTS Cue Card
  40. Describe a live sports match that you have watched
  41. Describe an occasion when you were not allowed to use your mobile phone
  42. Describe a piece of local news that people are interested in
  43. Describe a time you saw something interesting on social media
  44. Describe an art or craft activity that you had at school
  45. Describe a company where you live that employs a lot of people
  46. Describe a quiet place you like to spend your time in
  47. Describe a time when you helped a friend
  48. Describe a leisure activity near the sea that you want to try
  49. Describe a time when you shared something with others
  50. Describe your favorite movie IELTS Cue Card
  51. Describe your favorite singer
  52. Describe a time you made a promise to someone
  53. Describe an art exhibition that you visited
  54. Describe a time when you told your friend an important truth
  55. Describe a skill that you can teach other people
  56. Describe a time when you needed to use your imagination
  57. Describe a special hotel you stayed in
  58. Describe a film you watched IELTS Cue Card
  59. Describe a meeting in which you were speaker
  60. Describe a time when you had to walk barefoot
  61. Describe a house or an apartment you would like to live in
  62. Describe a website you visit often IELTS Speaking Cue Card
  63. Talk about an own thing which would like to remove
  64. Describe an island you would like to visit
  65. Speaking Test - Part 3
    Tips to crack IELTS Speaking Part 3
  66. Actual Speaking Exams
    IELTS Speaking test sample answer: Accommodation and House
  67. IELTS Speaking test: Behaviour, Patience and Politeness
  68. IELTS Speaking test: Computers, Internet and Technology
  69. IELTS Speaking test: Friends
  70. IELTS Speaking Test Answers Family
  71. IELTS Speaking sample answers: Hometown
  • Writing Correction




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Evaluation criteria to assess IELTS Speaking test

Evaluation criteria to assess IELTS Speaking test

Evaluation criteria to assess IELTS Speaking test
Evaluation criteria to assess IELTS Speaking test

Evaluation criteria to assess IELTS Speaking test are, in a way guidelines released by IELTS. They exclusively state which characteristics in a student’s speech are desirable. These evaluation criteria for IELTS Speaking section are as follows.

  1. Fluency and Coherence
  2. Lexical Resource
  3. Grammatical Range and Accuracy
  4. Pronunciation

Each area is given a score between 1 and 9, which is the highest, and the final speaking score is the average of all four.

Evaluation criteria to assess IELTS Speaking test in details

A. Fluency & Coherence – Guidelines

• speak without noticeable hesitations, repetition, or self-correction (fluency)
• give well explained answers, not short ones (fluency)
• connect your thoughts with a range of linking words (don’t overuse them) (fluency)
• answer the questions clearly and logically (coherence)

IELTS Speaking Band Descriptors - Fluency and coherence
IELTS Speaking Band Descriptors – Fluency and coherence

What is fluency? Whenever we were taught about fluency, you were given examples of newsreaders. We were told, “look, how fluent they are”. As a result, most of the students think the faster I speak the fluent I sound.

On the contrary, fluency is the ability to convert ideas into words. If you are fluent, you will naturally transform your ideas into words without any issue. If you are fluent, you need not struggle for correct words or sentence structures to convert ideas into words.

Coherence means rationality in speech. The answers should be easy to understand and make sense in the context of the conversation. Also, the ideas should be in a logical sequence.

In other words, you must avoid an abrupt introduction of sentences or ideas or should prevent any deviation in ideas while speaking. For this purpose, proper linking devices should be used, ensuring uniformity and consistency to the answers.

I know you must be thinking about how the IELTS examiner would judge me on these vague things when I am speaking. There are four indicators in your speech that can help anyone decide whether you are fluent and coherent. You must have the following.

Logical Answers:

Your answers must be logical and should not drift away from the subject.

Rare repetition of ideas:

In case you repeat ideas with different words, the examiner may think you don’t know the answer and may just cut you off and go to the next question.

Rare hesitation:

Irrespective of the reason, hesitation shows that you cannot convert ideas into words and hence lack fluency.

Rare self-correction:

In case you must correct what, you have been speaking, you should at least use signal words which indicate either continuation or discontinuation of the subject of discussion.

B. Lexical Resource – Guidelines

• use a range of uncommon vocabulary (accurately)
• use a range of idiomatic expressions (correctly and appropriately)
• don’t repeat the questions (use pronouns or sometimes synonyms)

IELTS Speaking Band Descriptors - Lexical resources
IELTS Speaking Band Descriptors – Lexical resources

Lexicon means language or dictionary. Hence, the resource related to language is called lexical resource. From observations, one could say that IELTS looks for three points while judging the lexical resource of any student.

Variety of words or rare repetition of words

The examiner wants to judge your ability to use a variety of words while speaking. Unfortunately, many students believe that they must use hi-fi words.

However, it is essential to realise that the purpose of IELTS is not to find the next Shakespeare. It merely wishes to distinguish people who can speak English well from the ones who cannot.

Also, since most of us don’t know these rare words, we may not use them properly. Such misuse may lead to penalties in the final scores.

Precision in using the words

The candidate may use a high level of vocabulary, but the intended meaning changes if it is not used in the right context. Such inappropriate usage of the words might affect your scores adversely.

Apt usage of typical phrases and collocations

You will be awarded a higher band if you can use phrases and collocations in the sentences.

Phrases are specific groups of words that are used together. They mean exactly what the words indicate. ‘I am about to send a letter.’ In this sentence, ‘I am about to’ is a typical phrase that can be used to tell what you intend to do soon.

A collocation is a pair of words used together more often than not. ‘office desk’, ‘bright day’ or ‘cold winters’ are all collocations.

I don’t know a word in English for some words in my mother tongue. What should I do?

This is a general question for students with English as a second language.

First, ensure that actually there is no similar word in English for the word you are searching for. Many times simply you may be unaware of these words.

Once you are sure that you cannot explain your concept using the words in English, you may use the local word. However, do NOT forget to define that term in English assuming the IELTS examiner doesn’t know anything about it.

C. Grammatical range and accuracy – Guidelines

• make as few grammatical errors as possible (use the correct verb tense, subject-verb
agreement;
• use a range of complex sentences

IELTS Speaking Band Descriptors - Grammatical range and accuracy
IELTS Speaking Band Descriptors – Grammatical range and accuracy

In this criterion, the correctness of grammar is checked. It includes the accuracy of the tenses, articles, prepositions, adjectives, adverbs etcetera.

To use a language, the speaker must have proficiency over the usage of tenses. For example, if the student is asked about his hobbies during childhood, he must use the simple past tense to illustrate childhood or past hobbies.

The examiner also wants to see whether the candidate can use a variety of sentences while speaking. Some students make use of only simple sentences. A better band can be achieved by using compound and complex sentences.

D. Pronunciation – Guidelines

• group words within sentences (chunking)
• highlight the important words (stress)
• raise and lower the pitch of your voice (intonation)
• produce the correct sounds

IELTS Speaking Band Descriptors - Pronunciation
IELTS Speaking Band Descriptors – Pronunciation

The last thing that IELTS examiner looks for in your IELTS Speaking test is Pronunciation. This criterion is related to how well do you pronounce a word. Overall, there are four critical aspects that IELTS interviewer pays attention to.

  1. Your speech must have understandable and acceptable sounds.
  2. Your speech should have a rare influence on mother-tongue.
  3. The speech must have appropriate pauses.
  4. You must have rare fillers.

Understandable and acceptable sounds

If a person sitting opposite to you can understand what you are speaking about and is not irritated by the pronunciations, I guess you are doing well.

Taking this advice to an extreme, many students believe that they must have a British accent to score well.

Rare influence of mother tongue

The influence of mother-tongue on your speech should be scarce. For example, some people say ESKUL instead of saying SCHOOL. This is not acceptable.

Appropriate pauses

Pauses mainly serve two purposes. Firstly, appropriate breaks help the listener to understand your speech well. Secondly, pauses offer a breather for the speaker.

Rare fillers

The fillers are sounds that are so repetitive that the listener cannot concentrate on the communication and hence is distracted. Typical sounds like hmmm, ah after every word can be distracting. Not only these sounds but some word which is repeated too often can act as fillers. Typical words such as, “you know”, “actually” or “basically” or any other for that matter, when used in every sentence might be a filler.

Even after understanding all these criteria, many students ask the following questions.

Does eye contact matter in the IELTS Speaking test?

IELTS doesn’t say that the examiner would be keenly looking for these things or not. However, from experience, I can say that you should not worry too much about these things.

Having said that, ensure that you maintain sufficient eye contact. You should not stare at the wall or avoid the other extreme, that is don’t stare at the examiner as well too long. It might make the person uncomfortable.

What kind of clothing should I wear on IELTS Speaking test day?

On the exam day, I would recommend a formal attire as far as the clothing is concerned. Now, you need not suit up, but some formal clothes would definitely suit the occasion. Some students who are not very comfortable with shirts and trousers may even try a plain t-shirt and jeans. Ensure that you wear a pair of shoes to the interview.

I sincerely hope that you have understood the task well. Best luck for your preparations.

More frequently asked questions on IELTS speaking section

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