SPEAKING IN IELTS
How speaking part is calculated in IELTS exam?
To avoid many mistakes that can happen in speaking when you take IELTS exam, consider four grading criteria to get a good score. The four grading criteria are:
Fluency and coherence (how fluently you can express yourself and how you can link the sentences to talk about a special topic)
Pronunciation (the way you pronounce words and how clear you are so someone else can understand you is very important)
Lexical resources (how much vocabulary do you know? Are you able to use a wide range of vocabularies to discuss something?)
Grammatical range and accuracy (using correct structure of sentences and tenses to explain yourself and be accurate)
If you don’t forget these four important matters considered by the examiners in IELTS exam, then by concentrating to do well in four parts you will be on the right direction for getting a good score. Let’s have a quick look at each one of them.
Fluency is a combination of :
Speed of speech
Length of answers
Pausing correctly
Coherence is the ability to:
Expand your answers
Answer the questions directly
Add relevant details to explain or illustrate your answers Connect your sentences by using tenses and connectors
Common mistakes:
Answering too fast or too long is not necessarily good. You may get penalized for poor pronunciation or lack of coherence. Also, you may get penalized for not answering the question at all. When asked a question there are people who talk about all other things except the point that they were asked. Don’t let this happen to you.
Pronunciations:
By having good pronunciation it is meant that you are able to make yourself clear for everybody else. Pronounce words or sentences that is understandable for other people too. What are the features of good pronunciation?
Basic word pronunciation
Linked speech sounds
Correct sentence stress
Correct use of intonation
Lexical resource (vocabulary):
Again the key concept is clarity.
Have enough vocabularies on hand to discuss a range of topics.
Use vocabularies correctly
Be able to express yourself when you don’t have the right words
Common mistakes:
You may think using long words shows that you know more? Well, you are wrong. Don’t use them if the meaning is not clear for yourself either.
Grammatical range and accuracy:
Avoid making grammatical mistakes
Use a range of grammatical structures and don’t repeat yourself by using simple ones.
All four criteria are judged for the three parts in speaking and you should be careful to be correct from the beginning to the end. Your voice is recorded but you are definitely scored at the real time by the examiner.
How are band scores calculated?
Your score for each criteria is out of 9. They are added and then divided by 4. For example if you get: grammar 7, vocabulary 7, pronunciation 6 and coherence 4 You will have a sum of 7+7+6+4=24 and 24:4=6 Your score will be 6. As you can see the person has forgotten to have the coherence throughout the speaking time which in turn has lowered the score.
