Wowza! This is a tough one. Let's speak about speaking, shall we?
Let's talk about the Key Assessment Criteria. Similar to IELTS Writing, there are 4 criteria that examiners use to accurately score your speaking.
Let’s get down to business. What on earth do they mean by “Fluency and Coherence”?
Did the lovely dictionary definitions help at all? NO. These definitions do not tell you what exactly “Fluency” and “Coherence” mean in IELTS Speaking terms. Combined, “fluency” and “coherence” simply mean: speaking at a rate and a level of logic of a sane, fully conscious person. I don’t just mean a native English-speaking person, I mean just any person.
When we speak in our own language about something to someone, we speak at a pretty consistent rate without much interruption or delay. This means that any pauses when we’re chatting to our friends are purely because we are “searching our thoughts” for ideas – not words or the correct grammar. THIS IS FLUENCY! So, when taking an English proficiency test, the one way to prove actual English competence is to be able to speak FLUENTLY!
Coming back to when we are chatting to our mates in our native language, we speak in a way that is logical, well sequenced as well as with appropriately paused and connected sentences. Think about how you talk to your friends when you’re explaining what a “meme” is – in your native language. You start, pause, explain and stop in a way that shows YOU understand what YOU are saying! This is COHERENCE! So, when taking an English proficiency test, the one way to prove actual English competence is to speak COHERENTLY!
You can’t just go around slurring your words, jumbling up nouns and verbs then putting together random sentences like you’re completely drunk. That’s all the “Fluency and Coherence” key assessment criteria means: Speak at a rate that is appropriate and in a logical manner! Simples!
Yes, but HOW does one score well? Speak appropriately for the situation without too much repetition or self-correction + fully, logically answer the questions + develop/extend your ideas appropriately.
Let's move on to Lexical Resource
Now lexical resource just means your range of vocabulary. It’s not quite the same as the vocabulary you’d use in IELTS Writing, though, is it? Conversational vocabulary encompasses your ability to use a variety of words appropriately and adequately. You can show good lexical resource by being FLEXIBLE. This is something that other tutors may forget to mention. The ability to be flexible when talking to an examiner is what will get you a high band score for lexical resource.
FLEXIBILITY IN:
1. being able to paraphrase or come up with words to overcome a gap in your thoughts/vocabulary,
2. being able to switch between formal and informal speech
3. being able to use collocations and phrasal verbs (e.g. knowing how to use phrases like “have a party” instead of “make a party” or showing you understanding what “my car breaks down often”)
4. being able to relay emotions. You know you’ve reach the height of communication in English when you can successfully talk about your feelings and emotions.
The best way to improve your IELTS Speaking vocabulary? SPEAK! Get talking and chatting with native English speakers. Really immerse yourself in the language and you will soon find yourself speaking comfortably and easily!
Let’s move on to Grammatical Range and Accuracy
I'm going to let you in on a secret that teachers and tutors all over the world know about most mid-range/close to high-range English students: ALL STUDENTS ABOVE A BAND 5.0 ARE ABLE TO DETECT MISTAKES IN SPEECH!! Even before starting lessons with me, any student who has already sat for the test is able to tell when they are making mistakes in their own speech.
So what is the one rule I have for grammatical accuracy for IELTS Speaking? IF IT SOUNDS WRONG, IT IS WRONG! You are able to hear mistakes! You can hear it when your friends talk to you and you will certainly hear your mistakes when you listen to a recording of yourself.
So how do we increase grammatical accuracy? Listen to yourself talking (just record a casual conversation with a friend) and really notice where you're making mistakes. Then work towards fixing your speaking mistakes. Now that we've tackled accuracy, how do we tackle range? SPEAK! READ! LISTEN! Do everything you can to familiarize yourself with different types of sentences used in speech (length of sentence, complexity of sentence and the correct use of words in sentences). Practicing grammar in a book just isn't good enough.
Finally, we are at Pronunciation. This particular assessment criteria really grinds my gears as I am a strong supporter of ANY and ALL accents. I am also a big supporter of nuances in pronunciation. I love hearing different people pronounce words differently - whether you have a strong Kiwi accent and say "sex" instead of "6" or you're a native Spanish speaker that tends to add an "e" behind a word, I love all accents and different pronunciations. This is a really tough one as the Pronunciation assessment criteria states that rhythm, stress timing, elision (omitting certain sounds, e. g. being able to say “I’m” instead of “I am”), intonation and the production of words are all gauged but the whole conversation can be marked poorly if accent disrupts the listener’s ability to understand the speaker or if the listener has to put in a great effort to understand the speaker.
My advice? Don't change your accent or your speech nuances for anyone or anything. Be the beautiful individual that you are BUT make an effort - work hard to ensure that anyone listening to you speak does not struggle to understand you. This is the essence of a good communicator: doesn't matter which country you come from, if we are speaking English together, make sure I understand what you're saying
I hope this has simplified and made Key Assessment Criteria for IELTS Speaking easier to understand. Now you know:
· What is expected of you
· What needs to be done to get a high score (very simplified, I know, but that’s where your tutor/mentor/course providers come in and help!)
Keep checking back for more in the “Making It Easy to Understand” series!
Love,
Reena
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