BY KEVIN AVERY, teacher at BRITISH COUNCIL INDONESIA FOUNDATION
Hi there,
#EnglishUpgrade time!
In this article, I am going give you some great score improving tips on IELTS speaking this week.
But first how many countries have I been to? What do you think? 5? 10? 15? What about you?
The answer is 15!! I have lived in three too; UK, Canada and Norway.
What about you? Have you been outside of Indonesia? Outside Asia?
Many students dream of living or studying in a foreign country.
One thing I am sure of... Taking IELTS opens doors –
It can help you live, study and work around the world!
Here are some facts! IELTS is the most popular English Exam in the world.
1. More than 2.5 million IELTS tests are taken each year!
2. 140 countries accept IELTS, including 9,000 schools, universities, and employers.
So to get to where you want to go, take IELTS with British Council. That means getting a good speaking test score! So here goes! Here are some tips!
How long does the speaking test take?
It is between 11 - 15 minutes. People often think it is a lot longer.
Don’t fall asleep or you’ll miss it!
How much of the IELTS score it the speaking test worth?
25 percent the whole IELTS exam. The other three sections are listening, reading and writing.
How many section are there in speaking?
Three sections.
Are some of the speaking sections worth more than others?
No it doesn’t work like that.
The examiner listens to you and gives you one score for the whole test.
You will get the best score possible even if you are nervous at the beginning!
Examiners mark 4 things in the exam. I will go through them below, and how to improve your score!
What is fluency and how can I make it score better?
This is how well you talk. Try to talk in the exam and answer questions fully.
Speak at a steady pace (not too fast and not too slowly).
Also try not to repeat or correct yourself too much. This is where practise comes in!
1. What is coherence and what is the examiner looking for?
Coherence means making sense and answering the question properly.Your answer needs to make sense!!! Also use words in your sentences like connectives (and, but, however, therefore etc.) and discourse markers (anyway, right, so, well, etc.)
E.g. (Well, he didn’t like bowling very much, but he did try it again on my birthday.)
2. What is Lexical Resource and what is the examiner looking for?
This means the words you use, the vocabulary!
Examiners want to hear a range of words used properly. (e.g. house, apartment, accommodation…)
Use collocations- like expensive restaurant, interesting activities, technical employers. This will improve your score.
3. What about grammar?
This is the third one the examiners mark.
You need to use verb tenses like present perfect and present continuous.
Also try to use complex sentences. For example “I took the cat to the vet after I found him sleeping in the garden”.
4. What is pronunciation and what is the examiner looking for here?
Pronunciation is how you say words and sentences.
To get a good score you need to be understood well by the examiner.
You need to speak with a nce natural rhythm. Also you need to put emphasis on the strong vowels in words, ( e.g. avocaaaaado) and the strong words in sentences (e.g. I went to the doctor, yesterday.)
How can I improve my score for the speaking test overall?
It’s really important to practise your speech with other people as much as you can. You can work with other students and practise many conversations topics.
You could take part in debates at British Council or join a club where people regularly practise their English.
You can practise IELTS speech questions. These are available from the British Council IELTS website.
You can take part in British Council IELTS lessons or mock tests that happen every month.
A lot of people just focus on speaking practise and this is only half of the game.
You need to read too!
Reading is the best way to learn new words and to see grammar being used correctly.
If you read regularly you will improve your vocabulary and grammar, and then you can speak to put it into use.
I hope this helps you. Next time we will look the speaking exam and I’ll give you some more tips. Remember to practise speaking a lot, but also to read!
Cheers, Kev