General tips for Speaking
Before the test • Try and talk in English as much as possible. • Go to the Informal Activity meetings organized by the Self Access Centre (SAC) in the ELC. Ask in the SAC for details. • Remember the more familiar you are with everyday social English the more fluent you will sound. • Make sure you are familiar with the structure of the test. • Listen to as much English as you can – watch English TV channels, listen to English radio - RTHK (567AM) & BBC (675 AM), and watch films in the SAC. • Talk aloud to yourself and tape yourself. During the test • Your appearance may have an unconscious effect on the examiner, so dress neatly. • Arrive early. Sometimes examiners get ahead of their schedule. • Try to look confident. Don’t fold your arms. • Keep eye contact with the examiner, especially in parts 1 and 3. Don’t speak to the cassette recorder. • Don’t worry if the examiner does not look at you in part 2. He or she will be listening and checking the criteria for assessing you. • Don’t worry about being nervous. Everyone is nervous doing these tests. Don’t say to the examiner ‘I’m nervous’! • Remember speaking ‘fluently’, does not mean speaking ‘quickly’. • Don’t be afraid to correct yourself if you make a grammatical mistake.
Details of the Speaking Test
Structure of the test The speaking test is the last test you do on the test day. You will be given a time slot between about 2pm and 6.30pm. There are three tasks or parts to the test which takes the form of an interview lasting between 11 & 14 minutes: Part 1 Introduction & Interview (4-5 minutes) Part 2 Individual long turn (3-4 minutes) Part 3 Two-way discussion (4-5 minutes) The tasks test your ability to perform the following functions in English: • provide personal and non-personal information • express & justify opinions • make suggestions • speculate • express a preference • make comparisons & discuss contrasts • summarise • relate personal experiences • analyse • repair conversation & paraphrase Procedure of the test The test is conducted by one examiner. He or she asks all the questions and assesses you. The test is recorded on audio cassette. You will be taken to the examiner’s room where you will be asked to sit either opposite or at right angles to the examiner. The examiner will then switch on the cassette recorder and start the test. Marking Your performance will be assessed on the criteria below: - Fluency & Coherence Being able to keep going, to talk at a normal rate without unnatural pauses and hesitations. Being able to link ideas and language together clearly so the examiner understands you. - Lexical Resource Having the vocabulary which enables you to express yourself while talking about both familiar and unfamiliar topics or being able to get around any vocabulary gaps without hesitation. - Grammatical Range & Accuracy Being able to use a variety of grammatical structures appropriately. Making as few grammatical mistakes as possible. Being understood despite making grammatical mistakes. - Pronunciation Being able to use English pronunciation features like stress and intonation naturally. Not causing the examiner any problems in understanding what you are saying. The examiner will give you a score from 1 to 9 for each of these factors. They will be converted into one final score between 1 and 9.
How to prepare for IELTS – Speaking
Practice for Part 1 The examiner will ask you to speak for 1-2 minutes on a topic, which he or she will give you on a card. The card will give you an outline of what you need to talk about. You will be given one minute to prepare and you can make notes. The examiner will give you a piece of paper and a pen. He or she will invite you to start talking when your preparation time is up. The examiner will not say anything while you are speaking but will stop you, if you talk for more than two minutes. Then you might be asked one or two short follow-up questions. The topics will be of a general nature. You will be asked to describe things such as a restaurant you enjoy eating in, a book you have read recently or a piece of equipment in your house you cannot live without. You will also be asked to relate what you are talking about, to yourself – e.g. ‘say why you choose to eat in this restaurant’ or ‘say what you enjoyed about the book’. For example: Describe a restaurant you enjoy eating in. You should say: where this restaurant is what kind of menu it has what other features it has and explain why you choose to eat there. How to prepare for IELTS – Speaking This part gives you