IELTS Speaking Assessment
The Speaking Examination is 1-to-1 with an examiner. During the speaking test that professionally trained tutor will asses your ability of communication. The speaking examination is scored based on 4 different criteria:
- Fluency and Coherence
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy
- Lexical Resources (Vocabulary)
- Pronunciation
The score goes from 0 (No English Ability) to 9 (Native level of English Ability) You can view the Band Descriptor to the right. We will take a look at each of them and try to explain what do they mean.
Fluency and Coherence
FLUENCY is the ability to express yourself clearly and accurately without too much stops and hesitation while speaking at a fast pace. This means that:
- You speak quick enough.
- You don't repeat yourself too much.
- You don't self-correct yourself too much.
- You don't think for a while or hesitate to answer.
- You sound confident and experienced when speaking.
- You give long answers to all topic questions without any problem.
COHERENCE is the logic of your speech. How consistent and logical is your answer. This depends on your answer structure, logic in connecting your sentences and use of connective linking phrases. This means that:
- You use a variety of linking phrases (however..., moreover..., as a matter of fact..., on the one hand..., on the other hand..., etc.)
- Your logic does not break from repetitions.
- Your speech pattern does not break from self corrections and grammatical mistakes.
- Your speech is not too wordy and difficult to understand.
- You develop your answer topics clearly and appropriately.
Scored 0 to 9
Fluency and Coherence Example:
Part 3 Question: Why do people like to watch live sports?
High Level Fluency and Coherence:
"Well, there are many sports fans around the world who are extremely passionate for either their favorite sports team or an athlete who plays in that team. Just think about all the fans of Manchester United or Barcelona. Or the people who follow Cristiano Ronaldo. Moreover, those who are real fans to the core would go an extra mile to participate in these live sports events. They would dress up in their team's official colors and would cheer and scream at the side of the stadium while watching their team play. In a way this is how they want to express their passion for the sport and they dedication to that team..."
Low Level Fluency and Coherence:
"Ummm... People like to watch sports because it is interesting. They are interested in these sports like football. They like to watch it, ummm... maybe they like to see their favorite star. Ummm... Their favorite star... Their favorite star... Ummm... maybe a football star or a tennis star.... That's all."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
GRAMMATICAL RANGE is how much grammatical forms do you use. It looks at the sentences you use like for instance do you use simple sentences or complex ones. Here are more examples:
- Do you use complex sentence structures?
- Do you use passive voice?
- Do you use long sentences linked with many linking phrases?
- Do you use a variety of tenses - Past, Present, Future, Perfect tenses?
- Creative sentence structures like reported speech, rhetorical questions, etc.
ACCURACY is how correct or accurate you speak in English. Basically, how many mistakes you make and what kind. For instance:
- Do you use tenses correctly? (Past, Present, Future, Perfects)
- Do you build sentences correctly? (sentence structure, verb-noun adjective-adverb positioning, subject-object of the sentence, syntax, etc.)
- Do you use prepositions right?
- Do you link your sentences in a coherent answer?
Scored 0 to 9
Grammatical Range and Accuracy Example:
Part 3 Question: What kinds of ambitions do people have?
High Level Grammatical Range and Accuracy:
"Well, of course, the range of ambitions for people would be very different, depending on how old they are. If we were to take children, they would have very innocent ambitions like just generally being happy or becoming a famous singer or dancer. As we grow older, our dreams start to evolve and become more specific, and we give up many of the childish ones in this process. Take a look at me for instance. I used to want to be an archeologist, while in high school, and right now, I don't want to have anything to do with that. As a young adult my ambitions became more realistic and more related to having my own home and a stable and reliable career..."
Low Level Grammatical Range and Accuracy:
"Many people have many ambitions. Me, when I am 10, I want to work scientist. I think scientist is a great job. I see many movies about scientist save the world. They look very full of courage and I want to be that. Now I don't want to be scientist anymore. I want to be businessman. I think businessmen can make a lot of money and use the money to do good in the world."
*Wrong use of Past-Present-Future tense.
*Short sentences.
*No linking phrases.
*No complex structures.
Lexical Resources (Vocabulary)
LEXICAL RESOURCES is how much vocabulary you use in your sentences and the level of that vocabulary. What's more, they look at your ability to paraphrase, describe situations clearly and use variety of words. In a way:
- Do you paraphrase? (explain the same idea in 5 different ways).
- Do you use a variety of similar meaning words and phrases? (synonyms)
- Do you use a variety of vocabulary and topic-based vocabulary?
- Do you make errors with word choices?
- Can you use idiomatic language consistently?
- Do you give multiple examples in every topic?
Scored 0 to 9
Lexical Resources (Vocabulary) Example:
Part 3 Question: What kinds of weather do you like?
High Level Lexical Resources (Vocabulary):
"There are many types of weather I like and I believe it's related to my mood, the seasons or even the day of the week. Let's take the work week. If I have to go to work, I'd prefer that it's sunny and warm, but not scorching hot as I really hate sweating. I definitely feel stressed and anxious when it rains and I have to go to work. However, if it's the weekend and I have plans with my friends, then mildly warm sunshine and some clouds is the forecast I'd choose. It just fits perfectly with some outdoor activities like hiking, mountain climbing, or even swimming..."
Low Level Lexical Resources (Vocabulary):
"The weather I like is sunny. I like sunny weather because it makes me happy. I think sunny weather is good for the skin. When it's sunny I like to walk outside and play sports. I like it a lot because I like the sun. It makes me feel good."
*Repetition of same words and phrases
*A single example of weather (the question is "What kinds..." not " Your favorite...")
*Too short overall as an answer.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is about the way you speak. Something very important to note is that you DO NOT NEED to sound like a native (British, American, Australian, etc.). You need to have a natural pronunciation pattern and to be easily understood by other peers. Here are more things you need to follow:
- You should avoid mispronouncing words and phrases.
- You should control the speed and pace of your speech.
- You shouldn't do lapses - pauses and periods in your speech.
- You should stress words and sentences in the right way.
- You should use intonation, rise and fall of your voice to emphasize your feelings about a word and topic.
- You should link words and sounds together and avoiding "cutting off" in sentences and longer words.
Scored 0 to 9
Pronunciation Example:
Some Common Pronunciation Mistakes:
Good: waterfall Bad: wa---ter---fall
Good: programmer Bad: pro---gram---mer
*cutting off words
Good: scientific Bad: scientific
Good: communicating Bad: communicating
*wrong intonation in a word, word stress
Good: I've neve been a big fan of romantic movies.
Bad: I---ve never---been---a big fan---of---romantic movies.
*lapses - too many pauses in a sentence, making is sound slow
How are they scored?
The four (4) criteria are absolutely equal. All of them account to 25% of the whole score. This means that you can't just learn vocabulary, or just practice pronunciation. You need a whole approach that will improve all of the four criteria at the same time. None of them are more or less impactful on your speech and end result.
Fluency and Coherence
25%
of your score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
25%
of your score.
Lexical Resources
25%
of your score.
Pronunciation
25%
of your score.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
How to improve my FLUENCY?
Ideas to improve your Fluency:
Speaking fluently, quickly without repeating yourself will take a while to master. There is no shortcut to this skill and it will require you to:
1. Find a speaking partner. Without talking to someone regularly, you won't build the confidence to talk fluently. If you want to work with us, we will be happy to help you. Click here for offers.
2. Use technology. You can use your mobile phone to record yourself all the time, practicing Part 1, 2 and 3. Do it every time you can and analyze your speech.
3. Watch a lot of media online. You can listen to speakers from all around the world on YouTube and other video/audio platforms. Find your favorite topics and make a habit to listen for at least one hour a day in English.
How to improve my COHERENCE?
Ideas to improve your Coherence:
This is linked to your fluency, but it is about the logic of your speech and how well it flows from idea to idea. You can:
1. Build your own logical speaking models. You can work with a teacher who can help you to build speaking models for different answers in English. DON'T memorize a teacher's model, but build your own with his help.
2. Learn to use many linking phrases. We can give you ready lists with sentence structures ready to be used. In general, many English examinations emphasize on a variety of linking words. The more you use the higher you score.
3. Listen to speakers online. Learn to analyze speech and listen other speakers. How do they begin their speech? How they explain their ideas? How do they end their speech? Use YouTube or other video/audio platforms.
How to improve my VOCABULARY?
Ideas to improve your Vocabulary:
Something important to note is that you DON'T need to memorize a whole dictionary in order to get the maximum on the exam. What you can do is:
1. Learn topic specific vocabulary. If you are talking about the weather, make sure you mention at least 5 types of weather between your answers, If you talk about computers, use at least 10 computer words/phrases and so on.
2. Do not focus on idioms. Idioms can boost your score, and you can learn a few easy ones like 24/7, to get/be ahead, to go the extra mile and so on, but using too many will break your speech fluency, sentence structure and even pronunciation.
3. You can use vocabulary apps or books. Books with exercises are very helpful in order to improve your speech. I'd highly recommend the "Wordly Wise" series. But you can also do a lot of IELTS reading exercises which have enough vocabulary for you to score 9.
How to improve my GRAMMAR?
Ideas to improve your Grammar:
Grammar is a lot about what you learned as a kid. Many students learn wrong or broken grammar while young and then get used to use it. This makes it very difficult to change, and it tales time to fix. Here is what you can do:
1. Do grammar exercises. You can buy yourself an English grammar book and do it all with a teacher or even by yourself. The key is to practice a lot of problematic grammar like prepositions, tenses, sentence structure and so on.
2. Practice writing your speech. In general the best students write whole topics for the speaking Part 2 and 3. These are the more challenging question and you can develop them like essays (just remember to use spoken language). This method is very useful as you can write many topics and then review easily one after another.
3. Use the help of a teacher. At the end of the day you are not an English expert and you will need help to build your topics and improve your sentences. A teacher should help you to build longer, more complex sentences for your speech.
How to improve my PRONUNCIATION?
Ideas to improve your Pronunciation:
Wrong pronunciation can be a big problem for certain students. Wrongly learned pronunciation is quite difficult to root out and will take a lot of practice. Some ideas here can be:
1. Use Apps and other internet tools. There are many apps these days that allow you to lip-sync with a song or a speech from a person. There are language apps like Duolingo that can help you say words directly to the app.
2. Work with a teacher to find out your pronunciation mistakes. Before you try to improve your pronunciation, you should know exactly what problems you are having. An experienced teacher can help you up with finding your mistakes.
3. Speak more with a partner. Pronunciation is improved by correcting your speech but also by speaking a lot and regularly. If you practice speaking once a month, that won't improve anything about your speech. Plan carefully and focus for a few months specifically on improving your speech.