IELTS SPEAKING Mat Clark IELTS SHARE https://www.com/groups/ielts.share/ 1 Mat Clark – IELTS Speaking IELTS SPEAKING – MAT CLARK Preface During my 5 years as an IELTS examiner in China, I have seen thousands of Chinese IELTS candidates perform OK in the speaking interview. Most people would agree that an OK score in speaking is 5 or 6. Many students now realize that a score of 5 or 6 for speaking is not enough for their study requirements and this is why I wrote this book. Many students spend months preparing for the IELTS speaking test and still find it difficult to score 7 or higher.
In fact some candidates actually score lower than they potentially could have scored. There are a few reasons behind this poor performance and these will be discussed in detail throughout this book, but one major factor is the lack of quality material available for IELTS speaking preparation. As an IELTS examiner, I am able to precisely separate the differences in spoken English ability resulting in different IELTS speaking scores – this knowledge provides the basis for this book. There are a number of IELTS speaking books on the market but this book aims to break new ground by focusing on how to prepare for and achieve a speaking score of 7 (or maybe higher).
All of the skills and strategies presented in this book are typical of a high scoring speaking candidate. This book is intended for anyone who intends to take the IELTS test; it will also help learners of English improve their speaking skills. It is suitable for both classroom use and self-study. 2 IELTS SHARE https://www.com/groups/ielts.share/ Mat Clark – IELTS Speaking TABLE OF CONTENTS The Speaking Test in China.
Chinese Performance and the Reason. The Real Reason. 6 Two Different Speaking Systems. The Economics of Language.
The Location of Key Information. Summary of the Differences between Spoken English and Spoken Chinese. 12 The Marking System. Fluency and Coherence (Scored 1~9).
Grammatical Range and Accuracy (1~9). A Summary of the Marking System. 23 The Speaking Test Format. Part One of the Speaking Test.
Possible Topics for Part One. Question Type 1: ―Basic Description‖ Questions. Question Type 2: ―Liking‖. Question Type 3: ―Disliking‖ Questions.
Question Type 4: ― Types of‖ Question. Question Types 5: ―Wh-/How Often‖ Questions. Question Type 6: ―Yes/No‖ Questions. Question Type 7: ―Would‖ Questions:.
Part one topic list. Part Two of the Speaking Test. Part Two Problems. Part Two and the Making System.
Part Two Topics. Strategies for Part Two. Producing a Good Quality Part Two Talk. Part Two Topic Analysis.
110 3 IELTS SHARE https://www.com/groups/ielts.share/ Mat Clark – IELTS Speaking 3. Part Three of the Speaking test. Part Three and Score Adjustment. Part Three Question Types.
Asking for help. Example interview scripts. Suggested, further reading. 192 4 IELTS SHARE https://www.com/groups/ielts.share/ Mat Clark – IELTS Speaking The Speaking Test in China 1.
Chinese Performance and the Reason 1. Chinese Performance As an IELTS examiner, I tested speaking candidates in most Chinese cities. I have often heard stories about candidates in certain cities getting higher scores than others, for example, ―Candidates in Beijing get higher scores than candidates in Wuhan.‖ This is actually an ―IELTS myth‖ and there is no truth in this theory. In reality, there is a nationwide trend of score averages and although some tests may contradict this trend on certain dates, the scoring average is quite consistent.
On average, 15~20% of candidates score below 5 (mostly 4); 60% of candidates score 5; 15~20% of candidates score 6; less than 5% score 7; a very small number of candidates score 8 or 9. (In my 5 year career of IELTS testing in China, which covered around 4,000 interviews I did not award a single speaking 9!) From these numbers we can make the assumption that in general, Chinese candidates find it quite easy to score 5, but there are clearly some problems with scoring 6, 7 and 8. I always begin a new IELTS speaking class by asking my students what score they need for speaking and the response is usually: 40% need a speaking score of 6; 60% need a speaking score of 7; Clearly, most candidates are scoring below their required score in the speaking test. We can assume part of the problem rests in their preparation for the speaking test because most candidates achieve their desired score for listening, reading and writing (although the writing test has its own problems – these will be dealt with in another book).
We can now ask the question: Why do so many Chinese candidates have problems scoring 6 or higher for speaking? Look at the following reasons and decide which you think are the most accurate in answer to the question above, put a cross (X) beside any reasons which you think are not true: a) The questions are too difficult. b) The candidates are nervous. c) The candidates haven't had enough practice. d) The candidates make lots of grammar mistakes.
e) The examiners are too strict. 5 IELTS SHARE https://www.com/groups/ielts.share/ Mat Clark – IELTS Speaking f) The candidates give too many boring answers. g) The candidates didn't know enough about the topics. h) The candidates have poor pronunciation.
i) The examiner didn't agree with the candidates' opinions. j) The candidates didn't communicate efficiently. k) The candidates have a Chinese accent. l) The candidates didn't answer the question directly.
m) The candidates didn't understand the question fully. n) The candidates had no experience of talking with foreigners. o) The candidates think in a Chinese way (with Chinese logic). p) The candidates can't express their ideas clearly.
q) The candidates were unfamiliar with the examiner's accent. r) The examiner talks too quickly. s) The candidates are not used to speaking in English. t) The candidates speak too slowly.
Which 3 reasons are the most accurate? If you are working in a class group, compare your reasons with your partner. The Real Reason Some of the reasons on the last page influence your speaking score but in fact the main reason why most Chinese candidates fail to score 6 or higher is because: 2. Do not Fully Understand How the Speaking Test Is Marked When we take test of any kind, one of the most important things to know is how the test is actually marked. As an example, let's forget about the IELTS for a while and consider a driving test.
Anyone who is preparing for a driving test knows exactly what the driving test examiner is looking for, and they work on perfecting these particular aspects of their driving skills. They don't simply get in the car and ―do some driving for an hour‖. Most people who take the IELTS speaking test don't know what the IELTS examiner is looking for, so most candidates just go into the interview room and ―do some speaking English for 15 minutes‖. As a result, many candidates miss the whole point of the speaking test and their score is usually below 6.
6 IELTS SHARE https://www.com/groups/ielts.share/ Mat Clark – IELTS Speaking In the next section we will look in detail at the marking system of the IELTS speaking test, but first it is important to think about the basic elements of scoring. The IELTS speaking test is a test for your spoken English language ability. Most people either don't know this or they don't understand the importance of this fact. Many candidates seem to focus in the wrong way.
Because the speaking test is based on a ―question – answer‖ format, many people focus far too much on ―answering‖ the questions. Obviously, candidates are required to answer the question, but what they may not realize is that the examiner doesn't give marks for the actual answer. The marks are given for the ―language content‖ of the answer – not the answer itself. It is possible to answer every question ―correctly‖ and still get a low score (4 or 5).
The examiner is not asking questions because he/she needs answer. There are no correct or incorrect answers in the speaking test. There are two basic types of answer: [A] An answer to the question: “How often do you go to the cinema?” “One a month” [B] A response focused on language: “What's your favorite color?” “Well, to be quite honest, I don't really have an actual favorite color but I guess that if I were buying clothes, then I'd usually go for something like blue or gray – you know, kind of dull colors, nothing too bright.” The examiner gives marks for language ability not information, so answer A would actually get a very low mark. (There is some language ability here – 3 words, so answers like these might finally get a score of 4.) Answer B does not focus on ―answering‖ the question, instead it focuses on showing as much language ability as possible.
This is the type of answer that a candidate needs to consistently produce to get a score in the region of 7. First Language Interference The speaking test is scored on a band system from 0~9. A score of 0 is someone who cannot speak any English at all. A score of 9 is someone who can speak English in the exactly the same way as an educated native speaker of English.
So the higher scores 6, 7 and 8 are quite near to ―native-speaker style English‖. This is where our next problems occurs. When we speak a second language most people are heavily influenced by their first 7 Mat Clark – IELTS Speaking language. (Regardless of what these languages are.) This causes problems because as we have just seen, to get a higher score for speaking it is essential to produce ―native speaker style English‖, but in fact most candidates produce Chinese style spoken English.
In other words, they speak English in a similar way to how they speak Chinese. It is not easy to instantly change your style of speaking, but one important step is to first consider the style of your first language and compare this with the style of the second language. Basically, to be able to speak English in the style of a native speaker, it is necessary to compare spoken Chinese with spoken English. When you can recognize the differences between these two speaking systems, it will be much easier to work on removing elements of your first language influence from your second language speech.
Building a clear picture of how these two spoken languages differ makes it easier to produce a more ―authentic style‖ of English. Think about the way you speak your first language (most likely Chinese). Try to list some points based on the style that native-speakers actually speak your language. Remember, we are not thinking about the actual language system here; we are dealing with the way that language is commonly used its spoken form.
The next section deals with this important step. 8 Mat Clark – IELTS Speaking Two Different Speaking Systems 1. The Economics of Language This first point may sound strange but in fact it is easy to understand. Different languages can be easily distinguished by the amount of words that native speakers produce in normal speech.
Ask the following question in your first language – Chinese (ask your partner if you are using this book in class); try to answer in a natural style: ―What food do you like eating?‖ Now think about your (or your partner's) answer. Try to repeat the answer exactly as it was given. How many actual words did the answer contain? Now ask the same question in English to a native speaker of English (if you can find one). Ask your teacher if you are using this book in class.