š£ļøScoring Band 9 in Speaking : Is it Possible & How to achieve itš£ļø
The speaking section consists of three parts: an introduction and interview, a short presentation, and a discussion. To achieve a band 9 score, you must demonstrate a high level of fluency, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation. Here are some strategies for success:
- Practice speaking English regularly, focusing on fluency and pronunciation.
- Develop your ability to express opinions, provide examples, and discuss abstract concepts.
- Expand your vocabulary by learning idiomatic expressions, phrasal verbs, and collocations.
- Participate in mock interviews and speaking activities to build confidence and improve your communication skills.
Top 5 Speaking Tips In Detail
- Speak some English every day. It is better to practice a little bit every day and improve your skills gradually than to speak your native language all week until you have an IELTS class. Youāll find more advice for IELTS Speaking practice here.
- Ask the examiner questions if you donāt understand. Your IELTS Speaking test is meant to be like a normal conversation between 2 people. Therefore, if you donāt understand a word, you can ask the examiner to explain what it means. Just say, āIām sorry, could you explain what X means?ā You can also ask them to repeat the question. However, you canāt ask the examiner to explain the whole sentence. Hereās what to do if you get an unfamiliar topic in your IELTS Speaking test.
- Do a 24-hour English warm-up. It takes most IELTS students 10-15 minutes to āwarm-upā and perform to the best of their ability on test day. Just like an athlete needs to warm up before a sporting event, you also need to warm up before your IELTS exam. Therefore, you should speak, write, read and listen to English for 24 hours before your IELTS Speaking test. Your family and friends might think you are crazy, but it will greatly affect your score!
- Give full answers. āYesā and āNoā are NOT satisfactory answers in your IELTS Speaking test ā you need to show the examiner how good your English is. If you give very short answers, there is no way the examiner can know how good you are. Therefore, you should try to extend your answers with explanations and examples.
- Correct your mistakes. People make small mistakes when they speak all the time, especially when they are nervous about an exam. Correcting your mistakes as you make them can show the examiner that you really do know your grammar and vocabulary.When you make a small mistake, say sorry and repeat the sentence correctly.
Know the Scoring Criteria in Detail
The examiner assesses your speaking skills based on the below listed four criteria. Fluency & Coherence The IELTS speaking criteria examine how fluently you can speak at length, your ability to talk without any pause or hesitation and self-correction. It also assesses the efficient use of cohesive devices like pronouns, connectors, conjunctions and more. You must speak in an accent and language that is easily understood by the examiner. Lexical Resource In this criterion, the examiner determines whether you use a wide range of vocabulary or not, try to convey the meaning in different words and use less common vocabulary. The usage of collocations and paraphrasing at the proper place is also taken into consideration. You must avoid errors while speaking. Grammatical Range & Accuracy Here, your formation of sentences i.e. building complex sentence structures and proper application of grammar is determined. The structures must be set so accurately that their use sounds natural and appropriate while you talk. Overuse of prepositions, conjunctions and articles must be avoided too. Pronunciation Your ability to use intonation (i.e. rise and fall of the voice while speaking) and the way you pronounce any word are taken into account. Your accent must be such that it is clearly understood by the examiner. Yet, having a mother-tongue influence your speaking is fine as long as you are understandable.
Common Challenges In The IELTS Speaking Section
#1: Not knowing what to expect: One of the gravest mistakes you can make is going to the test center not knowing what is coming. Before your test, make sure to thoroughly acquaint yourself with the test format and pattern by taking some practice tests, so that there are no nasty surprises on the exam day. #2: Lacking confidence The IELTS interviewers arenāt expecting you to be a brilliant orator: itās more than enough if you talk as you normally would to a friend or colleague. That said, it is important to make good eye contact with the interviewer, smile every now and then, and talk politely and courteously. #3: Giving yes/no answers The objective of the IELTS is to test your English language fluency, so it is necessary that you answer at least at some length and do not simply give monosyllabic answers. If youāre asked where youāre from, donāt simply reply with Coimbatore. Instead, say something like āIām from Coimbatore, which is one of the major cities in Tamil Nadu. Itās a wonderful place, with a lot to see and do.ā #4: Going off-topic Many students, in the midst of their interview, lose sight of the question asked and tend to go off on a tangent. Talking more is not the same as talking correctly. Remember, the interview questions are usually straightforward and simple, and donāt need more than a 3-4 sentence long answer. #5: Remaining silent Giving no answer is much worse than giving a poor oneāagain, remember that these questions are aboutĀ youāĀ there is nothing you donāt already know. If thereās a word or phrase in the question you donāt understand, it is perfectly OK to ask the interviewer to clarify it, but choosing to give no answer will be seriously detrimental to your overall score. #6: Memorising answers It is usually very easy to tell when a candidate has memorized his answers, and doing so is likely to reflect poorly on your scores since the interviewers are looking for spontaneity and ability to respond correctly and quickly. #7: Wrong pronunciation A native-like fluency is not expected of you, but it is important regardless to only use words whose pronunciations you are confident about; otherwise, choose a synonym you can actually pronounce. #8: Repeating the same word One of the things the IELTS seeks to examine is the breadth of your vocabulary, and using the same word over and over again will not win you any favours.
IELTS Speaking Format in Detail
The Speaking test is a face-to-face interview between the test taker and the examiner. It determines the speaking ability of the candidate. Every speaking test is recorded so that it can be used for reassessment or remarking of the test if required. To familiarize yourself with this test, you can attempt IELTS Speaking topics, record your responses and listen to them in order to analyze your performance and understand the speaking criteria.
General Format for speaking Test:
IELTS Speaking Part 1 Introduction
- The test taker & and the examiner introduce themselves.
- Examiner asks general questions on topics related to personal interest, work, hometown, studies, and family.
- Lasts forĀ 4-5 minutes
Skills Assessed Ability to convey ideas and views on daily topics, circumstances, or common experiences by answering a range of questions IELTS Speaking Part 2 Cue Card
- AĀ Cue CardĀ is given to you
- 1 minuteĀ is provided to prepare for the topic and if you wish, make a note of them.
- You then have to speak on that topic forĀ 1-2 minutes.
- Lasts forĀ 3-4 minutes.
Skills Assessed Ability to speak at length on a given topic using appropriate language IELTS Speaking Part 3 Discussion
- The examiner asks questions based on the topic given inĀ Part 2
- You get a chance to express your views in a more abstract way
- Lasts forĀ 4-5 minutes
Skills Assessed Ability to analyze the topic, express views, justify an opinion, organize and evaluate ideas. For further practice, go through the following link and get genuine practice questions.https://ielts.idp.com/nepal/prepare/article-free-speaking-practice-questions