4 WHAT TO EXPECT The IELTS Speaking testis an interview or conversation between a candidate and an examinet. The Speaking testis che final section of the IELTS test and takes between 11 and 14 minutes, The interviewer is a certified examiner appointed by the test centre and approved by UCLES. Note: All interviews are cecorded so thet UCLES can check chat the correct interview procedure is followed and thae an accurate band score is given, The interview procedure is fixed, which means that the exarainer must follow a frame’. This frame is a script for the examiner aad the wording of the fame is fixed in Sections 1 and 2 of the Speaking test. In other words, che examiner may nor depart from this wording. In this way UCLES ensures that all candidates have almost identical interviews with the different examiners using exactly the same language. For 2 candidate, this means that che examiner is not supposed to answer questions outside the context of the frame; the examiner can only repeat che original statement or question in response to requests for clarification. However, since these cvo parts cover very basic information, candidates should not be worried. Once Section 3 of the test begins, the examiner's test frame is less controlled and so examiners can adjust their language to che level of the candidate Your IELTS Speaking test will have three past. 1. Introduction and interview The examiner will introduce him or herself and check your iden- ity. The examiner will try 10 make you feel comfortable and encourage you to talk briefly about home life, work, study or otherfamiliar topics. The examiner will use questions which are taken from the frames. This part of the test will take 4-5 minutes 2. Individual tong cura You will be asked to speak for I~2 minutes on one particular topic. ‘The examiner will select the topic and tell you what it is and will also give you a card with dhe topic written. on it. You will have 1 minute to make notes before beginning to speak. The examiner will provide a pencil and some paper for this purpose. In this part of the test you will have to explain or describe something or tell about an event in your life. The examiner will tell you when the time is up and will ask one or two questions to round off this section. The total time for this part of the test will be 3-4 minutes. 3. Two-way discussion ‘You will be given the opportunity to cake part in a discussion that is more abstract or controversial. The topic will always be related to the topic in Section 2, but discussion will focus on wider implications or issues. The examiner will use a set of questions, but the frame will not be so scrictly controlled. This will take 4-5 minutes. Section 1—Introduction and interview Section 1 of the IELTS test is setipted and relates to your background. You will be asked about your place of origin (where you come from) and about your work or study, depending on which is most relevant to you. During this part of the test the exarniner will try to find out as much as possible about you as a person REMEMBER The more information you give at this point, the easier it will be for the examiner to hold a conversation with you and the more impressed he or she will be with your fluency. Therefore, don’t give ‘one word answers such as ‘yes’ or ‘no. Practice This section is designed to give you a chance to think about the type of ques- tions you might be asked in Section I of the Speaking test. The topics included in these exercises are the basis for questions in this part of the test. ‘The exact questions used in the IELTS test cannot be used here, as chat would be a breach of confidentiality. PERSONAL INFORMATION—PLACE OF ORIGIN This frame covers where you come from which could also be where you are living now. Think of a few questions an examiner might ask about the place and write the questions in the space provided. HD] 27S reson and Preise iA useful exercise for you is to imagine you are an information officer at your local tourist bureau. Prepare a short guide for visitors to your area, giving places of interest, customs and useful advice. Complete the table below with information on the place where you grew up. Name of city, town or village Location and type of area Special points of interest Local occupations and employment Advantages and disadvantages asa place to live While the examiner will not necessarily ask you about all these aspects, chinking about chem in advance can help you prepare for the test and be ready to answer those questions you are asked, Remember you must listen carefully to the examiner's questions. You will not gain a good score if you simply recite something you have memo- rised, because it will not be an appropriate response to the questions. Work on Stupy The examiner can ask you about your work or study as a way of getting to know you that is not too personal. Fill in the table below with information about your work and/or your study help you answer this type of question. Study Work The Speaking Tes If 35Now try to think of questions that need longer answers, giving information for each of the activities in your table. For example, if you write ‘I'm studying English’ possible questions could be as follows. Study © Where are you studying? # Do you like i? \ When did you stare? ; * Why are you studying English? i Can you think of other questions the examiner might ask? When you have decided on questions about your study, provide possible answers. Answers, I Work | Think abou the following topics: * your daily routine and responsibilities \ what you like about your job. : * what you dislike about your jab. | Try to predict the type of conversation you might have with an examiner | on this subject. | i \ | The examiner will only ask you about ONE of the above copics. He or she { will then go on with Section 1 and select from other topics that relate to your personal life, including topics such as hobbies, accommodation, daily rou- tines, ete. The examiner could ask about one or two of these topics. For example, an examiner might ask you «9 talk about your accommodation, either at present or in che place where you grew up. 56 I IELTS Preparation and Practice eyFill in the table below to help you to answer this type of question about either your present or your previous accommodation. Type of Description |Length of | Advantages accommo- time in and dis- dation residence advantages Present Previous Food is another topic an examiner might choose. Fill in the cable below to help you to answer this type of question. Where I like to eat and who I generally eat with When I eat my main meal Food I cook Different foods I have tried Food I like and don’t like ‘Think about the questions the examiner might ask you on these topics and other topics of this kind—everyday copics that everyone can talk about. Try to think of about ten different topics. Then think about how you might answer those questions. If you can, work with a partner to practise chis type of short conversation, Section 2—Individual long turn Section 2 of the testis designed to let you talk for 1-2 minutes without incer- ruption. In this section the examiner will give you a topic to talk about and a card with the topic written on it. You will have 1 minute to make notes about the topic. The examiner will also give you a pencil and some paper, but you do not have to make notes if you do not feel itis necessary. The examiner will ask you t0 talk about the topic when the minute is up. If you ate ready to begin before the minute is up, you can tell the examiner. ‘The task card the examiner will give you looks something like this, The Speaking Tse [57Describe a film or show you have seen recently or a book you have read. You should say: What the name of the film/show/book is what it is about when you saw it and explain why you liked or didn't like it and what was interesting about It. 58 JP 175 Prepron and PracticePractice The examiner will tell you that you will have to talk about the copic for ‘1-2 minutes. You have 1 minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish. REMEMBER You are being assessed on your ability to speak English. Ac this point, you are expected to talk without long pauses. If you stop speaking before the 2 minutes is up, the examiner will not necessarily say anything. He or she might wait for you to continue to the end of the time, Look at the topic card above and make notes that will assist you to talk for 1-2 minutes. [t may help to think of all the ‘wh.’ words (including how) and make them into questions relevant to the topic. Name of film/show/book: Story: When you saw it: ‘What was good? ‘What was bad? What was interesting? Interview task Now talk about the topic for 1-2 minutes, without pausing. If you have the facilities, record yourself on a casserte tape of your own. Then you can go back and assess your performance, using the criteria suggested in ‘Scoring Your Speaking’ on page 62. ‘Ac the end of 2 minutes the examiner will stop you and ask one or ewo questions such as: * Did your friends have the same opinion as you? © Would you recommend that I see/read ic? The Speaking Test T 59Section 3—Two-way discussion In this section of the test the interviewer will ask you to participate in more in-depth discussion. You will be asked to respond to questions that excend the topic introduced in Section 2 of the Speaking test. For example, if the topic for Section 2 was sport, you might be asked to discuss the relevance of the Olympic games for your country, or perhaps the commercialisation of sport today. Or, if you described a film you had recently seen the examiner might ask you to comment on some of the following: + the role of film as entertainment for you and your friends * the role of flim as a cartier of a message the effectiveness of film for education ‘+ the represencation of violence in film + the representation of men’s and women’s roles * the purpose and effectiveness of censorship in relation to file How would you answer such questions? Write your answers in the table below: Questions Answers ‘How important a form of entertainment is film for you and your friends? Do you think film is effective as a cartier of a message? Is film a useful medium for education? What sort of things can be usefully taught by film? Do you think there is too much violence in films? Do you think such portrayals are harmful to anyone! What do you think of the way men and women are portrayed in fim? ‘What sort of things do you believe should be censored out of films? If you had described a book you had cecently read, what sort of questions do you think the examiner might ask? Make a list of possible questions in the box below and also make a note of how you would answer them. Questions Answers GT] 075 Pepnration and PracnceSample Topic Describe something you have owned that is or was important to you. You should say: what the item is and describe it in detail when and how you got it if you still have it and explain why it is or was important to you. The Speaking Tox [flNow try co think of some questions an examiner might ask to extend this, topic. ‘Another useful exercise to help you prepare for the IBLTS testis to think about and practise talking about how things are today, how they have changed from the past and how they are likely to change in the future. The state of the world and the future Using each of the topics below, deseribe how things are different today from your parents’ or grandparents’ time. * technology lifestyle economies globalisation your country the environment transport communication Imagine it is now the year 2020. How do you think the world will have changed in relation to the above? Scoring your speaking ‘The Speaking testis scored using four performance descriptors each on a band scale of 0 (did not attend the test) to 9 (almost like a native speaker) ‘The examiner scores the candidete at che appropriate band scale for each performance descriptor. So, for example, itis possible for a candidate to score something lke: Descriptor Score Fluency and Coherence 6 Lexical Resource 5 Grammatical Range and Accuracy) 6 Pronunciation 8 The scores would be added together and then divided by four to give a final score of six for the above hypothetical candidate 02 T IELTS Preparation and PracticeThe performance descriptors are * Fluency and Coherence This means you can talk without too many long pauses at what would be considered a ‘normal’ speed. Occasional short pauses will not count heavily against you. You demonstrate coherence in the way you sequence your information, and by using appropriate con- necting words, such as ‘because’, ‘in fact’, ‘even so’, etc. * Lexical Resource This means the vocabulary you use. The better your vocabulary is, che more clearly and precisely you can communicate. One vical aspect of lexical resource is that when you can't think of a particular word, you can find another way to get your ideas across. * Grammatical Range and Accuracy This obviously relates to how good your grammar is when speaking. Your range is generally demonstrated through the variety of sentence structures you can use and the variation in length. Accuracy refers to whether you make many mistakes and whether your mistakes interfere greatly with communication, * Pronunciation This is mainly judged by the extent to which pronuncia- tion makes it difficult for the examiner to understand you. If you are able to record your part of the practice speaking interviews that folfow, work with another person co evaluate your performance using the above a5 a guide. Try co evaluate whether you did very well or poorly, and listen to yourself to decide where you could improve Speaking tips: True or false Look at che following statements about the IELTS Speaking test and decide if they are true or false 1 The IELTS speaking test is basically a grammar test 2 It isnot a good idea to memorise possible responses 3 You shouldn’s say anything if you think you might make a mistake 4 You should know exactly what you are going to say before you go into the test 5 You should try co give as much information about the topic as possible 6 The interviewer always asks the same questions. 7A panel of assessors will listen to the tape of your interview after the test 8 You shouldn't ask che examiner personal questions. 9 You are assessed on an overall impression of your language speaking ability, 10 The interview is the easiest section of the test. You will find answers to chis exercise in Appendix 1 on page 96. Tricine PSPractice laterviews On Cassette 2 Side B you will hear questions from two practice interviews, Answer the questions as if you were doing a real IELTS interview: Stop the casserte when you hear the beeps to give yourself time to answer che ques 1 ions. When you have finished speaking start your cassette again. If you have 1 recording facilities, record your long turn for Section 2 and your responses for Section 3. Do not try to record on the Speaking cassette. Use a blank cas- sette of your own. 1 The following cards are for Section 2 of the test, the individual long turn. ‘When you reach this part of the test, stop the cassette and make your notes so you are ready to talk ‘Note that for reasons of test integrity, the interviewer's questions given here are rot necessarily the same as those in the actual test. However, they do deal with similar topics and follow a similar pattern to the actual test.Practice Interview 1 Section 2 Describe a building or construction you have seen that impressed you. You should say: What it was—an old or new construction where it was how big it was and explain what you liked or disliked most about it. The Soeaking Tes esPractice Interview 2 Section 2 You should say: what the event was where and when it took piace who else was there at the time and explain what made it so interesting for you. Describe an interesting or important event in your life.True or False Exercise 1 False. The interview is nor a grammar test although grammar is one of the performance descriptors used when giving a band score. 2 True. If you memorise your responses you will find it very difficult to answer questions you haven't predicted. This means you will probably gee a lower band score. 3 False. Grammatical range and accuracy is only one of the performance descriptors. You are assessed on your overall fluency s0 a few grammatical errors will not significantly affect your score. Besides which, in a spoken, conversation small grammacical errors will offen go undetected 4 False. It is impossible to know exactly what you are yoing to say before the interview because you don't know the questions you will he asked However, this is not to say that you shouldn't think about topies that might arise during the interview. When it comes to Part 2, your long turn, you should know what you are going to say before you hegin speaking if you make sure you utilise the time given to prepare, 5 True, As long as you keep to the question, the fuller the answer the better. The interviewer will change the topic when necessary. 6 True for Posts 1 sid 2. The interviewer must stick co the frames provided by UCLES. However, the interviewer can choose froin a range of frames, 80 you will not be able to predict which topic will be used for these patts False for Part 3. The interviewer has considerable flexibility as to which questions he or she will ask and some flexibility in the way they can be asked 7 False. Usually the interviewer will be responsible for your band score. 8 True. Ic is you that is being tested, so itis your life and plans that are of interest. Furthermore, since thy examiner must stick to a scripted frame, she/he will not be able to answer any personal questions. 9 True. While the assessoienc is based on the four performance descriptors, these provide an overal: rating. 10 Ic depends on the person. Different people find different sections of the test casies of more dificult