Episode 6
(Please note there are no questions for this episode)
Understanding the IELTS speaking marking criteria.
I talk a lot about the marking criteria in my social media and in a lot more detail in my OET and IELTS courses.
It’s the key to getting the score you need and in this podcast I’ll be focussing on the IELTS speaking marking criteria but if you are taking OET, there are still lots of advice you can take away from this episode.
It’s such an important topic, mainly because there is so much bad advice that’s given about IELTS speaking and the only way to differentiate between the good and the bad advice is knowing what is in the marking criteria.
The marking criteria is the document the examiner has in front of them when they assess your speaking. Understanding that document means that you understand the examiner and what they want and once you know what they want, you can focus all your preparation on just those things and eliminate/ filter out all that bad advice…makes sense doesn’t it?
Obviously, this is a huge topic and one that I cover in much greater depth in my course and I can’t possibly do that in a 20 minute podcast.
So let me give you a brief overview of the speaking marking criteria and how you can use it as part of your preparation.
Essentially, the IELTS speaking test is testing your ability to communicate your ideas and thoughts clearly. To go a little deeper, communicating clearly using the appropriate and accurate :
· Grammar
· Vocabulary
· Pronunciation
· Coherence and fluency
This should be the only focus of your preparation.
What a lot of students do is they focus on giving the “right answer” or a “good answer”. You need to understand that there is no such thing, there is just your answer that is appropriate to you. The examiner doesn’t care about your opinions or what you do in your spare time….that’s not on the marking criteria.
Focus on answering the question. So this sounds so obvious but yet so overlooked, ignored and misunderstood by so many students.
You need to take a few questions from a speaking test, from part 1, 2 and 3. Analyse the questions.
· What are they asking you?
· What is your answer to the question?
· What appropriate vocabulary can I use in the answer accurately?
· What grammar structure is appropriate to answer this question?
· How should I structure my answer so it’s logical and coherent?
So let’s take a few examples.
Part 1
What did you do on the weekend?
· Need to think about weekend activities
· How will you answer? “I didn’t do much” “ My weekend was very busy because…..”
· Grammar “did” You need to use the past tense
· Think of what you did, went swimming with my friends etc
· If you can’t think of anything, just make it up!
“I didn’t do much last weekend. I just sat at home, watched TV, made dinner and read a book. It was a really good opportunity to just relax and rest after such a busy week at work.
How long have you been learning English?
· Grammar, need to use present perfect continuous
· I’ve been learning English for11 years.
· This answer is obviously too short, it answers the question but we need to give some more information
· Could talk about where you learned it school/college /self study course/private lessons
· Did you find it hard / easy.
Speaking part 3
Is going to the cinema more or less popular than it used to be , do you think?
· Grammar “used to be” comparison between the past and present. Comparison language.
· Need to decide on an opinion, is it more popular or less popular? Pick a side and stick to it and think of examples /reasons to illustrate your answers.
· What vocabulary is appropriate to use here.
· Practice your answers, record and listen and analyse how clear you were, your fluency (did you pause or hesitate a lot, was it easy to follow what you said), pronunciation.
· For coherence, how will you structure your answer;how will you develop your answer with examples? What factors have led to increase/decrease cinema popularity? Netfilx, Sky movies, DVDs, cost etc.
Pick the questions apart and make sure you are looking at each aspect of the marking criteria. Once you do this with every question you get, you will get into the habit of thinking like the examiner and making sure you give them what they want and then you will be able to do all this in your head.
As always, this takes time and effort. Just keep practicing this way, record and analyse yourself and you will see the improvement in your speaking.
Don’t make you answers complicated. Don’t try to show the examiner that you know very big complicated words or grammar structures. This is not the aim of the test.
The key words that you need to keep in your mind with regards to the speaking marking criteria is accuracy, appropriateness, logical structure and flow.
Think of it more like a conversation with a friend or colleague. Think about how you speak to them. Do you use big complicated words or grammar structures? No! You use normal appropriate language and grammar that is appropriate to the conversation you are having. You speak at a normal pace and what you say is logical and well structured. You need to approach the test in exactly the same way.