The IELTS is one of the most popular English proficiency tests used by universities, organizations, and countries as criteria for admission. The IELTS tests English language skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking. Of these, the speaking section is known to make candidates particularly nervous. But here is everything needed to know to calm those pesky nerves and ace the IELTS.
Note: The IELTS Speaking test is exactly same for both IELTS Academic and General.
The IELTS Speaking section is a recorded, one-on-one interaction between a candidate and a certified IELTS examiner. This section may take place within a few hours after completing the rest of the sections in the IELTS or within the week of completing the other sections. This depends on the scheduling at the test center. If a candidate is doing the IELTS online test, candidates will have a live online video interaction with an IELTS examiner at a scheduled time.
IELTS Speaking Section Test Structure
The IELTS speaking section is completed within 11-15 minutes. There are three parts to this IELTS section, each testing a different speaking ability.
Parts
Time
Description
Skill Tested
I
4-5 minutes
About you! General introductory questions relevant to candidates personally.
Ability to be descriptive about common, everyday subjects.
II
3-4 minutes
Just a minute! Candidates will have a minute to prepare on a given topic before speaking about it.
Ability to structure thoughts and speak at length, using appropriate language and tone.
III
4-5 minutes
Let's discuss! The examiner and the candidate will converse about the previous topic and the points mentioned.
Ability to express, discuss, and analyze opinions and views.
Types of questions
The first part of the speaking section involves introductions and personalized interview questions. The interview questions usually pertain to aspects of a candidate's life, such as work, study, home life, etc. Many sample questions for the first task are readily available, and often, candidates attempt to rehearse answers to these questions. Because of this, IELTS examiners tend to ask more unusual and general questions. For instance, instead of saying, "Tell me about your family.", the examiner may ask, "What is something you enjoy doing with your siblings?" or "What do you and your siblings often quarrel about?"
For the second task, candidates will receive a 'task card' that mentions the topic, key points to cover when speaking, and some follow-up questions. The question may be, "Talk to me about a book you enjoyed reading." some points mentioned are, "What kind of book is it? What made you read it? What about the book did you enjoy?". Candidates can take a minute to prepare by writing bullet points before speaking on the topic uninterrupted.
The last task includes the examiner asking questions for candidates to express their opinions on a specific topic, not necessarily about them personally. For instance, the examiner may ask, "What do you think about the genre of science fiction in literature?", "Would this genre appeal to women more than men? And why do you suppose that is?".
How is the IELTS Speaking Section Scored?
The IELTS speaking section is scored based on four criteria. There are:
Fluency & Coherence: which is how well structured the answers are. To fulfill these criteria, candidates' speeches must be clear and well-developed and have minimum hesitation when forming sentences.
Lexical resources: which is a candidate's vocabulary skills. Candidates are judged for their vocabulary range and their appropriate use of words in the right context that fits sentences well.
Grammar skills: Candidates are scored on their accurate and advanced use of Grammar in their sentence formation.
Pronunciation: which needs to be smooth and correct. The IELTS examiners are trained to follow various accents, so candidates need not worry about their accents being too difficult to understand.
IELTS Speaking Score:
The scoring system is measured on a band of 9, depending on the speaking section's criteria. Here is an example of an IELTS speaking conversation that earns a score of 7. The average score for the IETLS speaking section is usually between 6.5 to 8.
10 Tips to Ace the IELTS Speaking Section
This section is aimed to test how well a candidate can speak in casual conversation. It is not a test of knowledge. If a candidate faces an unfamiliar topic, they can be honest in a calm and confident tone. For example, candidates can say something along the lines of, "To be honest, I am not too familiar with this topic to share an opinion, but if I have to answer, I would say...:
Candidates must not try to people-please. Expressing views with clarity allows the examiner to assess the candidate's skills much better and will help to score a higher point.
An important speaking skill is the ability to carry a conversation. Candidates must ensure they do not deviate from the topic nor present themselves as if giving a speech.
Candidates need to be mindful of the time. To ensure that the test is completed properly, candidates can keep in mind not to elaborate more than necessary in the first task and save that time for the second and third tasks.
Candidates are advised NOT to use pompous words to reflect their vocabulary skills. Use words in their context. Please keep it simple. A helpful tip to develop vocabulary is to take note of the words a candidate uses often and learn synonyms of those words. For example, "That is so cool", can be "That is brilliant", or "That is exquisite".
Another helpful tip for learning vocabulary is to create a list of common vocabulary words used when speaking about a certain topic. This can also help to ensure candidates can use each of these words in the right context.
Candidates can use words that are familiar to them culturally, even if they do not have their roots in English. However, they must explain these words to the examiner. This can be helpful when talking about cuisines. For instance, "A dish I particularly enjoy is butter chicken with roti, which is essentially an Indian flatbread."
Avoid the use of fillers, such as "like", "uh...", "Ahh....", or slang terms such as "cap", "rizz", etc. Candidates must maintain a casual professionalism in their speech.
Some phrases that can give candidates a few seconds to gather their thoughts are, "That is an interesting point; I have not considered that side of it.", or "I think it may depend on several factors such as...".
Candidates need not worry if an examiner interrupts. This is usually because the examiner tries to adhere to the time or wants to ask questions that may take the conversation in a different direction, again testing how well a candidate can react and speak in different situations.
Many IELTS candidates consider the speaking section the most terrifying. Instead, candidates must think of it as walking into a room and spending fifteen minutes with someone who wants to listen. The key is to remember that the test is to see how comfortable you are in a natural, everyday social situationâ€"a simple conversation!
