Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking
Vietnamese English Bilingual House
www.ngoinhasongngu.webs.com
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking
To learn about the test
its format
its scoring
To practise the parts of the test
how to answer questions: giving short answers,
structuring extended answers
what to do/what not to do
To work on speaking (and listening) skills
pronunciation
features of spoken English
Teaching ideas
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking
Three days – Five sessions

Day 1

General introduction
Part 1 of the test
Features of spoken English
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking
Day 2

Parts 2 and 3 of the test
Features of spoken English
Teaching activities
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking
Day 3 (half day only)

What is the examiner looking for?
Conducting an assessment
Moving students up the Bands
Teaching ideas
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking Overview Activity - Worksheet

IELTS Speaking is usually between (1) ................... and (2) .................. minutes long. Speaking tests are (3) ................... on cassette.
Part 1
This part lasts about (4) ..................... minutes. The examiner checks the candidate’s (5) ..................... and asks questions about some (6) ..................... topics.
Part 2
Part 2 lasts about (7) .................... minutes. The (8) ..................... is given a (9) ..................... with a topic and some prompts printed on it and has (10) ..................... minute to prepare a talk. S/He is given (11) ..................... and (12) ........... so that s/he can make (13) …………… to help him/her. S/He talks about the topic for (14) ..................... minutes.
Part 3
In Part 3 the (15) .................... and the (16) .................... discuss the topic in Part 2 in a more (17) ................... way. This part lasts about (18) ........... minutes.
Dennis O’Brien
Assessment Criteria

The four criteria used in IELTS Speaking to assess candidates are as follows:
Fluency and Coherence
Lexical Resource
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Pronunciation
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking
Fluency and Coherence
This refers to the candidate’s ability to talk with normal levels of continuity, speech rate and effort, and to link ideas and language together in coherent, connected speech.
Lexical Resource
This refers to the range of vocabulary the candidate can use and how clearly meanings and attitudes can be expressed. This includes the variety of words used and the ability to get round a vocabulary gap by expressing the idea in a different way.
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
This refers to the range of structures available to the candidate and how accurately and appropriately s/he can use them. Assessment takes into account the length and complexity of utterances as well as the effect of grammatical errors on communication.
Pronunciation
This refers to the candidate’s ability to produce comprehensible utterances and to use a range of pronunciation features to communicate meaning. Assessment takes into account the amount of strain caused to the listener, and the noticeability of L1 influence.
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking
Part 1 - Introduction and interview
After introductions and identity check, the examiner asks the candidate questions about familiar topics.4 – 5 minutes
Part 2 - Long turn
The candidate receives a task card with a topic. S/He then has 1 minute to prepare and make notes before speaking about the topic for 1 to 2 minutes.
3 – 4 minutes
Part 3 – Discussion
The examiner discusses with the candidate more abstract aspects of the topic in Part 2.4 – 5 minutes
Timing: 11-14 mins
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking
Part 1 - Introduction and interview

After introductions and identity check, the examiner asks the candidate questions about familiar topics.4 – 5 minutes
Timing: 4-5 mins
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking – part 1
Let’s work on a sample

This sample is taken from the website

cambridgeesol.org/teach/ielts
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking – part 1
Listen to the extract from an interview

Where does the candidate come from?
What does he tell us about his home?
What does he tell us about the people there?
Dennis O’Brien
Transcript

Examiner: Now, in this first part, I.d like to ask you some more questions about yourself, OK? Let.s talk about your home town or village. What kind of place is it?
Candidate: It.s quite a small village, about 20km from Zurich. And it’s very quiet. And we have only little . two little shops because most of the people work in Zurich or are orientated to the city.
Examiner: What.s the most interesting part of this place . village?
Candidate: On the top of a hill we have a little castle which is very old and quite well known in Switzerland.
Examiner: What kind of jobs do people in the village do?
Candidate: We have some farmers in the village as well as people who work in Zurich as bankers or journalists or there are also teachers and some doctors, some medicines.
Examiner: Would you say it.s a good place to live?
Candidate: Yes. Although it is very quiet, it is . people are friendly and I would say it is agood place to live there, yes.
Examiner: Let.s move on to talk about accommodation. Tell me about the kind of accommodation you live in ...
Dennis O’Brien
Speaking Test Part 1
General topics – family, home etc
Open questions (Tell me about… What do you think of…, What kind of ….)
Varied tenses/functions (what DID you do? What DO YOU Plan to do etc Which one is better)
Avoid one word answers – try to answer in sentences
Listen to the examiner!
Think on your feet
Dennis O’Brien
Word Stress - Worksheet

politics politician political
personnel personal personality
admin administrative administration administrator
compete competitive competition
demo demonstrate demonstration demonstrative
explore exploratory exploration
employ employer employee
product production productivity
industry industrial industrialisation  
Dennis O’Brien
Sentence stress

●•• ● •• ●•• ●•
It’s not what you say but the way that you say it

Whatever you say, / I just can’t believe it.
As far as I know, / it’s the other way round.
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking – part 1
Review

What is the candidate expected to do in this part?


What kinds of topics are likely to be included?


What language areas/functions is the candidate likely to need?


How long should the candidate’s answers be?

Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking Part 2
The long turn
The examiner gives the candidate a task card, and a pencil and some paper to make notes.
The task card gives the topic, some points to include in the long turn and a final prompt asking the candidate to explain one aspect of the topic. Using the prompts on the task card effectively will help the candidate think of appropriate things to say, organise what s/he says, and keep talking for 2 minutes. Making notes during the preparation time also helps the candidate structure the long turn..
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking Part 2
The candidate has a minute to prepare, after which the examiner asks him/her to speak about the topic for 1 to 2 minutes. Then the examiner stops the candidate after 2 minutes, and asks one or two questions to round off the long turn.
How long does it last?
3 – 4 minutes, including the preparation time
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking Part 2
What skill is being assessed?
The candidate’s ability to speak at length on a given topic (without further prompts from the examiner), using appropriate language and organising his/her ideas coherently. It is likely that the candidate will need to draw on his/her own experience to complete the long turn.
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking Part 2
Let’s work on a sample

This sample is taken from the website

cambridgeesol.org/teach/ielts
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking Part 2
Listen to the candidate and the examiner
How does the examiner indicate that it is time to begin?
What is the topic?
What example does the candidate use?
Is the candidate’s performance ‘good’?
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking Part 2 - review

How long is the candidate expected to speak for?


Does the candidate need to make notes?


Does the candidate need to talk about the points on the task card?


Should the candidate start speaking as soon as they receive the task card?


Should the candidate worry if the examiner interrupts them?

Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking Part 2 - review
Should the candidate worry if the examiner interrupts them?


Will the examiner make comments during the long turn?


Does the candidate need to be able to speak on a wide range of topics?


Are Part 2 topics always about present-day situations?


Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking Part 3
Task Description
What happens in this part?
In this part, the examiner and the candidate discuss issues related to the topic in Part 2 in a more general and abstract way, and where appropriate, in greater depth.
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking Part 3
How long does it last?
4 – 5 minutes.
What skill is being assessed?
The candidate’s ability to express and justify opinions, analyse, discuss and speculate about issues.
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking Part 3
Let’s work on a sample

This sample is taken from the website

cambridgeesol.org/teach/ielts
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking Part 3
Listen to the candidate and the examiner

What is the topic?
What examples does the candidate use?
Is the candidate’s performance ‘good’?
Compare this part to parts 1 and 2 – what are the main differences?
Dennis O’Brien
IELTS Speaking Part 3
How does the approach to the topic change in Part 3?


What kind of language areas/functions are candidates likely to need?


What structures are candidates likely to use?


Does the candidate need to initiate in this discussion?


Dennis O’Brien
Assessment
Criterion-based test
What does this mean?
CanDo statements
Descriptions of ability
Candidate is assessed at highest level of things they can do

vs Norm-based tests – candidates compared to each other
Dennis O’Brien
Assessment
Bands 0-9

0 = did not attend!
9 = ‘native speaker’ like

Rated in four categories
Examiners are trained for ‘calibration’ purposes
Dennis O’Brien
Assessment
Swiss candidate
What do you think his rating would be?
7
• speaks at length without noticeable effort or loss of coherence
• may demonstrate language-related hesitation at times, or some repetition and/or self-correction
• uses a range of connectives and discourse markers with some flexibility
• uses vocabulary resource flexibly to discuss a variety of topics
• uses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary and shows some awareness of style and collocation, with some inappropriate choices
• uses paraphrase effectively
• uses a range of complex structures with some flexibility
• frequently produces error-free sentences, though some grammatical mistakes persist
• shows all the positive features of Band 6 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 8
Dennis O’Brien
Assessment
5?
• usually maintains flow of speech but uses repetition, self-correction and/or slow speech to keep going
• may over-use certain connectives and discourse markers
• produces simple speech fluently, but more complex communication causes fluency problems
• manages to talk about familiar and unfamiliar topics but uses vocabulary with limited flexibility
• attempts to use paraphrase but with mixed success
• produces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracy
• uses a limited range of more complex structures, but these usually contain errors and may cause some comprehension problems
• shows all the positive features of Band 4 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 6
Dennis O’Brien
Assessment
6?
• is willing to speak at length, though may lose coherence at times due to occasional repetition, self-correction or hesitation
• uses a range of connectives and discourse markers but not always appropriately
• has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length and make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies
• generally paraphrases successfully
• uses a mix of simple and complex structures, but with limited flexibility
• may make frequent mistakes with complex structures, though these rarely cause
comprehension problems
• uses a range of pronunciation features with mixed control
• shows some effective use of features but this is not sustained
• can generally be understood throughout, though mispronunciation of individual words or sounds reduces clarity at times
Dennis O’Brien
Assessment
7?
• speaks at length without noticeable effort or loss of coherence
• may demonstrate language-related hesitation at times, or some repetition and/or self-correction
• uses a range of connectives and discourse markers with some flexibility
• uses vocabulary resource flexibly to discuss a variety of topics
• uses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary and shows some awareness of style and collocation, with some inappropriate choices
• uses paraphrase effectively
• uses a range of complex structures with some flexibility
• frequently produces error-free sentences, though some grammatical mistakes persist
• shows all the positive features of Band 6 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 8
Dennis O’Brien
Dos and DON’Ts
Do
Talk to the examiner – you’ll feel more involved
Listen carefully to the questions
Answer the questions with some detail so as to make sure you talk long enough
Practise speaking for 2 minutes on different topics
Use the preparation time in Part 2 well
Use the cue card to help you prepare well in Part 2
Practise ways of delaying answers in Part 3 so you have time to think
Explain your opinions and give examples
Dennis O’Brien
Dos and DON’Ts
Don’t learn answers by heart
Don’t give very short answers
Don’t task about something different from what’s on the card in Part 2
Don’t worry if the examiner stops you – you have spoken long enough
Don’t worry if you can’t think of a word – paraphrase
Don’t worry if you realise you have made a mistake. It’s OK to correct yourself. Or just carry on
Don’t ask the examiner if what you say is correct