Explains the pronunciation scoring and a way for students to improve their pronunciation score.

Transcript:

Helpful Hints for teachers

With over 25 years of experience, I may have some hints to help your teaching.

The IELTS speaking test overview.

The international English testing system or IELTS speaking test is an 11 to 14-minute interview with a native English speaker. In this video, we present an overview of the test. We explain the pronunciation scoring and then a way to help students score better in the test.

The speaking test has three parts. They are;

Part 1 Introduction and Interview 4 to 5 minutes

Part 2 Individual Long Turn 3 to 4 minutes

Part 3 Two-Way Discussion 4 to 5 minutes

We have explanatory videos and student practice materials for each part. You can find links in the description below.

In an IELTS course speaking component, it is beneficial to practise each part separately as the parts have different forms and skill sets. However, at the end of a course, it is also good to practise the full speaking test. Elizabeth Ferguson has two speaking tests on her excellent website; IELTSLiz.com. There are also many full speaking tests on Youtube. A link to a playlist of tests is in the description below. These tests can be transcribed to get the questions and the order for students to practise or study. Alternatively, the playlist can be given to students. They can familiarise themselves with the full speaking test.

Let's look at how the test is marked.

There are four criteria, each marked 1(no communication) to 9 (native speaker).

Fluency and Coherence.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy.

Lexical Range.

Pronunciation.

You can find out more on the internet. Search for IELTS public speaking band descriptors.

Let’s look at Pronunciation.

uses a limited range of pronunciation features

attempts to control features, but lapses are frequent

mispronunciation are frequent and cause some difficulty for the listener

shows all the positive features of Band 4 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 6

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.

shows all the positive features of Band 6 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 8

uses a wide range of pronunciation features

sustains flexible use of features, with only occasional lapses

is easy to understand throughout; L1 accent has minimal effect on intelligibility

uses a full range of pronunciation features with precision and flexibility

sustains flexible use of features throughout

is effortless to understand

There are two points to consider.

The first point is that pronunciation features range from individual phonemes to word and sentence stress. A native English accent is not necessary, rather what is assessed is how consistently the pronunciation features are used, and how easily the candidate can be understood. It is worthwhile to teach better pronunciation to your students. Any improvements they make could result in a higher speaking test score.

A second point is how to improve your students' pronunciation skilI. Let me share a personal experience from early in my teaching career. I remember team teaching a class at a rural high school in Japan, and being amazed by the students. Their Japanese teacher of English had lived in Australia for several years, and his students both individually and in chorus spoke with perfect Australian accents. This is anecdotal evidence, but research has confirmed that listening and repeating with feedback is an effective way to achieve better pronunciation.

I’d like to recommend a helpful resource.

The Golden Speaker Builder is a website that students can sign up to. They can record their voices by saying 30 sentences. Then they choose either a male or female native American English speaker voice. The website will then create a golden speaker voice which is the student's voice with natural American pronunciation and rhythm. A link to research supporting the effectiveness of the Golden Speaker Builder can be found in the description below.

I hope this video and material is of good use to you.

This has been Helpful Hints for Teachers by Gavin Thomas. Best of luck with your teaching.

Special thanks to

Claire Uchida

Teresa Stockwell

Naomi Fujishima

Mariko Uzuka