Describes part 2 of the speaking test and gives two ways to help students improve their scores.

 




Transcript:



Helpful Hints for Teachers

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


The IELTS Speaking Test Part 2


The international English testing system or IELTS speaking test is an 11~14-minute interview with a native English speaker. There are 3 parts. In this video, we look at the second part of the test which is 3 to 4 minutes long. We describe Part 2 and then give two ways to help students score better in this part.


It begins with the examiner giving this instruction.


Now, I'm going to give you a topic and I'd like you to talk about it for one to two minutes. Before you talk, you'll have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes if you wish. Do you understand?


Here's some paper and a pencil for making notes and here's your topic. Please don’t write on the booklet.

I’d like you to describe a school you went to when you were young.


At this point exactly one minute is given for preparation The topic is written like this:


(Task Card example)


    Describe a school you went to when you were young.


    You should say:


    what kind of school it was

    how big it was

    what you enjoyed most while at this school

                                                                                              

    and explain whether it was a good school or not. 


After one minute;

All right? Remember, you have one to two minutes for this so don't worry if I stop you. I'll tell you when the time is up. Can you start speaking now, please? 

The candidate should speak for about 2 minutes.

When the two minutes is up the examiner says


Thank you.

As this part is usually four minutes in total, there may be time for one or two round-up questions. For example:

 Did your friends like this school?

Would you send your own children to this school?

The examiner will finish Part 2 of the Speaking Test, saying:

Thank you, can I have the task card and the paper and pencil back, please. 

There are two skills needed for part 2. Preparing what you will say by taking notes for one minute, and speaking at length for two minutes.                         

The first exercise is note-taking. Students are given four task cards and have 1 minute to write notes for each. It is important to tell students it is okay to lie in this test. 

                                                     

The second exercise makes use of the notes from the previous tasks. Some tasks are prepared more as homework; some in class with 5 minutes planning time and some with no additional planning time - just speaking. Slowly, the students get used to the pressure of the test and with practice become more decisive and better at taking notes.


Students should time and record their part 2 speaking exercises. By listening to these, students can assess their fluency and pronunciation skills.   

 

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 Lexical Range.  



5

manages to talk about familiar and unfamiliar topics but uses vocabulary with limited flexibility;

attempts to use paraphrase but with mixed success

6

has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length and make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies; generally paraphrases successfully

7

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 paraphrasing effectively


There are two points to consider. 

The first is training students how to paraphrase; explain an unknown or forgotten word with different words. With the diverse range of possible topics in this test, it is hard for anyone to use all the correct topic words- but with paraphrasing, students can still convey meaning and score better in IELTS speaking and writing.

The second point is learning words in context. Many students use word lists of English words with translations in their first language. This may work in the short term but just learning isolated words will not build a good vocabulary skill. Better ways are extensive reading and listening, using sample sentences, and creating their own sentences using the words.

I’d like to recommend a helpful resource.

Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS Book with Answers and Audio CD 1st Edition (2008) by Pauline Cullen. With 25 units of topics and questions that match the test content very well. The book contains vocabulary, collocation, pronunciation, paraphrase, and idiom exercises and can be used for self-study, homework, or in-class use.

As it was published in 2008 some units are out of date, namely unit 12; information technology and unit 15; the green revolution. You may need to supplement those units with more modern terminology. 


For high-level students, there is Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS Advanced Book (2012) also by Pauline Cullen. It is a good book for IELTS band 6.5 and higher.


I hope this video and materials provided are 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                                                                                                     

Elizabeth Ferguson

Anthony Schultz