ielts speaking test summary

8/12/2019 IELTS Speaking Test Summary

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IELTS Speaking Test Summary

(with a few hints and suggestions)

The actual speaking test starts when the examiner turns on the tape recorder.

The Introduction(= I.D. check)

4 questions (25 to 30 seconds)

Part 1(4 to 5 minutes)

Topic 1about 4 questionsTopic 2about 4 questions

Topic 3about 4 questions

Part 2(3 to 4 minutes)1 minute of thinking time

Topic 41 to 2 minute monologue

(Possibly) 1 or 2 wrap-up questions

Part 3(4 to 5 minutes)Topic 5about 4 or 5 questions

Topic 6about 4 or 5 questions
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The Introduction (the I.D. Check)

Although the Introduction phase is not one of the main parts of the test, it isstill part of the test. The tape recorder is recording what you say and the

examiner will notice the quality of your language and any English mistakes you

make. The main idea here is to see if you can give appropriate (= suitable) answers to

simple questions that are used to verify your identity. For this, "appropriate

answers" means, "short and crisp answers", not long answers or answers that

are full of extra details after you have answered the basic question. The Introduction Phase, which is basically a ver if ication of your identi ty,

begins with a greeting such as, Good morning and the examiner introduceshim/herself. Then the examiner asks you the four Standard Introductory Questions. They are

"standard" because every candidate is asked these exact same questions. (See

below)

The examiner wants to do this part of the test quite quickly, in 20 to 30seconds.

The Standard Introduction Questions

1. Good morning/afternoon. My name is _____ . Can you tell me your fullname, please? (= Could you tell me your full name, please? = Please tell meyour name.)

2. What shall I call you? (= What can I call you? = What should I call you?)3. Can you tell me where youre from?(= Could you tell me where youre

from? = Where are you from?)

4. Can I see your identification, please? (= Could I see your identification,please? = May I see your identification, please?)

Note that every candidate is asked the same questions, exactly or almost exactly

as written here.

A more detailed explanation of how to speak in the Introduction phase of the test can

be found onthispage.

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Part 1

Next, the examiner introduces a topic (Topic 1) and asks you a few questionson that topic. Topic 1 is one of the following: your home(= house or home

street or hometown or home province or home country); oryour work or your

studies.

Then the examiner introduces another topic (Topic 2) and asks you a fewquestions on that topic.

Finally, the examiner introduces the last topic for Part 1, (Topic 3) and asks youa few questions on that topic.

The topics in Part 1 are about your everyday life and everyday life in yourcountry, especially those topics that apply to typical IELTS candidates.

Each topic will have about 4 questions, so that Part 1 has a total of about 12questions. These 12 questions are to be answered in just under 5 minutes.

Assuming the examiner uses an average of two seconds to ask each

question, the averageanswer in Part 1 should be about 22 seconds

long. Therefore, your general strategy in Part 1 is to speak quite a lot, giving

the examiner more than just minimal answers but at the same time, controlling

the average length of your answers to allow the examiner enough time to ask

you about 4 questions for each of the 3 Part 1 topics. The examiner must

strictly stay within the 4 to 5 minute time limit for Part 1.

Some answers in Part 1 are summaries. Or, you can think of the questions asbeing rather 'open ended'. For example, if the question is, What kind of place

is your hometown?, you have to describe your hometown in just a few (e.g., 4

to 6) sentences. This is a summary because you could, in fact, answer this

question in detail by speaking for 15 minutes! These 'summary' types of

questions require you to give slightly longer answers than for other questions.

The examiner will (normally) not make any comments in Parts 1 or 2; he or shewill simply introduce each new topic, ask you questions, and listen to your

answers.

Be prepared to be asked many questions in a short period of time, i.e., quickly! The examiner can give you a little help with the meaning of any word that you

don't understand in Part 1 but you should be very careful about revealing any

vocabulary weaknesses in Part 1. This is because the words used in the


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At the end of the 60 seconds of thinking time, the examiner will remind youthat you have 1 to 2 minutes to answer the question and then hell say, Can

you start speaking now, please?(= Please start speaking now.)

While you are speaking, youll have the card with you to look at. The examiner will not interrupt you or speak to you while you are speaking,

even if he or she doesn't hear you clearly or doesn't understand your meaning.

When the 2 minutes are up or when you stop talking (ideally, at close to 2minutes), the examiner will probably say, Thank you.

Part 2 often, but not always finishes with the examiner asking you 1 or 2 shortquestions (from the examiner's question book), connected to the Part 2 topic.

The purpose of these questions is to wrap up Part 2 and to make you feel that

the examiner was interested in what you said. You should give very shortanswers to these follow-up questions. These questions are also often a hint to

the questions that will follow in Part 3. The follow-up questions are also used

to start to put you into a discussion frame of mind, for Part 3. In some cases, for

example when there is no more time left in Part 2 for some reason, or if you

have already answered these follow-up questions, the examiner might omit

them.

Topic 4 will probably be from one of the following generalcategories: People, Things, Places, Everyday Acti vit ies, Experiences,

and Futur e plans or Speculation about the Future. Almost always, the topic isone example of something that is directly connected with your life

or experience. In other words, you need to speak personally, not speak in

general.

Part 2 is considered to be a little more difficult than Part 1. The most important thing you should aim to do in Part 2 is to continue

speaking for between 1.5 and 2 minutes. (Speaking for just over 1 minute is

allowable but you should aim to speak for a little longer than this minimum

time.)

Except for the 2-minute point, when the examiner asks you to stop, it is YOUwho controls when you stop. Some candidates speak for a suitable length of

time (e.g., 1.5 minutes) and they answer all the points on the task card but then

they make the mistake of sitting there silently at the end, trying to think of more

things to say or wondering how to finish or who should say something next.


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When you have finished, just tell the examiner something like, "Well , that's all

I have to say." Sitting there silently can cause you to lose fluency points.

You cannot ask for a different topic if you do not like the topic that theexaminer gives.

You should not consider your Part 2 answer to be like a formal "speech".Instead, it should be like an extended answer that someone would speak in a

natural way during a conversation.

A Typical Part 2 Question

(In the following example, note that them means, him or her.)

Describe a teacher who has greatlyinfluenced you in your education.

You should say:

where you met them

what subject they

taught

what was specialabout them

and explain why this person

influenced you so much.

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Part 3

Part 3 of the test starts when the examiner says something like this: Wevebeen talking about (Topic 4) and now Id l ike to ask you a few moregeneral questions related to (thi s topic).

Part 3 will seem similar to Part 1 but, unlike Part 1, in Part 3 the examinercan make his or her own questions and these questions will, at times, be


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based on your previous answer. In this way, some parts of Part 3 will be

similar to a discussion. Often, these further questions are asking you toexplain more fully something that you just said. Sometimes, an examiner

will suggest an alternative argument, as in an academic debate, and ask you

to justify your previous answer in light of this alternative argument or toevaluate this alternative argument.

In Part 3, youll usually be asked questions on two topics (Topics 5 and 6). Ifthere is enough time, youll be asked several (about 5) questions on bothtopics but if there isnt much time left, you might only be asked one or two

questions on the second topic. Youll probably be asked a total of eight to

ten questions, but this could vary depending on how fast you speak and howlong your answers are.

Both Topic 5 and Topic 6 are loosely connected with (or sometimes, exactlythe same as) the topic of Part 2, Topic 4. The one or two follow-up questionsin Part 2 might have hinted at the topics for Part 3.

The words used in the questions are usually more difficult than the words inthe questions for Parts 1 and 2. The replies also usually require you to use

more advanced language. Generally, the language and the ideas of Part 3 aremore abstract than in the earlier parts of the test. For example, in Part 1 you

are mostly asked several questions about yourself (although some general

questions are also included in Part 1 sometimes) and Part 2 is also about

yourself but in Part 3, questions about yourself are not so commongeneralquestionsabout the people and life in China are used instead.

The following topics and concepts are important for Part 3 (but there couldbe other topics and concepts that are not listed here): Attitudes and

Values; Personal qualities; Psychology (people's motives and

thoughts); Information and Communication; Society; Change (both causeand effect); and Education. Often these topics or concepts are combined. For

example, often there are questions about child development but this is really

just a more specific example of (or a mixture of) the topics and concepts thatare listed here.

The following are typical language functions that are elicited in Part 3: Giving Information. Here, you are usually asked to give several

examples of something. For example: What sports are popular


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in China? Ideally, you should include extra information orsome personal comments in your answer.

Speculating ( = guessing about the past, the present andespecially, the future.) This might include speculating about

peoples reasons or motivesfor doing something or thinking ina certain way. 'Speculating' could include answering such

questions as, What would . if . ?

Suggesting For example: suggesting possible ways to solve aproblem; and suggesting advice for people.

Comparing and contrasting. For example: differences betweenolder and younger people; differences between males and

females; differences between a situation today and the situationin previous years; differences between rural and urban areas.

Explaining situations ( = explaining how or why certainsituations exist).

Giving your opinion or judgment. For example, answeringquestions that begin with words such as, 'How well ...?', 'How

effective ... ?', 'How much ... ?', 'How important ... ?', or

answering questions that begin with, 'Do you think .... ?' or

'Should ...?' Of these, 'H ow important ... ?'is the mostimportant type of question. Included in this group are questions

asking for your judgment or opinion about

any problemsconnected with a certain area of human activity.Sometimes questions about your judgment or opinionofresponsibility are used

Justifying or defending your opinion. Sometimes the examinerwill challenge your opinion to see if you can give some

evidence or good reasons for your opinion. Do not be afraid to

speak up and defend yourself!

In Part 3, the examiner can help you a little if you dont understand thequestions. That is, the examiner can re-ask the question using simpler wordsor explain the meaning of a question.


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Since (most of) Part 3 is supposed to be a simulated discussion, you shouldbe in a very communicative frame of mind and try to discuss, not simplyanswer questions as in Part 1. That is, try to give answers that are full of

detail and that even introduce new points that are connected to your main

answer. This kind of answer gives the examiner many opportunities to findfurther points to use for questions in order to continue the discussion.

IELTS Speaking Test Grading Criteria

Introduction

Examiners look at five different things in order to determine a candidate's score:

1. Pronunciation

2. Grammar

3. Vocabulary

4. Fluencyand Coherence

Notice that Fluency and Coherenceare grouped together although they aredifferent things. Each of these four carries equal value. The examiner gives youa whole-number sub-score for each of these and then calculates the average

of the four.

Bothwhole number and half band scores, such as 6.5 are given for theSpeaking test.

No separate score is given for each of the three Parts of the test. When I wasan examiner, I wrote the four sub-scores on a piece of paperat some time during

Part 1 and these four scores were changed up or down as the test progressed.

If the average score is not a whole number or a 0.5 number, for example, 5.5,the examiner goes down to the next whole number or 0.5 number.


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Example 1

Pronunciation 5

Grammar 4

Vocabulary 5Fluency &

Coherence5

Average = 19/4 = 4.75

= Band 4.5

Example 2

Pronunciation 6

Grammar 5


Coherence5

Average = 22/4 = 5.5

= Band 5.5

Example 3

Pronunciation 7

Grammar 7


Coherence7

Average = 29/4 =

7.25

= Band 7.0

In China, about 50% of all candidates get a 5.0 or 5.5 for Speaking. In 2007,the average scorefor the Speaking test in China was5.26 for Academiccandidates and 5.74 for General Trainingcandidates. (SeeHEREfor the report.)

See here for theIELTS Speaking band descriptors(public version). This pagegives a description of what the examiner is looking for in order to make a

judgment on your Band level. Note that the Pronunciation criteria have been

changed but it is not public knowledge what the new criteria are.

See here for my more detailed description of the banddescriptors:http://ielts-

yasi.englishlab.net/DETAILED_BAND_SCORE_DESCRIPTORS.htm

See here for other, more general descriptions of the band levels:http://ielts-yasi.englishlab.net/THE_BAND_LEVELS.htm

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SUMMARY OF THE MAIN POINTS ON THIS PAGE

Pronunciation

Overall, clear and understandablepronunciation is the main thing. Secondly, the correct use of the following features will determine the

pronunciation grade:

1.basic word pronunciation;
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2. linked speech sounds;3. correct and appropriate sentence stress (i.e., which word or words in a sentence

are stressed more than others); and,

4. appropriate use of intonation (rising and falling) to emphasize meaning. Slightly inaccurate (= unclear) pronunciation is usually understandable if the

correct words and grammar are used but slightly inaccurate

pronunciation combined with other errors can result in language that is not

understandable at all.

American pronunciation is acceptable. But try not to suddenlychange betweenstandard British and standard American pronunciation too much, or to mix the

two too much. This is because the examiner will not be expecting such sudden

changes.

Grammar Basic grammar, especially the verb tenses. Know how to make the tenses and

use them correctly.

Complex sentences: Don't just use simple sentences all the time. Instead, oftenuse sentences composed of parts that are joined together with conjunctions and

other linking words. (This is a "must" for a Band 6 or above in this sub-score.)

Complex structures: Show that you have (at least some) knowledge of higherlevel grammar.

Vocabulary

Show a wide range of vocabulary. Use words suitablydon't try to score extra vocabulary points with 'impressive'

words you are not sure of.

Make sure you correctly pronounce wordsdon't just learn the written form ofnew words.

Fluency

Speedpush yourself to speak a little faster but only if your pronunciation isgood.

Continuityavoid unnaturally long pauses, especially in Part 2. Smoothnessuse linked pronunciation and use contractions.

Coherence
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Expand your answers with a suitable amount of relevant extra information(detail).

Use connectives to link sentences especially when expressing more complexideas. (This is a "must" for a Band 6 or above in this sub-score.)

Answer questions directly. Add extra relevant details in suitable amounts after firstanswering the key

pointof the question.

Link your answers to the questions by using the sameverb tense. Try to ensure that your answers to questions are suitable for the realmeaning

of the questions.

Show knowledge of the 'short form' of answer for 'Yes/No' questions.**************************************************************

1. Pronunciation

For more detailed information on the common pronunciation errors thatChinese students make, see the page,COMMON PRONUNCIATION ERRORS.

To improve your pronunciation, see the document,IMPROVING YOURPRONUNCIATION.

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2. Grammar

For grammar, examiners first notice if candidates can make sentences usingsimple grammar correctly. The frequency of basic errors is what examiners

first notice. The majority of these errors involve verbs, especially verb tenses.

You should especially take care to answer questions using the same verb tense

as the question. This not just concerns correctly forming verb tenses but is

also based on of whether your choice of verb tense is suitable for what you

are trying to say. Of course, in addition to verbs, there are also lots of other

possible grammatical errors.

Even a candidate who gets an 8 for grammar is allowed to make a very smallnumber of errors but most of these are made when attempting to speak the

more complex grammatical structures and these errors are not so bad that the

listener misunderstands the speaker's meaning. On the other hand, a Band 3
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candidate makes frequent grammatical errors (in almost every sentence) at

the most basic level.

The examiner also especially looks to see how often and how well thecandidate can make complex sentences. The examiner also looks at your range

of, or variety of connecting words. A complex sentence is a sentence that has

two or more parts, each containing a verb, that are joined by words such as

and, but, because, although, which, that, who etc. Note that

frequently using and will not help your score for complex sentences very

much although it is better than always speaking simple, short sentences.

COMPLEX SENTENCES IS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF THE

GRAMMAR SUB-SCORE AND YOU SHOULD STUDY THIS TOPIC. You cannot

get a 6 for grammar if you don't make it obvious that you can speak using many

complex sentences.

The following is an example of a complex sentence using two joining words(), whichand because.

I need tolearn English, which is very important because it will help me get a

good job.

Below is a diagram showing a complex sentence with two linking words.

A Band 4 candidate rarely attempts a complex sentence.


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A Band 5 candidate tries to make only a few complex sentences, usually just

using and or but as conjunctions.When they try to use more difficult joining

words or phrases, they often make mistakes.

A Band 6 can make complex sentences with a (limited) range of joining wordsand phrases but there still might be several, but not so serious errors.

A Band 7 can make a wide range of complex sentences with only a few errors.

And a Band 8 makes a wide range of complex sentences with almost no errors.

Examiners also look at the candidates grammatical range, that is, whether thecandidate can accurately use the more difficult grammar, or complex

structures such as(the past perfect tense),(the passivevoice),(perfect modals),(conditional

sentences or if...would sentences), and(reported speech). As with

basic verb tenses, the point here is not just the correct construction of the

grammatical structure but the appropriate usage of it.

A Band 8 candidate can effortlessly use these and similar grammatical

structures with very few or no errors.

A Band 7 can use these but might make a few minor errors.

A Band 6 tries to use some of these but makes several errors. However, these

are usually errors that do not impede communication. The key point here is

to try and to be correct mostof the time but not necessarily correct every

time. If you never attempt more complex grammatical structures because you

are afraid of making any mistake, it will give you fewer points than if you at

least showed the examiner that you know about the existence of these

structures.

A Band 5 cannot use (or is afraid to attempt to use) many of these higher-level

grammatical forms. If a Band 5 candidate does attempt a more complex

grammatical structure, he or she makes errors most of the time and

sometimes attempts to remake sentences, trying to get the grammar correct.


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Most candidates in China get a 4 or 5 for grammar. It seems that the majorityof students in China don't include much grammar study in their IELTS

preparation. This is a serious mistakeit is very difficult to get a 6 for

Speaking (and Writing) or an overall 6.5 or above in the whole IELTS test if you

don't do much extragrammar study (beyond what you learned in school) or atthe very least, a review of your grammar. You need to not only know how to

make the different verb tenses and the more complex grammar structures,

you also need to understand the correct usageof the different grammatical

structures. And you need to know it well enough to produce it quite quickly in

natural speech.

For more information on improving your grammar, go toIMPROVING YOURGRAMMAR.

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3. Vocabulary

Most candidates in China get a 5 or a 6 for vocabulary.

Examiners look at several aspects of vocabulary:

the range and variety of vocabulary, i.e., how well the candidate can usewords from the simple, everyday level up to the 'expert' level when talking

about different topics; how much the candidate can display an accurate andappropriate usage of idiomatic expressions; and how much the candidate

speaks a variety of words which express the sameidea, rather than repeating

the same word several times. [If you vary your choice of word in an attempt to

show the extent of your vocabulary, don't make the common mistake of using

different words that have a similarmeaning but not

the samemeaning. Similarwords sometimes introduce new concepts that

are notwhat you intend to say. There is nothing wrong with

a moderate repetition of the same wordthat's natural in the speech of

educated native English speakers.]

the suitability, or appropriacy of the words that are used, and the accuracy ofmeaning that is expressed by the words used. Some candidates try to impress

the examiner by using so-called 'big' or 'impressive' words but they use these

words inappropriately or incorrectly. You will lose points for thisyou would

do better if you only spoke simpler words but ones that you know are suitable
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and correct. The reason is that communication is the number one goalif you

use words inappropriately or incorrectly then the examiner might have no real

idea of your meaning. Of course, you will get points if you use 'impressive'

vocabulary appropriately and show that you know the exact meaning of these

words.

the candidatesability to talk about unfamiliar topics; the candidatesability to useidiomatic expressions; and the candidates ability to communicate a meaning when he or she

doesnt know (or forgets) the exact wordto use. This is called

'paraphrasing'. This is an important language skill.

For more information on improving your vocabulary, go toIMPROVING YOUR

VOCABULARY.

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4. Fluency and Coherence

Fluency and Coherence are two different things but are grouped togetherbecause neither fluency nor coherence alone is considered as important as

pronunciation, grammar or vocabulary. Fluency and coherence are both

concerned with "the flow of language"fluency concerns the physical flow of

language while coherence concerns the logical "flow of interconnected

ideas".

You need to satisfy the requirements for bothfluency and coherence to get aparticular score for this combined item. For example, if the examiner thinks

you are a Band 7 for Fluency but only a Band 5 for Coherence, you will only geta sub-grade of Band 5 for the combined 'Fluency and Coherence' sub-score.

Fluency

For fluency, examiners notice three related things; continuity, speed and smoothness.
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Continuity

This refers to your ability to just, keep talking, without toomany unnatural pauses. (Natural pauses are the very short pauses that we

make when we speak in order to: show the completion of an idea; think of the

best word; consider an answer to a question; or to give dramatic effect.) Long

pauses are unnatural and usually result from the speaker searching for

vocabulary or making a complete sentence in his head before

speaking. Pauses at inappropriate places in your speech are also unnatural.

Many candidates who have long, unnatural pauses in their speech often dothis because they are checking their grammar before speaking. In other words,

they are overly worried about making grammatical mistakes. Similarly, those

candidates who translate from Chinese to English before speaking also speak

with long pauses. In the test itself, you should concentrate more on letting

your speech 'flow out' rather than worrying too much about grammar. Yes,

keep grammar in mind, but in the test you should rely more on the habits of

correct grammar that you had practiced in your preparation before the test.

You will get a better score this way.

Some candidates break the continuity of their speech by correcting themselvestoo much. If a candidate corrects himself or herself too frequently, this couldresult in a loss of continuity. Therefore, you should not self-correct more than 2

or 3 times in the whole test and only do it if you think you made a major

mistake that could cause confusion in the listener or if you think the mistake

just 'sounds terrible'. Furthermore, you should do it quickly so that the

continuity of your speech doesnt seem too disrupted.

Similarly, avoid unnecessary repetition of what you have just said. (This isusually done by Band 3 and Band 4 speakers who do not have confidence in

their English.)

One way to avoid unnaturally long pauses is to communicate to the examiner,by speaking, what you are thinking as you prepare to answer a question or, in

Part 2, as you prepare to say the next thing. For example, instead of sitting

there silently while you think of how to answer a question, you could say

something such as: That's an interesting question! or That's a difficult


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question! or I've never thought about that before. or Let me think about

that.

A very important point is this: many candidates lose points for fluency becausethey stop talking for unnaturally long periods of time in Part 2 you are

expected to speak continuously in Part 2. The main reason why some

candidates do this is that they simply cant think of enough things to say, or

cant think quickly enough of something to say.

Speed

If your speech is unnaturally slow, you will lose point for fluency. In the test, ifyou know that your pronunciation is fairly clear and accurate, you should pushyourself to speak a littlefaster than you would in a normal, non-test

conversation.

But if you know that your pronunciation is not so clear oraccurate, DON'Tpush yourself to speak faster because that could cause the

examiner to not understand your pronunciation at all! You will lose big points

if the examiner cannot understand you at all.

Some teachers tell (all) students NOT to speak fast in the test. This is amistake, I believe, because sometimes allthe students then think that they

should speak slowly. Only those students with poor pronunciation should

speak slowly, but only slowly enough to be understood clearly. The candidate

who speaks a little slowly in order to be clear will lose a little on the fluency

sub-scale but that is far better than losing big points in the pronunciation sub-

score for being totally incomprehensible.

Smoothness

Smoothness is actually related to speed. If you don't use the two methods mentioned

below to "smooth" your speech, it will be harder to speak at a natural speed. Two of

the main ways to make your speech smoother are: a) to link your words and, b) to use

contractions.


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a) Linked Speech

In natural spoken English, most words are not spoken as single words but are linked

with the preceding and following words. If you try to say each word individually, it

will not sound smooth and it will almost certainly be too slow. One of the mainexamples of linking is the pronunciation of words that begin with a vowel sound. For

example, the sentence, Im an accountant has two words that begin with a vowel,

"an" and "accountant" and the sentence is spoken as:

What you see in this example is that a syllable in English doesnt begin with a vowelsound (unless its at the beginning of a sentence or after a comma or another natural

pause). Instead, the syllable begins with the previous consonant before that vowel.

This is why we have the word, anto create a consonant just before a vowel sound.

That sentence has five syllables, with the sentence stress on the syllable, ccoun.

When you say this sentence, it almost sounds like one word:

b) Contracted Speech ( )In natural spoken English, we use the contracted forms of some verb

constructions very often, or even most of the time. Examples of contractions are:

Im = I am; Hell = He will; and, Id = I would. We use the full forms to

show emphasis or when we want to speak especially clearly for some reason, such as

when stating a name.

The contracted forms are a faster way to speak and they are spoken in a smoother

way than two separate words. Therefore, using contractions improves your fluency.

In the IELTS Speaking test, you should try to use the contracted forms at least 50% of

the time. But dont worry if you use the full form sometimes (caused by your old

habits of speech). Certainly, don'tcorrect yourself if you use the full form. Using the
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Another aspect of coherent language is the logicalplacementof the ideas.That is, the ideas are stated in a logical order. For example, if you are

explaining something that has several steps, you normally first talk about the

first step and continue on to the last step. In this case, the linking words at the

beginning of the sentences should be words such as First, Second, Next,Then, and Finally.

Here's an example of using a short linking phrase to connect the secondsentence (the second idea) to the previous sentence (the first idea).

If you've got a lot of money and especially if you think you can get a

good job when you come back to China, studying for an MBA overseas

could be a good idea. On the other hand, it might not be the wisest

decision if your family has to make financial sacrifices to allow you to

study overseas because many returning MBA's can't find good-payingpositions in China.

The words, On the other hand is the linking phrase. It tells the listener (or reader)

that the second sentence is an alternative idea to the first sentence. (There are

different linking phrases, representing different meanings.) This linking phrase does

two things: it serves as an introduction to the second sentence and it links to the

idea of the first sentence. Overall, the linking phrase makes it easier for the listener

to understand your meaning in the remainder of the second sentence.


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Good coherence is important in language because if a speaker makes errors inpronunciation, grammar or vocabulary (or all three), or if there is background

noise (such as when talking on a telephone), the listener can probably still

understand the meaning because he or she was given an introduction to what

you are going to say. In addition, when you are speaking about somethingcomplex, it isa good communication skill to give the listener special help in

following what you are saying so that the listener does not have to strain too

hard to follow you. (This also applies to your writing in the Writing test.)

Using good coherence is especially important when a speaker speaks for along time, as in Part 2 or when a speaker is explaining something rather

complex or abstract, as in the answers for many Part 3 questions.

In the Speaking test, many candidates speak in a way that can be generallyunderstood, i.e., they speak in a way that is not particularly unclear, illogical orinconsistent. This is often because they just say simple things. In addition, the

IELTS examiner might understand you because he or she knows what to

expect when you give an answer, based on the examiners

experience.However, the examiners job is to also consider how well you

would be understood by a typical English-speaker overseas. In order to get a

good sub-score (6 or above) for coherence, you have

to clearly demonstratethat you know how to correctly use several

different joining words and phrases. (To get a 6 for Coherence, you will be

forgiven for making a fewmistakes in the correct usage of joining words andphrasesjust show that you have knowledge of this and are trying!)

Using connectives to link sentences is the most important aspect ofcoherence but there are other examples of the logical linking of language that

come under the heading of Coherence. One example is,when you reply to a

question, closely link your answer to the questionlink it grammatically

(using the same verb form as the question) and link it logically

byfirstanswering the question and thengiving other details.

By giving extra details, you will be making your language more coherent ( =easy to understand) because these extra details help the listener to

understand more clearly what you meant in the first part of your answer. In

fact, by giving extra details to your basic answer, you can demonstrate good

coherence in two ways: a) by simply giving extra ideas that are related to the

first idea in your basic answer and, b) in the way you connectthese extra ideas


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to your basic answer by using phrases such as For example, ...,In other

words, ... etc.

Another important aspect of coherence is to understand what thequestion reallymeans so that your answer actually suits the question. Seemy

commentsabout the answers that the Portuguese girl gave in the video of her

interview. It helps to understand what IELTS examiners expect in your answers

and this understanding is best gained by reading many of the pages on this

website.

Show the examiner that you can use the 'short form'of answers to 'Yes/No'questions. These short forms are clearer and moreemphaticthan simply

saying, "Yes" or "No" and are, as a result, more coherent.

Although you should answer questions directly, that does not always meanthat you should answer questions immediately. For example, if you are asked

a rather complex question in Part 3, it's very suitable to begin your answer

with an introductory statementbefore you address the actual question. One

example of this is to say, "Well, it depends on the situation." And then answer

the actual question with words such as, "If .... then ..... but, on the other

hand, if ... then ... ". The key point is not to speak indirectly.

Showing your coherence skills becomes more important as you progressthrough the test from Part 1 to Part 3. In Part 2, where you describe

something in detail for 1.5 to 2 minutes and therefore speak several sentences

on the one topic, it is important to show connections between these

sentences. And in Part 3, showing good coherence is especially important

because many (or most) of the questions require answers that link several

ideas or several statements. Seeherefor notes on coherence in Part 3. These

notes are also applicable to Part 2.

Go here to read more about improving your coherence:IMPROVING COHERENCE
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