Repeating and reading

For both Repeat Sentence and Read Aloud test items you will be scored based on content, oral fluency and pronunciation.

Improving Repeat Sentence and Read Aloud

To maximise your score for both item types, you will need to speak aloud and say all the words in the correct order making sure you don’t replace any words, leave any out or add any. You will also need to speak naturally using English rhythm with appropriate pausing and phrasing.

Punctuation and pausing

Punctuation conveys important information about intonation and pausing. It helps you to read more fluently and to convey the full meaning of a text. The following sets of images are a good example of how punctuation changes the meaning of these sentences. Pay attention to the use of the comma.

Not paying attention to punctuation when reading aloud can completely change the meaning of a sentence.

For the Read Aloud task type you have 30-40 seconds to study the text before you start speaking. You should use this time to look at the punctuation and use it as a guide to break the text up into meaningful chunks. Look at each full-stop, comma, semi-colon or colon. This will show you where you need to add a pause and alter your intonation.

Look at the Read Aloud example and see where the pauses are indicated by //. Practice reading the text aloud as naturally and clearly as possible. By using punctuation to guide your pausing while reading, you will begin to speak in a more natural manner. This will help improve your score.

Listen to three test takers responses and rank them from the strongest to the weakest. See the explanation in the Downloads.

Response 1

Response 2

Response 3

Phrasing

For Repeat Sentence when prompted, you must speak into the microphone with a smooth, natural speed and rhythm using phrasing and sentence stress correctly. You will be scored on the correct word sequences that you produce for this item type, so the more phrases you understand, the better your reproduction of the sentence will be.

Listen to how the speaker has divided up the sentence into chunks or phrases by pausing slightly in places. By listening for the meaningful phrases in the sentence, you will have a better chance of remembering and repeating what you hear accurately.

For example, the following sentence is hard to remember if you focus on recalling each individual word.

Sentence

Repeating one word at a time will also make your response sound mechanical and monotone.

There / will / be / a / conference / here / next / summer / on / using / the / web / for / academic / research

There will be / a conference here / next summer / on using the web / for academic research.

Response 2

By listening for and repeating the way the words are grouped in chunks or phrases you will improve the amount of information you remember, will be less likely to hesitate or repeat words and will sound more relaxed and natural.

For more information about the Repeat Sentence item type, how it is scored and test tips, watch the video tutorial in the SEE ALSO section below.

Your task

In each of the Repeat Sentence recordings, you will hear a sentence. Please repeat the sentence exactly as you hear it. Use the strategies you have learned for pronunciation, word stress, intonation and phrasing. Record yourself and play it back to listen.

References

Dell, F. (2013). Pearson Test of English Academic Practice Tests Plus and CD-ROM without key pack (2nd ed.). Pearson.

Pearson. (2019). PTE Academic Test Tips (Version 2). Pearson.

Western, V & Gasper, V. (2018). PTE Academic Lesson Plan Ideas. Pearson

Disclaimer: The question prompts are for practice purposes only and are not official PTE Test materials.