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Improving fluency

Let’s analyse Ming Wei’s first set of answers in terms of fluency. She is willing to speak at length; however, some problems affect her fluency: Instances of hesitation (i.e. uhm) …

Vocabulary range

One of the main aspects assessed under Lexical Resource is the variety of words you use to describe various topics. In Ming Wei’s answers about cooking, she used vocabulary quite …

Word and sentence stress

In her first attempt, Ming Wei showed some problems with word and sentence stress, which affected her pronunciation. She used the wrong stress in the following words: provinces – She …

Adding intonation

Throughout the course, we have introduced you to several pronunciation features which you can easily implement to improve your pronunciation performance: word and sentence stress, connected speech and chunking/pausing. Let’s …

Common grammatical mistakes

Grammatical accuracy refers to the number of mistakes made when producing a spoken answer, and this is a key factor which examiners consider when determining a score for grammar. Many …

Let’s meet Ming Wei

In the next steps, Jose asks Ming Wei some questions from Part 1 of the Speaking Test. Listen to her giving a first round of answers and then an improved …

Complex structures

One of the main aspects you are assessed under Grammatical range and accuracy is the use of complex structures. This is an area in which Ari did not perform well …

What are signposts?

A key part of the criteria for Fluency and coherence is using signposts accurately. Signposts are words which help organise ideas. They are critical in helping listeners understand ideas and …

How is your IELTS Speaking Test assessed?

In the next step, we have prepared some simple questions to help you better understand the public band descriptors and the differences between the bands. This helps you identity and …

Meet your course trainers

Here in this video your course educations Jose Lara and Rose Harvey introduce themselves. Before you take the quiz, we would like to know more about you. Introduce yourself to …

What are collocations?

Ming Wei tried to used a range of vocabulary but some collocations were used incorrectly. But what are collocations? Collocations A collocation is a group of two or more words …

Using accurate vocabulary

Vocabulary accuracy refers to the correct use of words based on their context and form. Ming Wei makes several mistakes, a couple of which affect the overall clarity of her …

Organising ideas logically

Camilo’s first response was effective in that he spoke fluently and used all of the prompts on the topic card to develop his ideas. However, the following problems were identified …