I’m sure you are curious to find out as much as possible about the IELTS Speaking
Test. So why don’t we begin by looking at the format of the Speaking Test.
In the IELTS Speaking Test there is one candidate, that will be you, and one examiner.
The test is between 11 and 14 minutes long. The complete test is recorded onto a recording
device in case your performance needs to be checked by another examiner.
There are three parts in the IELTS Speaking Test and each of the different parts gives
you a chance to use a range of speaking skills.
Now let’s talk about how the Speaking Test is assessed. The examiner will assess your
speaking ability in four areas. Firstly, fluency and coherence. What exactly
do these mean? Well, fluency means how well you can speak continuously without needing
to stop, and coherence means how clearly you organise
and join your ideas together when you speak. Secondly, lexical resource, this means using
a range of vocabulary to express your ideas clearly.
Thirdly, your grammatical range and accuracy. This means how well you can use English grammar.
And finally, pronunciation. Now, let’s talk about Part 1 of the Speaking
Test. In Part 1, you and the examiner introduce yourselves. The examiner checks your identity
document, usually your passport, and then the
examiner asks you some questions about familiar topics such as work or study, family, the
place where you live or maybe things that you do in your free time. This section of
the test lasts between 4 to 5 minutes. Let’s take a look at what you can expect in Part
1. Examiner: Good afternoon. My name’s Stephen.
Candidate: Good afternoon. Examiner: Can you tell me your full name please?
Candidate: My name’s Priya Long. Examiner: Thank you. What shall I call you?
Candidate: Please call me Priya. Examiner: Can I see your identification please,
Priya? Candidate: Sure, here’s my passport.
Examiner: Thank you. That’s fine. Now in this first part of the test I’m going to
ask you some questions about yourself. Do you work or are you a student?
Candidate: Well, at the moment I’m still studying …
Now, I’ll talk about Part 2 of the Speaking Test. In this part, the examiner will give
you a task card containing a topic and some points to speak about. You will then have
one minute to prepare and make some notes to use when you are speaking. After this minute
of preparation, you need to speak about the topic for one to two minutes. The examiner
will just listen to you. Let’s look at an example of Part 2.
Examiner: Thank you. Now in this part of the test I’m going to give you a topic and I’d
like you to talk about it for one to two minutes. Before you start, you have one minute to think
about what you are going to say. You can make some notes if you wish. Do you understand
what you have to do? Candidate: Yes
Examiner: Here’s some paper and a pencil for making notes and here is your topic.
I’d like you to describe a memorable trip.
Remember you have one to two minutes. I’ll stop you when the time is up. Can you start
speaking now please? Candidate: Okay, one trip that really stands
out in my memory is a camping holiday I did in North Queensland in the Summer of 2014…
Finally, let’s look at Part 3 of the Speaking Test. In Part 3, the examiner asks the candidate
some more abstract questions related to the topic that was introduced in Part 2. So, for
example, if you had to talk about a memorable trip that you took in Part 2, then the questions
in Part 3 will be related to the theme of travel and tourism, but the questions will
not ask about your own experiences, but instead will be more abstract. This part of the Speaking
Test lasts 4 to 5 minutes. Let’s see some examples of the kind of questions you can
expect in Part 3. Examiner: We’ve been talking about a memorable
trip and I’d like to discuss with you one or two more general questions related
to this. Let’s consider first of all the way that people travel. How is the way people
travel today different from the way they travelled 100 years ago?
Candidate: Well, there have been enormous changes. I suppose one of the biggest influences
has been the development of air transport ……
So now you have some basic information. But remember, although these facts are important
background knowledge, there is a lot more to learn which will help you do well in the
IELTS Speaking Test.