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This is IELTS and IELTS examiners are trained to interpret these criteria in a particular way.
In theory it should not matter where you take your test as all examiners grade consistently. I
suggest you should spend time understanding the detail here as that way you can avoid many
common mistakes.
One main point is that in all the criteria a key idea is being clear. The main idea is whether
you can express yourself clearly so that someone else can understand you.
Fluency is a combination:
1. speed of speech
2. length of answer
3. pausing correctly
Common mistakes
You should note that very fast or very long answers are not necessarily good, as you may be
penalised for poor pronunciation or lack of coherence. In the speaking the main point is that
you are able to express yourself clearly.
Another common mistake is to not answer the question. This is where you will be penalised.
Pronunciation
The main point here is that your pronunciation is easy to understand and whether your are
able to make your meaning clear. Features of good pronunciation include:
You should note that there is no need to have a “British” or “American” accent.
Once again the key concept here is clarity: do you have enough words to express yourself
clearly? This is judged by your ability to:
Common Mistake
A common mistake here is to use long words without really knowing what they mean.
All 4 criteria are judged throughout all 3 parts of the speaking test – so it is important to
concentrate from beginning to end. Although your test will be recorded, you will almost
certainly be graded in real time in the test by the examiner sitting in front of you.
What happens is that you get a score out of 9 for each of the criteria, they are added together
and then that score is divided by 4.
An example: So let’s take an example. Here is someone who has forgotten to think about
coherence and hasn’t fully answered the question. S/he has good general English so does well
in grammar and vocabulary, but sadly that is not enough.
grammar 7
vocabulary 7
pronunciation 6
coherence 4
7+7+6+4 = 24 and 24 divided by 4 equals 6. The message is grammar and vocabulary are not
enough – you need to focus on all the criteria throughout the exam.
It is good advice to look at the public version of the grading criteria for yourself.