In this series we'll look at some of the criteria for the assessment of the IELTS test, and

some of the skills you'll need to practice for the test.

The IELTS test has four modules: Writing, Speaking, Reading Listening

There are two different tests - the academic test for tertiary students and professionals

and the general training test, which is for immigrants and people going on to vocational

training.

Both tests have the same speaking and listening modules, but different reading and writing

modules.

Knowing what the examiner is looking for can help improve your results because you will

know what to focus on when practising.

Here are the features the examiner looks at in your writing and speaking. These are the

things that are marked:

Task Response Coherence and Cohesion

Grammatical Accuracy and Range Vocabulary

Fluency Pronunciation

What do these criteria mean?

Task response means how well you've understood and responded to the question or task.

For example, in the essay you must make sure you have answered all parts of the question

and followed the instructions.

The next thing the examiner looks for is coherence and cohesion.

This is how you organise your answer.

For example, in the essay, coherence means that the essay works in its overall structure,

making sense in the way it is organised.

Cohesion means that the essay flows well from one part to the next.

Another feature being assessed is grammatical range and accuracy.

When assessing grammatical range, the examiner is looking at the variety of sentence types

you are able to use. You can't rely on just using simple sentences and structures.

Grammatical accuracy simply refers to the number of errors in your language. That includes

things such as punctuation.

The final feature assessed for writing is vocabulary.

The examiner looks at the accuracy of your spelling and the range of words you use to

cover a topic.

You need to use the correct word forms and demonstrate that you can use them appropriately.

You should also be aware of when to use formal or informal language. The essay needs to be

formal, but you can use less formal language in the speaking test.

The speaking test is designed for you to show how well you can express yourself on a general

topic.

It tests your vocabulary, the accuracy of your language and your ability to use a range

of sentence forms. It also tests your coherence, by looking at how you organise and link your

ideas while speaking.

Vocabulary, coherence and grammatical range and accuracy are criteria that also apply

to the speaking test.

The remaining two criteria are only for the Speaking test: fluency and pronunciation.

Your ability to speak without hesitating or pausing too often shows how fluent you are.

Fluency is the ability to speak smoothly and easily.

Now we'll look at the last criterion for speaking - pronunciation.

How easily you can be understood is what pronunciation is about.

Aim to pronounce words correctly and use appropriate stress and intonation; and your voice needs

to be strong and clear.

Pronunciation is speaking clearly and at a natural pace.

To illustrate some of these criteria, next we'll show you a short piece about the sport

of gymnastics. Sport is a common topic in the speaking test and it's important to be

familiar with the words used to talk about it.

I do gymnastics at the Australian Institute of Sports. I was about 5 when I started and

I started just fun gym. My mum was a coach, so I got into it from that. We train about

36 hours a week, which is pretty tough, but it's worth it in the end. We don't have a

lot of school. We do usually 3 and a half hours of school in between our training. We

have our main coach, who is the head coach of the AIS. He coaches my group for bars,

floor and vault. But we have another coach for beam.

Notice she says I do gymnastics. Different verbs are used for different sports.

You say that you play football or play basketball but do gymnastics.

And you go fishing.

Some sports and activities have their own verbs. You don't say "I do swimming", you

say "I swim".

Now listen to how she uses the words train and coach:

My mum was a coach, so I got into it from that. We train about 36 hours a week, which

is pretty tough, but it's worth it in the end. We don't have a lot of school. We do

usually 3 and half hours of school in between our training. We have our main coach, who

is the head coach of the AIS. He coaches my group for bars, floor and vault. But we have

another coach for beam.

A coach is a teacher of sport.

Coach can be a noun, like this:

We have our main coach, who is the head coach of the AIS.

Coach can also be used as a verb. Here it's used in the singular form 'coaches':

He coaches my group for bars, floor and vault.

She uses the word for practising a sport, train:

We train about 36 hours a week, which is pretty tough, but it's worth it in the end.

The -ing form, training, can be used as a noun:

We don't have a lot of school. We do usually 3 and a half hours of school in between our

training.

And a coach can also be called a trainer.

You should watch English language TV to help build your vocabulary in this fashion because

you will be marked on how well you use words and their various forms.

And you should think about things such as sentence forms. Even just talking about gymnastics,

it's possible to use quite complicated structures.

Listen to her again:

We train about 36 hours a week, which is pretty tough, but it's worth it in the end.

She uses a complex sentence - a clause combined with a relative clause:

We train about 36 hours a week, which is pretty tough

She then makes it into a complex/compound sentence by using the conjunction 'but' to

add another clause.

We train about 36 hours a week, which is pretty tough, but it's worth it in the end.

Thinking about and noticing sentence types will help with your grammatical range.

Listening to the way people talk for an extended period will help prepare you for the speaking

test where you will be required to talk about a topic for 2 minutes.

So let's recap. These are the things the markers are looking for:

Task response - your ability to answer the question and correctly respond to instructions.


Coherence and cohesion - how well you organise your language.


Grammatical range and accuracy - the range of grammatical structures you use and how

accurately you use them.

Vocabulary - how well you use words and their forms.


And for the Speaking Test there is:
 Fluency - your ability to speak without hesitating;

and finally,

Pronunciation - how easily you can be understood.

In the coming episodes we will look at these criteria in more detail and explore ways of

meeting them.

Remember that IELTS is testing your language skills so take every opportunity to practise

your Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking to improve your accuracy, extend your vocabulary

and develop your fluency. You will be building your confidence as well.

That's all for now. To find more information about assessment and Band Scores, visit our

Study English website at: australianetwork.com/studyenglish

Good Luck with your studies.