A high IELTS speaking score undoubtedly, opens a lot of opportunities. So, to get a high score, boosting skills is extremely important. But how can it be done? Is there a short-cut method that can help boost IELTS speaking score? Or, are there any best practices that may help with IELTS speaking? Let’s find it out in this post.
Just to let you know, the IELTS speaking score is evaluated in four different areas:
- Coherence and fluency
- Lexical resource (vocabulary)
- Grammatical range
- Pronunciation
You would have to find your weaknesses in each of these criteria and develop skills accordingly. If not the entire day, it would be better to speak in English for at least 15 minutes on different topics. You can also use recorders to mark the progress.
Believe it or not, a majority of aspirants are not doing enough to improve their speaking scores. So, without further ado, let’s find out how easily it can be done. As mentioned above, the speaking score is evaluated on four different factors. Let’s segregate them accordingly:
- Fluency and Coherence
This is about talking at the correct speed while describing cue cards, neither too fast nor too slow, and connecting ideas as well as thoughts in a clear manner.
- Lexical Resource
It is all about judging the good and bad vocabulary and how well you are using it.
- Grammatical Range
This is to concentrate on how well you are using grammar, like word order, third person, plurals, tense, and more in spoken English.
- Pronunciation
Pronunciation is about how well you are pronouncing words. Is the examiner understanding your thoughts and ideas effortlessly? Keep in mind that it covers 25% of the overall score; thus, you cannot take it for granted.
5 Easy Ways to Increase IELTS Speaking Score
1. Choose a Study Buddy
When taking the IELTS speaking test, there are more chances of your examiner having a strong grip over the language than you. For this specific reason, it would be ideal to practise with somebody who speaks English better than you. This will enable you to stretch the abilities and practice cue cards better. However, make sure you don’t choose somebody who has extremely higher proficiency as it may discourage you more.
2. Speak More Than Your Examiner
Although there is going to be a conversation between you and the examiner, a better way to tackle it to think that you are in an interview. The examiner is just there to prompt questions and listen attentively to your answers. So, make sure that you are speaking more than the examiner.
3. Elaborate Whatever You Speak
Responding to a question in a single word or sentence should be a strict “no” for you. What you must do is develop the answer. Use complex and tough grammatical structures to keep the flow of thoughts consistent. You can use:
- Conditional Clauses: It generally starts with unless or if. For instance, “If you don’t behave properly, there will be no surprises for you this birthday.”
- Reported Speech: Pronouns, word-order and tenses would be different from the real sentence. For instance, “He said he liked ice cream.”
- Time Clauses: It generally talks about the future. For instance, “I’ll come home after finishing my work.”
- Modal Verbs: This one is an auxiliary verb that expresses possibility or necessity. For instance, “You can borrow my laptop.”
At the end, it is recommended to use complex grammar with fewer mistakes than simple, short sentences.
4. Know That Your Knowledge Is Not Being Tested
One of the toughest things associated with the IELTS speaking module is that you will not be familiar with cue cards’ topics beforehand. Sure, you can go prepared for common, basic topics. However, you can never know the precise questions coming your way until you hear them directly from the examiner.
There are also chances that the examiner may ask questions about which you have no to little knowledge. Although you may feel stuck and not excited in such a situation, the good part is that, what you know about a topic matters quite little in this test.
Instead of evaluating your knowledge, the examiner will be more interested in what you know and how you are answering the questions. This signifies that you have sought information from different resources and can develop answers even if you don’t have a good understanding of the topic.
5. Use High-end Language Flamboyantly
This point could be related to the previous one that states the importance of speaking during the test. IELTS is a high-end test. Therefore, even if you know everything about a topic, achieving a high score will be difficult if you speak a simplistic, basic language.
Rather, shed your fear of using the flowery words in your vocabulary. Not familiar with flowery words? Well, in simple words, you can use abstract nouns instead of concrete nouns.
- Abstract Nouns: It is referred to such a noun that cannot be regarded as one of the five senses. These are generally the uncommon words used to describe abstract concepts, such as generosity, courage, and more.
- Concrete Nouns: It is referred to such a noun that can be comprehended through one of the five senses, such as smell, hearing, sight, touch, or taste. In simple words, these are real and more likely to be used as common words, like book, car, etc.
The more use of abstract ideas and nouns is there in your answers, the more chances you will have to score higher. The internet can help you learn advanced vocabulary. For instance, you can refer to ieltsmaterial, where you can find an array of idioms and words that can be used in your writing and speaking tests. At the end of the day, one of the easiest ways to impress the examiner is by using advanced vocabulary. So, make the best out of it.
In A Nutshell
With IELTS speaking, the more fluent you will be, the better you will be able to speak. However, keep in mind that you don’t fall prey to the trap of speed. Or else, you will end up speaking something that is incoherent and impossible to understand. Also, don’t speak too slow that the examiner loses interest in you. Find a balance and keep a consistent, steady pace.
