How To Improve Your IELTS Grammar Band Score For The Speaking Test
The video below was produced by the British Council who actually part own the IELTS exam. This means their advice is important.
The script is below the video in case you need it.
Play The Video…
IELTS Speaking Grammar – Improve English & Prepare For IELTS Speaking (Script)
So you’ve decided to take the IELTS exam. Good for you it’s the test for study, work and life.
The IELTS speaking test is divided into three sections. Part one is an introduction in general questions, part two is the long turn, and part three is an analytical discussion.
Here we look at the criteria of ‘grammatical range and accuracy‘, look for the other three criteria in other videos (available on this site via the menu above).
This criteria focuses on the range and accuracy of the test takers grammar while speaking.
The range of grammar includes using a variety of complex structures. These are sentences with multiple bits of information, contrast that to separate simple sentences with a single piece of information.
For example:
‘Just beside the station was a stadium which was built in the nineteenth century and where games are now held every weekend.’
It isn’t expected that candidates are one hundred percent accurate, however, control is important.
The band seven definition for grammatical range and accuracy says, frequently produces error free sentences though some grammatical mistakes persist.
It’s not just the number of grammatical mistakes but also how seriously these mistakes block communication.
To Improve Your IELTS Grammar For Speaking Take These Steps:
♦ Be prepared, Make sure that you know the speaking test format and what type of questions to expect in each section.
♦ Many tasks in part two of the IELTS speaking test relate to the past, so you most likely use past tenses ensure you know the past tenses of common verbs.
♦ Some questions in part three ask you to speculate about the future, so use the right tenses in the answers to reflect this.
♦ Look out for the British Council’s Johnny grammar apps in videos that can help explain the commonly used tenses for you.
♦ Practice, particularly think about the tenses you use, ensure these relate to the questions. If the question asked is, what did you do at work today? The main word here is did, which is in the past tense so your answer should be in the past tense too.
For example, today I wrote a business brief. Don’t worry if you realize you’ve made a mistake, it’s OK to correct yourself.
♦ Record yourself speaking and listen to identify errors.
What Questions To Expect?
IELTS results range from band scores of one to nine, however there are no specific questions for different band scores and there can’t be as the score isn’t assigned until the end of the speaking test.
Also remember there are no quarters for IELTS band scores. Each individual is scored on their own merits.
For more information please see the other speaking test videos, Fluency & coherence, Lexical resource and accuracy and pronunciation (available on this site).
