Mat clark – Ielts speaking

Mat Clark – IELTS Speaking 
1 
LỜI NÓI ĐẦU 
Chào các bạn, xuất phát từ nhu cầu bản thân muốn học môn speaking cho bài thi 
tiếng anh IELTS, chúng tôi nhận thấy cuốn sách này có giá trị rất tốt cho việc tham khảo. 
Tuy nhiên, các bản sách điện tử đang tràn lan trên mạng Internet hiện nay có chất lượng rất 
thấp, kèm theo đó là việc có thêm tiếng Trung dẫn tới lãng phí về giấy in, tiền bạc, thời gian. 
Hiện nay, cuốn này này đã được một nhà xuất bản tại Việt Nam mua lại bản quyền từ 
tác giả Mat Clark, và đã xuất bản tại Việt Nam, chúng tôi khuyên các bạn nên mua cuốn 
sách này để sử dụng, nhằm tôn trọng giá trị của cuốn sách này, cũng như tôn trọng tác quyền 
của tác giả cũng như nhà xuất bản. 
Chúng tôi gõ lại cuốn sách này nhằm mục đích duy nhất là để học tập, nghiên cứu, 
không hề mang bất cứ mục đích kinh doanh nào. Mọi hành động thương mại liên quan tới 
bản gõ lại này là không hề liên quan tới chúng tôi. 
Mong các bạn tôn trọng tác giả và tôn trọng ý muốn của chúng tôi. 
Trong quá trình gõ và biên tập, do trình độ không chuyên, không thể tránh khỏi có sai 
sót. 
Xin cảm ơn, chúc các bạn học tốt. 
Mat Clark – IELTS Speaking 
2 
IELTS SPEAKING – MAT CLARK 
Preface 
During my 5 years as an IELTS examiner in China, I have seen thousands of Chinese 
IELTS candidates perform OK in the speaking interview. 
Most people would agree that an OK score in speaking is 5 or 6. 
Many students now realize that a score of 5 or 6 for speaking is not enough for their 
study requirements and this is why I wrote this book. 
Many students spend months preparing for the IELTS speaking test and still find it 
difficult to score 7 or higher. In fact some candidates actually score lower than they 
potentially could have scored. There are a few reasons behind this poor performance and 
these will be discussed in detail throughout this book, but one major factor is the lack of 
quality material available for IELTS speaking preparation. 
As an IELTS examiner, I am able to precisely separate the differences in spoken 
English ability resulting in different IELTS speaking scores – this knowledge provides the 
basis for this book. 
There are a number of IELTS speaking books on the market but this book aims to 
break new ground by focusing on how to prepare for and achieve a speaking score of 7 (or 
maybe higher). All of the skills and strategies presented in this book are typical of a high 
scoring speaking candidate. 
This book is intended for anyone who intends to take the IELTS test; it will also help 
learners of English improve their speaking skills. It is suitable for both classroom use and 
self-study. 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
The Speaking Test in China ................................................................................................................. 5 
1. Chinese Performance and the Reason ........................................................................ 5 
2. The Real Reason ................................................................................................... 6 
Two Different Speaking Systems ......................................................................................................... 9 
1. The Economics of Language ................................................................................... 9 
2. The Location of Key Information ............................................................................. 9 
3. Summary of the Differences between Spoken English and Spoken Chinese ..................... 12 
The Marking System .......................................................................................................................... 13 
1. Fluency and Coherence (Scored 1~9) ....................................................................... 13 
2. Lexical Resource (Scored 1~9) ............................................................................... 16 
3. Grammatical Range and Accuracy (1~9) ................................................................... 18 
4. Pronunciation (1~9) .............................................................................................. 20 
5. A Summary of the Marking System ......................................................................... 23 
The Speaking Test Format.................................................................................................................. 24 
1. Part One of the Speaking Test ................................................................................. 25 
1.1. Possible Topics for Part One............................................................................. 26 
1.2. Question Type 1: ―Basic Description‖ Questions .................................................. 28 
1.3. Question Type 2: ―Liking‖ ............................................................................... 33 
1.4. Question Type 3: ―Disliking‖ Questions ........................................ ...  examiner refers to whilst 
listing to your spoken English. The sections are divided into scores in the following way: 
<I skipped this part because the band score table of speaking test could be easily 
downloaded.> 
Each box in the table contains a very detailed description of the features required for 
that score in that section. The box for ―Fluency and Coherence 7‖ contains a 50-word 
detailed description of all of the things a candidate must do to get a score of seven in this 
section. Directly above and below the examiner can see the description for 8 and 6, in this 
way the examiner can listen to your language in the interview and decide carefully which 
description best fits your language. 
It is important to understand this because many people do not realize that, for 
example, a score of 7 for ―Lexical Resource‖ can only be awarded if your vocabulary 
exactly fits the description in that box. 
The descriptions are written in professional linguistic terms so it would not be very 
useful to reproduce them here. Instead, the following section will translate into simple terms 
the language features a candidate must produce to achieve scores of 6, 7 and 8. 
1. Fluency and Coherence (Scored 1~9) 
In general terms, the score for ―Fluency and Coherence‖ refers to the ways that the 
candidate speaks. 
The features described in the marking system for this section include: 
 Ability to produce long responses 
 How easily the candidate can produce the long responses 
 The amount of hesitation 
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 The speed of speech 
 Use of discourse markers/ linking phrases/ connectives 
 The amount of self-correction 
Fluency and Coherence 6 
According to the marking system, the examiner will award a 6 in this section if the 
candidate produces the following features: 
 Be able and willing to produce long responses to most questions. 
 Produce a range of different linking words/ phrases. 
 Linking phrases are sometimes used incorrectly. 
 Use some ―marker‖ language (eg, redundant language). 
 There is some hesitation/ repetition/ self-correction. 
So from the above, it is clear that a Fluency 6 is the score where candidates begin to 
produce native-speaker style language features in longer answers. 
A Fluency 5 lacks most of these features. 
Fluency and Coherence 7 
The examiner will award 7 in this section if the candidate can produce the following: 
 Can produce long responses easily. 
 Produces a wide range of linking words, phrases and connectives. 
 Uses different linkers in a flexible ways. 
 Responses are relevant to the topic. 
 There is some hesitation/ repetition/ self-correction (but these do not 
affect understanding and meaning). 
From the above it can be concluded that a Fluency 7 is awarded when the responses 
are usually long and they contain a larger quantity of linking devices (redundant language 
etc.) 
Fluency and Coherence 8 
The examiner will give 8 in this section if the candidate can produce the following 
features of language: 
 Fluent use of a wide range of linking language features. 
 Occasional hesitation/ repetition. 
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 Long responses are easily delivered and are directly relevant to the 
topic. 
 Use cohesive features (linking phrases) accurately. 
A Fluency and Coherence 8 score is very close to native speaker level. 
Summary of Fluency and Coherence 
Many people believe that the ―Fluency‖ score is based on the speed and flow of 
speech. From the marking system descriptions it can be seen that these aspects are only a 
small part of the actual score. 
The most important aspect of your ―Fluency and Coherence‖ score is the length of 
your response and your use of cohesive features such as linking words, discourse markers, 
connectives and redundant phrases. 
Problems with Fluency and Coherence 
The most common problem that Chinese candidates face in this section of the 
marking system is that they focus to heavily on answering the question. In other words, their 
answers contain ― information content‖ but lack the language to link these ideas together. 
Look at the following example: 
“What do you like about your hometown?” 
“My hometown is Wuhan. Wuhan is very modern so I like the buildings. All 
over the city there are lots of new interesting buildings being built. When I was 
younger most of the buildings looked the same so it wasn't as attractive as it is 
nowadays.” 
The answer above is not a bad answer. In fact the grammar is fairly complex and 
accurate; it is not too short. The problem with this answer is that it lacks cohesive features. 
Now compare the following answer: 
“Well you know, my hometown is Wuhan and you might not know this but 
Wuhan is a very modern, so I suppose I would have to say I like the buildings. 
Actually, all over the city there are lots of new interesting buildings being built. In 
fact, it's quite interesting to consider that when I was younger most of the building 
looked the same, so you know it wasn't as attractive as it is nowadays.” 
The content in the answer above is exactly the same as the first answer. The 
difference in this second answer is that the information is linked using native-speaker style 
cohesive features. The answer above would most likely be typical of a Fluency and 
Coherence 7 or 8. (There is a section later which deals with cohesive language in detail.) 
A second problem with coherence is when candidates avoid the question by talking 
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about something else. 
Look at the following example: 
“What sports do you like?” 
“I don't like sports. I like computer games. My favorite computer game is 
Counter Strike and this game is very popular in China now. I like Counter Strike 
because...” 
This situation happens quite often in the speaking test. If it happens once or twice, 
the examiner probably won't change your score. If it happens frequently then your ―Fluency 
and Coherence‖ will be reduced. 
2. Lexical Resource (Scored 1~9) 
Many people (even examiners) call this section as the ―vocabulary‖ score. 
There are some common misunderstandings about how this score is awarded. 
I have often been asked the following question: ―How many words do I need to know 
to get a vocabulary score of 7?‖ 
This question is almost impossible to answer because the marking system does not 
base the ―Vocabulary‖ score on how many words you know. 
The ―Vocabulary‖ section of the marking system is based on the type of words you 
use and how you use them. 
The language points featured in this section of the marking system include: 
 Ability to use lest common words 
 Use of idiomatic language 
 Paraphrasing (explaining words that you don't know) 
 Ability to talk about unfamiliar topics 
 Ability to convey precise meaning 
A candidate will score 6 in this section if he/ she can produce the following features: 
 Can produce vocabulary for most topics in some detail. 
 Can explain ―vocabulary gaps‖ by using other words. 
 Does not confuse meaning by using vocabulary incorrectly. 
A Lexical Resource 6 is not difficult to score. In general, Chinese candidates can 
score 6 in this section quite easily because they usually know quite a lot of English words 
and have prepared vocabulary for most topics. If a candidate fails to paraphrase or explain 
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―vocabulary gaps‖ this may reduce the score to 5 in some cases. 
Lexical Resource 7 
A score of 7 in this section requires examples of the following items: 
 A range of vocabulary to talk about a wide variety of topics in detail. 
 Examples of uncommon words. 
 Some use of idiomatic language. 
 Some examples of collocation. 
 Ability to successfully explain ―vocabulary gaps‖ 
 Some vocabulary may still be used incorrectly. 
The Lexical Resource 7 score is quite different to the 6 score because it needs some 
examples of complex vocabulary skills (a 6 doesn't require this). One of the most common 
reasons why candidates fail to score 7 is because they don't include idiomatic vocabulary. 
Idiomatic vocabulary can cover many aspects including slang, idiomatic sayings and phrasal 
verbs. (There is a section on vocabulary later in the book which offers examples of idioms 
for many topics). Another reason why candidates fail to score 7 in this section is because 
there are no examples of uncommon vocabulary or collocations. 
Lexical Resource 8 
A score of 8 will awarded if the candidate shows: 
 A wide vocabulary range – enough for all topics. 
 Vocabulary is used to give precise and exact meanings. 
 Use a range of uncommon words and idioms correctly. 
 Explain ideas using uncommon vocabulary. 
In many ways the score of 8 is similar to 7. The main difference is the amount of 
uncommon vocabulary and idiomatic language. 
Problems with Lexical Resource 
Generally speaking, the most common problem in this section is the overuse of 
common words: ―Beijing is a big city.‖ In this example, the word ―big‖ is an example of 
very basic vocabulary. 
The candidate could have chosen any word to describe Beijing but chose to produce 
an example of a very basic adjective. 
In contrast, “sprawling, cosmopolitan, politically-important, fast-developing, 
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colossal” are examples of uncommon vocabulary and would have a positive effect on the 
candidate's ―Vocabulary‖ score. 
Candidates often neglect this area because they focus too much on the answer to the 
question. 
There is a section later in this book on vocabulary building. 
3. Grammatical Range and Accuracy (1~9) 
There are two aspects of this score - ―range‖ and ―accuracy‖. This score is often 
misunderstood because many people believe that a high score is awarded if the candidate 
doesn't make any grammar mistakes. The score in this section is based on a number of 
different factors including: 
 Sentence formation 
 Use of clauses (subordinate etc.) 
 Use of complex structures 
 Range of tense use 
 Error density (the amount of errors in each sentence) 
 The level of errors (whether the errors occur in basic or complex 
structures) 
Grammatical Range and Accuracy 6 
The candidate will be awarded a 6 in this section if the following is produced: 
 A mixture of both basic and complex structures. 
 Basic structures are produced accurately. 
 Complex structures may contain errors. 
 The grammar errors do not seriously influence meaning of the sentence. 
 Tenses are usually formed correctly but not always used correctly. 
A score of 6 in this section is not difficult to achieve. The candidate's language may 
contain quite a lot of grammar errors but these errors must occur in the examples of 
complex grammar. There should be examples of different tense formation, in particular, 
perfect and continuous tenses. 
Grammatical Range and Accuracy 7 
A score of 7 is awarded when the candidate's language contains the following 
aspects: 
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 A wide range of sentence structures and tenses. 
 Many examples of sentences without grammar errors. 
 Some small grammar errors. 
The description of a Grammar score 7 is quite simple. The main point here is that the 
candidate must produce many examples of sentences which do not contain errors. Most 
basic sentence structures must be correct. There must be examples of complex sentence 
structures and many examples of subordinate clause structures. Modals (would, could, 
should, may) should also be used correctly. There must be a range of different tenses 
(usually used correctly). 
Grammatical Range and Accuracy 8 
The 8 score in this section is quite simple to describe: 
 Wide range of grammar structures and features. 
 Wide range of complex sentence structures used correctly. 
 Most sentences contain no grammar errors. 
 There may be occasional grammar errors but these are probably 
careless mistakes and do not affect meaning. 
An 8 score is awarded when the candidate can produce examples of most complex 
sentence structures and can produce most tenses correctly and use them in the right way. 
There are a few mistakes. 
Problems with Grammatical Range and Accuracy 
Grammar is a very important part of the English language. In spoken English, basic 
meaning can be communicated using basic grammar. Many IELTS candidates focus on 
―communicating‖ the answer to the question and as a result they produce basic grammar. 
Another problem is the lack of perfect and continuous tenses. Native speakers of 
English produce quite a lot of these tenses when the speak. In general, Chinese speakers of 
English neglect these important tenses. 
The next problem is the actual sentence type. Many candidates produce too many 
basic sentences, eg: 
―I come from Chongqing. Chongqing is a mountain city. It is located in on the 
Chang Jiang River.‖ (three basic sentences) 
―I come from Chongqing which is a mountain city located on the Chang Jiang 
River.‖ (one complex sentence) 
To score 7 in this section the majority of sentences should be complex sentences. 
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There is a section later in this book which gives advice and activities on tenses and sentence 
structures. 
4. Pronunciation (1~9) 
With effect from August 1st 2008, the marking scale of pronunciation will change in 
all IELTS speaking tests worldwide. Examiners will now be able to award band score 1~9 
instead of the older system 2-4-6-8. 
Candidates' pronunciation will be marked in the same way, but for the higher scores 
(7-8-9) there are one or two areas that have become more emphasized in the marking 
criteria; these are discussed below. 
The most common myth about the ―Pronunciation‖ section is that many people place 
too much importance on accent. The pronunciation score is influenced by accent but there 
are other important factors which influence the score. 
―Pronunciation‖ covers the following language aspects: 
 How easily the examiner understands what is being said 
 Word stress 
 Sentence stress 
 Intonation 
 Evidence of first language accent 
Pronunciation 6 
To score 6 for pronunciation, a candidate must display the following: 
 Examiner can understand most of the candidate's language quite easily. 
 There are some examples of correct word stress and sentence stress. 
 Some evidence of intonation. 
 Some use of stress of intonation to emphasize important meaning. 
 There may be some mispronounced words. 
 A first language accent may still be present. 
The key to scoring 6 in this section is to speak clearly enough to be understood 
throughout. There is no need to try to reproduce a native-speaker accent (British, American, 
and Australian) in this band score. 
Pronunciation 7 
To score 7 for pronunciation, a candidate must display the following: