The IELTS speaking section is considered the toughest for non-English speaking candidates. In the IELTS speaking section, it is not the English grammar that is tested, but the way you match the English proficiency of the foreign countries is assessed.
Many of the applicants remain confused about the score calculation in different sections of the IELTS exam. Read further to know the IELTS speaking score calculation process.
What are the Factors Determining the IELTS Speaking Score?
The IELTS speaking section is a short one with a duration of only between 11 to 15 minutes. In the IELTS speaking section, a candidate interacts face to face with the examiner who determines the scores.
According to the IELTS score calculator, the speaking section score ranges between 0-9. Hence, the maximum possible score in IELTS speaking is 9 and 0 is the lowest. The IELTS speaking marking criteria is based upon the following factors:
- Fluency and Coherence: It is about how good you are at speaking your thoughts when questioned.
- Lexical Resources: In this, your vocabulary is checked. This factor is to assess the communication functions of speech.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy: This is about how accurate are your grammatical structures and how well you use them in your speech.
- Pronunciation: Pronunciations are different for different countries, and if you are aiming at foreign universities, you should be able to understand and articulate their pronunciations.
Let’s Checkout What is the Score Percentage Weight for Part 1, 2 and 3 in the IELTS Speaking Test?
The IELTS Speaking Module comprises three sections:
Section 1:
The duration of this section is about 4-5 minutes within which the examiner brings questions that are highly about ‘you’. He or she will ask questions related to yourself like your hobbies, family or interests in foreign education.
It becomes an easy task as it consists of subjective questions for which only we decide the answers. However, we should still be cautious about the factors of speech and prepare many of the predictable questions beforehand.
Section 2:
It is called the “long turn” section where you are given a card with the topic written on it. You will be given only two minutes to speak on that topic. Therefore you must divide your time for thinking and speaking into halves. It is considered as the toughest round as you are asked to speak about an unprepared topic. However, if you keep yourself calm and alert, this round can be excelled well. The examiner may even ask one or two additional questions from that topic.
Section 3:
This section is a conceptual one where you will get an opportunity to answer the issues brought up by the examiner.
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How is the Speaking Score Calculated in IELTS?
The IELTS Speaking test is marked upon the four factors that are:
- Fluency and Coherence (FC)
- Lexical Resources (LR)
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy (GRA)
- Pronunciation (P)
Each of these four factors has its value and together form the total marks. The score range varies between 0 – 9 pointers. An arithmetic mean is calculated for the scores of these different factors of the speaking section in the following way:
LR+FC+P+GRA/4
For Example- If someone gets marks in lexical resource 7, fluency and cohesion 8, pronunciation 8, grammar range, and accuracy 7. So the total marks will be the arithmetic mean of all these scores.
8+7+8+7/4 =7.5
Hence, the total score of IELTS speaking band score will become 7.5.
So, if you want to know “ How to score 8 in IELTS speaking?”, you will have to keep in mind that the averages of these four sections should be an 8. This will happen if you get a total score of 32, that means score 8 in each of the sections.
How to Improve the IELTS Speaking Score?
Following IELTS speaking tips can help the candidates to score better in the IELTS speaking section:
- Being confident and comfortable will keep your anxiety away. Hence, there will be less stuttering.
- Try to speak at a moderate speed, as a faster speed will make you look anxious and a slow speed will make you more conscious of your words.
- Do not try to be superficial with fancy vocabulary, but try to be more natural and effortless.
- Do not try to add a vocabulary which you have not used before in your conversations.
- Think carefully and try to merge your thoughts with your words. Better thinking will lead to better speech.
- Stay calm and positive to avoid any negative thoughts.
Conclusion:
The IELTS speaking section requires confidence, and if you are confident enough, you can score a good IELTS speaking band. All you need is loads of practice and good training. Stay tuned to our blogs for further updates.
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