In this edition:
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Introduction
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Comparisons Between Bands In The IELTS Test
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IELTS Listening Test Skills
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From the Examiner's Chair
Introduction
This month we have the last in our present series of comparisons between bands in the IELTS test. In this issue we cover Grammatical Range and Accuracy in the Writing test.
We have an excellent article from an outside writer. This one discusses skills for the Listening test.
We also have another in our occasional series of 'From the Examiner's Chair'. Here we talk about how a speech impediment might influence a candidate's result in the Speaking interview and what they can do to minimise it's effect.
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Comparisons Between Bands In The IELTS Test - Grammatical Range and Accuracy in the Writing test
Now that IELTS have provided public descriptors on their website, it is worth having a look at the differences between some of the band grades. This month we will look at the differences between Bands 5, 6 and 7 in Grammatical Range and Accuracy for the Writing Tests.
The descriptors for this part of the test are the same for both Task 1 and 2.
Look at the table below.
BAND 5
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
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BAND 6
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
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BAND 7
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
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uses only a limited range of structures
attempts complex sentences but these tend to be less accurate than simple sentences
may make frequent grammatical errors and punctuation may be faulty; errors can cause some difficulty for the reader
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uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms
makes some errors in grammar and punctuation but they rarely reduce communication
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uses a variety of complex structures
produces frequent error-free sentences has good control of grammar and punctuation but may make a few errors
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According to the IELTS Handbook, Grammatical Range and Accuracy refers to "the range and accurate use of the candidate's grammatical resource as manifested in the candidate's writing at the sentence level". This means that the examiner will look at each sentence for accuracy, and will look overall to see the types of sentence structure that the candidate uses.
The difference between the three bands in the range of sentence structure is easily seen in the table above. Band 5 shows a limited range, whereas Band 7 shows a variety of complex structures. A Band 7 writer has good control of the sentences used, making few grammatical and few punctuation errors.
A Band 5 piece of writing may cause some difficulty for the reader. Compare this with a Band 6, which will be understandable even though there are some errors.
Candidates usually know their grammar is important. A piece of grammatically correct writing is more difficult to produce than the completion of an exercise which concentrates on a particular grammatical point. Putting it altogether takes practice and the way to improve is to learn to proofread and correct mistakes. An example of proofreading is to check all your sentences for subject and verb and then check whether or not they agree in number. It is always surprising to invigilators (people who supervise in the test room) how many candidates have time to spare at the end of the writing test but who spend this time just sitting and not checking.
For more information on the Writing test check out our
IELTS Writing Module,
IELTS Writing Tips and
IELTS Writing Preparation
pages.
IELTS Listening Test Skills
By Svend Nelson
The real purpose of the IELTS Listening test is to determine a candidate’s preparedness to deal with actual situations in the study-abroad contexts that require accurate hearing of English. Accordingly, the test is in four sections, all of which represent actual kinds of conversation, public speech, and lectures that a foreign student doing advanced study abroad might encounter. They are:
-- A social situation. Typically a conversation between two people about an everyday-life matter, such as travel events, planning to spend time together, making personal introductions, going to a restaurant, and the like. This section tests ability to hear key words, comprehend descriptions of locations and spoken directions about how to reach them, how to recognize and identify other people from physical descriptions, and comprehend ordinary language. Particular challenges are hearing English in a variety of accents, spoken quickly, and the speakers changing their minds and using slang.
-- A single speaker in a nonacademic situation. Typically a talk by a school or other administrator about a program or service; sometimes an interview in which only one of the speakers provides information. Particular skills tested are the accurate hearing of information about things such as times, places, dates, names, and particular aspects of policy and the ability to complete forms.
-- Multiple speakers in a nonacademic situation. Typically a campus tour or the orientation of new students to a particular campus facility; sometimes a simulated radio news report. Particular skills tested are the ability to hear information in a variety of accents and acoustical settings, hear key words, note phrases the change the meaning of other words heard, and comprehend information given from multiple points of view.
-- A single speaker in an academic situation. Typically a portion of a lecture. The subject matter is not highly technical and requires no prior knowledge. Even so, candidates must demonstrate the ability to hear key word and concepts accurately, to distinguish between true and false statements and facts and opinions, and to recognize reported speech and other qualifiers that change the meaning of some phrases.
The four sections or the IELTS Listening test tend to increase in difficulty, but careful preparation is recommended. Some candidates find the first section hardest, simply because of the extensive use of slang and their difficulty in understanding words in unfamiliar accents. Some of the best preparation is free: extensive listening to radio and TV news on channels such as BBC, which naturally report news in British and Commonwealth accents. British, American and other English foreign movies and TV shows also give good exposure to English as spoken by natives and slang speech.
Svend Nelson is a university lecturer and Internet entrepreneur. He is director of UniRoute Limited, a Hong Kong based company with offices in Bangkok and London providing IELTS preparation and a free online application service to study abroad in UK including courses like tourism management. Svend lived and worked in various countries across Latin America, Europe and Asia and currently lives in Thailand.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Svend_Nelson
For more information on the Listening test check out our
IELTS Listening Module,
IELTS Listening Tips and
IELTS Listening Preparation
pages.
From the Examiner's Chair
Occasionally, an interviewer will be asked to assess a candidate with a speech impediment. The impediment might be, for example, a stutter or stammer, or pronunciation difficulties resulting from a cleft palate.
Candidates suffering from a speech impediment may wonder if this is taken into consideration during the interview. The short answer is no. All candidates are assessed using the marking criteria defined by IELTS. It pains us to say this but, to be frank, a candidate with a speech impediment is likely to receive a lower mark in the Speaking test than an equally able candidate who does not. A speech impediment can affect two of the marking criteria: 1). Fluency and Coherence 2). Pronunciation.
Is it fair that candidates' speech impediments are not take into consideration? On the one hand, IELTS should be fair and unbiased. The result of the test should accurately reflect the ability of the candidate to converse in English and, unfortunate though it is, a speech impediment will make communication more difficult.
On the other hand, one could argue that a candidate with any sort of disability should not be discriminated against. In the UK, and in many other countries, there are laws to prevent discrimination of this kind. Indeed, if a university in the UK were to reject a candidate because of a speech impediment we are sure they would receive a lot of bad press and legal action might be taken against them.
If you are a prospective candidate with a speech impediment, what should you do? We would first recommend that, when you apply for your test, you inform the Test Centre of your speech impediment. This won't make a difference to your result but it might be useful to you if, at a later date, your Receiving Organisation wishes to confirm you really do have a speech impediment.
When you have your IELTS Speaking interview, try to be relaxed. Candidates who have a speech impediment are often very conscious of it and this often makes it worse. The same advice we give to all candidates applies: try to relax and speak normally. Just answer the questions to the best of your ability.
When you get your results you might be pleasantly surprised. However, if your Speaking mark is low compared with the other modules and your overall band score is not sufficient for your needs, we suggestion you contact your Receiving Organisation and explain. As an example, if you need an overall 6.5 to study at a University and receive, say, 6, 6.5, 7, 5 (for Speaking) i.e. 6 overall, it would be reasonable for you to contact them and explain that you didn't get the required score because of your speech impediment. It would be clear from the other scores that your understanding of English is higher than is reflected in your Speaking score and we would expect, in many cases, that the Receiving Organisation would make an exception. They might, however, require proof of your speech impediment and that is why it might be helpful if the Test Centre has made a record of it.
If you have a speech impediment, don't let it influence your taking the IELTS if it is a step towards your goal.
For more information on the Speaking test check out our
IELTS Speaking Module,
IELTS Speaking Tips and
IELTS Speaking Preparation
pages.
