IELTS SPEAKING: FLUENCY AND ACCURACY

The Speaking Module assesses a candidate’s ability to speak in English accurately and fluently.

A person is considered to be fluent if he/she speaks:

• at a normal pace (neither too slow nor too fast that the speech becomes incomprehensible),

• without unnatural stops and pauses (i.e. without hesitating),

• without excessive and unnecessary repetition (repeating the same thing over and over again)

• With appropriate cohesion and organization (the speech should be connected, sentences should not be left incomplete in order to jump to next idea. Ideas should be linked. Haphazard sentences about irrelevant things are inappropriate and lead to lower score.)

• Clearly so that the speech is comprehensible (not too fast so that meaning cannot be grasped by listener, no mumbling nor too loud, at an appropriate pitch, words must be spoken clearly with appropriate natural pauses)


A person’s speech is considered accurate, if he/she uses:

• Accurate grammar

• Appropriate tone (formal or informal) as demanded by the situation or topic of discussion. IELTS speaking module focuses on a semi-formal, comfortable conversation but informal terms should be completely avoided.

• Appropriate vocabulary according to the context (the topic being discussed).

• Proper pronunciation. Pronunciation plays a very important role since inaccurate pronunciation may change the meaning of the word or may render the word or even whole sentence meaningless.

IELTS SPEAKING MODULE - Know The Basics

IELTS Speaking Module - Basics

The IELTS Speaking Module starts with an introduction of the candidate. The interviewer will begin with asking questions about the candidate for example,

• Where do you live?
• What do you do? or What is your occupation?
• What is your favourite pass time? or Tell me about your hobbies? etc.

This is to allow the candidate to introduce themselves, feel comfortable and confident as the candidate will be speaking about things he/she knows.

Then the interviewer will provide the candidate with a topic. The candidate will also be provided with a question paper with the topic written on it. The candidate will be allowed one minute to think about the topic and take down notes or points if he/she wishes to about the topic. The candidate will then have to talk for about two minutes on the topic.

The interviewer will move on to asking questions about the topic after the candidate has finished speaking. The questions will be relevant to the topic but may also slightly touch other related areas. The questions will be open ended. This means that there is no right or wrong answer. The candidate has to express their own point of view.

What is assessed in the Speaking Module?

The Speaking Module assesses a candidate's ability to communicate verbally in English. This includes:

• The candidate understands what the interviewer has asked them, hence his/her answers should be relevant and show their understanding. (The candidate can always ask the interviewer to repeat their question if they haven't understood what was asked.)
• Speak clearly and fluently in English (with normal stops and breaks as used in everyday spoken English).
• Use appropriate language (accurate grammar and relevant vocabulary as far as possible). For example, if the candidate is talking about a football he once bought, he may say that the ball was quite big, but not fat! Similarly if talking about a person, he may say ' the man was fat', however, if he says 'the man was thick', it will be absolutely wrong and inappropriate use of vocabulary....so candidates need to make sure they do not confuse words and use them appropriately even when speaking fluently.

(More information on using appropriate vocabulary both in speaking and writing will be provided in later posts)