IELTS speaking test – Part 01 – Fluency and Coherence (Improve your Band score)

IELTS speaking test – Part 01 – Fluency and Coherence (Improve your Band score)
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Hello friends! Welcome to the IELTS speaking test lesson. If you’re preparing for the IELTS exam and the IELTS speaking test causes you jitters then don’t worry I’m here to guide you. My name is Michelle and in this ESL lesson I’m going to share with you some Do’s and Don’ts about the IELTS speaking Test for the criteria “Fluency and Coherence”.
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FLUENCY AND COHERENCE
“DO’s”
Speak Smoothly/ Easily
Meaning: FLUENCY- to speak at length
Aim: The person is not making too much effort to speak but is speaking naturally. If you memorize large parts of your speech to repeat during the speaking test but this can add unnecessary stress and sound unnatural
How: Build on your point of view by adding a few details
Example: ( asked in TASK 1-where the interviewee will ask you questions about your personal experiences)
Examiner: Did you enjoy your childhood?
You: Yes I enjoyed my childhood. (don’t stop here, expand your answer by adding some details)
I grew up in the countryside being very close to the environment. We had an apple orchard next to my home that is where I spent most of my time playing with my friends occasionally plucking apples to enjoy the fresh juicy fruits. That sure was an absolute bliss.
*Here what we see is that you’re speaking enough and no just a one sentence answer. Do not hesitate from speaking more this will fetch you some brownie points for your FLUENCY
Speaks Coherently (All ideas fit together well so that they form a united whole)
Meaning: organizing ideas logically
Aim: Coherence is one of the two qualities that give a written or spoken text unity and purpose. The other is cohesion (we’ll look at it in the next pointer). In speaking, coherence refers to the general sense that a text makes sense through the organization and structuring of its content. In other words, you must not go OFF TOPIC.
How: For part 2 of the Speaking test where you will be given a cue card with some prompts. Use those prompts/ bullet points to help you structure the content logically so that you don’t go OFF TOPIC. Make notes on the topic in the given one minute using key words. This will prevent you from going OFF TOPIC.
DESCRIBE A TIME OF THE DAY YOU LIKE
• -what time of the day it is
• -what do you do at that time
• -who are you usually with
• -and explain why you like it
Example:
*It is suggested that you do not talk about you hobbies here, if you like the evening somewhere between 18:00 – 19:00 hours because you cycle that time (if you suddenly start talking about your cycling experience more than why you like the evening time then you’re going off topic) so please continue saying that you usually cycle with a bunch of friends and you like it because it rejuvenates and energizes you (covering all the bullet points) and then your content will be logically organized.
Uses appropriate Cohesive Devices
Meaning: to use Cohesive devices,
Aim: Cohesion is one of the two qualities that give a written or spoken text unity and purpose, the other being coherence. It speaking it refers to the use of appropriate signposting.
How: by using what are sometimes called linking words, linkers, connectors, discourse markers or transitional words (for example – for example, and, such as)
Example: (TASK 3 – Analytical Discussion with the examiner where you discuss a topic in detail: giving causes, effects, examples, reflecting and justifying your opinion etc.)
Examiner: Topic: Excessive TV Watching
You:
Introduction: These days/ Nowadays/ Right now (present) TV watching has become an addiction among people of all ages however/ but/ on the other hand/ while (comparing and contrasting) years ago/ when I was younger (past) not everybody owned a television.
Reasons – I think one important reason is/ I guess the major cause is (expressing ideas) Increasing number of TV channels and/ also/ as well as/ another reason is (adding information) popularity of TV Characters.
Effects – This has caused/ this has led to/ Increasing obesity levels, eyesight problems and other health Issues.
Personal experience/ giving examples – for example/ for instance/ such as/ like/ my nephew watches nothing else except cartoons, he will not study
Being clear/to restate your point – You use these simple, natural expressions to explain your point again more clearly or get your answer back on track (if you talked too much about your nephew and you want to get back to the topic)
- What I mean is
- What I want to say is
- As I was saying----television is quite detrimental for children who are becoming more and more sedentary.
I hope these Do’s and Don’ts enable you to be more confident when you’re in the exam room.