Things not to do in IELTS Speaking Test
Incomplete answer
In IELTS speaking test speaking skills are judged in terms of Fluency & Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range & Accuracy, and Pronunciation. So to show your grip on all these you have to speak and should not give answers only in “yes” or “no” but elaborate it. For example if the examiner ask you Do you like long journey instead of answering in “yes” or “no” you should say “yes I like to go for long journey as it gives me the opportunity to explore new things and it also rejuvenate me.” With this type of answers you can show your level to the examiner and can get good scores.
Repeating the same phrases and words
Many test takers use the same words and sentence structure many times in the test, it should be avoided as you should use variety of vocabulary and structure to satisfy the lexical resources criteria.
Usually, we use the same words and structures when we speak; this is even more common if we speak in a foreign language. However, in the IELTS exam, the examiner will be listening if you use a variety of phrases and grammar. This is actually in the “lexical resource” marking criteria.
Candidates sometimes repeat the words such as “I”, “I think” or “My”. There are many substitutes we can use:
– There is no doubt that…
– From my perspective…
– From my point of view…
– As far as I am concerned…
– In my mind…
Repeating the question
Repeating the question is another habit that should be avoided most aspirants repeat the question to fill the thinking time it really looks awkward when every time you repeat the question. To illustrate, if you are asked “Which person in your family you love most?” instead of saying “Well…. Which person I love most in my family? You should say “I love my father the most in my family”
It is suggested to paraphrase the question by doing this you can score some extra marks as in IELTS paraphrasing is valued. Like for the above asked question you can say “My father is close to my heart.” Or “My dearest family member is my father.”
Pausing too long
Another thing you should not do is pausing too long. You should speak normally with examiner as with your friend or family member and you can take natural pauses but not like you stop speaking and started thinking what should I say after this. Even don’t take long time to think about the answer if you don’t understand any word or sentence don’t hesitate to ask the examiner to repeat it but in a polite way like “Pardon can you please repeat the question?”
Not asking questions
Many candidates start answering as soon as they hear the question and they don’t even bother to understand the question the situation become worse when many of them did not even hear the question properly or don’t get any word and they hesitate to ask the examiner and they try to answer it. Her it is recommended to ask the examiner to repeat that single word or the complete question.
Using Memorized phrases
Don’t use memorized phrases or templates to answer the questions as examiner can easily judge that you are using crammed material and can deduct your marks.
Remember to know the exam pattern as with this you will be able to answer according to the parts.
