Will Your Accent Cause You to Fail?
By Ela Britchkow, Speech and Language Pathologist
Clear understandable English pronunciation can boost your IELTS score. It can also prevent a failing grade. I am a speech and language pathologist who specializes in accent reduction. Pronunciation is graded separately and makes up 25% of your Speaking test score. To pass the Pronunciation section, of the IELTS Speaking test, requires clear easily understandable speech. There are an abundance of materials on the market to prepare you for the IELTS. Our software program, Speech Improvement Now, uniquely focuses on Pronunciation. If this is a weakness for you then specialized help in this area makes a great deal of sense. Our program will also provide you valuable support for IELTS’s Fluency and Coherence, Grammar and Vocabulary sections.
You probably wouldn’t be reading this article without recognizing the importance of doing well on the IELTS. Educational institutions, employers, professional registration bodies and government immigration agencies often require proof of English language skills as part of their recruitment or admission procedures. The IELTS is designed to test the language ability of people who want to study or work where English is used as the language of communication.
The clarity of your pronunciation is what matters. It’s not that different than when you were attending school in your home country, taking written exams in your native language. Very illegible handwriting often results in a much lower or failing grade. This similarly applies to your accent and pronunciation. It can potentially lower your IELTS Speaking score. Warning signs that your accent could undermine your score: people frequently ask you to repeat yourself, they look confused when you speak or you notice that you lost their attention.
The test has four sections: Listening – 4 sections, 40 questions, 30 minutes; Speaking – <a href="http://www.examenglish.com/IELTS/IELTS_Speaking.htm" onclick="__gaTracker('send', 'event', 'outbound-article', 'http://www.examenglish.com/IELTS/IELTS_Speaking acheter viagra 30 pilules viagra 100mg.htm’, ‘interview’);”>interview, 15 minutes; Reading – different for Academic or General Training – 3 sections, 40 questions, 60 minutes; Writing – different for Academic or General Training – 2 pieces of writing, 60 minutes. You can choose between the Academic or General Training versions of the test. All candidates do the same Listening and Speaking sections.
Part 1, Introduction and Interview lasts 4-5 minutes. The examiner will introduce him or herself and ask you to introduce yourself and confirm your identity. The examiner will ask you general questions on familiar topics, such as home, family, work, studies and interests. This section should help you relax and talk naturally.
Part 2, Individual Long Turn, lasts for 3-4 minutes. The examiner will give you a task card which asks you to talk about a particular topic, including points to include in your talk. You will be given one minute to prepare and make notes. You will then be asked to talk for 1-2 minutes on the topic. You will not be interrupted during this time, so it important to keep talking. The examiner will then ask you one or two questions on the same topic.
Part 3, Two-Way Discussion, lasts 4-5 minutes. The examiner will ask you further questions which are connected to the topic of Part 2. These questions are designed to give you an opportunity to discuss more abstract issues and ideas.
The Speaking Test is interactive and as close to a real-life situation as a test can get. The examiner will be judging you in certain areas such as how you communicate opinions and information on everyday topics and common experiences; if you can speak at length on a given topic using appropriate language; if you can organize your ideas coherently; if you can express and justify your opinions; and if you can analyze, discuss and speculate about issues.
There is no minimum score required to pass the IELTS. There is a range from a “band 0” score for those who did not attempt the test to “band 1” (“non-user”) to “band 9” (“expert user”). Each institution sets a different threshold. Institutions are advised not to consider a report older than two years to be valid, unless the user proves that they have worked to maintain their level. As a general rule, the top ranked universities in the United States tend to require a higher IELTS band (typically 7.0). Most universities will accept scores between band 6-7 as being suitable for undergraduate study in English.
The scoring of the Speaking Test is split into four sections that all carry equal weight in grading (that is, each section counts for 25% of your grade): Pronunciation; Fluency and Coherence; Grammar; Vocabulary. A balanced skill set will yield the highest score.
Getting nervous is a natural reaction to a test, but nerves can often bring someone’s score down in a few different ways. Some people have a tendency to speak at a very low volume when they are nervous and this will reduce the examiner’s ability to understand you. Others mumble when they are nervous and this is obviously a bad idea on a speaking test. Still others will speak too rapidly reducing their intelligibility. The key is to prepare properly and then you will feel more confident. My program also works on reducing speech rate. You will be shown how to produce clear sounds by properly positioning your mouth.
If you are not sure about whether or not your accent could significantly lower your IELTS score, you can email me an audio recording of the first paragraph of this article and send it to: contact@speechimprovementnow.com. I will provide you some brief feedback.
By Ela Britchkow, Speech and Language Pathologist
©2016 Ela Britchkow
