Today you’ll learn what band 9 means for IELTS Speaking.
What is a band
9 for IELTS Speaking?
It means you are using English at an expert level.
However, even being a native
speaker doesn’t guarantee a band 9.
You also need to know what
the IELTS Examiner is looking for.
Band 9 for Fluency
and Coherence
For the highest score,
you must be able to talk
about any topic thrown at you, without
hesitation.
Having said that, it
is natural to hesitate sometimes, when searching for an idea.
The IELTS Examiner can tell, though, when you are hesitating
because you don’t know the word in
English, or you’re simply organizing your
thoughts like a native speaker.
Also, you must connect
your ideas in a completely natural way in Parts 1 and 2, while using
higher level transitions in Part 3.
Remember, though, that ‘natural’ isn’t synonymous with ‘perfect’.
Speaking is a spontaneous
act, and, therefore, wandering
off-topic a bit is fine, as long as you connect it back.
Band 9 for Vocabulary
The most important
thing here is range.
The examiner must hear
both informal and academic language,
with no mistakes.
If you have a wide
range of vocabulary, but a few collocation
errors, you will get a band 8 for
Vocabulary.
To prepare this wide range, you must expose
yourself to as much English as possible, through both listening and reading.
That’s not enough though! After learning
a new word, you have to use it, in either speaking or writing.
Band 9 for Pronunciation
You must sound
different for different answers. For instance, you won’t use the same intonation or tone of voice talking
about your job as you
would your best friend.
Besides communicating emotions
through your tone, you must also have no
trace of your first language accent.
Try to mimic
native speakers as much as possible.
Band 9 for Grammar
For this score, you must have a wide
range of sentence structures, with no
mistakes, apart from occasional slips
like a native would make.
For native English
speakers, getting a band 9 on
grammar and pronunciation are pretty easy, while the other categories are not guaranteed.
Overall, the simple
truth is, for a non-native speaker,
you just have
to talk out loud in English every day, as much as possible!
Do you have any IELTS
questions?
Share them in the
comments section below!
