IELTS Speaking Test/Oral Test(1/4 of the test)

Section One: Stages / contents of the oral test Stage 1: introduction and interview. introduction---self-introduction including your name, (age), profession, living place, etc. ( it actually serves as a warming up process) interview---the examiner may ask you one or two question on the basis of your self - introduction. E.g.: Do you like/enjoy your work? What is your comments on your campus? (take our campus as an example: Topic sentence: Our campus is one of the most beautiful ones in China. Supporting points: It is located at the foot of hills, with sea in front, and a lake in the middle. Trees, flower, grassland, buildings Conclusion: I like the campus pretty much. And I am really lucky to have entered that university B. Stage 2: personal long talk . You are required to present your opinions or give comments on a certain topic. You have 2 minuties to make preparation. ( a process of brainstroming. remember to take notes. Just write down the key words for each point. In a logical order. ) e.g: Do you prefer traveling by air and by bus? Topic sentence: People may have different choices as to traveling by air or by bus. I prefer traveling by bus is a better choice. Supporting points: chaper Safer More convenient More interesting Conclusion: This coming summer holiday, I will visit Mountain Tai by bus. C. Stage 3:two-way discussion . dialogue between you and the examiner on the topic (part B). its actually a kind of argumentation. Its a must for you to give reasons for your standing. e.g.: some people argue that traveling by air is saferfaster

Section Two: marking criteria The four criteria the oral test making: 1. fluency and coherence() fluency doesnt mean fast. It means appropriate speed. Its advisable for you to pause, rephrase when you have difficulty in expressing yourself or when you make mistakes. Its a face-toface conversation, not reciting. Coherence( and adequacy) mens what you say should be closely related to the topic or the questions. What you say should be sufficient to support the topic sentence. e.g: what will be your main problem when you are studying in a foreign country?
What aspect of English do you find the most difficult? the difficulty + the reasons What"s your dream job? (Your dream job + reasons) How long have you been learning English? different stages of schooling + approaches / methods

2. lexical resource A. Use Idiomatic Expressions and avoid Chinglish

Chinglish is any poor or broken English that is of Chinese origin. Chinglish is found both in written and spoken forms. Outstanding examples include long time no see, I very much like you, and how to say. These hardly exhaust a long list. Generally, Chinglish are created out of deformed and grammatically erroneous usage of English, which shows the writer thinking in Chinese while writing in English. Such examples include verbatim word-for-word translation. Examples include three-good students, good good study, day day up, and I have something to do tomorrow. Be noted that Chinglish may also refer to the words and expressions created for the sake of humor. For example, 1. We two who and who 2. You have seed, I will give you some color to see see. Brothers Together up! 3. I give you face, you dont want face. 4. Know is know, noknow is noknow. 5. If you want money, I have no; if you want life, I have one!
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6. Go and look! 7. Children are morning sun. 8. People mountain people sea. 9. Morning three night four. 10. No care three seven two ten one. More Examples: 1. Dad always likes losing his temper. Dad is apt to lose his temper. 2. He is always red-eyed of other peoples achievements. He is always green-eyed of other peoples achievements. 3. You should drink more white boiled water in summer. You should drink more plain boiled water in summer. 4. I dont dance well too. I am not a very good dancer either. 5. What time is it now? What time is it, please? 6. Would you like to join our party on Friday? Would you like to come to our party on Friday night? 7. His body is healthy. He is in good health. 8. We got off the car. We got out of the car. 9. The speed of the car is fast. The car is speeding. Or The car is going too fast. 10. If you have trouble, ask for the policeman. In cases of trouble, ask for the police. 11. Don't forget to take your thing. Don't forget your personal belongings.

B. Use Concrete Words

1. She is a dancing girl. She is a stripper. 2. John is a good student. John is a hard-working student. 3. There are five people in the room. There are five girl students in the classroom. 4. Helen is an educator. Helen is a university instructor.
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5. Bill is a scientist. Bill is a biologist. C. Pay Attention to Words with Subtle Difference 1. He is the winner. He is on the win. 2. We are secure. We are safe. 3. She is narrow-minded. She is petty. 4. Jerry found a good job at last. Jerry landed a satisfactory job. 5. The victim is in the hospital. The victim is hospitalized.

D. Use Words in a Given Cultural Context

1. Every dog has its day. Every person has a happy day. 2. He is strong as horse. He is strong as cow. 3. She is a fox. She is a pig. 4. The Four Tigers of Asia. The Four Dragons of Asia. 5. He is a chicken. He is a mouse.

3. grammatical range 4. pronunciation listen & repeat; read & recite

Section Three: How to prepare the oral test?

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A. be familiar with the frequently discussed topics, such as weather, catering culture, customs, habits, environment, transportation, tourist attractions, city infrustracture, typical festivals, daily life, routine jobs

1. What"s your name?

2. Does your name have any special meaning? 3. Where were you come from? 4. What kind of landscape surrounds your hometown? 5. What is the main crop in your hometown? 6. What is the difference between Beijing and your hometown? 7. What are the main places of interest in your hometown? 8. What is the climate like in your hometown? 9. What is the character of the people like in the region where you live? 10. What are the differences in accent between the people of your hometown and Beijing? 11. What is people"s favorite food in your region? 12. How do you make dumplings? 13. What do you do during the Spring Festival? 14. Why is the Spring Festival so important to Chinese people? 15. Can you describe one of the main festivals celebrated in your country? 16. Tell me something about the Lantern Festival. 17. Tell me something about the Qing Ming Festival. 18. Tell me something about the customs of your country. 19. How long have you lived in Beijing? 20. What is the weather like in Beijing?

21. How do you compare the climate in Beijing with that in your hometown? 22. What place in Beijing do you like best? Why ? 23. Which is the worst place you"ve been to China? 24. Which is the best place you"ve been to China? 25. What places in Beijing should a foreigner visit? Why? 26. What are the major social problems in Beijing? How can they be solved? 27. What is the biggest problem China faces? 28. What places in Beijing should a foreigner visit? Why? 29. Could you tell me something about your family? 30. Have you any children? 31. What is your child"s name? Does his name have a meaning? 32. What does your wife/husband do? 33. When did you get married? 34. Describe your wedding. 35. How have weddings changed in recent years? 36. Are there any special customs about wedding in your region? 37. Describe a traditional wedding ceremony. 38. Where did you go for your honeymoon? 39. Did you have to ask for permission from your parents before you got married? 40. Is it acceptable for couples to live together without marrying?

41. Where do you think a newly couple should live? Living with their parents or on their own?

42. What responsibilities should a couple take? 43. How do Chinese usually celebrate birthdays? 44. Are there any traditions concerning the birth of a baby? 45. What kind of parent do you intend to be? 46. What do you think of One-Child Policy in China? 47. Why do people in China traditionally want to have a son? 48. What difficulties do Chinese farmers have concerning their old age? 49. What do you think needs to be done in order to relieve the farmer"s worries? 50. What hope or fears do you have for your children? 51. What sort of culture do you hope your child will grow up in? 52. Are you going to bring up your child differently from the way you were brought up? How? 53. Do you enjoy shopping? 54. Who does most of the shopping in your family? 55. What are you good at cooking? What is your favorite dish? 56. Who does most of cooking in your family? 57. Is there *** discrimination in China? 58. How do you sum up women"s conditions in China? 59. What are the causes of *** discrimination? 60. Should government pay certain salaries to those housewives? Why or why not? 61. Would you want your wife to continue with her career or to stay at home taking care of the household after you get married? 62. Have you ever wished to be one of the opposite ***? Why (why not)?

63. What would you do if your next-door neighbour were noisy nearly all the time? 64. Do you have a lot of friend? 65. What does friendship mean to you? What kind of people do you make friend with? 66. What is your major? 67. How do you like your major? 68. When and where did you graduate? What qualifications have you obtained? 69. Do you still remember your school days? 70. What impressed you most when you were at university? 71. Which is the best university in your country? 72. Could you sum up your own study habits in a few points? 73. What do you think of the practice of setting up key schools in primary and secondary school education in China? 74. Do you think the subjects you are studying today are relevant to present-day society? Why ? 75. What do you think education should be? Should it be a process of learning what is useful for your future life or should it be simply learning for enjoyment? Why? 76. What do you do for a living? 77. What do you do in the office every day? 78. Since your job seems too professional to me, could you explain it in detail? 79. What are your job prospects? 80. If you had the opportunity to change your job, what would you do with it?

81. Do you have any ambitious?

82. Will any possible future changes affect your job in any way? 83. What are your spare time interests? 84. How do you spend your weekends? 85. What is your favorite sport? What are the rules? 86. What is the most popular sport in your country? 87. What are the sporting facilities like in your university/Beijing? 88. What do you know about Qigong? Do you believe in Qigong? 89. What do you do in your spare time? 90. Do you often read newspapers? If not, why ones do you read? 91. What do you think of computer? 92. Do you think computer has changed our life so much? 93. Do you often go to the cinema/theatre? 94. What kind of films do you like best? 95. Do you often watch TV? What is your favorite program? 96. Do you think watching TV too much is a waste of time? 97. What kind of music do you enjoy? 98. Who is your favorite film star? Will you describe him/her to me? 99. Do you enjoy traveling? 100. Where have you been traveling to? Which place interested you most? 101. Do you smoking? 102. Do you think smoking is a problem that needs special attention and has to be solved? If so, why? 103. What do you know about ABC?
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104. What problem do you think you will have in ABC? 105. How will you overcome the difficulties? 106. Do you think you will be able to cope with English-demands of your intended study program in ABC? 107. What difficulties do you think youll encounter in your studies in ABC? 108. Can you imagine what life in Britain/Canada/Australia/London, etc. would be like? 109. How will you fare in Britain/Canada/Australia, etc. without your family? 110. What do you intend to study? 111. Which university are you going to study at? 112. Why did you choose this university? 113. Where are you going to study in ABC? 114. What are you plans in ABC? 115. What is your research proposal all about? 116. What do you hope for most from your study abroad? 117. Will your study abroad help your job prospects after come back to China? 118. Should you study more theory or do more practice? Give your reasons, please. 119. What kind of differences in the cultures are you expecting between China and the ABC? 120. How will your study in Britain benefit your work in China when you come back to China?

121. What do you intend to do after you finish studying?

122. What will be your main problem when you are study in a foreign country?

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123. What problem can you foresee in the future when you come back to China? 124. Will there be any adjustment problems in your life when you come back to China? If so, what are they? 125. Will you have to make any changes in your work/life when you come back to China? 126. Do you think there will be a gap between your knowledge gained in China and the level of knowledge you are going to encounter on arrival? If so, what will it be? 127. What do you think of the future of China keeps an open policy? 128. What do you regard as the most significant events in your countrys recent history? 129. Are there any special places you want to see in Canada? What are they? 130. What do you especially want to do in Canada? 131. How do you like your life in ABC University? 132. What do you think of the training in the university? 133. In what way do you think university training is helpful or falls short? 134. What aspect of English do you find the most difficult? 135. Do you find American English easier to understand than Britain English? 136. What sports are played in your country? 137. Could you describe the traditional architecture of your country? 138. What role dose religion play in everyday life in your country? 139. What would you regard as the most significant events in your country"s recent history? 140. How aware do you think people are nowadays about environmental issues?

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141. Could you tell me why you chose to study at the university of ABC? 142. What role dose tourism play in your country"s economy? 143. How serious is unemployment in your country? 144. In your opinion, what are the most serious problems associated with modern life? 145. What do you think have been the most important changes in your field over the past 5 years? 146. What are you going to major in ? 147. Are you going to do your own cooking when you are at university? 148. Some local students feel that overseas students get preferential treatment. What is your opinion? 149. Do you think you will be able to cope with the English-language demands of your intended program? 150. What do you think are the main causes of road accidents? 151. Do you think the government is doing enough to prevent road accidents? 152. As there are more and more private cars, what do you think the government should do in order to encourage citizens to use public transport? 153. How do you see yourself in ten years" time? 154. Have you ever thought to have your own business? 155. What business do you hope to have? 156. Do you know about any policies about opening a business abroad? 157. What are your plans for your future? 158. Why do you think there are more and more people leaving to immigrate to other countries? 159. Is it good for China that so many people are going to other countries?

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160. Will your life change a lot after you immigrate to ABC? 161. What will you do if you are ill abroad? 162. Do you know what to do in case of emergency? 163. What will do if you cannot find a job in ABC? 164. Why do you want to immigrate to ABC? 165. What will you do after the IELTS test? 166. What will do if you fail the IELTS test? 167. What"s your dream job? 168. How long have you been learning English? 169. What troubles you most at the moment? 170. Does your family support your decision on going ABC? What help do they offer?

B. Be familiar with the words, expressions, and sentence structures in daily communication.
Sample Case analysis Paragraph one Miss Wang is a small girl. She distinguishes herself with her beauty. Her beauty is without comparison. She has two big eyes. Her eyes are wide open and full of water and her hair floats down like a waterfall. She likes tidy and her clothes are all new. She impresses me deeply and gives me a very deep mark. what I love the girl. Paragraph two As a real friend, when you are doing fine, he may be isnt about you. But when it is rain, he will take a umbrella for you. A false friend is different. when he needs you, he comes to you. When you go to trouble, he goes away. He is a man with a little heart. Sample one (On Shooting Report) A 17- year-old girl was gun down this morning at 6 when she was driving home together with two guys. Another car approached them and fired the girl at her head. She died on the way to the hospital. The murder is not yet identified and the case is still under investigation.
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(Skills for achieving coherence 6 Ws) Sample two (On Shooting Report) Two Chinese were murdered in their off-campus apartment Monday by two unidentified murderers. The murderers rushed into their apartment, gun them down and rubbed all cash and treasures and fled away. Sample three: A Wanted Ad ( on job) We offer flexible schedule, and opportunity for growth. Weekly paycheck. Paid vacations. Friendly working environment. Salary plus bonus, tuition reimbursement, employee stock purchase plan, leading edge sales training program, excellent benefits package including medical and dental insurance plans. You/the candidates offer: interpersonal skills; energetic and dependable professionalism, excellent communication/interpersonal skills, independence and self-motivation plus strong competitive sales drive and a commitment/ devotion to excel, leadership skills, a strong work ethic, previous experience is preferred/a plus; knowledge of computers and software and good written and verbal skills. Sample four (on job) Job cut. Everyday, we get more and more announcement of more job cuts. In last 3 months over 800,000 jobs were cut. Its estimated that more jobs will be cut in the quarter ahead. No improve can be expected until the first quarter next year. Sample five (on job) Job fairs. Anderson, assistant director of career management at UIC, said, students cant afford to miss job fairs. On-campus job fairs are where connections are made; company representatives and students follow up on job fair connections, they create career opportunities for the future. Sample six (on job) Land a good job means manage to get a good job. Riyal plans to pursue a masters degree in business administration if he doesnt land a good job after graduation. Recession or not, Anderson said, perseverance is key to landing a good job. Students must follow up when making contacts with companies, after handing out resumes and after the interview process.

( ) --------------- Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) () -----------the Lantern Festival (3 12 )------------------ Arbor Day
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 (4 5 ) ------------------- Ching Ming Festival; Tombsweeping Festival (5 4 )----------------Chinese Youth Day () --------------the Dragon Boat Festival (7 1 ) ---the Party's Birthday (8 1 ) --------------------the Army's Day () --------------Mid-autumn (Moon) Festival (9 10 )------------------- Teachers' Day ()-------------- Double-ninth Day (10 1 )------------------- National Day () ------------New Year's Eve (1 1 )-----NEW YEAR'S DAY (1 15 )-----ADULTS DAY (2 14 )-----ST.VALENTINE'S DAY (VALENTINE'S DAY) )-----CARNIVAL ( 3 3 )-----PEACH FLOWER FESTIVAL (DOLL'S FESTIVAL (3 8 )-----INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY (3 17 )-----ST. PATRICK'S DAY (3-4 )-----MAPLE SUGAR FESTIVAL (4 1 )-----FOOL'S DAY ()-----EASTER ( 4 13 )-----SONGKRAN FESTIVAL DAY (4 17 )-----FOOD FESTIVAL (5 1 )-----INTERNATIONAL LABOUR DAY (5 5 )-----BOY'S DAY (5 )-----MOTHER'S DAY -----BAMADAN (4 5 )-----LESSER BAIRAM (, 5 31 )-----BANK HOLIDAY (6 1 )-----INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S DAY (6 )-----FATHER'S DAY ( 6 )-----MID-SUMMER DAY (7 )-----CORBAN (8 4 )-----CHOPSTICS DAY (9 15 )-----OLD PEOPLE'S DAY (10 10 )-----OKTOBERFEST ( 10 31 )-----PUMPKIN DAY (10 31 )-----HALLOWEEN (11 1 )-----HALLOWMAS (11 4)-----THANKSGIVING (12 24 )-----CHRISTMAS EVE (12 25 )-----CHRISTMAS DAD
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(12 26 )-----BOXING DAY (12 31 )-----NEW YEAR'S EVE(a bank holiday in many countries)

C. master the skills for question discussion For example: 1) which means of transportation do you prefer?---public traffic or private car? Topic sentence + supporting points + conclusion 2) What things are involved in your job? Topic sentence: I am an assistant in a business firm I have a lot of things to do in my daily work. Supporting points: First translating emails and documents, Second, helping with the exhibitions, Finally, arranging meetings for my manager and the clients. Conclusion: Busy as I am, I enjoy my work pretty much. 3) Why do so many students want to study abroad? Topic sentence: Reasons for studying abroad differ from person to person, but there are some points in common: Supporting points: First, gain experience of living in a different culture Second, ake you more competative when back home Third, more and more people can afford to send their kids abroad with the development of economy Fourth, it has been getting easier for people to go abroad Conclusion: I will go abroad to further my study after finishing my college education. D. the trend for oral test---more detailed questions e.g.: How do you keep in touch with your friends? Do you send emails to keep in touch with other people? Do you receive emails? How many times a day? Do you write business emails? Do you write personal emails? Which one is more difficult to write? Describe your favourite/meaningful photo Do you like to store your pics in the computer or like to have them
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printed? When did you learn to use a computer?

__________the end for lecture One

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