IELTS Reading & Speaking

Mistakes

PROFESSOR DR YIYI MAW

PRO-RECTOR(RETIRED)
YANGON UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
 Reading 1. Not reading the instructions
carefully.

 Pay attention to the instructions for each set of questions.

 For example, if it says you have to answer Yes, No, or Not Given, then don’t write “False” in
place of “No”.

 If the instructions say “answer in no more than two words and/or a numeral, then make sure
your answer follows this rule - 3 words (long answer )would be marked as incorrect.

Example 3: Matching Headings and Paragraphs - words and phrases instead number

ii Dramatic effects can result / ii

 Reading 2. Reading questions first

 Read the first 2–3 question and read para 1. You got the answer for first question only. Now
read the para 2 and so on.

 You need to switch back between questions and passage text.

 Don’t read the whole passage at once and then start reading questions, this way you will need
to read the passage again and end up wasting time.
 Reading 3.Ignoring the order of questions

 Remember that comprehension passages maintain a question order. You are prone to lose
valuable time if you are not concerned about the question order.

 The order of questions can help you. Answer for question 4 will be between answers for
questions 3 and 5 in the text.
Reading 4.Not trying to read word by word /sentence by
sentence

 First skim read the passage to know what passage is about. By skim read, just quickly read first
para, first line of each para and last para.
 Do not read every word of the given text. The questions of IELTS reading tests your ability to
skim (the passage and understand the meaning quickly) and scan ( specific information) for
particular information.
 Reading 5. Not getting stuck on unknown vocabulary .

 Getting trapped in this unknown vocabulary is one of the biggest problems. Answering questions is
more important than the word. Otherwise, it will consume all your precious time. Therefore you
don’t need to understand the meaning of every word used in the passage.

 Ignore them- most of the time you won’t need them- you can answer the question from the context-
ie the words around.

 They will give you an idea of the meaning of the sentence and you can still answer the question.
Reading 6. Not correct grammar.

 In gap-filling exercises, make sure that the gap you have completed is
grammatically correct.
 For example, if the gapped sentence reads an ——— event.
 the missing word must begin with a singular countable noun which starts
with a vowel (aeiou).
 it could be ,for example,
- an unlikely event
 an important event but it would not be
 an regular event (as that is grammatically incorrect.)
Reading 7. Don’t Leave a blank.

 Make an educated guess, especially in multiple choice type questions. At

least, you’ll have a chance at the answer, whereas leaving an empty space
means you have no chance.

 Answer all questions and make guesses if necessary.

Speaking 1. Silence

 Different cultures have different attitudes to silence, but for English

speakers the attitude is one of near-zero tolerance.

 It’s fine to hesitate for a few seconds before speaking or between ideas, but
silences of longer than five seconds will go down badly.

 Happily, there’s a solution to this problem and that’s to learn some filler
expressions such as That’s a tough question and Let me see/think.
Speaking 2. Memorised answers

 The examiner is very likely to notice if you try to recite an answer from memory, and there
is a penalty for this.
 A memorised answer include:
- speaking in a ‘written’ style of English,
- unnatural intonation, and
- attempting to ‘rephrase’ the question to the one they want to answer. it is much more
effective to
Speaking 3. Overuse of transition signals

 It’s helpful to use a few signposting words like first, for example or on the
other hand.
 But if you overload your speech with these you could actually damage your
score.
 Sounding natural, not like a signposting robot, should be your goal in
IELTS Speaking.
 There are also many words characteristic of formal writing such as
furthermore, moreover and in addition that are hardly ever used in speech
and could actually make you sound less natural if you say them.
Speaking 4. Parroting the question

 In IELTS, a parrot is a candidate who repeats the question back in

statement form:

 Q: What’s your favourite sport to watch on TV?

 A: My favourite sport to watch on TV is football. As the scoring criteria of

IELTS heavily reward those who can vary speech, paraphrasing the words
or structure of the question is a fast-track route to a higher score:

 I’m always watching football on TV.

Speaking 5. Answering the wrong question

 You will lose marks for coherence if your answer completely fails to address
the question.

 Ask yourself before you begin speaking if you are sure you have understood,
and do not be afraid to ask the examiner for help
Speaking 6. Saying ‘I don’t understand’

 There are much better ways to check for meaning, so learn them!

 You can use a straightforward request like

 Could you say that again, please? or

 Ask a checking question such as Do you mean…? that shows you have at
least partly understood the question.
Speaking 7. Saying too much or too little

 If you say too little, you miss the opportunity to show off your ability.

 If you say too much, you risk sounding less coherent and making more
mistakes.

 As a general guide, answers of two to four sentences are fine in introduction.

And then ,you should aim to say three to six sentences after each question.
 Speaking 8.Poor pronunciation

 There’s a good reason pronunciation accounts for 25% of the score in IELTS Speaking and that’s
because it’s fundamental to spoken communication.

 Before taking IELTS, you should find an opportunity to practice with native or native-level
speakers and get an honest appraisal of your pronunciation. If they have trouble hearing your
words, it’s very likely the examiner will too.
Speaking 9:Flat intonation

 Even when you pronounce words clearly, flat intonation will make it
difficult to follow what you say.

 We vary intonation, pitch, volume and speaking speed in order to maintain

the listener’s interest and direct attention to our important ideas.

 Even IELTS examiners, who are trained to listen carefully to everything a

candidate says, will find a flatly-intoned response difficult to follow and
your response may be marked down for both pronunciation and coherence
as a result.
Speaking 10:Asking for the examiner’s opinion

 You are there to answer the questions, not ask them.

 The examiner will politely redirect the question back your way if you try to
stall for time by saying I don’t know, what do you think?

 If you really don’t have any ideas, just say I’m afraid I know nothing about
this topic and wait for the next question.
Speaking 11. Giving yes/no answers

 The objective of the IELTS is to test your English language fluency, so it is

necessary that you answer at least at some length and do not simply give
monosyllabic answers.

 If you’re asked what’s your native town, don’t simply reply with Mandalay.

 Instead, say something like “My native town is Mandalay, which is one of
the major cities in Myanmar. It’s a wonderful place, with a lot to see and
do.”
 Speaking 12:Lacking confidence

 The IELTS interviewers aren’t expecting you to be an excellent speaker. It’s more than enough
if you talk as you normally would to a friend or colleague.

 That said, it is important to make good eye contact with the interviewer, smile every now and
then, and talk politely and courteously.