In our last session, we looked at keywords and how they can help you perform better for Part 2 or 1
otherwise referred to as the Long Turn in this lesson. 2
Let's move on to Part 3 of the Speaking Test. 3
OK, let's see what you know and need to know about Part 3 of the speaking exam. 4
First, you probably recall that it's a dialogue, which simply means that it's going to be a two-way 5
discussion, which is completely opposite of Part 2, which is essentially a monologue that you provide 6
on a given topic. 7
Remember, the topic of Part 3 should be a natural progression building on Part 2. 8
What this means is that the examiner should be selecting and creating questions for your discussion 9
that continue along the same theme from the last section of the test. 10
There may be rare cases where you're given a different topic than what was provided in Part 2, but 11
this would tend to break away from the standard protocol and procedures for speaking tests in any country. 12
What do we need to be mindful of for this part of the test? 13
First of all, we need to understand whether we need to speculate or hypothesize after hearing the examiner's 14
question. 15
One very important point that you need to remember is that the questioning will be related to community 16
or society in general, and that the line of questioning will not be specifically aimed at seeking a 17
response about you and your life personally. 18
For example, you may receive a question regarding how technology is changing communication, and then 19
you begin to provide examples in your own life with your friends and family and how you guys use WhatsApp, 20
Facebook or Skype to stay in touch. 21
The examiner should then course-correct you and try to get a response that is not specific to you and 22
your life. 23
What I mean by this, is that he should then rephrase the question so that it's related to society in 24
general. 25
Just try to keep in mind that Part 3 will be related to people in social groups, possibly the problems 26
and perhaps solutions. 27
The questioning may start off being quite general, more basic in nature, but then gradually become 28
more complex, requiring a higher order of thinking and vocabulary. 29
If we visit our topic of technology and its use for communication in society, higher-order thinking 30
questions may be as follows: 31
"Why would governments block communication software in their respective countries, though people require 32
such apps for communicating with friends and family abroad?" 33
Here, we would first need to understand this subject, which is governments banning the use of apps such 34
as Skype, and how there's a benefit to this action. 35
Who does this benefit and why? 36
If it's definitely not advantageous to citizens who need these apps to keep in touch with friends and 37
family. We would then have to come up with arguments that would have to support this move of the government 38
and how or if it's going to benefit society as a whole. 39
Here's another example of higher order questioning: 40
"How has technology changed communication in your country - compared to 20 years ago?" 41
This is a "vanilla" question that you most likely already seen online, and it's pretty common in the 42
IELTS landscape. Here, 43
you would need to draw a comparison between your country in the past - to your country in the present. 44
You would want to give concrete examples demonstrating a marked improvement in the lives of your fellow 45
countrymen and how much better things are now with WhatsApp, Ticktock, Snapchat, or Instagram. 46
You may also want to provide the drawbacks or the disadvantages as well, such as how kids these days 47
are staring at their phones instead of engaging in traditional conversation with family members at home, 48
or even worse, parents who are disengaged, interacting with their kids! 49
All of this to say - that you need to think big-picture and utilize vocabulary that can help you get your 50
point across in a genuine and intelligent manner. 51
Be really careful of throwing around big words that you THINK are being used properly, as this can 52
actually detract from your speaking score. 53
Another no-no is memorizing scripted responses. 54
What this means is that a test-taker goes online, finds some magic script that a former test-taker 55
used, memorized it, and then attempts to retool it in a way that works with his or her assigned speaking 56
topic. 57
Can you see what the problem is here? 58
The memorized script is going to sound clunky, jarring or inappropriate to the examiner. 59
And this is definitely going to 60
cause the examiner to raise a red flag for this candidate's responses. Remember, memorized scripts 61
will cost you in the long run. 62
You are far better off if you spend some consistent time acquiring regular vocabulary and expressions 63
and knowing how to use them. 64
Oh, and regarding your vocab and expressions, be very mindful 65
to avoid repeating them over and over, you need to be substituting vocab phrases and expressions to 66
show you are articulate and you have a strong command of the English language. 67
Remember that variety is the spice of life, and to mix it up when using expressions and vocabulary. 68
You need to also keep in mind that you're having a dialogue, but that it's also an examination and 69
there's no place for street slang and urban expressions. 70
While you may love certain types of English movies and music or games, more often than not, you're picking 71
up slang that will go against you in a professional setting such as arts or in the workplace. 72
Make sure that you use discretion and exercise professionalism in the exam. 73
Your examiner will appreciate it. 74
What about your body language? 75
Well, it wouldn't hurt to sound interested and provide full responses to questions. But...what if you're 76
stumped? 77
First off, you could ask the examiner to repeat the question to buy you more time. 78
Second, you could use fillers to provide you with a little bit more thinking time. 79
Finally, make sure you avoid um, uh or hmm, 80
"which uh don't lend well to um, your ability to express yourself in an um, coherent manner."