Mat Clark – IELTS Speaking
22
In the past, because pronunciation scores were awarded 2-4-6-8, the absence of the score 7
meant that many candidates narrowly missed their target score of 6.5 or 7.0 simply because
their pronunciation score was 6.
Now it should be easier to score 6.5 or 7.0 if the candidate can score 7 for
pronunciation. Also, because there is a pronunciation score of 9, the requirements for a
pronunciation 8 have been lowered slightly; this means more candidates will be awarded a
score of 8 for pronunciation. It should also be remembered that some candidates will be
worse off under this new system of marking. There will be situations where examiners will
award a 5 for pronunciation when in the older system (2-4-6-8) the score would have been
6.
The Skills Required for a Pronunciation 7
If candidates can focus on the following skills and techniques, it will be easier to
achieve a 7 in pronunciation.
1)
Using variations in volume and pitch to highlight important meaning
E.g: I suppose that I occasionally read magazines but I rarely pick a newspaper.
In this sentence we can increase the volume or pitch of the adverbs.
2)
Using variation in speed to emphasize meaning
E.g: I used to be quite into Yoga but more recently I've been getting into ballet
dancing.
In this sentence we can slow down or stretch the phrases ―used to‖ and ―more
recently‖ to emphasize the time comparison.
3)
Dividing utterances into “chunks”
E.g: (I recently went on holiday to Sanya) (which is a small resort on Hainan Island.)
(I guess it's one of the most popular tourist destinations in South China because of its
beaches.) (Of course you can find a wide variety of seafood there, things like crab,
shellfish and lobster.)
Each ―chunk‖ of speech can be delivered as on ―flowing segment‖ where sounds at
the start of end of words can flow into each other. This is also called ―elision‖.
