Mat Clark – IELTS Speaking
29
There is no idiomatic language.
The grammar is correct but it is very basic grammar.
There are no complex sentence structures.
The tense use is limited.
This answer is therefore typical of a lower score (4~5).
Now consider the following answer:
―Well as you can probably guess I come from Beijing and I have lived here all my
life, although at the moment I'm studying in another city – Tianjin. I suppose if I had to
describe Beijing, the first thing I would say is that it's absolutely enormous, maybe even one
of the biggest city in Asia I guess. It's so big in fact that even the locals have problems
finding their way around. Another significant characteristic is that it offers examples of both
classical and contemporary architecture. Actually some of the China's most renowned
landmarks are ―slap-bang‖ in the middle of Beijing.‖
This response is much better in quality than the first answer for the following
reasons:
It is long but doesn't move away from the topic/ questions.
It contains redundant language.
It contains linking phrases.
It contains one idiom.
It contains some uncommon vocabulary.
The vocabulary is topic-specific.
It contains examples of complex sentence structures.
It contains a mix of tenses.
The grammar is correct (even in the longer structures).
Because this answer meets many of the marking system descriptions required to
achieve a higher score it would be typical of a score of 7+.