Speaking skills · Lesson 9 of 15
Fluency and the band descriptors
How Speaking is marked, and practical ways to sound more fluent: buying time, self-correcting and paraphrasing words you don't know.
In this lesson you will
- learn the four criteria the examiner uses to mark your speaking
- use natural expressions to buy time while you think
- learn to correct yourself and to paraphrase words you don't know
- assess a recording of your own speaking
How Speaking is marked
The four criteria
The examiner gives you a band score for four criteria, which are equally important. You can read the official descriptions in the Speaking band descriptors (PDF).
Match the criterion to what it means
- Fluency and Coherence
- Lexical Resource
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy
- Pronunciation
The courses on this site match these criteria: the vocabulary course builds your Lexical Resource; the grammar lessons build your Grammatical Range and Accuracy; and this lesson and Lesson 7 help your Fluency and Coherence.
Fluency
Buying time naturally
Everyone needs a moment to think sometimes. Long silences and repeated umm… err… make you sound less fluent, but natural expressions sound like real conversation:
- That's an interesting question. Let me think…
- Well, I've never really thought about it before, but…
- Hmm, it's hard to say, but I suppose…
- To be honest,… / Actually,…
Use them occasionally. If you start every answer with “That's an interesting question”, it sounds memorised. Having a few different short openers ready is still a good idea, because a smooth start is better than hesitation that kills the rhythm of your answer.
Natural or not?
- “Well, I've never really thought about it before, but I suppose I'd choose the city.”
- (silence for ten seconds) “…Yes.”
- “Umm… err… umm… I… err… like… umm… parks.”
- “Hmm, it's hard to say, but I think adulthood is more boring.”
- “Can you repeat the question, please?” (when you didn't hear it)
It's perfectly fine to ask the examiner to repeat a question if you didn't hear or understand it.
Keep going
Self-correction and paraphrasing
Self-correction: if you notice a mistake, fix it quickly and keep going: “Yesterday I go… I went to the market.” This shows control of grammar. Don't stop and start the whole sentence again.
Paraphrasing: if you don't know a word, describe it instead of stopping: “It's a kind of… a thing you use to…”, “I'm not sure what it's called in English, but it's…”.
What word is the speaker describing?
- “It's the thing you hit in the morning when your alarm rings and you want ten more minutes in bed.”
- “It's a kind of small table in a market where someone sells things.”
- “I'm not sure what it's called, but it's a valuable object that's passed from grandparents to grandchildren.”
- “Clothes that your older brother or sister wore before you.”
Practice
Record and assess yourself
Answer a question, record yourself, then listen back with this checklist. Tick what you did well.
Press Record, answer out loud, then listen back.
Self-assessment checklist
Aim to tick all six. Choose one thing to improve, then record yourself again with a different question.
Lesson written for Tips4IELTS. All examples come from our Speaking Part 1 model answers.