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SPEAKING: Band Descriptors (public version), Band, 9, , 8, , 7, , Fluency and coherence, • speaks fluently with only rare repetition or self-correction;, • any hesitation is content-related rather than to find words, or grammar, • speaks coherently with fully appropriate cohesive features, • develops topics fully and appropriately, • speaks fluently with only occasional repetition or selfcorrection; hesitation is usually content-related and only, rarely to search for language, • develops topics coherently and appropriately, •, •, •, , 6, , •, •, , Lexical resource, • uses vocabulary with full flexibility and precision in all, topics, • uses idiomatic language naturally and accurately, , • uses a wide vocabulary resource readily and flexibly to, convey precise meaning, • uses less common and idiomatic vocabulary skilfully, with, occasional inaccuracies, • uses paraphrase effectively as required, speaks at length without noticeable effort or loss of, • uses vocabulary resource flexibly to discuss a variety of, coherence, topics, may demonstrate language-related hesitation at times, or • uses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary and, some repetition and/or self-correction, shows some awareness of style and collocation, with some, inappropriate choices, uses a range of connectives and discourse markers with, some flexibility, • uses paraphrase effectively, is willing to speak at length, though may lose coherence at • has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length, times due to occasional repetition, self-correction or, and make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies, hesitation, • generally paraphrases successfully, uses a range of connectives and discourse markers but not, always appropriately, , Pronunciation, , • uses a wide range of structures flexibly, • produces a majority of error-free sentences with only very, occasional inappropriacies or basic/non-systematic errors, , • uses a range of complex structures with some flexibility, • frequently produces error-free sentences, though some, grammatical mistakes persist, , • uses a wide range of pronunciation features, • sustains flexible use of features, with only occasional, lapses, • is easy to understand throughout; L1 accent has minimal, effect on intelligibility, • shows all the positive features of Band 6 and some, but not, all, of the positive features of Band 8, , • uses a mix of simple and complex structures, but with, limited flexibility, • may make frequent mistakes with complex structures, though these rarely cause comprehension problems, , • uses a range of pronunciation features with mixed control, • shows some effective use of features but this is not, sustained, • can generally be understood throughout, though, mispronunciation of individual words or sounds reduces, clarity at times, • produces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracy • produces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracy, • uses a limited range of more complex structures, but these • uses a limited range of more complex structures, but these, usually contain errors and may cause some comprehension usually contain errors and may cause some comprehension, problems, problems, • shows all the positive features of Band 4 and some, but not • shows all the positive features of Band 4 and some, but not, all, of the positive features of Band 6, all, of the positive features of Band 6, , 5, , • usually maintains flow of speech but uses repetition, self, correction and/or slow speech to keep going, • may over-use certain connectives and discourse markers, • produces simple speech fluently, but more complex, communication causes fluency problems, , 4, , • cannot respond without noticeable pauses and may speak • is able to talk about familiar topics but can only convey, slowly, with frequent repetition and self-correction, basic meaning on unfamiliar topics and makes frequent, errors in word choice, • links basic sentences but with repetitious use of simple, connectives and some breakdowns in coherence, • rarely attempts paraphrase, , • produces basic sentence forms and some correct simple, sentences but subordinate structures are rare, • errors are frequent and may lead to misunderstanding, , 3, , • speaks with long pauses, • has limited ability to link simple sentences, • gives only simple responses and is frequently unable to, convey basic message, • pauses lengthily before most words, • little communication possible, , • uses simple vocabulary to convey personal information, • has insufficient vocabulary for less familiar topics, , • attempts basic sentence forms but with limited success, or • shows some of the features of Band 2 and some, but not, relies on apparently memorised utterances, all, of the positive features of Band 4, • makes numerous errors except in memorised expressions, , • only produces isolated words or memorised utterances, , • cannot produce basic sentence forms, , 2, , 1, 0, , • manages to talk about familiar and unfamiliar topics but, uses vocabulary with limited flexibility, • attempts to use paraphrase but with mixed success, , Grammatical range and accuracy, , • uses a full range of structures naturally and appropriately • uses a full range of pronunciation features with precision, and subtlety, • produces consistently accurate structures apart from ‘slips’, characteristic of native speaker speech, • sustains flexible use of features throughout, • is effortless to understand, , • uses a limited range of pronunciation features, • attempts to control features but lapses are frequent, • mispronunciations are frequent and cause some difficulty, for the listener, , • Speech is often unintelligible, , • no communication possible, • no rateable language, • does not attend, , IELTS is jointly owned by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge Assessment English., , Page 1 of 1