Planning to learn vocabulary to get a good score in speaking? That might not be a good idea. This post will tell you why.

Speaking Band Descriptors

IELTS Speaking 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.

Lexical Resource Uses vocabulary with full flexibility and precision in all topics. Uses idiomatic language naturally and accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy Uses a full range of structures naturally and appropriately. Produces consistently accurate structures apart from ‘slips’ characteristic of native-speaker speech.

Pronunciation Uses a full range of pronunciation features with precision and subtlety. Sustains flexible use of features throughout. Is effortless to understand. L1 accent has minimal effect on intelligibility.

Fluency and Coherence Speaks fluently with only occasional repetition or self-correction. Uses Hesitation is usually content-related and only rarely to search for language. Develops topics coherently and appropriately.

Lexical Resource 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.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy Uses a wide range of structures flexibly. Produces a majority of error-free sentences with only very occasional inappropriate or basic/non-systematic errors.

Pronunciation 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.