Author Insights

Jon Marks, author of IELTS Advantage: Speaking and Listening Skills and
IELTS Resource Pack and Practice Tests considers the role of speaking
activities in the IELTS classroom and offers an IELTS-focused speaking
activity.
Of course, every language learner has a different story, but put yourself in the position of a
typical IELTS student. Your test is booked and paid for, the outcome will determine whether or
not you can proceed with the planned next stage of your life, and you may also be paying for
language lessons. Its hardly surprising that many such students - being highly motivated and
with so much at stake - have a tendency toward remorseless cramming, mentally stockpiling
grammar rules, advanced vocabulary and impressive-sounding fixed expressions. As teachers,
were certainly not going to discourage such dedication, but its place is primarily outside the
classroom. Lesson time is not best spent being dominated by intensive language input.
A classroom lesson offers an opportunity to work with others to develop skills and strategies and
to share understanding about the project in hand of learning a language. In the most obvious
sense this means practising speaking, writing, listening and reading in order to get better at
doing them. Of those four, it is only speaking which cannot also be done alone at home, so it
seems reasonable for students to expect speaking activities to feature prominently in lessons. It
also seems reasonable for them to expect those speaking activities to be directly relevant to
developing their skills for the exam, rather than in the general sense that might be served by
having an unstructured plenary conversation.
A main element of my IELTS Advantage: Speaking and Listening Skills and IELTS Resource Pack
and Practice tests for Delta Publishing is speaking activities which are directly based on the
formats of the IELTS Speaking Test. The main aims of these activities are that students will:

gain confidence in responding to the types of question theyre likely to be

asked in the exam
identify the areas in which they are weak, and direct their learning accordingly
gain complete familiarity with the Speaking Test formats and likely topics, so
there are no surprises on the day

Monitoring such activities can also be helpful to the teacher in identifying student weaknesses,
and directing the focus of future lessons.
Below is an example of an IELTS speaking activity that is simple to implement. You can find more
material like this in both IELTS Advantage: Speaking and Listening Skills and IELTS Resource Pack
and Practice tests.

Jon Marks, 2013. Find more material like this in IELTS Advantage: Speaking and Listening Skills and IELTS Resource Pack and Practice Tests from Delta Publishing

An IELTS speaking activity

The timing with set-up and feedback is approximately 45 minutes.
1. Organise the class into pairs. In each pair, one plays the role of the examiner, while
the other plays the role of the candidate. The examiner has a copy of Handout 1,
and asks the candidate questions as directed. For Part 2, you can make separate
photocopies of the topic cards, or the examiner can just show the handout to the
candidate.
2. Monitor to evaluate the students abilities, and to keep the proceedings as
representative of the exam as possible. Disallow any drifting off into general
conversation.
3. When they have finished, students reverse roles and repeat the task using Handout
2.
4. At the end of the activity feedback the students responses to what they have just
done, and go over any problem areas you noticed during monitoring.

Jon Marks, 2013. Find more material like this in IELTS Advantage: Speaking and Listening Skills and IELTS Resource Pack and Practice Tests from Delta Publishing

PHOTOCOPIABLE

Handout 1
STUDENT A:
STUDENT B:

You are the examiner. Ask the questions below. Try to keep to the times given
for each Part.
You are the candidate. Answer the questions.

Part 1 (approx 4 minutes)

In the first part, Id like to ask you a few questions about yourself. Lets talk about what you do. Do
you work or are you a student?
If a student:
What subject are you studying?
What do you like about studying this subject?
What do you hope to do when you finish studying?
If working:
What kind of work do you do?
What do you like about this kind of work?
What kind of work would you like to do in the future?
Lets talk about your free-time activities. What do you do at the weekends?
What is it that you like about [one of candidates leisure activities]?
How much time do you spend on [one of candidates leisure activities]?
How important are your free time activities to you?
What free-time activity would you like to try in the future?

Now lets talk about music. Do you enjoy listening to music? (Why/why not?)
What kind of music do you like?
When and where do you listen to music?
Has the kind of music you like changed over the years?

Part 2 (3 to 4 minutes, including preparation time)

Im going to give you a topic, and Id like you to talk about it for one to two minutes. Before you talk,
you have one minute to think about what youre going to say. You can make some notes if you wish.
Heres some paper and a pencil to make some notes. Heres your topic. Id like you to describe a
personal possession which you find useful.
Describe a personal possession which you find useful.
You should say:
what it is
how long you have owned it
why you find it useful
and explain how your life would be different without it.

Now, remember that you have one to two minutes for this. Dont worry if I stop you. Ill tell you when
the time is up. Can you start speaking now, please?
(After the talk)

How long have you had your (item the candidate chose)?
Would you get another one if you lost it?

Part 3 (approx 5 minutes)

Weve been talking about personal possessions, and Id like to discuss with you some more general
questions related to this.
Why do you think some people are willing to spend a lot of money on gold jewellery?
Besides jewellery, what other items can people buy to display their wealth?
What are the disadvantages of having expensive possessions?

Lets move on from possessions in general to consumer technology. Why do you think so
many people want to own the latest technology?
Do you think its a good thing or a bad thing that consumer technology keeps changing?
Do you think that technological gadgets have become too important in our lives?

Jon Marks, 2013. Find more material like this in IELTS Advantage: Speaking and Listening Skills and IELTS Resource Pack and Practice Tests from Delta Publishing

PHOTOCOPIABLE

Handout 2
STUDENT A:
STUDENT B:

You are the examiner. Ask the questions below. Try to keep to the times given
for each Part.
You are the candidate. Answer the questions.

Part 1 (approx 4 minutes)

In the first part, Id like to ask you a few questions about yourself. Lets talk about what you do. Do
you work or are you a student?
If a student:
What subject are you studying?
Why did you choose to study this subject?
How long have you studies this subject?
If working:
What kind of work do you do?
Why did you choose to do this kind of work?
How long have you done this kind of work?
Lets talk about the place where you live. Do you live in a city or another kind of place?
What do you like about the place where you live?
What do you dislike about the place where you live?
How easy or difficult is your journey to [candidates place of study or work]?
Do you like big cities in general?

Now lets talk about sport. Do you enjoy sport? (Why/why not?)
What kind of sport do you like?
What are the benefits of doing sport?
How is watching sport on TV different to watching it live?

Part 2 (3 to 4 minutes, including preparation time)

Im going to give you a topic, and Id like you to talk about it for one to two minutes. Before you talk,
you have one minute to think about what youre going to say. You can make some notes if you wish.
Heres some paper and a pencil to make some notes. Heres your topic. Id like you to describe a
famous person youd like to meet.
Describe a famous person you would like to meet.
You should say:
who this person is
why this person is famous
the work this person has done
and explain why you would like to meet this person.

Now, remember that you have one to two minutes for this. Dont worry if I stop you. Ill tell you when
the time is up. Can you start speaking now, please?
(After the talk)

How long have you known about (person the candidate chose)?
Do you think you will ever meet (person the candidate chose)?

Part 3 (approx 5 minutes)

Weve been talking famous people, and Id like to discuss with you some more general questions
related to this.
Why do you think many ordinary people are interested in the personal lives of celebrities?
Do you think there is too much interest in the lives of celebrities?
Do you think celebrities should be given more privacy?

Lets move on from celebrities to the media in general. In your opinion, which form of the
media has the most influence on peoples lives, and why?
How has the development of the internet affected traditional media in your country?
Do you think media companies have a duty to educate as well as entertain?

Jon Marks, 2013. Find more material like this in IELTS Advantage: Speaking and Listening Skills and IELTS Resource Pack and Practice Tests from Delta Publishing

Topic cards

PHOTOCOPIABLE

Describe a personal possession which you find useful.

You should say:
what it is
how long you have owned it
why you find it useful
and explain how your life would be different without it.

Describe a famous person you would like to meet.

You should say:
who this person is
why this person is famous
the work this person has done
and explain why you would like to meet this person.

Describe a personal possession which you find useful.

You should say:
what it is
how long you have owned it
why you find it useful
and explain how your life would be different without it.

Describe a famous person you would like to meet.

You should say:
who this person is
why this person is famous
the work this person has done
and explain why you would like to meet this person.

Describe a personal possession which you find useful.

You should say:
what it is
how long you have owned it
why you find it useful
and explain how your life would be different without it.

Describe a famous person you would like to meet.

You should say:
who this person is
why this person is famous
the work this person has done
and explain why you would like to meet this person.

Describe a personal possession which you find useful.

You should say:
what it is
how long you have owned it
why you find it useful
and explain how your life would be different without it.

Describe a famous person you would like to meet.

You should say:
who this person is
why this person is famous
the work this person has done
and explain why you would like to meet this person.

Describe a personal possession which you find useful.

You should say:
what it is
how long you have owned it
why you find it useful
and explain how your life would be different without it.

Describe a famous person you would like to meet.

You should say:
who this person is
why this person is famous
the work this person has done
and explain why you would like to meet this person.

Describe a personal possession which you find useful.

You should say:
what it is
how long you have owned it
why you find it useful
and explain how your life would be different without it.

Describe a famous person you would like to meet.

You should say:
who this person is
why this person is famous
the work this person has done
and explain why you would like to meet this person.

Describe a personal possession which you find useful.

You should say:
what it is
how long you have owned it
why you find it useful
and explain how your life would be different without it.

Describe a famous person you would like to meet.

You should say:
who this person is
why this person is famous
the work this person has done
and explain why you would like to meet this person.

Jon Marks, 2013. Find more material like this in IELTS Advantage: Speaking and Listening Skills and IELTS Resource Pack and Practice Tests from Delta Publishing