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Grammar in IELTS Speaking

by Jane
(China)


Hi IELTS Buddy,

This is Jane from China. I am here to ask for some suggestion and advice from you.

I am currently majoring in English as a freshman in university and I have a good command of English. I rank in top 3 among my fellow students in my major. So without question I can use English to express myself fluently and easily.


My question is when taking the speaking test in IELTS should I use some complicated and high-level grammar to let the examiners know that I am fluent and I am very good at English?

Is grammar in IELTS speaking playing an essential role in the test?

My second question is that I don't have many chances to speak to native foreigners in my campus which is a shortcoming of my university.

But what if I wanna practice speaking English and do you have any advice on practicing speaking for IELTS on one's own?

I would appreciate your sincere help.

Thank you!



Comments for Grammar in IELTS Speaking

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May 07, 2017
 How Important is Grammar in IELTS Speaking?
by: IELTS buddy

Hi Jane,

Yes grammar does play an essential part of the IELTS speaking test.

You are marked on four criteria, which are:

- Fluency and Coherence
- Lexical Resource
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy
- Pronunciation

So basically grammar in IELTS speaking makes up 25% of your score.

When you talk about "complicated and high-level grammar" you are basically referring to the 'range' element of the marking for grammar.

So yes you do want to make sure the examiner hears the full range of your abilities. But that said, if you are really fluent as you say and very good at English, then that range is likely to come out naturally without having to try.

Whenever we sit and have a conversation with someone we use 'high-level' grammar if you want to call it that without even thinking about it, as well as idioms and everything else.

So if you are fluent I would not worry about trying to find specific complex grammar in IELTS speaking before the test - everything we say is grammar and there is so much so what would you choose?

Just make sure you relax and express yourself as best you can when you are in there.

Someone who is lower level would need to learn different types of grammatical structures such as adverbial clauses and practice using them, but as I said fluent people use them without thinking.

As for practicing speaking on your own, it's difficult but you could practice things such as the 2 minute talk - try recording it and make sure you can speak for 2 minutes.

You could also try answering other IELTS type questions and recording them. Play them back and see how they sound.

If you look on IELTS buddy you will see you can find a speaking partner to practice with, but they are not really native speakers:

Find a Speaking Partner for IELTS

You may find some native speakers in some English forums if you take a look, but otherwise you may have to find an online teacher to practice with.

Good luck
Feb 16, 2018
 How to improve grammar and sequence of ideas
by: Pari

I want help of u please because during speaking practice i do lot of grammar mistakes so i how can overcome this? Like i mix present and past and deviating from one subject to other on a given topic and i'm native speaker
Nov 04, 2021
 Ielts speaking
by: Anonymous01

Hi ielts Buddy. I want to ask: Should I use linking phrases, which take about 30 to 40 % of ielts speaking ?? Cause I find that Mat Clark books advised to use it .

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