IELTS Preparation Series 3, Episode 9: Speaking Coherently

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Hello, and welcome to Study English, IELTS Preparation. I'm Margot Politis.

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Today we'll look at some aspects of discussing a topic, which is something you are expected

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to do in Part 3 of the IELTS Speaking Test.

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In Part 3 of the Speaking Test you participate in a two-way discussion to test your ability

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to discuss a topic in depth in a number of ways. These may include speculating,

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comparing and contrasting or identifying a trend.

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The speaker in the next clip identifies a trend. What is the trend?

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The fastest-growing area of identity fraud is in internet services, such as people breaking

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into Internet banking accounts, credit card fraud over the internet, people using fraudulent

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credit cards, fraudulent identities to, essentially, break into other people's accounts and, essentially,

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steal their money.

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The trend he's identified is the fastest-growing crime in the world, identity fraud.

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If we listen further he explains why it's a problem.

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The traditional way to protect internet banking and other secure applications is through passwords

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and PIN numbers. And these are totally inadequate in an area where identity-related fraud is

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growing at such a high rate.

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He tells us it's a problem because the traditional ways to protect internet banking are inadequate.

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But he has a solution. Let's hear what it is.

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What we've actually developed here is a technology that allows us to analyse a person's voice

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- a person that is actually sitting at their computer screen accessing a secure website.

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We're able to analyse their voice in order to confirm that they actually are who they

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say they are. [Voice Authentication Demo: Big bird - Congratulations you have been successfully

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verified].

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His solution is to use technology which produces a voice signature.

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He demonstrated three of the language functions which are used to assess your communication

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skills.

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He identified the issue - that identity fraud is a problem and then explained why it's a

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problem.

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The third language function was providing a solution - he talked about what could be

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done to prevent identity fraud.

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Now let's listen to this woman responding to the question: What makes a person famous?

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I think there are different ways to see what makes a person famous. One is the publicity

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and the marketing around a person, but I don't think that's a real, honest way to be famous.

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I think if I have to choose I'd rather be famous for being honest, for being kind and

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for trying to help and solve conflicts or problems in the world, instead of being on

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the cover of a magazine. So my characteristics for a, a famous person, I will go for honesty

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and kindness.

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She shows that she understands the question by incorporating it into her response at the

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start. By repeating the question she is clarifying the topic.

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I think there are different ways to see what makes a person famous.

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The question is designed to see if you can identify. She identifies what she believes

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makes a person famous - publicity and marketing. She uses the listing word 'one' to make this

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clear and to logically link her first sentence with the next:

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I think there are different ways to see what makes a person famous. One is the publicity

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and the marketing around a person.

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Having identified what makes someone famous, she then shows that she doesn't agree with

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this idea. The disagreement is expressed through the word 'but' and she logically continues

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by saying why she disagrees:

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One is the publicity and the marketing around a person, but I don't think that's a real,

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honest way to be famous.

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She develops and expands her ideas further by justifying her opinion. Advising her listener

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by using the conditional if - if I have to choose - she then expresses her preference

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by using a modal - I'd rather:

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I think if I have to choose I'd rather be famous for being honest, for being kind and

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for trying to help and solve conflicts or problems in the world.

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She contrasts her idea of what she believes a person should be famous for with the idea

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she suggested originally. She links these two ideas appropriately using instead of:

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I'd rather be famous for being honest, for being kind and for trying to help and solve

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conflicts or problems in the world, instead of being on the cover of a magazine.

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She rounds off her answer by summarising concisely her idea of what makes a person famous. She

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uses the conjunction - so to make this final statement:

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So my characteristics for a, a famous person, I will go for honesty and kindness.

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So she clarifies, identifies, disagrees, gives an opinion, advises, shows a preference, contrasts

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ideas and summarises.

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In order to respond fully, appropriately and coherently, there are a number of skills you

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need.

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You should be able to quickly recognise what the question is asking.

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A do you think question such as: Do you think there is too much violence in films today?

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Needs a reply that gives your opinion.

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A question such as: What makes a person famous? Requires you to identify.

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Look at this question:

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Why do children like eating fast food?

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You may have an opinion about this, but before you give it, you might explain and give reasons

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why children eat fast food.

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It's very likely that you will be asked to compare things with a question such as:

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What are the differences between urban and rural homes in your country?

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Another thing the examiners are looking for is the ability to speculate or say what might

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happen with a question such as: What kind of transport will people use in the future?

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Now let's look at part of a professional discussion, a television interview with an expert on diet:

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Do you think that some people put on weight more easily than others?

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Oh, that's definitely the case. We do know that there are genetic differences in how

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easy it is for people to put on weight. That's not necessarily related only to their metabolism.

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It may also have to do with how much they are driven to eat. And so the degree of appetite

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control is better in some people than others. And it's got nothing to do with willpower

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- it's just the way people are wired.

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She was asked for her opinion with the question: Do you think that some people put on weight

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more easily than others?

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Being an expert, she gives it quickly and decisively: Oh, that's definitely the case.

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She means that she completely agrees with the idea that some people put on weight more

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easily than others. She goes on to give the reasons why she believes that:

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We do know that there are genetic differences in how easy it is for people to put on weight.

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That's the first reason - some people put on more weight from the same amount of food

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because they're born that way - there are genetic differences. But there's another reason.

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Listen to the way she develops this:

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That's not necessarily related only to their metabolism. It may also have to do with how

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much they are driven to eat. That's not necessarily related only to their

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metabolism.

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Metabolism is how your body responds to food.

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The important words are 'not necessarily related only to'

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This means that metabolism is not the only reason people put on weight. Another reason

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may be how hungry people are - how much they are driven to eat.

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Notice she introduces this idea with the word may - this means this time she's not completely

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certain that this is the case. Listen again:

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That's not necessarily related only to their metabolism. It may also have to do with how

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much they are driven to eat.

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She concludes with a hypothetical example using 'if'.

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So that if you put some people in a situation where there's a smorgasbord, some people will

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be able to control exactly how much they need to eat.

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And some of them don't have an 'off' button.

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And some people don't have an 'off' button.

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That's all for now.

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