Is Accent Important in the IELTS Speaking Test?
It is a very common question among the aspirants of the IELTS exam, where all the participants have to clear the IELTS speaking Test. To understand this clearly, one needs to know the difference between Pronunciation and Accent. Pronunciation is the way of how clearly one can say a word. It is a key part of the IELTS speaking skill, which could help to score well in the IELTS speaking test. Here the examiners check the pronunciation and not the accent. Therefore, the aspirants need not worry about the accent.
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IELTS Speaking Test Pronunciation
The main reason for having a clear pronunciation is that the examiner doesn’t judge on a student's accent. There are four main criteria based on which, one will be judged:
Here, the accent is not mentioned in the marking scheme of the IELTS speaking test. One need not waste time correcting his/her accent, instead, he/she can use that time to improve the other criteria of the speaking test.
Pronunciation vs. Accent
Pronunciation is the ability to say a word clearly and correctly. The IELTS speaking test marks an individual on the basis of how accurately and correctly one is pronouncing a word. The pronunciation of an individual is not affected by his/her area in which accents.
Thus it will be an injustice for the IELTS speaking test examiner to judge the individuals on the basis of a particular accent. So what matters is where he/she lives.
In contrast, the accent is the way in which an individual says or pronounces a word. The accent of an individual depends on the area where he/she stays or he/she grew up. The accent is also affected by the social status of the individual. There are hundreds of different English accents. As we see the actors and actresses of a film pronounce their words clearly and in a different accent, thus all the actors and actresses have differed most in the IELTS Speaking test is how clearly one can say or pronounce a word rather than what accent he/ she is following.
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What should I focus on?
One should try to focus on the factors that can bring high IELTS speaking scores in the test, rather than trying to impress the examiner with a silly or weird accent.
The factors of scoring high in the IELTS speaking test have been discussed below:
- Fluency and Coherence
The individual must be able to speak fluently and coherently. These two will come in an individual only when he/ she will be confident. There are some other factors that need to be kept in mind here, those are, the individual must have a clear base in grammar and vocabulary. This skill can be built easily and keeps the things in mind that students need to avoid.
- Lexical Resource (i.e. Vocabulary)
The strongest tool for the high score in the IELTS speaking score is Lexical Resource.
It is very important for the examinees to know what the IELTS speaking test is looking for. The examiners will want the examinees to use the IELTS advanced vocabulary as a tool so that they can easily communicate with others.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy
In order to get a high score in IELTS, the examinees will have to use the grammatical structures accurately and appropriately.
- Pronunciation
The most important factor in getting a high score in IELTS speaking is pronunciation. If the examinees have any drawbacks in his/her performance, then he/she can enhance his/her performance score. The examinee must make the examiner understand what he/she is willing to say. If the examiner does not understand what the examinees want to say, then there’s no use in using strong vocabulary.
There are various ways that a student can enhance their English pronunciation skills. The tips mentioned above can help identify ways to improve pronunciation skills.
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