Author Archives: Set Education

Học tiếng Anh để hòa nhập vào cuộc sống ở Úc - nỗi khao khát chung của nhiều người di dân bất kể tuổi tác và quốc gia.

Hình ảnh cây cầu đôi La Democracia qua sông Ulua  sau 1 trận động đất 7.1 độ Richter

Chúng ta sẽ tìm hiểu những cách thức diễn đạt trong tiếng Anh để tăng cường sự mạch lạc trong diễn đạt của bạn ở bài thi Nói. Phần ba của IELTS Speaking Test sẽ đánh giá khả năng của bạn khi phải thảo thuận sâu về một đề tài.

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1) Clip 1: Speaking Coherently

2) Clip 2: Vocabulary Exercise

3) Printable Documents

a) Notes for Study

IELTS Tip

Remember to organise your answer logically and link your ideas using a range of language devices, including transition words and expressions, referents, appropriate verb tenses and time phrases, and conjunctions.

Responding to the bullet points in the order they occur on the topic card will help ensure your  answer is organised.

SPEAKING COHERENTLY

Speaking coherently means organising your  answer in a clear and logical manner, and linking your ideas logically. To achieve coherence it is important to be aware of and put into practise the use of the following language devices:

• transition words and phrases

• reference words

• appropriate verb tenses and time phrases

• conjunctions for linking ideas

These language features also help with fluency, the other criterion used to assess your communication skills.

In this episode a variety of language functions, such as identifying, speculating, comparing, contrasting and others are used to develop a coherent answer in the twoway discussion in Part 3. Coherence is also important in Part 2 of the Speaking Test because you will be speaking on a given topic at length. This will require you to organise and order your response logically, using language appropriately.

Part 2 - Topic

Topics asking you to describe someone or something may occur in Part 2 of the Speaking Test. Here is such a topic in a sample prompt card.

This is one candidate’s response:

Language Devices

In answering this question the candidate used a wide range of language devices to give a coherent and cohesive response. How this candidate achieved this is examined below.

Structure

The candidate begins by identifying and stating the topic of her talk.

My favourite teacher is Myoung Jin Park.

This in fact is the topic sentence of her talk. To sequence her talk logically she follows the order of the bullets points which is: who, what, how long, why.

Transition words and phrases

Transition words and phrases are used to further organise the response and link ideas between and within sentences. There was a number of transition signals used.

Here are some common transition words and phrases.

Reference words

Reference words point back or refer to words or phrases in previous sentences and are used to connect the ideas. They replace the word or phrase used before and therefore need to agree in number and person.

Here are some referents which are commonly used.

The candidate uses a variety of these referents to avoid repeating the same word or phrase and also to refer back to a particular point. They also allow her talk to flow smoothly. She uses them in the following places.

Appropriate verb tenses

The candidate uses the appropriate verb tenses and time phrases when making time references in her talk.

Example:

He was my English teacher when I was in high school in Korea.

You know, in Korea all the English teachers are basically Korean.

He taught me for two years, in other words, in year eleven and year twelve.

When describing the past – her high school years – she correctly used the simple past tense: was and taught. In stating a fact that the English teachers in Korea are Korean, she switched to the simple present are.

Describing the situation about giving answers is a past event but it was an event in the future at the time, so she correctly uses the modals could and would to express that, i.e. gave is the simple past tense referring to the past.

Example:

Also, you could actually be quite sure, sitting in his class, that, er, when you gave an answer, no matter how silly it might sound, you’d never be laughed at or anything. So you felt quite free …

Conjunctions for linking ideas

Coordinating and subordinating conjunctions and other parts of speech link ideas within and between sentences. Using conjunctions correctly makes your talk clear and easy to understand.

Here are some conjunctions which are commonly used in English.

 The candidate uses various coordinating and subordinating conjunctions to link her ideas.

To contrast two qualities she uses the coordinating conjunction but.

He was rather, not terribly good-looking, but I really adored this teacher …

Not terribly good-looking is contrasted with adored.

To give a reason, the candidate forms a subordinating clause using because.

He was rather, not terribly good-looking, but I really adored this teacher because, I guess, to start with, I love studying languages …

The reason why she adored the teacher was the fact that she loved studying languages.

To add other equal ideas, she uses the coordinating conjunction and.

… I love studying languages, and he was teaching English, and I really loved learning English from him.

This is a compound sentence consisting of three independent clauses joined together.

I love studying languages. He was teaching English. I really loved learning English from him.

To give more information about physical features, she uses a relative pronoun who.

The girls of that age, you know, they normally like teachers, who are good-looking, with the looks and with a good sense of humour …

This is a relative clause and is used to make a complex sentence.

b) Learning Activities

Practise and consolidate your learning about the language devices used in coherent speech, by completing our activities. The answers for all activities are on the last page.

ACTIVITY 1

Complete the sentence with the appropriate conjunction from the box below.

1. I got a wonderful opportunity to go overseas to Italy ________ study music there.

2. I’d really like to work both as a teacher and music director _________ I finish my studies.

3. Life gets really hectic sometimes, _______ I like to go off on my own and meditate.

4. I’m hoping to get a job as an interior designer, ________ I can also use my painting skills.

5. I’d like to describe a movie _________ made a strong impression on me.

6. People know they need to exercise ________ they don’t do anything about it.

7. We are trying to televise some international films ________ haven’t had much success.

8. I enjoyed having to stay in the mountains _________ it brought back beautiful memories of my country.

9. The choice was paying the fine ________ losing my licence.

10. She was a famous lady, ________ I had the privilege of meeting after the concert.

ACTIVITY 2

Here is a sample response to an IELTS Speaking Test Part 2 question – Answering the topic: Describe someone you admire very much. In the table below, identify and write down the example of the coherent or cohesive device used in each of the numbered sentences.

ACTIVITY 1 ANSWERS

1. and

2. when

3. so

4. where

5. which

6. yet

7. but

8. because

9. or

10. whom

ACTIVITY 2 ANSWERS

c) Transcript

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

Today we’ll look at some aspects of discussing a topic, which is something you are expected to do in Part 3 of the IELTS Speaking Test.

In Part 3 of the Speaking Test you participate in a two-way discussion to test your ability to discuss a topic in depth in a number of ways. These may include speculating, comparing and contrasting or identifying a trend.

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

The fastest-growing area of identity fraud is in internet services, such as people breaking into Internet banking accounts, credit card fraud over the internet, people using fraudulent credit cards, fraudulent identities to, essentially, break into other people's accounts and, essentially, steal their money.

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

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

The traditional way to protect internet banking and other secure applications is through passwords and PIN numbers. And these are totally inadequate in an area where identity-related fraud is growing at such a high rate.

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

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

What we've actually developed here is a technology that allows us to analyse a person's voice - a person that is actually sitting at their computer screen accessing a secure website. We're able to analyse their voice in order to confirm that they actually are who they say they are. [Voice Authentication Demo: Big bird – Congratulations you have been successfully verified].

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

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

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

The third language function was providing a solution - he talked about what could be done to prevent identity fraud.

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

I think there are different ways to see what makes a person famous. One is the publicity and the marketing around a person, but I don’t think that’s a real, honest way to be famous. I think if I have to choose I’d rather be famous for being honest, for being kind and for trying to help and solve conflicts or problems in the world, instead of being on the cover of a magazine. So my characteristics for a, a famous person, I will go for honesty and kindness.

She shows that she understands the question by incorporating it into her response at the start. By repeating the question she is clarifying the topic.

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

The question is designed to see if you can identify. She identifies what she believes makes a person famous - publicity and marketing. She uses the listing word 'one' to make this clear and to logically link her first sentence with the next:

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

Having identified what makes someone famous, she then shows that she doesn’t agree with this idea. The disagreement is expressed through the word 'but' and she logically continues by saying why she disagrees:

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

She develops and expands her ideas further by justifying her opinion. Advising her listener by using the conditional if - if I have to choose - she then expresses her preference by using a modal - I’d rather:

I think if I have to choose I’d rather be famous for being honest, for being kind and for trying to help and solve conflicts or problems in the world …

She contrasts her idea of what she believes a person should be famous for with the idea she suggested originally. She links these two ideas appropriately using instead of:

I’d rather be famous for being honest, for being kind and for trying to help and solve conflicts or problems in the world, instead of being on the cover of a magazine …

She rounds off her answer by summarising concisely her idea of what makes a person famous. She uses the conjunction - so to make this final statement:

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

So she clarifies, identifies, disagrees, gives an opinion, advises, shows a preference, contrasts ideas and summarises.

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

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

A do you think question such as: Do you think there is too much violence in films today? Needs a reply that gives your opinion.

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

Look at this question:

Why do children like eating fast food?

You may have an opinion about this, but before you give it, you might explain and give reasons why children eat fast food.

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

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

Another thing the examiners are looking for is the ability to speculate or say what might happen with a question such as: What kind of transport will people use in the future?

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

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

Oh, that's definitely the case. We do know that there are genetic differences in how easy it is for people to put on weight. That's not necessarily related only to their metabolism. It may also have to do with how much they are driven to eat. And so the degree of appetite control is better in some people than others. And it's got nothing to do with willpower - it's just the way people are wired.

She was asked for her opinion with the question: Do you think that some people put on weight more easily than others?

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

She means that she completely agrees with the idea that some people put on weight more easily than others. She goes on to give the reasons why she believes that:

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

That’s the first reason - some people put on more weight from the same amount of food because they’re born that way - there are genetic differences. But there’s another reason. Listen to the way she develops this:

That's not necessarily related only to their metabolism. It may also have to do with how much they are driven to eat.

That’s not necessarily related only to their metabolism.

Metabolism is how your body responds to food.

The important words are ‘not necessarily related only to’

This means that metabolism is not the only reason people put on weight. Another reason may be how hungry people are - how much they are driven to eat.

Notice she introduces this idea with the word may - this means this time she’s not completely certain that this is the case. Listen again:

That's not necessarily related only to their metabolism. It may also have to do with how much they are driven to eat.

She concludes with a hypothetical example using 'if'.

So that if you put some people in a situation where there's a smorgasbord, some people will be able to control exactly how much they need to eat.

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

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

That’s all for now.

To find more information about Part 3 of the Speaking Test visit our Study English website. The address is: australianetwork.com/studyenglish.

Good Luck with your studies. Bye for now.

(Nguồn UTS: Insearch and Australia Network)

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Lưu loát là một trong những kỹ năng được đánh giá trong vòng 2 phần thi vấn đáp của IELTS. Trong phần này, chúng tôi sẽ định nghĩa về lưu loát và cung cấp những cách thức/chiến lược để giúp bạn đạt được điều này.

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1) Clip 1: Speaking Fluently

2) Clip 2: Vocabulary Exercise

3) Printable Documents

a) Notes for Study

IELTS Tip

Practise talking on a range of topics in order to build your confidence.

Record yourself speaking and listen for how often you pause or hesitate. Check that you have logically organised your ideas and used appropriate linking words.

Practise speaking at every opportunity. You can’t improve without practice!

SPEAKING FLUENTLY

Fluency is a measure of how easily and smoothly you communicate in English. Do you speak easily and at a natural pace or slowly and have to stop to think of what to say when talking?

Fluency is particularly important in Part Two of the interview – the individual long turn. This is where you will be speaking at length on a given topic, on your own without any prompting, so your ability to speak effectively, smoothly and continuously will be on show.

There are two features to consider when talking about fluency:

• smoothness and continuity of your speech
• rate or speed of your speech

Smoothness and continuity of your speech

How easily you speak without hesitating or pausing too often is how smoothness and continuity is measured in your speech. It is natural to pause or hesitate when speaking but only if it is at a natural pace.

When there are lengthier segments of silence in your talk this may indicate a lack of communicative grammatical structures and/or a limited range of conversational vocabulary. Are you searching for language or ideas?

Communicative grammatical structures

It is important to build a bank of grammatical structures and expressions which help communicate or express how you feel about something. Being emphatic about something or wanting to emphasise a point is one such structure.

Emphatic structures

Drawing attention or importance to a reason, example, opinion or comparison is relevant to all parts of the speaking test.

There is a variety of structures used for emphasising a particular point or idea in an effective manner or signalling something is important. These can include:

• fronting
• inversion
• cleft clauses

Fronting

In spoken English when you want to emphasise a contrast or comparison with something in the previous sentence then that information is placed at the beginning of the sentence and is called fronting.

Fronting information changes the normal word order in a sentence and subsequently changes the emphasis and focus.

Inversion

Another structure used to give more emphasis or create a more dramatic effect is subject-auxiliary inversion. The auxiliary (do, have) is placed before the subject and the rest of the verb phrase follows. There are also other expressions that use this pattern of inversion as well.

Cleft clauses

Cleft clauses are often used to draw attention to a particular piece of information.

The information is divided into two parts and each has its own verb. Introductory noun phrases are generally used in cleft sentences. These can include wh- clauses and other noun phrases.

Conversational vocabulary

In addition to building a bank of communicative grammatical structures, it is also helpful to build up your vocabulary around a topic area. This allows you to more easily express yourself because you would have a bank of relevant and related vocabulary from which to draw on when speaking on that topic.

The kind of vocabulary items to learn would include synonyms and opposites in particular, because they allow you to extend your talk by using words or phrases of similar meaning or they can provide additional information which is opposite in meaning. This can give continuity to your speech and this will help maintain fluency.

The general topic area of health is developed below. Practise using this vocabulary and add new items as you come across relevant vocabulary.

Topic area: Health

Fluency is not only about your ability to speak smoothly and continuously but your ability to speak at an effective speed as well.

How quickly or slowly you speak is how the rate or speed of your speech is measured. Speaking too slowly or too quickly is unnatural. Aim to speak at a relaxed and natural pace.

There are different ways of achieving fluency but one of the most effective would be experiencing and listening to good varieties of English speech. Being aware of speaking styles and knowing how to listen will help you become a more fluent speaker of English. Record your speech and check whether you’re speaking at a natural and relaxed pace. Practise modelling the pace of your speech on that of a native speaker.

b) Learning Activities

Practise and consolidate your learning about fluency by completing our activities.

The answers for all activities are on the last page.

ACTIVITY 1

Change the order of the information in these sentences to emphasise a particular piece of information. Make any necessary changes by using the word in the bracket or by joining the two sentences. The first one has been done for you.

1. The shop is closed. That’s the problem.

The problem is that the shop is closed.

2. Jane moved from Sydney because of the great job offer in Japan. (why)

_____________________________________________________________

3. It was the plumber who left the message. (person)

______________________________________________________________

4. White water rafting in the mountains was much more exciting.

_____________________________________________________________

5. We didn’t sell the collection of CDs. That’s the only thing.

______________________________________________________________

6. Palm Beach is where you can buy the best chilli prawns. (place)

______________________________________________________________

7. She doesn’t want to study. That’s the trouble.

______________________________________________________________

8. The happiest day was when John completed his MBA. (when)

______________________________________________________________

9. They mixed up the dates. That’s a fact.

______________________________________________________________

10. The smoke from the fire was so intense that I couldn’t breathe.

______________________________________________________________

ACTIVITY 2

Match each of the words on the left with a suitable word or phrase on the right. The first one has been done for you.

ACTIVITY 1 ANSWERS

1. The problem is that the shop is closed.

2. The reason why Jane moved from Sydney was the great job offer in Japan.

3. The person who left the message was the plumber.

4. Much more exciting was white water rafting in the mountains.

5. The only thing (that) we didn’t sell was the collection of CDs.

6. The place where you can buy the best chilli prawns is Palm Beach.

7. The trouble is she doesn’t want to study.

8. The day when John completed his MBA was the happiest.

9. The fact is that they mixed up the dates.

10. So intense was the smoke from the fire that I couldn’t breathe.

ACTIVITY 2 ANSWERS

1.     E      healthy appetite

2.     I       crash diet

3.     A      catch a stomach bug

4.     J       health warning

5.     B      stretching exercises

6.     H      suffer a breakdown

7.     C      splitting headache

8.     F       develop an allergy

9.     D      keeping fit

10.    G      follow-up treatment

c) Transcript

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

One of the skills that is assessed in the IELTS speaking test is fluency.

Fluency is speaking at a natural pace without hesitating too much.

But fluency doesn’t mean speaking quickly. Sometimes, speaking too fast can make it harder to be understood.

Another aspect of fluency is the smoothness of your speech. This means that you don’t always stop to try to think of the right word.

Listen as the golfer in the next clip talks about her career:

Golf is a very interesting game. Um It can be very frustrating and annoying and um but then, you know, it can be just, it can be really fun and challenging which makes it fun I guess. When I’m not competing um, I try to practise every day for at least 6 hours and if I play 18 holes er I’ll still try and practise for another 3 or 4 hours.

You may have noticed that she used expressions such as ‘um’ , ‘like’ , ‘you know’ and ‘I guess’. These are called fillers. It’s natural to use fillers but be careful not to overuse them. Listen to her again:

On top of that I guess I have err like work outs, and um gym work outs and I try to do that 3 to 4 times a week. So they’re pretty long hours. In January this year I went to the ladies European tour qualifying school and I managed to secure a conditional card for the season so I decided to turn pro. This meant that, you know, I’d give up my amateur status and I’d be playing for money I guess is the main difference.

Fillers are used to tell your listener that you haven’t finished, but you are thinking of what to say next. They don’t carry meaning like words do.

Now let’s listen to a speaking test candidate using fillers:

Mm, ok, well, one of the buildings I really like in Sydney is the Queen Victoria Building. Um, I’ve been here for a year only in Sydney, so I haven’t had the chance to actually visit many public buildings, but I know this one very well. Um, I like it because, um, it’s got a very interesting old style, and, er, it’s very elegant, it’s very spacious. I don’t like the modern type of buildings, you know, with many storeys and er, very modern and contemporary. Um, I like the Queen Victoria Building, um, because it’s elegant.

To begin her talk she uses several fillers:

Mm, ok, well, one of the buildings I really like in Sydney is the Queen Victoria Building.

Saying 'Mm, ok, well', helps her get started on the topic of her favourite building.

She is thinking of what to say and not how to say it.

She uses ‘um and ‘er’ to give her time to think of what to say next at points in her speech, such as at the beginning of a sentence when she’s linking information back to what she’s just said:

…one of the buildings I really like in Sydney is the Queen Victoria Building. Um, I’ve been here for a year only in Sydney…

Next, she uses fillers just after the words ‘because’ and ‘and’ to give her time to think of reasons.

Um, I like it because, um, it’s got a very interesting old style, and, er, it’s very elegant, it’s very spacious.

She also uses the filler ‘you know’ , but this time to show that she is sharing knowledge, in this case that modern buildings have many storeys:

I don’t like the modern type of buildings, you know, with many storeys and very modern and contemporary.

Let’s listen to another clip where she uses ‘you know’ in the same way while answering a question about eating habits in the future:

Well I think they will because, um, you know, the rhythm of life, the pace of life is becoming, you know, more and more, um, stressful and, um, faster, so I think there is less time to eat, then we have to eat, um, in smaller amounts, but with the same quantity of vitamins and nutrients.

She uses expressions with similar meanings - 'the rhythm of life', 'the pace of life' - to help her talk flow.

Using synonyms, opposites and related vocabulary gives continuity to her talk.

It makes it possible to continue talking without repeating the same words.

Listen again:

Well I think they will because, um, you know, the rhythm of life, the pace of life is becoming, you know, more and more, um, stressful and, um, faster, so I think there is less time to eat, then we have to eat, um, in smaller amounts, but with the same quantity of vitamins and nutrients.

Being able to talk on a variety of subjects confidently will make it easier to maintain fluency.

Listen to this man, who is a concert master in a symphony orchestra, talking about his violin:

Um, this violin, it was made around er, they figure around 1810 in Cremona, in Italy. And Cremona, of course, is er, where all the … kind of the … it’s the best lineage of makers are from Cremona. Stradivarius, of course, which is the most well-known violin maker, originated from Cremona. And so, this kind of is a descendant of the Cremonese line of making. And um, I’ve been lucky enough to own this violin. My parents bought it for me when I was 14, I think. So, very, very lucky to have a very nice, 200, almost 200-year-old Italian instrument.

He was thinking of better ways to say what he meant and was able to easily change what he was saying mid-sentence. Listen again:

Um, this violin, it was made around er, they figure around 1810 in Cremona, in Italy. And Cremona, of course, is where all the … kind of the … it’s the best lineage of makers are from Cremona.

Maybe this is not perfectly correct English, but it is acceptable spoken English because it remains fluent. Hesitating to correct your grammar disrupts your fluency.

Only by practising can you improve your fluency. A teacher or native speaker will help you with your accuracy.

Fluency is not only your ability to speak smoothly and continuously but also your ability to speak at an effective speed.

Speaking too slowly or too quickly is unnatural. Aim to speak at a relaxed and natural pace.

Let’s listen to this student talking about public transport in Sydney. Listen to the speed of her speech. Does she speak too quickly, too slowly or just right?

Er, it should be less expensive. I must say Sydney um Sydney’s transport is really expensive. Er, it should be less expensive but, um, one of the problems is the frequency of transport. Sometimes you have to wait, like, twenty minutes for the bus to come.

Her speech rate is just right. She is neither too quick nor too slow. The pace is reasonable and appropriate, and she sounds natural.

You should practise modelling the pace of your speech on that of a native speaker.

Listening carefully to a large range of English speakers is one of the most effective ways to help you achieve fluency yourself.

Once you are used to the natural pace of English, you should record your speech and check whether you’re speaking at that pace.

Fluency is most important in part 2 of the speaking test, the long turn. It’s when you have to speak for one to two minutes on your own.

That’s all for today. For more about fluency, go to our website. The address is: australianetwork.com/studyenglish. Good Luck with your studies. Bye for now.

(Nguồn UTS: Insearch and Australia Network)

It was great seeing you both in Vietnam just a few weeks back! Thank you for all the applications that at coming in at this stage as well. It is really encouraging!

Just a reminder to all your staff that new applications are to be sent to ioadmissions@curtin.edu.au and for follow up on existing cases to send to apply@curtin.edu.au

There is no need to send multiple copies to all email boxes multiple times as this causes delays and duplication of work for our admissions staff and will actually slow down the process! ;)

Each time we receive an application, we will send a received email so you know it has reached us.

As we endeavor to attend to the applications as fast as we can, any help you can assist with to speed up the process will be appreciated! Please remind all your office colleagues on this.