Bedelova T.B., Assanova A.Ye.

L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Kazakhstan

Peculiarities of using IELTS Speaking Assessment System in developing EFL students’ communicative competence

In today’s environment when ability to speak English efficiently has become one of the major means of interaction and socialization on a global scale, previous standards of teaching English, in particular speaking competence, seem to be constantly rising. This widespread demand for English during the last decade has supported the view that the success is tightly linked with the ability to speak English. For this reason, many countries for which English is not their native language have been introducing and implementing new approaches in their policies of teaching English. One of such measures can be the thorough analysis of the existing English language test systems and using their criteria of assessment as the basis for English teaching school curriculum. At present the world’s leading language test of English is The International English Testing System that is highly recognized by more than 9000 institutions worldwide. This article is an overall review of using IELTS perspective in strengthening students’ speaking abilities and improving their communicative competence.

To begin with, it is necessary to define the concept communicative competence. The term was coined by Dell Hymes in the 1970s. He suggested that grammatical knowledge of a foreign language is not enough for a foreign language learner, because social and functional aspects of a language are equally important (Hymes, 1972). According to Hymes communicative competence is “that aspect of our competence that enables us to convey and interpret messages and to negotiate meanings interpersonally within specific context”. In fact, communicative competence consists of four major components: linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic competence.

Linguistic competence refers to the ability of students to correctly use sounds, vocabulary and grammatical rules of the language. It also includes rules of words formation, pronunciation and syntax. An umbrella term used for these aspects is the language code.

Sociolinguistic competence refers to the ability of the learner to understand and follow cultural rules of the language and the rules of discourse. It is related to the ability to use language elements appropriately and naturally within a certain socio-cultural context. As for the rules of discourse, the emphasis is on the expressiveness using paralinguistic competence.

Discourse competence is the ability to understand the ways ideas are linked with each other in speech or written communication. (It shows how well the learner can interject his or her own opinions and how well it can be expressed. Therefore, it deals with organizing words and phrases, sentences to create conversations, speeches.

Finally, strategic competence refers to the ability to deal with some communication breakdowns when or before they occur. It includes the use of gestures, paraphrasing, repetition, feedback, turn-taking and topic changing.

Looking at all those criteria of effective communicative competence, one may suggest that they are quite relevant, but too broad and generalized to be as the backbone for teaching English speaking skills. At contrast, IELTS band descriptors provide direct and more specific guideline for EFL learners. Indeed, if we examine the IELTS band descriptor it is clear that they explain certain characteristics of speech that the candidate should be competent at to achieve a certain band score. There are four main criteria as Fluency, Lexical Resource, Grammar Range & Accuracy and Pronunciation that affect the overall score of the candidate. It goes without saying that these criteria represent some components of the above mentioned communicative competence. However, particularly these four specific analytic scales are used to assess the speakers’ oral proficiency in the IELTS speaking test (Taylor, Jones, 2001). Thus, it can be inferred that these elements should be the most important and foremost priority when planning and organizing EFL classes targeted at developing oral communication skills. The first criterion, fluency, refers to the ability to talk with normal levels of continuity and to link ideas and phrases together to formulate coherent speech. The key indicators of coherence are logical sequencing of sentences and phrases, clear marking of stages in a discussion, the use of coherent devices in speech. The main indicators of Lexical Resource criterion are the rich variety of words, adequacy and appropriacy of those words and the ability of speakers to circumlocute effortlessly. That is why it is essential for students to learn how to express complex or unknown concepts with simple words. As for Pronunciation, according to the IELTS assessment criteria the oral proficiency is measured by the strain caused to the listener while speaking and the influence of the L1 language. This means that the teaching of pronunciation should focus on comprehensibility and intelligibility, rather than on forming correct pronunciation patterns. Moreover, the fact that teachers and students can easily refer to the detailed performance descriptors makes it easy to plan and outline general EFL speaking course. This will make students be able to self-assess and identify their own weaknesses and strengths in the learning process. Integrating these elements in the speaking course at schools will positively affect students’ communication skills in English. A clear difference in language features between different bands let the language instructors build their lesson plans in a correct and logic sequence where the skills will improve gradually.

Yet there is a drawback in the IELTS speaking test that should be mentioned. In IELTS, interviewer is the one who dominates during the social interaction, which means that only one style of speech is assessed, that is the ability of candidates to respond to the examiner’s questions, whereas the ability of the speaker to ask questions or to take initiatives to start a discussion is not considered. That is why it is crucial to combine and include both styles of interaction to make sure students will be prepared for real-life situations. Summarizing all above said, it is clear that IELTS assessment criteria provide a solid background in bringing improvements to the productivity of EFL classes.

References

1. Hymes, Dell H. (1972). “On communicative competence”. In Pride, J.B.; Holmes, J. Sociolinguistics: selected readings. Harmondsworth: Penguin. pp. 269–293.

2. Chomsky, Noam (1965). Aspects of the theory of syntax. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press.

3. Taylor, L., & Jones, N. (2001). Revising the IELTS Speaking Test. Research Notes, 5, 9-12. Retrieved from http://www.ielts.org/researchers/research/ielts_speaking_test.aspx/

4. IELTS Handbook 2006, www.ielts.org/pdf/ielts_handbook_2007.pdf

5. Brown, A. (2006b). An examination of the rating process in the revised IELTS Speaking Test. IELTS research reports (Vol. 6, pp. 1-30) IELTS Australia and British Council. Retrieved from www.ielts.org/PDF/Vol6_Report2.pdf