名师简介：
Mark Griffiths,新航道雅思口语主讲，现任资深雅思考官。
主持人：众所周知，今年是建国60周年，为了隆重庆祝祖国母亲60华诞，新航道隆重推出“新航道60位雅思名师系列点睛”活动，今天，我们非常高兴地邀请到了第三位名师--新航道雅思口语名师Mark首先请Mark老师和大家打个招呼吧！
Mark：Good morning. This is Mark from New Channel school. I teach speaking and writing and have been involved with IELTS for eight years, in China and in other countries. I’m looking forward to answering your questions and hope to meet you at New Channel school in the near future。
网友 ：Dear Mark ，I`m so happy to see you here and how`s going ? I need your advise for my IELTS test.I had my test last year on 13/12 and also I`ve got 6 point . That is 5.5 5.5 6 6 . what I need is every subject 7, I can have 3 months to study IELTS test and what you think for three months to make 7 and please give me some suggestions how to improve Writing and Speaking to 7 .thank you for your help 。
Mark：For both, it’s simply a case of practising as much as you can. You probably need to put in plenty of work on your vocabulary and grammar. Improving from 5.5 to 7 in 3 months is possible, but very difficult, so you need to use a good book (e.g. mine!) to help you. Make sure you are able to discuss all the topics that might appear in the test。
网友simon ：How is "fluency" being measured?
Mark：Fluency is basically measured by the amount of pausing, repetition and self-correction a candidate does while speaking. Speed is also a factor, but as long as it is at a reasonable rate there’s no problem。
网友Li ：In the interview part, do I need try to change my sentence’s structure all the time to show my English ability? What would happen if I only use simple sentences?
Mark：If you only use simple sentences, you will get a low score for grammar. The official IELTS website, ielts.org, clearly states this. It is your job to show the examiner what you know, so take every opportunity to demonstrate that you can use a variety of structures。
网友breeze ：Someone said that to frequently use redundant language is a sound strategy in IELTS test because it is a way that English native daily use. But I rarely found that at IELTS references.What’s your opinion?
Mark：A certain amount of redundant language is acceptable, particularly in spoken English. My personal experience is that students use it too much, i.e. to make up a large part of speech rather than just a minor part。
网友 ：What is the most serious problem for us in stage three of the speaking test?
Mark：I would say the biggest problem is not having enough vocabulary to develop a coherent answer. Make sure that you have done plenty of background reading and tested your ideas in real-life conversations。
网友 ：Is ideas are being tested? Somebody says that the examiner is only testing the ability to express ideas in spoken English not the answer itself. Thanks for your explaining!
Mark：This is a very important issue for both candidates and examiners to understand. ‘Ideas’ and ‘the ability to express ideas’ are two different things. ‘The ability to express ideas’ is definitely being tested in the speaking and writing modules. ‘Ideas’ are being tested indirectly because if you have no ideas, you cannot answer the questions, particularly in part 3 of the speaking module and task 2 of the writing module. Ideas must be coherent. My personal experience is that most candidates say they have no ideas when in fact they simply lack vocabulary。
网友 ：I am an IELTS speaking teacher at a training school.And I’d like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to you just because I’ve benefited quite a lot for your classic speaking textbook.Please let us know if you have any new publications. Cheers!
Mark：The newest books are the 101 ielts series of books. I’m also looking forward to producing new editions of the ‘classic’ speaking and writing textbooks。
网友 ：I’ve just bought your 101 ielts books101.Can you tell me how to use each of them effectively?
Mark：The ‘slang’ book is mainly to help candidates who want 7 for speaking. The phrasal verbs book is necessary for anyone taking ielts, since phrasal verbs are an important part of the English language. The ‘sayings’ book is designed for candidates who need to get away from the overused phrases in other ielts textbooks, i.e. band 6 and above. Two more books in the series will be out soon. You can use them very simply to learn some useful words and phrases that you then use in conversation. Learn and use, learn and use. ‘Use it or lose it’ as a friend of mine says!
网友tracy fang ：Hi mark, I stay in Los Angeles currently. I only got 5.5 in speaking test recently, but I got 6 two years ago when I was in Singapore. I feel very discouraged. How can I reach 7? Is that possible? I will be really appreciated for your suggestion. Thank you!
Mark：You are in an English-speaking country, so the best thing is to get out and use your English. It’s that simple!
网友 ：Hi，Mark，I have 2 books that be written by you。
I passed IELTS exam，but my speaking have just got 5 score.。
I am going to go abroad to study in May。
How can I prepare in speaking and listening recently?
Mark：You need to go out and make conversation with people - in English. This will improve your speaking and listening. Remember to converse about a wide variety of topics, not just the same ones again and again。
网友erin ：Is there much different between 5.5 and 6? I mean maybe one examer give you 5.5 while another would give you 6. If I get a 5.5 and apply re-mark, is there a good chance that they would change my band。
Mark：The difference between a 5.5 and a 6 is small, so there’s some chance that a remark could change your score. Remarks are relatively expensive and can take a while, so you need to bear those facts in mind when making your decision。
网友 ：Could you give some advice for IELTS speaking? Thanks
Mark：Buy my IELTS speaking book - it has plenty of advice on how to prepare for the test and what to do to achieve your desired score。
网友 ：Last time I got 5.5 in speaking test and I’ll take the 21st March test, just wondering is there any effective way can help me get 6?
Mark：The difference is relatively small, so you probably just need a little more practice. Make sure you have enough vocabulary to discuss all the topics and check that you use a wide variety of structures in your speech。
网友 ：Hi ,I am Janet. on February 21st ,I got 5.5 in IELTS speaking，while my other subjects are quite good, listening 7,reading 8,writing 6.5 .I have taken IELTS three times , in the first two speaking sections , I talked a bit fast，then in the third one, I spoke slowly, but I got the same score. I don’t know what is wrong ，and could you tell me how I PREPARE the exam in two months?
Mark：Speaking speed is not the only criteria for deciding a candidate’s score. Changing only one aspect of your English will change your score by a maximum of 0.5 of a band score - and usually, as you discovered, not at all. Preparation is about practice. You prepare for a basketball game by playing basketball. You use various skills, not just one. You prepare for a maths test by solving maths problems. You solve different types of problems, not just one. Same with English。
网友 ：我上次考试口语5.5，其他均为6.5，我想用一个月的时间准备下次考试，请问如果每天练习，口语提高到6.5有可能吗？
Mark：If you only have one month, it will be very difficult. It usually takes three months in an English-speaking country (China is not an English-speaking country!) to improve by one band. You need to use your English every day, for sure, and probably for most of your waking hours. Surround yourself with English speakers。
网友 ：你好，我想知道口语5.5和6分的区别在哪？ 我第一次作文考了5分。用的模版。我还有一个月的时间请问我应该准备些什么呢？
Mark：As I have mentioned, the difference between 5.5 and 6 is small. The problem is that, without meeting you, I can’t say where you need to improve. (At New Channel we offer mock interviews, by the way。) Generally, focus on vocabulary and grammar, as mentioned above. As for the writing, I’m going to assume that you want to go from 5 to 6. This means improving your range of grammar and vocabulary in particular. Yes, the same as with the speaking module! Make sure that you answer task 2 directly, completely and with the use of good examples to support your arguments. Avoid the use of overused phrases often found in ielts books。
主持人：Thank you Mark,Thank you everyone!See you next time!
Mark：See you。
