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'During the test, what if the candidate is asked to talk about a topic that they are not familiar with?'
This is quite a common question that we hear when we travel around China and talk with Chinese teachers at our IELTS workshops.
As teachers, what we also need to be asking are these related questions:
a) Does the candidate expect the examiner to ask about things that the candidate has read in their preparation books or prepared in class?
b) Does the candidate think that there is a preferred answer to the questions they will be asked in the speaking test?
c) Does the candidate know how to apply their knowledge and experience to the question and perhaps adapt the question slightly?
As teachers we need to help students
• Understand the question and communicate their ideas about that question rather than reproducing memorised/over-rehearsed answers
• Appreciate that there are no correct answers in speaking
• Develop answers that use their own knowledge and experience.
While some students can benefit from being told this information, others need to practise the above ideas. What activities can we get students to do then?
In the classroom, a teacher can ask students to create IELTS-like questions in groups of 4 – 6, for example. Then groups can exchange the developed questions with other groups. Then in pairs, students can practise asking and answering the questions. Finally, in plenary, students from different groups can ask students from other groups.
The key message we need students to understand is 'listen and respond. Don't try to memorise every possible answer'.
The trickier situation is when a candidate is asked a question or given a topic that doesn't directly match with their experience, perhaps because they have limited knowledge about the subject. What can be done to help these types of students?
One Chinese teacher we met does an activity to help students adapt questions in a very small way. This is what she does..
1)
She asks her students to brainstorm a list of IELTS part 2 topics e.g. 'a problem you had with a friend'.
2)
Then she asks students to look at each topic but imagine that they can't address the topic because it doesn't match their experience. She asks the students to make tiny changes to the question. Students are encouraged to change the sub-topic e.g. 'a problem I had with a colleague/relative/neighbour', or rewording it to look at the question through the eyes of somebody they know e.g. 'a problem my dad/mum had with a friend'.
3)
She also asks the students to give a brief reason for making that change. For example, if a student changes 'friend' to 'relative' they might give the following reason 'I get along well with all my friends. We don't have problems with each other. Perhaps this is because we have never been in a situation which created problems. On the other hand, I live in the same apartment as my relatives and we have many problems'.
4)
Then the teacher gives a list of topics that the students might find more challenging. She then asks them to apply the same process as they used in steps 2 and 3..
4)
Finally, she asks students to work in pairs to practise asking and responding to a range of topics depending on their experience.
Step 3 is very important. Giving a justification for the tiny change helps the listener/examiner understand why the candidate is making a tiny change to the question. It shows that the change happens for a reason and not because of misunderstanding. More importantly, this is what we often do in real life.
If you or your students want more ideas and examples on this issue, look at the videos in the speaking section of www.roadtoIELTS.com
It's always worth reminding students that the questions and topics in the IELTS test do not demand specialist knowledge. The key thing to do is to understand the question and respond it in a natural way.
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