Speaking Band Descriptor

SPEAKING: Band Descriptors (public version) Band 9 8 7 6 5 Fluency and coherence Lexical resource Grammatical range and accuracy Pronunciation • speaks fluently with only rare repetition or self-correction; • uses vocabulary with full flexibility and precision in all• uses a full range of structures naturally and appropriately • uses a full range of pronunciation features with precision and subtlety • any hesitation is content-related rather than to find wordstopics • produces consistently accurate structures apart from ‘slips’ or grammar • uses idiomatic language naturally and accurately characteristic of native speaker speech • sustains flexible use of features throughout • speaks coherently with fully appropriate cohesive features • is effortless to understand • develops topics fully and appropriately • speaks fluently with only occasional repetition or self- • uses a wide vocabulary resource readily and flexibly to• uses a wide range of structures flexibly • uses a wide range of pronunciation features • produces a majority of error-free sentences with only very • sustains flexible use of features, with only occasional correction; hesitation is usually content-related and only convey precise meaning rarely to search for language • uses less common and idiomatic vocabulary skilfully, with occasional inappropriacies or basic/non-systematic errorslapses occasional inaccuracies • develops topics coherently and appropriately • is easy to understand throughout; L1 accent has minimal • uses paraphrase effectively as required effect on intelligibility • speaks at length without noticeable effort or loss of • uses vocabulary resource flexibly to discuss a variety of• uses a range of complex structures with some flexibility• shows all the positive features of Band 6 and some, but no coherence topics • frequently produces error-free sentences, though some all, of the positive features of Band 8 • may demonstrate language-related hesitation at times, or • uses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary and grammatical mistakes persist some repetition and/or self-correction shows some awareness of style and collocation, with some • uses a range of connectives and discourse markers with inappropriate choices some flexibility • uses paraphrase effectively • is willing to speak at length, though may lose coherence • uses a mix of simple and complex structures, but with • uses a range of pronunciation features with mixed control • at has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length limited flexibility and make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies times due to occasional repetition, self-correction or • shows some effective use of features but this is not sustained • may make frequent mistakes with complex structures • generally paraphrases successfully hesitation though these rarely cause comprehension problems • uses a range of connectives and discourse markers but not • can generally be understood throughout, though always appropriately mispronunciation of individual words or sounds reduces clarity at times • usually maintains flow of speech but uses repetition, self • manages to talk about familiar and unfamiliar topics but• produces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracy• produces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracy correction and/or slow speech to keep going uses vocabulary with limited flexibility • uses a limited range of more complex structures, but these • uses a limited range of more complex structures, but these • may over-use certain connectives and discourse markers • attempts to use paraphrase but with mixed success usually contain errors and may cause some comprehension usually contain errors and may cause some comprehension problems problems • produces simple speech fluently, but more complex communication causes fluency problems • shows all the positive features of Band 4 and some, but•not shows all the positive features of Band 4 and some, but no all, of the positive features of Band 6 all, of the positive features of Band 6 4 • cannot respond without noticeable pauses and may speak • is able to talk about familiar topics but can only convey• produces basic sentence forms and some correct simple• slowly, with frequent repetition and self-correction basic meaning on unfamiliar topics and makes frequent sentences but subordinate structures are rare • • links basic sentences but with repetitious use of simple errors in word choice • errors are frequent and may lead to misunderstanding • connectives and some breakdowns in coherence • rarely attempts paraphrase 3 • uses simple vocabulary to convey personal information• attempts basic sentence forms but with limited success,•orshows some of the features of Band 2 and some, but not • speaks with long pauses relies on apparently memorised utterances all, of the positive features of Band 4 • has insufficient vocabulary for less familiar topics • has limited ability to link simple sentences • makes numerous errors except in memorised expressions • gives only simple responses and is frequently unable to convey basic message • pauses lengthily before most words • only produces isolated words or memorised utterances • cannot produce basic sentence forms • Speech is often unintelligible • little communication possible 2 1 0 • no communication possible • no rateable language • does not attend uses a limited range of pronunciation features attempts to control features but lapses are frequent mispronunciations are frequent and cause some difficulty for the listener