IELTSBlog.

compresents:

HowtogetahigherIELTSscore
bybuildingapositiveimageintheexaminersmind

ThisseriesoflessonswaspreparedbyDonnaMillenespeciallyforthe
readersofIELTSBlog.com.Thelessonsarebrilliantandwilldoamazing
thingsforyourIELTSscoreifyoustudyandimplementthem.

Youwilllearn:

Lesson#1:Howtocreateapositive,psychologicalimpressiononyour
IELTSassessors.

Lesson#2:HowtowriteaTask1reportthatwillimpressyourassessors
(AcademicModule).

Lesson#3:HowtowriteaTask1letterthatwillimpressyourassessors
(GeneralTrainingModule)

Lesson#4:HowtowriteaTask2essaythatwillinfluenceyourassessors
positively(AcademicandGeneral).

Lesson#5:HowtoimproveyourSpeakingtestscoreby
connectingwithyourassessor.

Lesson#6:HowtooptimizeyourperformanceintheListeningandReading
tests.

DonnaMillen,coauthoroftheCentreforEnglishLanguageintheUniversity
ofSouthAustraliasIELTSonTrackseriesofbooks(ieltsontrack.com)talks
aboutwhatmaycreateapositivepsychologicalimpressiononassessors
whomaybescoringtheWritingandSpeaking(interview)componentsof
yourIELTStest.

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Lesson#1:Howtocreateapositive,psychological
impressiononyourIELTSassessors

ImaginetheseIELTStestsituations:

Situation1

YouaresittingoutsidetheIELTSinterviewroom.Itishot,theairconditioningisnot
workingproperly,theIELTSassessorhasalreadyinterviewed10candidates,and
youarenumber11.Youaretiredofwaiting;theintervieweristiredtoo.

Situation2

YourIELTSWritingTestpaperwithyourresponsesonitisatthebottomofapileof
others.Thereare20inthepile.Theassessorhasjusthadtospend30minutes
lookingforaparkingspace.

Situation3

AnIELTSassessorisgivingtestscorestoacandidatetheyhavejustinterviewed.
Theassessorisreadingtheassessmentcriteriabutisstillveryundecidedandis
havinggreatdifficultydecidingwhichwaytojumpontwoofthecriteriagoupto7
orleavethescoresat6?

AlthoughtheactualIELTSassessmentcriteriaareconfidential,theofficialIELTS
websitedoesgivesomeindicationofwhattheycontain.WhattheofficialIELTS
websitedoesntcontain,however,isanysenseofthoseaspectsofacandidatestest
performancethathavesomeimpactontheassessorpsychologically.

Inotherwords,whatcancandidatesdotomakeanassessorfeelmorepositive
towardsthem.Thismaybeimportant,becauseiftheassessorisinanyserious
doubtaboutyourscore,themorepositivetheyfeeltowardsyoupsychologically,the
moretheymaychoosethehigherscore.

Letstrytoidentifyoneortwopossible,generalfactors.

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IELTSWRITINGTESTTWOgeneralfactors

Handwritingandlayout

Thefirstthingtheassessorseesisyourhandwriting.Ifyourwritingisdifficultto
read,hasmanythingscrossedout,noparagraphsorpunctuationtocreateasenseof
organisationandstructure,thenimmediatelytheassessorknowsthatyourwriting
isgoingtobemorechallengingtoread,andthatyouhavenotshownthatyouvalue
theassessor(yourreader),andhavenotvaluedthereaderwriterrelationship.

Maturityofexpressionandvoice

Thereisadifferencebetweenwritingsimple,clearEnglishandwritingEnglishthat
istoosimple.TheIELTStestrequireswritingthatreflectsamaturewayofthinking,
soifyourwritingseemsbabyish,thentheassessorcantviewitsopositively.

Whatmakeswritingbabyish?Ofcourse,ifyoudontknowmanyexpressionsand
cantcontrolthegrammarverywellthenthismaybepartoftheproblem.Another
featureofthisbabyishwriting,however,iswritingwhichisnotverypreciseorwith
ideasthatarenotdevelopedenough.

Comparethesesentences:

1) People should do less work and spend more time with their family. It is
better.
2) It would perhaps improve the quality of family life if people with busy,
demanding jobs could find ways to spend more of their non-work time with
members of their family, especially with children or elderly parents.

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PerhapsitisdifficultforyoutoachievethelevelofEnglishgrammaticalcomplexity
insentence2underthepressureoftimeinatest,butinIELTSyoumighttryto
moveyourwritinginthatdirectioninordertomakeitseemmoremature.

Inotherwords,trytomakeyourwritingcontainmoredetailedandmore
preciseexpressionofthoughtsandideas.Thisprecisionandevidenceofthought
arecommunicatedinapsychologicallypositivewaytotheassessor,notjustbecause
ofcorrectgrammarbutalsobecausetheyreflectanadultwayofthinking,away
thatknowsthatunderstandinganddiscussinglifeissuesinthesocialworldis
complexratherthansimple.

Atthesametime,ifyoucanbemoredetailedandprecise,thenyoucreateyour
ownwrittenvoice,whichmeansyourownuniquestyleofwriting.Thismeans
thattheassessorcanfeelyouasarealindividual,notjustasanotherIELTSanswer.
Thishelpstoconnecttheassessortoyou,andcreatesasignificantrelationship
betweenreaderandwriter,whichisusuallyapositivething.

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IELTSInterviewTWOgeneralpoints

Everymeetingbetweentwopeoplecreatesarelationship

Imagineyouareinacoffeeshopandapleasantpersonatthenexttablestartstotalk
toyou.Youwillprobablyseeyourselfasequaltothatotherpersonbecauseyou
arebothinacoffeeshopandbothdrinkingsomething.Thishelpsyourconfidence
andhelpsyoutofeelincontrolbothofyouremotions,andofwhatyouchooseto
say.

WhenyouentertheIELTSinterviewroomitsagoodideaifyoucancreatethat
samefeelingitisameetingandyouhaveanopportunitytoconnectwiththe
assessorasaperson,atthesametimeasdoingtheinterview.Ifyouconnect
withtheassessorandpresentasapleasant,confidentadult,ratherthanasaschool
studentsittingwithateacher,thishelpstheassessorbothtoseeyoupositivelyas
anequal,andtorelatetoyoumorepositively.

YouareanequalnotanIELTSvictim.Yourbodylanguageneedstobenatural
andrelaxed,notstiff,youshouldmakeeyecontactpleasantlyandconfidently.You
canchoosetotalkatarelaxedspeed,ratherthantoofast.Youcantrytouse
intonationtoshowhowyoufeelaboutwhatyouaresayingthiscommunicates
yourpersonality,youruniqueness.

Youmighttrytofindtherhythmandtimingofeachsectionofthetestandreflectit
backtotheassessorthisshowstheassessoryouarecooperatinginmakingtheir
jobofgettingthroughthetestsectionsin1114minuteseasier,almostlikeyouare
theassessorscoworker.Allthesethingscommunicateyourpersonalityand
createapositivesocialatmosphere.Thismakestheassessorfeelmore
comfortablepsychologicallytoo.

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HelptheassessortogetastrongersenseofYOUandyour
personality.

IntheIELTSinterviewtherearemanyopportunitiestotalkaboutyourownlifeand
culture.Eveniftheassessorsquestionsseemabitmechanical,youcanstilltryto
answerthemasiftheyarepartofafriendlyconversationinwhichyouarehelping
theassessortoknowyouandyourcountryalittlebetter.

Youcanbeasortofteacher,awindowonyourlifeandculture.Thisshows
confidenceandhelpsyoutoemergeasarealperson,auniqueperson,nota
stereotypicalvoiceofyourownlanguageandculture,repeatingjustasetof
ordinaryanswers.

Justlikeyou,theassessorishopingtomeetauniqueandmemorable
individual,andhopingtogetasenseofyouruniqueness,eventhoughtheyarealso
formallyassessingyourspokenlanguage.YOUcanhelptheassessortoseeyou
positivelyasapersonandcanhelptheassessortofeelcomfortablewithyou.
Youhavesomecontrolovertherelationshipthatiscreatedinthatsituationandcan
thusinfluencethepsychologicalwellbeingoftheassessor.But,itmustfeelandbe
natural,notforced.

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Tosummarise

Lifeisessentiallyasocialexperience.TakingIELTSispartofthatsociallife.Even
thoughitmaynotseemthatway,youareinbriefsocialrelationshipswith
assessorswhenyoudotheIELTSWritingandwhenyouareinterviewedfor
theIELTSSpeakingtest.Itisimportantforyoutomanagethoserelationshipsas
wellasyoucan,inordertoinfluencetheassessorspsychologypositively,evenif
thisisnotofficiallyacomponentofthestatedassessmentcriteria.

Influencinganassessorpositivelybutgenuinelyandnaturallymayleadto
betterscoreswhenanassessorisindoubtandisweighingupwhethertogive
youahigheroralowerscore.Ifyouareviewedbyyourassessorasamature,
professionaladultwithapleasant,naturalanduniquepersonality,andassomeone
whocaninformtheassessoraboutinterestingthingsinacareful,precisewaythen
thismayleaveapositiveimpressionofyou,incontrasttosomeoftheothertwenty
orsocandidateswithwhomtheassessormayhaveinteractedthatday,andwho
mayhaveeitherfadedquicklyandanonymouslyaway,orworse,lefttheassessor
withafeelingoffrustrationorirritation.

NEXTTIME,IlltalkaboutsomeofthespecificthingsthatmayinfluenceIELTS
assessorswhentheyreadandscoreyouranswertotheTask1reportinthe
IELTSAcademicWritingtest.

2009DonnaMillenandieltsontrack.com

Thisarticleiscopyrighttoieltsontrack.com,andmaynotbereproducedor
copiedwithoutthepermissionofieltsontrack.com

ThedesignandlayoutofthisseriesoflessonsarecopyrighttoIELTSBlog.com
andmaynotbereproducedorcopiedwithoutthepermissionofIELTSBlog.com

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