OET TIPS OF ALL MODULES

More Tips to Improve OET Speaking

1. Explain everything in as much detail as possible!

Remember your speaking task is marked using the recording of your voice. This
means that the examiners cannot see your hand actions or facial expressions.
Therefore, you need to explain everything in words – clearly. Step by step.

Example: Explaining how to inject insulin.

Firstly, you should choose your site for injection (such as, the abdomen). Then, you
need to pinch the skin between your thumb and index finger. Then, hold the needle
at 45 degrees to the surface and inject!

2. As the example above, use words like firstly and

secondly, etc.
This is recommended as it gives your speaking task a sense of structure. It allows
you to explain medical procedures in a simple, systematic sequence. Some other
words you can use include in addition, furthermore, following on from that… and the
list goes on. You can use these in writing, too!

3. Clarify with the patient and check that they understand

you.
As medical procedures can be quite complicated and detailed, it may be difficult for
the patient to follow what you are saying. To overcome any confusion and to clarify
with the patient, use pauses throughout your speaking to give the patient a chance to
ask their questions. In addition, you can ask them questions like “Are you following?”
“Does this make sense?” “Do you have any questions about this procedure so far?”

I hope these tips can help you improve in OET speaking and reduce those nerves!
Good luck.
5 Simple Steps to Improve OET Speaking

1. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Before you begin each speaking task, you will have 2-3 minutes of preparation time.
As you are reading the task, if there are any aspects which you don’t understand, it
is worthwhile to ask the roleplayer as they may be able to help you out. You will NOT
be marked down for asking questions.

2 . F o l l ow t h e d o t p o i n t s i n o r d e r .

This is NOT something you MUST do, but it is highly recommended. By following the
dot points in order, you will not get lost or confused during the task and this will
ensure that you are able to engage with the roleplayer (i.e. the patient).

3 . I f yo u g e t s t u c k , u s e t h e p h r a s e s / t e r m i n o l o g y o n t h e
card.

You are allowed to do this. This is particularly useful if, perhaps, the topic is
unfamiliar to you.

4. Listen to the samples on the OET website.

Most students neglect to check the official OET website for samples and materials.
In fact, they have uploaded 2 nursing speaking tasks and 2 medicine speaking tasks.
Have a listen to these as they will familiarise you with the structure of the speaking
exam, even if you are not taking the nursing/medicine exam.

5 . An d , a s a lw ays … p r a c t i s e , p r a c t i s e , P R AC T I S E .

With a family member. With a friend. With your dog? Even by recording yourself!
Just practise!!
Overcoming the Fear of OET Reading Passages – Part 2
My previous blog post (Overcoming the Fear of OET Reading Passages – Part 1)
outlined some key techniques you can use to tackle Part B of the OET reading
component. In this post, I will further discuss techniques about how to approach the
comprehension that I hope you will find useful in your preparation.

1. Eliminate answers

It is often very hard to see the answer straightaway as there may be several similar
answers. However, to make things easier, you should start by eliminating the options
which are blatantly incorrect. This narrows down the amount of options to choose
from, giving you a higher chance of choosing the correct option.

2. Familiarise yourself with statistical conversions

If the questions include statistics, you should be very careful in interpreting and
matching it to the data presented in the text. They may further trick you by changing
the statistics a little – for instance, you should know that “1 in 5” is the same as
“20%”. You should also take note that if it says “43 per thousand of the population”
this equates to approximately “4 – 5% of the population” (do the maths!).

3. Options that are too ‘certain’ are often incorrect

In medicine, there is a lot of uncertainty and rarely are things absolutely definitive.
For this reason, if a multiple choice option uses words such as “strongly associated”
or “directly related” or “definitely” or any other ‘definitive’ words … it is usually wrong!
It is ONLY correct if the statement is exactly stated in the text.

Comprehension can certainly be very difficult but with the right strategy and ongoing
practice of some key techniques, OET reading can hopefully seem more like a friend
than a foe.

What to initially read in reading part A.

For reading part A, because you really don’t have much time to waste in 15 minutes,
I would advise you to read only a few select things first before attempting to answer
the gap fills.

Firstly, read the text stimulus headings, taking note of the key words and what
aspect of the overall topic it is covering. For instance, if the entire topic is on
vasectomy, then text A may be on the associated risks of prostate cancer in those
who have undergone vasectomy, text B may be on the incidence of vasectomy over
age and years, text C on the complications of vasectomy and it’s reversibility, text D
on the reversibility of vasectomy. By noting this, when in the question it mentions
vasectomy reversal, you can be aware to refer to either text C or D for the answer.

Furthermore, as the question passage is of a reporting form, it will often refer to the
sources from which it is drawing information from before going onto speak about its
content. Therefore, these will be cues for you to know which text to locate your
answer. It is important to take note not only of the headings but also what text type it
is. For example, is it a study, a research abstract, a literature review, a case study, a
statistic, a newspaper journal, a report, a Q&A patient brochure etc? So in the
question sheet it might say “according to a case study performed…” and if you had
noted that text B was a case study then you can refer to that text to scan for the
answer.

I think you get the idea so I will list the features to look out for before you begin
attempting to answer the questions from Part A reading.

1. Heading: and key words/topics in that heading/subheading (n.b. subheadings

can be the questions in a Q&A, the aims of a research abstract)
2. Text type: study, report, experiment, survey, statistic, case study, literature
review
3. Authors: e.g. Wilson et al.
4. Year of publication: e.g. the 2008 study.
5. Place/country/name of publication/study: e.g US study, Canadian report, the
Age newspaper.

After having glanced for this information, which should only take you a few seconds,
then you go on to attempt the questions.

Overcoming the Fear of OET Reading Passages – Part 1

Comprehension can be challenging because, apart from assessing your English
vocabulary skills, it is a test of your understanding and interpretation of extensive
passages in English.

This sparks cries of fear from OET students.

Although you have 45 minutes to tackle 20 questions from two texts in the OET, you
need to have some good techniques under your belt to help you overcome your fear
of the reading passages.

1. Start with the questions

You should start with the questions to give you an indication of which paragraph to
read. This is because, if you read the entire passage, you will probably not recall all
the finer details anyway and will waste time reading over it again.

2. Circle conjunctions that link ideas together

As you read the appropriate paragraph of the passage, circle words like ‘but’ or
‘however’ or ‘in contrast’ which show two contrasting ideas. Or perhaps phrases like
‘in addition’ or ‘furthermore’ that show similar ideas. Or, if any, try to spot ‘which
causes’ or ‘leading to’ which show a cause and effect relationship!
 3. RTFQ = Read the Full Question!

Once you have a good understanding of the relevant paragraphs, return to the
question and read all the options carefully. This is because often there is simply one
word that can affect whether the answer is right or wrong.

By coupling these simple techniques with constant reading of medical passages to

build your vocabulary, you can surely gradually overcome your fear of OET reading.

- Carol Luo

Another tip for OET Writing

“The” patient

A common mistake that ESL students make in the writing section is when making
reference to the patient. This is done as necessity all throughout the letter.

Letter header

The patient’s full name and date of birth or age should be mentioned right at the start
of the letter in the letter header “Re: (patient’s first name AND surname, date of
birth).” This should always be included in a referral letter as the doctor or health
specialist that you are writing to will most likely have hundreds of patients they see
and need a quick way of filing and identifying patients without mixing them up.

First paragraph

In the introductory paragraph of the letter, you will invariably be mentioning the
patient. It is important to mention at least the patient’s first name or their surname
with appropriate title of Mr/Ms when referring to them.

Body paragraphs.

Ideally you would mention the patient’s name at the first sentence of every new
paragraph. You would refer to the patient by their name if there is more than one
person involved in the patient’s case. For example, the patient’s name may be
mentioned when describing reports from a collateral account like a parent to not
confuse the two.

Otherwise, you can refer to the patient as “the patient” or she/he etc as appropriate
grammatically. Oftimes I see students just writing “patient” instead of “the” patient. It
is always “the patient.” It may seem like a pedantic pointer but always remember this
is a English test so proper grammar counts!
The A’s of OET Speaking

Your palms are sweaty, your heart’s racing… and you stare, dumbfounded, as your
mind goes blank.

To avoid a situation like this happening in your OET speaking exam, you should be
prepared for what to expect and how you should respond. The roleplay that you are
given will require you to use appropriate language and phrases to do one or more of
the following things:

1. Assess the patient, the patient’s background or the current situation. This is
often what you do in the opening section of the speaking – you find out (i.e.
assess) what it is that the patient wants!
2. Assure the patient about their particular health condition, their family
member’s illness or an upcoming operation, etc. The patient is anxious and
you need to calm them down… what do you say? You should use empathic
language, exhibiting your understanding to the patient.
3. Advise the patient about lifestyle changes, how to manage their
diabetes/health disease or what are the harms/benefits. Here you need to
make appropriate suggestions for the patient’s situation.
4. Arrange a follow-up appointment or referral, if appropriate to the
situation. You are showing the patient that you are taking immediate action to
help them.

Now it’s up to you to carefully consider each of these types of speaking tasks and
come up with some appropriate sentences, questions or phrases that can help you
communicate these things to the patient.

-Carol, OET Teacher of SLS

OET: How to say no to test anxiety?

1. Be prepared.
How come you can be confident if you are not prepared, in everything you do, not
just for exam alone? Summary the main point for each chapter can save you lots of
time.

2. Study efficiently.
There is no genius, genius is trained. Therefore, don’t just begin to study three nights
before the exam. You simply kill your brain with the overwhelming terminology and
can’t get good result definitely. Study is a lifelong process, therefore, it is essential
that you can organize your study schedule and stick with it.

3. Love your body

Treat your body well and it will pay back for sure. Sleep well and have a nice meal
before you sit for the exam.

4. Group work
Study in groups for the clinical exams may be useful. You can never predict how
much you can learn from others friends
5. Answer the ones you know first.
Try to answer all the questions you know, leave time for the tricky one. Never invest
too much time one question, otherwise you will certainly run out of time to finish
others questions.

6. Yes! Be focus!
Some students may leave early in the test but it doesn’t mean you need to be rush.
Steady wins the race! Therefore, concentrate on what you are doing, ignore what
others are doing. Make the most of your exam period!