The Asessment Criteria & common

Speaking Subtest mistakes

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Assessment criterion A: overall communication effectiveness
Assessment criterion B: intelligibility
Assessment criterion C: fluency
Assessment criterion D: appropriateness of language
Assessment criterion E: resources of grammar and expression
Assessment criterion A: overall
communicative effectiveness

Here the examiner is looking to see that the

overall purpose of the situation is achieved
e.g. whether or not the patient or customer
has received an adequate response to their
particular health concern as outlined in the
roleplay card and in the patient's/customer's
questions and emotional state.

Mistake Correction

1. Misinterpreting the roleplay card. This is
not that common, but when such
misinterpretation occurs, it can lead to
embarrassing miscommunication with the
patient/customer.
Make sure you clarify any terms you are at all
unsure about with the examiner.
One way to do this would be to state to the
examiner what you think are the key facts you
need to consider in the roleplay to check if your
understanding is right.

2. Forgetting polite introductions and initial Don't forget polite introductions and questions
small talk. e.g. Hello Mr/Ms Black and how can I help you
today? (There are a number of other possible
introductions.)

3. Ignoring the patient/customer's questions
and/or information. It is common for
candidates to read the roleplay card and then
assume they have enough information to start
giving the patient advice. This can lead to:
• missing vital information from the patient
that could affect the information given
• a one-way flow of information that could
lead to friction with the patient.
Remember that the examiner/patient has extra
information on their roleplay card that could be
useful to your assessment. Remember to:
• get a brief history from the patient–this could
turn up some useful information
• periodically check you understand the
patient's/customer's concerns by paraphrasing /
summarising what you understand their
concerns are
 • when you are giving advice, periodically
check that the patient has understood your
advice so far.

4. Ignoring or failing to respond appropriately Ways to reassure include using phrases such as:
to a patient's/customer's emotional state–often
a patient/customer will be anxious or angry I understand .. but the chance
and you need to be able to reassure them that you of anything going
and/or calm them down. might .. wrong is very
small.
or .. feel or
anxious or
worried
about ..
It is quite .. but I can assure
normal to .. you that this
operation /
problem is a
common one and
…

Ways to convince an argumentative patient or

customer include:

● initially, acknowledge their point of

view or fear etc. to let them you know
you are taking them seriously
● then, use reasonable argument to show
that your advice is based on solid,
logical evidence AND is in their best
interests. Some common strategies
include:

Contrasting e.g. if
short term someone is
gain to long doubtful
term about advice
consequences because it is
expensive or
they currently
feel OK and
don't see what
the 'the fuss is
about',
remind them
that it could
cost more or
result in
 much more
serious
complications
in the long
term if they
don't act now.

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Assessment criterion B: intelligibility

The focus here is on whether or not what you

say is understandable. Pronunciation is
important, but word order and vocabulary
choice can also affect intelligibility.

Mistake Correction

1. Pronunciation and/or sentence stress issues
differ between individuals. They are often
affected by pronunciation and/or rhythmical
differences between a person's first language
and English.
The course includes links to pronunciation
websites which will allow you to practice any
particular English sounds you might have
difficulty with. Try this site

2. Some candidates speak too quickly. This
could be because of first language differences
or because of nervousness; whatever the
cause, it can make speech more difficult to
understand.
Stress management techniques such as
becoming aware of your emotional state,
controlling your breathing and consciously
slowing down your speech can help. (Don't
slow down too much!)

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Assessment criterion C: fluency

Here the examiner is assessing your ability to

maintain and ongoing conversation that links
together cohesively e.g. you don't have to
hesitate too much trying to think of what to
say next.
Mistake Correction

There seems to be a couple of main causes

for this problem:

1. uncertainty about what vocabulary to use
The course includes links to health-related
websites which can be used to build your
health-related vocabulary. The development of
more general vocabulary is also important–
reading and listening to English everyday is an
important way to build up general vocabulary.

2. being overly concerned with grammatical
accuracy at the expense of communicating
meaning.
It is too late to worry about your grammar once
the roleplays start–working on grammatical
accuracy needs to take place before the
roleplays. It can be useful to focus on the fact
that you are a health professional trying to
provide someone with useful information rather
than a test candidate having their English
analysed.

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Assessment criterion D: appropriateness of

language

The examiner will be looking to see that you

use language (verbal and non-verbal) suitable
for a health professional e.g. you need to be
speak reasonably formally and to be
confident of your knowledge, but at the same
time to be aware that you need explain
technical terms for the non-expert patient and
to be aware of, and respond to, your patient's
ideas and feelings.

Mistake Correction

1. Using technical terms that a non-expert Use synonyms and/or more everyday terms
would be unlikely to understand e.g. e.g.
- for dentists: occlusal = biting surface
- for doctors: myocardial infarction = heart attack
- for nurses: diabetic nephropathy
- for pharmacists: allergic rhinitis
2. Being either too aggressive or not assertive
enough when talking with patients/customers.
Being too aggressive can make
patients/customers feel negative and less
likely to provide useful information.
3. However, a patient/customer might be
quite aggressive uncooperative towards you
and if you 'give in' and agree with them too
easily, your professional knowledge might be
ignored and/or undervalued.
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Assessment criterion E: resources of
grammar and expression
This criterion assesses your ability to express
yourself using accurate English grammar and
expression.
Mistake
1. There are so many grammatical errors that
your meaning becomes unclear. There is
more room for grammatical error in the
speaking sub-test than in the writing sub-test
because the main focus here is on effective
communication. However, it is obviously
better to be grammatically accurate.
= kidney disease caused by diabetes
= hay fever
You need to strike a balance here–you need to
present your professional opinion with a
confidence that gives the patient/customer the
assurance that your information is reliable,
while at the same time being careful not to
'lecture' the patient/customer as though their
opinion is not important.
If a patient/customer is being difficult and they
are questioning your knowledge, it is not good
enough to simply dismiss their ideas and assert
that you are right because you 'are an expert'.
A better response would be to acknowledge
that a range of opinions exist about the topic
but that 'recent research' suggests that there is
scientific/statistical support for your advice.
Correction
The course includes links to grammar websites
which will allow you to practice particular
English grammar you might have difficulty
with and course teachers will provide
additional feedback on this aspect of your
performance.