Welcome to the IELTS Language Lab. In this episode we’re going to listen to Graciela who tried one of the free Part 2 practice tests we’ve published.
Describe a teacher you once had who you enjoyed being taught by. You should say:
Task
Describe a business you know that you admire. You should say:
- what this business is
- what the business sells
- how long you have known about the business
and say why you like it so much.
Comprehension
The first time you listen decide if Graciela answers the question appropriately:
Well a business I know … I am going to talk about the main business or the main activity that most of my family … have …. has … so this is the business of selling and buying flowers … this type of business is because most of the people that live in the community where I was born … they are dedicated to the fl … to the agriculture especially … especially the flowers … the growing of flowers but there is a complete process around the … the business because you have to know how to produce the flowers and how to make them grow in a … in a good way and also how to sell or commercialise the product the final product that is the flower so I will start with the buying of the plant that is that the … producers have to buy the … the plant or the bulbs to a foreign company sometimes it’s from the United States in California or sometimes could be from Holland and they ex … well the producers in Mexico import the bulbs and the plants to the … to the town where **** where the flowers are going to be … cultivated and then there are different employees who are going to be in charge of the good … product that will be the the the final result so they have to water the plants every day they have to use some fertilisers and sometimes some pesticides to make it … grow in a … in a good way well I mean with a good quality and also … when the flowers have grown they have to be cut in a specific … in a specific period of the … of the plant because the bottom should be closed not open and they have to take all the plants or the flowers to a place that where is going to start the other … the other section of the process that is to … just to pack all the flowers they have to use paper and they have to use plastic with the …
Assessment
If you listen to the original recording you’ll see that Graciela spoke for well over 4 minutes. In the exam, the examiner would bring the talk to a close at a natural point after the 2 minutes have been reached, which is what we have done here. Although Graciela didn’t address the final part of the task within the 2 minutes allowed, in general she still kept to the subject and made an appropriate response. However, she could practise trying to time her talks so she is able to complete what she wants to say within the time allowed.
Now listen a second time. How well do you think Graciela did using the IELTS assessment criteria?
- Grammatical range and accuracy
- Lexical resource (vocabulary)
- Fluency and coherence
- Pronunciation
Feedback
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
In general Graciela’s use of grammar was at an advanced level. She connects her statements together well using cohesive devices such as pronouns and linking words and her statements are well-formed. On some occasions she made a mistake and then corrected herself. A good example of this is where she said:
they are dedicated to the fl … to the agriculture especially … especially the flowers the growing of flowers
‘The’ is not required as ‘agriculture’ and ‘flowers’ in this statement have a general meaning. However, Graciela seemed to appreciate this and used ‘the growing of flowers’ instead. It’s clear what Graciela means when she says
‘this type of business is because’,
but it should be expressed as something like ‘this type of business is common because’. Graciela corrected ‘have’ for ‘has’ in the statement ‘most of my family has’. However, as she is talking about the individuals within her family rather than the family as a single unit, the plural ‘have’ is probably better. Graciela also said the producers have to buy the plants ‘to a foreign country’ but this of course should be ‘from a foreign country’. And finally Graciela could have said ‘in a specific period of the … of the plant’s growth’ rather than simply ‘of the plant’
Lexical Resource
In general, Graciela has a very good command of vocabulary, using a wide range of
topic vocabulary as well as some advanced set expressions and word forms such as:
complete process
commercialise
cultivated
fertilisers
pesticides
Graciela used the term ‘selling and buying’ but this is usually expressed the other
way round as ‘buying and selling’.
Fluency and Coherence
Graciela’s fluency and coherence is very good. There were a couple of occasions where she paused whilst thinking of the word or phrase she needed but in general her fluency was at an advanced level.
Pronunciation
In general Graciela’s pronunciation was clear and the listener should have no problem in understanding her.