'The Power of Words' Helps Succeed In IELTS

IELTS (International English Language Testing System), a standardized English language test needs thorough practice and preparation. Keeping in mind that it is an International English language test, vocabulary plays a significant role to secure good bands. This article shines light on how IELTS and your vocabulary are interrelated.

The significance of vocabulary in IELTS Test

Language acquisition skills based on which a test taker is accessed during IELTS go hand-in-hand. Understanding in the IELTS Reading and Listening sections will increase as your vocabulary increases. Similarly, the more words you are familiar with, the more effectively you will be able to communicate on the IELTS Speaking and Writing sections.

For speaking and writing components of the IELTS, there are unique evaluation criteria. One of the 4 categories for each of these 2 skills that you are evaluated on is vocabulary knowledge also known as lexical resource. The average of your final score is determined by the four criteria. The final speaking and writing scores you receive from the IELTS test, which account for a quarter of your total score, are determined by your vocabulary.

Read our IELTS related articles to learn more about IELTS

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Learn how IELTS bands & CLB are interrelated

Improve your vocabulary through helpful Tips

It is likely that you learn new words and their meaning. Even though this is a great place to start, there are additional things you can do to make vocabulary acquisition successful and simple. You can find some good suggestions in the detailed vocabulary-specific analysis below.

What a new word signify should be the first thing on your mind. Find out the following before learning a new word:

• Definition from Dictionary: the proper meaning of the word.
• Spelling: what is the way the word is written or spelt?
• Articulation: what emphasis is used in the word’s pronunciation?
• Syntax: which parts of speech does the word belong to? Is it a verb, a noun, or an adjective? Does this spelling or pronunciation alter if this happens?
• Collocation: which word or words naturally pair well with it? E.g., Fast+food or pay + attention.
• What is the word’s usage? – it’s a good idea to maintain a vocabulary journal in which you can include sample sentences using new words.
• Synonyms & antonyms: which terms have the same or a related meaning? Which words-if any- have the opposite connotation.

These points are the foundational steps to truly understanding a new word. All these elements should be part of vocabulary record keeping look at the example vocabulary entry for the word trouble below:

Importance of ‘paraphrasing’

Another crucial vocabulary skill for you to master is paraphrasing which is the act of coming up with fresh ways to face the same thing. This makes it critical for you to research synonyms and words with similar meanings.

All 4 sections of the IELTS tests can benefit from the ability to paraphrase. For instance, you must paraphrase the titles of task one and 2 in your answers for both the IELTS general training and IELTS academic writing examinations. You must be able to identify the important terms in the questions in the IELTS reading and listening sections this will enable you to identify instances in the reading text or hearing script where the same concepts are expressed using various terms.

Getting accustomed with word families

Words are not autonomous. It can be helpful to organise them that way in your vocabulary records because they exist in our thoughts as collections of related meanings. Look at this Word family which groups together many words for emotions.

Another helpful strategy for developing and storing vocabulary is to consider opposites (antonyms) look at the illustration below.

Spend time considering various word families and relationships as you study for the IELTS exam. The IELTS test contains many tasks that deal with fundamental relationships including causes and effect and problem solution. You can make it simpler to increase your eyes vocabulary by setting up your vocabulary records to demonstrate various word families or word groupings. Consider the following illustration of some of the causes, impacts, and remedies related to the issue of climate change.

This kind of vocabulary list may be helpful to you as you get ready for the IELTS writing task 2 essay.

Delicate use of ‘Language chunks’

This contains many unique expressions and phrases, just like most other languages. These are linguistic units or sets of words, that convey a distinct meaning when used collectively as opposed to when used alone. These expressions can only be learned by storing them as a language chunk. To do this follow the procedures below

• Note the phrase “only time will tell”, for example.
• Add the phrase “only time will tell” to the group of words to indicate that we must wait and see what the future holds.
• include a sample phrase to illustrate the expressions usage: I believe that my IELTS test results were adequate but only time will tell.

Keep in mind that the speaking part is typically where these unique expressions are most valuable. If you are unsure of the meaning of any of these expressions avoid using them.

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