Take a look back
This is a review of the previous four lessons on fluency. It will give you a chance to practice giving a smooth, fluent answer.
The last four lessons were about fluency and clear speech. This lesson will help you use the strategies.
Be careful. Tests are high-pressure situations. You will have to make an effort just to understand the questions and give some kind of answer. You may not have extra energy to think about these strategies. So keep practising these speaking strategies until you can do them easily.
Review is important. But as adults, we think we can master things quickly. We want to cut to the chase. However, there are things in life that simply take time and practice to master. This is one of them.
It's not enough to understand these strategies. It's not enough to do them when you are focusing on them. You must be able to execute these strategies smoothly, naturally and almost effortlessly.
What are the key points to achieving fluency? What is the next step that you want to work on?
Go through the main points from previous lessons. Try to remind the student of the next step without weighing them down with things to remember. Since fluency is more feeling than thought process, it can be paralyzing to think too critically about these things. Instead, just focus on the next step.
From the previous lessons:
GCAS 6 Five simple strategies to improve fluency:
- respond immediately;
- confirm the question;
- use fillers;
- slow down; and
- say what you can.
GCAS 7 Bad speaking habits:
- non-word sounds;
- halting speech;
- long pauses; and
- rushing.
Use filler phrases, pause effectively and slow down!
GCAS 8 Stretch and shorten words with natural English rhythm. Especially do this with key phrases.
GCAS 9 Pay attention to connected speech and word stress. Slow down by stretching out your vowels.
Now practice giving fluent answers to tough speaking test-style questions. Don't forget to use a strong answer structure with a clear beginning, plenty of evidence, strong reasoning and a powerful ending.