Kuangyan

How to Ask for Clarification in IELTS Speaking

Many Students believe that they cannot ask questions in the IELTS speaking test. Actually, you can ask for clarification if you don’t understand a question. Here are several useful tips on how to ask for clarification in IELTS Speaking!

Ask for clarification in IELTS speaking -magoosh

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Ask for repeating a question

Examiners are allowed to repeat the questions in part 1 and part 3. If you do not understand a question or miss a word, just politely ask them to repeat the question or the word. Here are some expressions that you can use!

Sorry, I didn’t get the question. Could you say it again please?

Sorry, can you repeat the question please?

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Sorry, would you mind repeating the question?

Sorry, what was the last word?

Remember, asking for repeating a question is better than pretending that you understand it and saying meaningless answers.

 

Different from part 1 and part 3, part 2 doesn’t involve listening because the question is on a card. If there is any unfamiliar word on the card, do not ask the examiner to explain it for you. Try to guess the meaning by yourself. Check out our post on how to deal with unknown words to learn more information!

Ask for rephrasing a question

In part 3, you can ask for rephrasing a question if you don’t understand it. Here are two examples!

Sorry, could you explain that question in another way?

Sorry, I didn’t get the question. Could you say it in a different way?

If you still have confusion…

If you still don’t understand the question the second time, do not ask for clarification again. Just talk about something related to the question because saying something is better than nothing. You can start your answer by saying: “I’m afraid that I’m not quite familiar with this topic, but I guess…” or “Sorry, I don’t know much about… because… but I guess…” Then forget this question and try to do your best on other questions.

Other Tips

Do not ask the examiner to repeat or rephrase every single question.

Do not ask questions such as “What is your opinion?” It is a test, not a two-way discussion.

Do not keep silent when you are thinking. You can paraphrase the question to save extra time to think.

Check out our post on how to paraphrase on the IELTS! If you need more time, just honestly tell the examiner by saying That’s a tricky question, please give me a second.

 

Author

  • Kuangyan

    Kuangyan creates IELTS blogs at Magoosh. She is passionate about language education and has a MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from New York University. Kuangyan has experience of teaching English both in China and in US. In her free time, she drinks mocha, does yoga, takes photos and travels to different places to explore the exciting world.

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