Vocabulary: One of the keys to success in IELTS

What role does vocabulary play in the IELTS test and how important is it?

In this post we’ll explore vocabulary for IELTS.

Everyone knows good vocabulary knowledge will help you get a better score in the IELTS test.

What role does vocabulary play in the IELTS test and how important is it?

The more words you know, the more you will understand in the IELTS Listening and Reading sections. Likewise, the more words you know, the better you will be able to show off your communication skills in the IELTS Speaking and Writing sections.

IELTS has specific assessment criteria for the Speaking and Writing sections. Vocabulary knowledge (labelled ‘Lexical Resource’) is one of the four areas you are assessed on in each of these two skills. Your final score is the average across the four criteria. So, to answer our question, vocabulary is very important in the IELTS test, it makes up a quarter of your final Speaking and Writing scores.

So how can you improve your vocabulary for IELTS? We’ll explore some simple ideas below.

Tips and hints for improving your vocabulary.

Many of you probably already keep lists of new words together with their meaning which you study, learn, and commit to memory. This is a good start but there are other things you can do to make learning vocabulary easy and successful. Consider using some ideas in the step-by-step guide to learning vocabulary below.

The first thing to think about is what does it really mean to know a new word? To learn a new word you need to find out:

• Dictionary definition – What does the word mean?
• Spelling – How is the word written?
• Pronunciation – How is the word spoken and what is the stress?
• Grammar – Is it a verb, noun, or adjective? Can it change and if so, does this affect the spelling or pronunciation?
• Collocation – What other word or words does it naturally go with? E.g. fast + food.
• How is the word used? – It’s a good idea to write example sentences in your vocabulary records.
• Synonyms & antonyms – What words have a similar or the same meaning? What, if any, words have the opposite meaning.

These eight points are the first steps towards really knowing a new word. Good vocabulary record-keeping should include all these factors. Take a look at the example vocabulary record below for the word ‘problem’.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing, or finding new ways to say the same thing, is another important vocabulary skill for you to develop. This means that synonyms, or words with similar meanings, are especially important for you to explore. Paraphrasing is a skill relevant to all four IELTS skills tests. For example, in both IELTS General Training and IELTS Academic Writing tests you have to paraphrase the Task 1 and Task 2 titles in your answers. In the IELTS Reading and Listening sections you need to be able to pick out the key words in the questions. This will help you recognise if the same meanings, using different words, come up in the reading text or listening script.

Word families

Words don’t live alone. They live in groups of connected meanings in our minds and it can be useful to store them that way in your vocabulary records. For example, take a look at this word family grouping different words for emotions.