Pronunciation features — connected speech + intonation cho band 8

Pronunciation rubric

IELTS Speaking đánh giá pronunciation theo:

• Individual sounds (consonants, vowels)
• Word stress
• Sentence stress
• Intonation patterns
• Connected speech (linking)

Band 7 = first 3 OK, missing 4-5. Band 8 = use all 5 features for clarity.

Connected speech — 4 features

1. Linking (consonant → vowel)

When word ending consonant + next word starts vowel → merge:

• "an apple" → "a-napple"
• "turn on" → "tur-non"
• "come in" → "co-min"

Non-natives often pause between words → choppy. Practice linking these.

2. Assimilation (sound changes at boundary)

When 2 consonants meet at word boundary, sometimes 1 changes:

• "good boy" → "goob-boy" (d → b)
• "ten people" → "tem-people" (n → m)
• "can't believe" → "camp-believe"

Natural English. If you say each word separately → sounds non-native.

3. Elision (sound disappears)

In fast speech, some sounds drop:

• "next day" → "nex-day" (t drops)
• "asked" → "ask" (d barely audible)
• "sandwich" → "sanwich" (d drops)

Don't over-articulate every consonant.

4. Weak forms (function words reduced)

Function words (a, the, to, of, for, was, were) reduced to schwa /ə/ in normal speech:

• "a book" → /ə buk/ (not /eɪ buk/)
• "to the shop" → /tə ðə ʃɒp/
• "can do it" → /kən du it/

If you say strong form of every function word → robotic rhythm. Native English has alternating stress.

Sentence stress

Stress CONTENT words (nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs). De-stress FUNCTION words (auxiliaries, articles, prepositions).