HavingaLogicalMindinIBTSpeaking
朗阁海外考试研究中心
INTRODUCTION
OneofthemostimportantthingsastudentshouldachievewhiletakingtheTOEFLIBTspeakingpartexamishowtobeabletospeaklogically.Asageneralruleinspeaking,weareabletojudgeapersonbythewayhespeaks.Themonmistakestudentmakeisthattheytendtospeakwithouteventhinkingfirst.Theyanswerinhastetoaquestionthrowntothemwithoutevenprocessingboththequestionandtheanswer.Manywouldagreethat“silentwaterrunsdeep.”Thismeansthatpeoplewhotalklesstendtospeakwithlogicandauthoritythanpeoplewhotalktoomuch.Excellentanswersforthetestneednotbelengthy,theycanbeshortbuttheyshouldbedonewithtactandreallymakealotofsense.Mostofthetime,theanswerbestoolongbecauseoftoomuchredundantwordsorphrases.Toomuchredundancywhiletakingthetestwilllessenyourmarkinthetest.Ifvocabulariesaretoomany,thereisagreaterriskofspeakingfoolishly.So,tobeabletolearnthestrategiesonhowtospeaklogically,studentsshouldlearnthefollowingsteps:
Step1:STUDENTSSHOULDUNDERSTANDTHEQUESTIONFIRST
Onecrucialpointtobeabletospeaklogicallyinthetestisbymakingsurethatonetrulyunderstandsthequestionortheproblemthatneedstobeansweredorsolved.Iftheanswerthatonegivesisnotevenrelatedtothequestion,thentheanswerbestotallyillogical.Evenifallthegrammars,dictionsandeventhechoiceofwordsarecarefullysaid,thewholethingbesnonsense.Astheysay,humanbeingswerecreatedwithtwoears,twoeyesandonemouthbecauseGodwantsustolistenmore,seeandobservemoreandspeakless.Inthemedicalfield,doctorshouldbeabletofindthesicknessfirstbeforebeingabletoprescribetherightmedicine.Tobe
abletogivethebestsolutionandanswers,studentsmustbeabletoknowandunderstandwhattheproblemorquestionis.
Step2:LEARNTOORGANIZEYOURTHINKINGANDIDEAS
Ioftenhearstudentssay“oops!Iputmyfootintomymouthagain.”Studentsoftenspeakwordsthattheywouldregretlaterononcetheyareabletotakethetimetoreallythinkofthewholething.Studentsoftenendupmakingthewrongdecisionorsayingthingsthattheywouldregretlateronwhentheyallowtheiremotionespeciallyifitisnegativetocontrolthem.Tobeabletospeaklogicallyrequiresalotofbrainpowerthatiswhyitislogic.Inthebookofproverbsitsays“asamanthinketh,soishe.”Thissimplymeans,studentsarewhattheythink.Duringtheiridletimesbeforethetest,whatstudentscandoisthinkofquestions,scenariosandsituationsofTOELspeakingtest,thenalsothinkofthemostlogicalanswerthattheycangive.Itisduringthistimethatstudent’sbrainisfunctioningmoreandnottheiremotionandadrenalin.Theycanprocessandpracticeeverythingproperlywithoutpressure.Whenthetimeesthattheyefacetofacewiththesequestions,thentheyarepreparedtoanswerconfidentlyandlogicallybecausetheywereabletoorganizetheirthinkingandplanaheadoftimeabouttheanswer.
Step3:REHEARSE
Afterorganizingonesthought,studentsshouldpracticeonhowtodelivertheirorganizedthingkingandideasoutloudtothemselvesand,ifappropriate,toafewothers.Doitoutloudbecausethewordsalwayseoutrightinyourhead,butifyouhavetospeakthemyou'llcatchsomeproblemsbeforehand.Mostofthetimestudentsknowwhattheywanttosaybutwhentheysayitoutwillbequitedifferentfromwhattheyhadthought.Doitagainrepeatedly.Keepdoingituntilyouarefortableandimproved.Rehearsingisalsoagoodwaytobuildastudent’sconfidenceinspeaking.Practicemakesperfect,itcanreallygivestudentanidealscoreintheexam.
Step4:EXPRESSYOURSELFINANAPPROPRIATEMETHOD
Examinersaresmartandtheyseerightthroughus.Theycansenseifstudentsarebeingtruetowhatwearesayingorifwearejustbeinghypocriticalorjustmemorizedsomeanswers.OnethingIobserveisthattheexaminersthatmakealotofimpacttotheexaminersarethosewhospeaksincerelyandwithpassionfromtheirhearts.Theyhavethepowertolettheexaminerwhattheywanttoexpressandpelthemwithouttryingveryhard.Thewholethingshouldbeverynaturalandeffortlesstohaveanexcellentscore.Meanwhatyousayandsaywhatyoumeanduringthetest.
Expressingthemselvesproperlyrequiresalotoftact.Studentsshouldhavetosaywhattheyhavetosayintheexamtobeabletospeaklogically.Sometimesthewaystudentsexpressthemselvesmakeexaminerdecidewhethertheywillgiveahighscoreorjusttheopposite.Asstudentsexpressthemselves,theyshouldalwaysbemindfuloftheirchoiceofwordsandeventoneoftheirvoice.
Step5:BECLEARONWHATYOUWANTTOSAY
Tobeabletobeunderstoodbytheexaminers,thestudentshouldspeakwithafirm,strongandconfidentvoice.Examinerstendtopaymoreattentionifthestudentspeakswithconfidence.Ontheotherhand,examinersgetboredandsleepywhenthestudentspeakswithavoiceassoftasawhisperorasslowasadonkeywalk.Eachsyllableshouldbepronouncedveryclearlyandaccurately.Ofcourse,itwouldbebestifthestudentcandelivertheiranswerwiththeproperdictionandaccent.Therearetimesthatexaminersgetdistractedwiththeaccentofthestudent.Becauseofthis,theexaminerstendtogetthewronginformationasthestudentmeantitthisway,buthisaccentgivethewordsdifferentmeaningalready.Someexaminerswouldthenfindthewholethingfunnyandweird.Astudentmusthaveconfidencetobeabletospeakclearly.
Asmuchaspossible,weshouldspeakthewordsinlayman’sterm.Sometimesinanefforttoimpresstheexaminer,thestudentspeakshigh-soundingwordsthattheexaminersarenotabletorelateto.Thistendstomaketheexaminerfeelthattheyarenotsmartenoughtobeabletounderstandwhatthe“smart”speakeristalkingabout.Ihaveobservedthatbooksandnovelsthatarebestsellersarethosethatpeoplefromallwalksoflifecanrelateto.
Step6:RELATEYOUROPINIONS
Ifstudentswanttospeakwithlogic,theyhavetospeakoffacts.Buttheyarealsofreetogivetheiropinionsaboutthewholething.Theycangiveillustrationstoprovetheirpoint,ortheycanjustsimplystatetheirreasonsforhavingthesaidopinion.Theycanevenlookathistoryandgettheirbasisthere.Theycanalsoconsidertheopinionsofthemajorityoftheirclassmates.Theycangathersomestatistics,dataorconsensustobackupandsupporttheiropinions.Insomecases,therearereallynorightorwronganswers,theyarejustamatterofdifferencesofopinion.Thus,cangivestudentextrascoresinTOEFLIBTspeakingtest.
Step7:LEARNTORELAX...YOUAREREADYFORTHETEST
Youhavepreparedforthisexamsothereisnoneedtobeworried.Youknowthematerialandyouknowwhattheexaminerswouldliketohear.Nowjustgooutanddeliverapolished,rehearsedanswerconfidently.Youhavetobelievethatyoucandoittobeabletohaveanexcellentmark.
Tobeabletospeaklogicallyinthetest,studentsanswersmustberealistic,reasonable,timebound,manageableandattainable.Ithastobebasedonfactsandnotmerelyonheresaysmemorized,rumors,gossips,wildguesses,feelings,etc.Theyhavetoreallyunderstandwhatthequestionisallabout.Afterhavingunderstoodthequestion,theyhavetoutilizetheirbrainbyorganizingtheirthinkinginordertoproducealogicalanswer.Carelessthinkinggivescarelessanswers.Donotgiveanswersinhasteespeciallywhenitistheemotionthatiscontrollingus.Forexamplewhenastudentisnervoushe/shecannotthinkintherightway.Whennervousnessoverwhelms,logicisgone.Betruetowhatyouaresayingforthereisconvictioninit.Tryingtoimpressexaminerwithyouranswermayleadustogiveillogicalanswersbecausetheyarenotsureonwhattheyaresaying.Eloquenceintestisveryimportanttobeabletospeakclearlyandbeunderstoodbytheexaminerbecauseyourbrainsallowyoutogivereasoning.Andalsothisallowsyoutothinkcarefullyaboutwhatyouwanttosay.
