Are you an aspiring student to take the PTE exam and facing challenges in PTE Speaking? Well, it’s the first, lengthy, and difficult section of the PTE exam. This assesses your speaking, fluency, idea expression, pronunciation, and various skills. Hence, to thrive and achieve the desired score, candidate must do PTE speaking practice to understand the various topics and polish their skills. Therefore, this blog is for you if you are looking for the gateway to ace the speaking section of the PTE exam. Thus, this blog covers all the question types, format, scoring criteria, and tips for the PTE speaking module. So, let’s begin.
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The PTE speaking and writing is the third part of the PTE exam, it is of 54-67 minutes. In addition, you will get eight types of questions to assess your speaking skills, each of them is distinct and unique from one another. The speaking section assesses how well you can speak and listen. Thus, students must prefer the PTE exam pattern to understand the format and question types. However, in this blog, we will talk about the speaking section of the PTE exam. Now, let’s have a glance at the format of the PTE speaking in the next section.
Students have to solve eight types of questions in the PTE Speaking section. It is the longest module of the PTE exam. Moreover, you need to solve 15-20 questions in the speaking module. Thus, the question can be based on any topic. It is necessary to do lots of preparation, and you can take the PTE speaking practice tests to prepare for the exam. However, it is a computer-based exam, so you are required to give answers quickly and accurately. If you don’t speak for three seconds, the recording will automatically get stopped. Thus, to understand the PTE speaking format in detail, you need to comprehend every question. So, prefer this table to be familiar with the speaking format.
| Question Types | Task | Duration | Skills Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Read Aloud | Read the text aloud that appears on the screen. | Vary | Reading and speaking |
| Repeat Sentence | Repeat the sentence after listening to the recording. | 15 seconds | Listening and speaking |
| Describe Image | You are required to describe an image shown in the exam. | 40 seconds | Analysing and speaking |
| Re-tell Lecture | A lecture recording will be played, you have to listen and re-tell the lecture in your own words. | 40 seconds | Listening and speaking |
| Answer Short Question | You need to provide the answer in one word or a few words. | 10 seconds | Listening and speaking |
| Summarize Written Text | You are required to read a prompt or text and then write a summary of the text in one sentence. | 10 minutes | Reading and writing |
| Essay Writing | You have to write a 200-300 word essay on the provided topic. | 20 minutes | Writing |
This is the PTE speaking format that describes the question, its task, duration, and skills it will assessed. Now, in the next section, you will get a detailed explanation of all the eight question types. So, let’s embark.
Also read - PTE Reading - A Complete Guide for Students
As you already get to know, there are eight types of PTE speaking questions. They are different from each other as they assess skills from various corners. However, to excel in the exam, you need to practice these questions daily. Also, if you want to profoundly understand these questions you can prefer the PTE speaking format to know more about them. In addition, if you practice mock tests, you will get an idea of the topic and difficulty of the speaking section. So below is the list of the questions you will get in this section. So have a look.
These are the question types that are asked in the PTE Speaking. Note that in every question, you will see the instructions related to the microphone and recording. Thus ensure, to follow this instruction in every question of the PTE speaking module. Now, in the next segment, understand each question and the trick to answer them.
In the PTE speaking test, first of all, you are required to give a personal introduction to the examiner. It’s that kind of opportunity that if you fail to grab this, you will lose the chance to impress the examiner in one impression. Thus, it will assist you to express yourself. Also, you can take the PTE speaking practice tests to improve the skills of giving an introduction. Besides, you will get 20–30 seconds to speak. However, its score will not contribute to the main marks, as it’s not a question type. It's only to get familiarised with the examiner.
To introduce yourself, you can tell your name, such as:
Hello, sir or ma’am, my name is Jessica, and today I am here to take my PTE exam. Continue with your introduction to answer this question in the PTE Speaking module. In this way, you can begin this section. Also, you will get 25 seconds to read the prompt and prepare and another 30 seconds to introduce yourself.
In the PTE read-aloud question, you have to read aloud the text shown on the screen. Also, the read-aloud question is considered the highest-scoring question in the PTE Speaking module.
In the PTE Repeat Sentence question, you have to repeat the sentence after listening to the recording. Moreover, in the PTE speaking module, there are 10-12 questions of this.
In the PTE describe Image question, you have to describe the image that appeared on the screen. This PTE Speaking question analyses your observing skills, ensure you note every detail in the image. Moreover, in the exam, you will find 7-8 questions like this
In the PTE Retell Lecture question, you have to listen to the lecture and re-tell it in your own words.
In the PTE short answer questions, you will listen to a question and answer it in one word or a few words.
In the PTE summarize written text, you have to write a one-sentence summary of the topic after reading the prompt.
The PTE Essay Writing is the last question where you have to write an essay of 200-300 words on the given topic.
These all are the types of questions in the speaking module of the PTE exam that assess your speaking and observing skills. Thus, you can use the PTE speaking practice tests to prepare for this section and achieve the desired scores. Now, let’s know how PTE scores are calculated and evaluated.
Also, read- PTE Core Exam: All You Need to Know!
The PTE Speaking test is evaluated through various corners that are necessary to assess a student's speaking ability. Moreover, the overall PTE exam is of 90 scores. Thus, you have to prepare well to gain the desired scores. Also, you will perceive communicative skills and overall scores in the score report. Thus, there are various PTE speaking score criteria the examiner uses to assess the student’s speaking skills. So here is the list of the evaluation criteria.
As you all know, PTE is a computer-based exam that follows automated scoring technology. Thus, the score is calculated on the partial credit methods in the speaking section. So, it is vital to check the PTE speaking score criteria. Therefore, the scoring method has adopted two types of scoring systems to perform fair marking.
It mainly follows the partial credit criteria in the speaking module. So, to understand the PTE Score Chart of the speaking section, we have shared the table of the scoring criteria.
| Task Type | Scoring | Communicative Skills Scored |
|---|---|---|
| Read Aloud | Partial-Credit | Pronunciation, Reading, Fluency |
| Describe Image | Partial-Credit | Vocabulary, Grammar, Cohesion, Relevance |
| Repeat Sentence | Partial-Credit | Pronunciation, Speaking, Listening |
| Answer Short Question | Partial-Credit | Spoken Expression, Vocabulary, Listening |
| Re-tell Lecture | Partial-Credit | Speaking Skills, Listening, Retention |
| Summarize Written Text | Partial-Credit | Reading Comprehension, Summarization, Conciseness |
| Essay Writing | Correct- Incorrect | Writing |
This table will help you to understand the PTE speaking score criteria as well as the communicative skills scored so that you can easily prepare for the exam. Thus, you can use the PTE speaking practice paper to prepare for the exam by understanding the score chart.
To excel in the PTE exam, you need to do proper practice by following some strategies and PTE speaking tips. These tips are very effective and perform as a helping hand for the aspirants to prepare for the exam. Therefore, below we have shared the tips for the PTE speaking test. So, let’s dive into this.
These are some of the effective PTE speaking tips to excel in the exam. Now, let’s wrap all things together.
In a nutshell, PTE speaking is one of the sections of the PTE exam that assesses your speaking skills through various questions. There are eight types of questions, and all of them are unique and different from each other. To prepare for the exam, you should first evaluate the PTE syllabus and PTE speaking score criteria to practice for this section accordingly. So, if you have doubts or need guidance in preparation for this section, you can get connected to our PTE experts at Gradding. Also, you can use their PTE speaking practice tests and mock tests for preparation and to achieve the desired scores in this section.
There are overall 8 types of questions in the PTE speaking section. But first, you have to give your personal introduction. So, here is the list of the question types.
The overall scores are calculated from the range of 10 to 90 points. Thus, two types of scoring systems are being followed, one is correct and incorrect, and the other is partial credit. Hence, the average of communicative skills and the average of enabling skills are overall calculated.
There are many ways to improve the speaking skills for the PTE exam, such as
The duration of the PTE speaking section is 54-67 minutes and the overall duration of the whole PTE exam is 2 hours.
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