What "Lexical Resource" Means on the IELTS Speaking Test
When you take the IELTS Speaking test, the examiner grades you on four skills:
- Fluency and coherence
- Lexical resource
- Grammatical accuracy and range
- Pronunciation
Your score for each skill makes up 25% of your total score, so working on each of these skills is important for doing well on the test.
While you can probably understand the basic idea of most of these skills, "lexical resource" might be confusing — and IELTS' scoring guide may not explain it well enough for you.
So let's take a look at what this term means and cover some tips for scoring well.
What IELTS Means by “Lexical Resource”
"Lexical" means "related to vocabulary," and "resource" means "a supply (of something) that you can use." So "lexical resource" basically means "the supply of English vocabulary you are able to use."
Simply, lexical resource refers to your vocabulary skills. This includes:
- How big your vocabulary is
- How well you use your vocabulary
How big your vocabulary is
You may be wondering how big your vocabulary needs to be. Here's what IELTS looks for:
- If you have a big enough vocabulary to talk about familiar and unfamiliar topics
- If you have a big enough vocabulary to talk about different topics in detail
Here's a closer look at what the different band scores mean:
| Band | What IELTS says | What IELTS means |
| 2 | "only produces isolated words or memorized utterances" | You can only say: - a few words at a time. - sentences that you have memorized. |
| 4 | "is able to talk about familiar topics but can only convey basic meaning on unfamiliar topics" | You: - can talk about topics you already know about. - can only talk a little about topics you don't know much about. |
| 6 | "has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length" | You can talk about a lot of topics in detail. |
| 8 | "uses a wide vocabulary resource readily and flexibly to convey precise meaning" | You: - have a large vocabulary. - you are able to use your vocabulary to say exactly what you mean. |
Notice that IELTS is not asking you to memorize a lot of fancy words. Knowing some advanced vocabulary does help with the higher band scores, but the more important thing is communication — in other words, how many topics you can talk about and whether you can talk about them in detail.
How well you use your vocabulary
The other thing the examiner looks for is how well you use the words you know to express yourself. This includes:
- Proper usage: Do you use your vocabulary correctly and naturally?
- Flexible usage: Are you able to use different words to express yourself, or do you only know specific expressions that you memorized?
Here's a closer look at what different band scores mean:
| Band | What IELTS says | What IELTS means |
| 4 | "rarely attempts paraphrase" "makes frequent errors in word choice" | You don't often try to express ideas in different ways. You often choose the wrong words to express an idea. |
| 6 | "generally paraphrases successfully" "makes meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies" | When you don't know the right words, you are usually able to express the same thought in different words. You can express yourself clearly even if you sometimes choose the wrong words. |
| 8 | "uses paraphrase effectively as required" "uses less common and idiomatic vocabulary skilfully, with occasional inaccuracies" | You are able to paraphrase quickly and accurately when you need to. Although you sometimes make mistakes, you are generally able to use less common words and expressions well. |
Again, the important point is not to show the examiner that you know a lot of vocabulary; instead, you want to show that you're able to properly and flexibly use the vocabulary that you do know.
How to Get a Good Score
Now, let's go over some tips for raising your lexical resource score.
Tip #1: Pay attention to word forms
Word forms are different forms of a word. For example, "bored" and "boring" are different forms of the same word. However, they mean different things and your examiner will not be impressed if you confuse them on the exam.
Here are some examples of other common mistakes:
- Mary is a succeeded lawyer. ["Successful" should be used here instead.]
- There were many persons at the party. ["People" should be used here instead.]
- Japan is a safety country. ["Safe" should be used here instead.]
Tip #2: Pay attention to collocations
Collocations are words that are usually used together. For example, "homework" is normally used with the verb "do." So we say "They are doing homework" and not "They are writing homework" or "They are making homework."
Using English collocations will make it easier for native English speakers (like the examiner!) to understand you.
Related article: Collocations: Word Pairs for Natural English
Tip #3: Pay attention to connotations
A connotation is an idea that is suggested by a word. For example, the word "different" has a neutral connotation, "unique" has a positive connotation, and "odd" has a negative connotation.
This means using the incorrect word might lead to misunderstandings, such as sounding negative when you really want to express a positive nuance.
Tip #4: Learn to use less common words and phrases
A good place to start is with adjectives. For example:
- When you want to say "very happy," you can use "overjoyed" instead.
- When you want to say "very angry," you can say "furious."
So whenever you want to use "very" with a common adjective, try to think of a less common adjective.
Another thing you can try is to say "I think" in different ways. Since the IELTS examiner will ask you for your opinion of different things, it's good to know a few different ways to introduce your thoughts. For example, here are ways to express an opinion without saying "I."
Tip #5: Learn how to paraphrase
When you can paraphrase, you can express one idea in more than one way.
Before you master paraphrasing in speech, it's a good idea to practice paraphrasing what you read. This article has more information and some helpful hints for you to try. And when you're ready to do it yourself, we recommend Engoo Daily News as a good source of short articles to practice with.
Bonus Tip: Take an IELTS Speaking Course!
At Engoo, we have our own IELTS Speaking course, which was designed by an examiner with over 15 years of experience teaching IELTS. Check it out yourself!
Finally, make sure to take this course with a professional tutor. Many Engoo tutors have experience teaching for IELTS — and many have even taken the test themselves. You can find them by typing "IELTS" in the search bar. Good luck!
