朗阁海外考试研究中心 李世彤
一、从评分标准看托福和雅思口语之差
1. FC--Fluency & coherence; 流畅性和结构层次
考生能否使用正常水平的连贯性、语速，是否能够在表达观点和语言的使用上达到结构层次清晰、互相关联。
2. LR--Lexical Resource; 词汇来源
考生使用的词汇量的范围、能否用这些词汇清晰地表达意思和态度，其中包括所使用的词汇是否多样、是否可以运用相关技巧绕过词汇障碍（如用不同方式表达相同的意思）。
3. GA--Grammar Range & Accuracy; 语法的多样性和准确性
考生使用的语法结构的范围、能否正确和恰当地运用这些语法结构。在评分过程中，考生的表达的长度、复杂程度、以及语法错误对交流的影响等因素都在考察范围之内。
4. PR--Pronunciation; 语音语调的流畅与清晰度
考生的表达是否可为他人理解、考生能否运用语音的内容表达意义。在评分过程中，考生在表达中造成理解障碍的次数、母语对英语表达的影响的次数都在考察范围之内。
显而易见，雅思口语的评分标准异常清晰明了，考官在考场中会依据每一项给出1-9分的整数，考生最终成绩就是这四个评分标准的平均数。
而我们来看一下托福的评分标准：
1. Delivery: How clear your speech is. Good responses are those in which the speech is fluid and clear, with good pronunciation, natural pacing, and natural-sounding intonation patterns.
2. Language Use: How effectively you use grammar and vocabulary to convey your ideas. Raters will be listening for how well you can control both basic and more complex language structures and use appropriate vocabulary.
3. Topic Development: How fully you answer the question and how coherently you present your ideas. Good responses generally use all or most of the time allotted, and the relationship between ideas and the progression from one idea to the next is clear and easy to follow.
看得出来，托福的评分标准非常泛泛之谈，看完之后考生对自己的分数怎么来的还是云里雾里。那么再来看一下托福官方是怎么给我们算分的：
1. 每道口语题会被一位考官给一个原始分（0-4之间的整数分）。
2. 一个考生的六道口语题，至少会被三个不同的考官评分。
3. 六道口语题的分数加在一起（0-24分），取算数平均值（0-4分之间，但会出现小数点后0/.83/.66/.50/.33/.16六种不同情况）
4. 该平均值，根据换算，转换为0-30分的总分（见下表）。
我们能看到雅思口语和托福口语差距很大，雅思评分标准就像英帝国已经在历史的摸爬滚打中摸清了规则而能够条条框框地给诸多事情一个标准，而美国，建国不到三百年历史，还处在摸索阶段，这样的状态也反映在托福考试中，标准和得分由来也是让人有点摸不着头脑。因此在两个考试的准备过程中，需要的考试资料不一样的道理就浅显易懂了。
二、BBC for IELTS and VOA for TOEFL
其实仔细思考一下，标题有点搞笑。是的，BBC和VOA都分别是英国和美国的国家广播系统，它们都各自代表自己国家无可厚非，但是当你踏入出国考试行列之后，再来看一看这两个网站，你就会会心一笑。因为BBC的Takeaway English和雅思口语考试出奇得像。这个栏目是英国为了方便全世界学习英文人事专门设立的，每次Takeaway English的音频播放时都会伴有Learning English, 所以这个栏目的目的大家一眼就看穿了。涉及的题材有旅游、学习、工作、金融、时尚、科技等，简直就是雅思口语话题的翻版，里面的语言结构清晰易懂，如果学生能够加以copy, 英文能力就会平步青云，直线上升。因为很多学生都向我反映，自己面对多如牛毛而每季都会换题的雅思口语题目真的是累感不爱，每次被问到还是一脸蒙蔽，不知道该说点什么来撑场面。这样的学生大多在4-5分的水平，他们的要求也很现实，很多就要个6分或者6.5分，那么在短时间内，背诵一些Takeaway English的素材，或者拿来主义，把里面的短语和词汇现学现用，运气好，7分会在某些特殊考官群体的助攻下轻易拿下。而VOA的慢速英语，特别是Science in the News, 与托福口语也非常相似。由于托福考试题材在听说读写中各个板块分布得差不多，准备了VOA的一些文章之后，托福听力、阅读、写作也能同沾雨露。VOA涉及的题材就是托福会涉及的题材，天文：讲讲星球的趣闻，比如火星是否有水、海洋生物的习性、农民伯伯如何无土栽培出农作物（hydroponics是不是很熟？某篇TPO听力的conversation中重点就是这个）。
三、结合具体例子来论证“二”
3.1雅思的Takeaway English
我们来看一下几个雅思口语话题中和运动相关的话题：
首先Part 1中有outdoor activities, 这个话题中：What types of outdoor activities are popular in China?这题就放倒过很多学生，他们在支支吾吾之后也没说出个详细的活动来，要不就都是说jogging, 很是无趣。Part 2中就好几个杀出来了：Describe a sport you like to do and is a little expensive; Describe an outdoor activity that you like to do; Describe an activity that you do to keep fit以及我的学生告诉我她在前几天碰到的话题，不在该季度的题库里面，讲的是做某项运动的一个器材，那么，其实这些话题换汤不换药，不管怎么说都是需要你拥有运动方面的词汇量。然而除了很多学生捉襟见肘的词汇量以外，更多人拥有永远无法摆脱的结构性问题，就是说，很多人在口若悬河不到一分钟之后，声音会戛然而止，哪怕事先罗列好了自己想要说的信息也无济于事。那么，以运动为例，结合Takeaway English一篇文章，我们来探讨如何解决这两个问题。
Tired of your quiet routine? How about leaving your computer games behind and taking up an extreme sport?
You can ride a bicycle, right? In that case you're halfway to becoming a mountain biker. All you have to do is take your bike off the road and try some rough terrain. Mountain biking was developed in California in the 1970s and became an Olympic sport in 1996. In the London 2012 games athletes had to navigate a 4.7-kilometre track in less than two hours.
Not challenging enough? Skydivers jump from aircraft at an altitude of 1,000 to 4,000 metres. You have to be fit but there's no age limit with this sport. Dilys Price from Cardiff went on her first jump aged 54. The minute she came down she wanted to go up again. "I was hooked", said Dilys.
Some adrenaline junkies are even bolder – they've invented base jumping, in which people leap from tall structures, such as buildings or bridges, with a parachute. Many of their stunts aren't legal, especially in urban areas. Dan Witchalls has jumped off The Shard - London's 310 metre-high skyscraper - four times. He says: "Base jumping is scarier than jumping out of a plane. In a plane there's no perception of height, but when you are standing on the edge of the building you can see people and cars - it makes it very real."
It seems there's no lack of imagination when it comes to risking life to look cool and get the heart pounding. Surfing, scuba diving, rock climbing… How about turning one of your chores into a daredevil pursuit? 'Extreme ironing' isn't for wimps! Pressing your shirt on top of a mountain could be dangerous, depending on the mountain. Extreme ironing is said to have been created in the 1990s in the English town of Leicester by a man who saw a pile of wrinkled clothes and felt bored. That was Phil Shaw who also won the only Extreme Ironing Championships ever held, in Germany in 2002. For him, the thrill of this sport comes from looking at the spectators' faces. Shaw says: "Sometimes they look confused, sometimes they laugh. It's fun to see how people respond to it."
首先，词汇上，本文中随便找都是native值爆表的词，笔者犹爱adrenaline junkies, 这个词直接秒杀一大堆love/like/be fond of/crazy about, 太形象，太贴切，用起来分数直接往8分靠啊。回归正题，我们今天讲运动，那么，extreme sport, mountain biker, an Olympic sport, athlete, challenging, Skydiver, no age limit, bold, base jumping, stunt, risking life, get the heart pounding, Surfing, scuba diving, rock climbing, a daredevil pursuit这些词要是你能够照葫芦画瓢用到你的口语回答中，想不高分都很难。再说到结构上，我们除了按照雅思给出的四个问题依着顺序说下来之外，自然，最好不过是来点新鲜的、带感的。比如本文中的层层递进的危险感，比如讲an activity that you do to keep fit这个话题时，你就可以用这样的结构，初次做该项活动时如何，随着时间递进，你的状态又是如何如何，非常有电影的情节推动之感。
3.2托福的VOA
话说回来，其实托福和雅思还是有共同之处的，比如托福的独立口语题很多时候就可以套用雅思口语话题的题材，只是托福的回答时间只有45秒，考生需要把语言变得更凝练而已。在这篇论文中，我们具体分析综合口语题如何参考VOA。我们知道，除了独立题之外，托福的套路就是你能不能在一分钟的时间内，把我给你的信息概括完整，听力首当其冲的重要，再者是你要用考官能听懂的英语复述出来。笔者的策略就是通过跟读、吸收VOA的慢速英语中的一些栏目来吃透托福口语。
我们来看一段Science in the News的范文段落：
Laboratory experiments showed that the fish, plainfin midshipman's song, that low, fog-horn-like sound, is controlled partly by a hormone, melatonin. Hormones are natural substances that influence how bodies grow or develop. In the human body, melatonin tells us when it is time to sleep.
The fish gets its name from rows of organs lined up on its underside. These rows are bio-luminescent. They produce light and shine in the water.
Unlike people speaking, or birds singing, you cannot see the fish making the sound. It comes from organs inside. Their gas-filled swim bladder and their vocal muscles help them sing. Bass says the vocal muscles are hidden deep inside the fishes' bodies.
首先，我们还是来扫一下词汇：horn, hormone, melatonin, substance, organ, underside, bio-luminescent, bladder, vocal muscle, 这些词汇也是托福的常客，但是一次又一次的出现，貌似并没有在考生脑中留下深刻印象，或许通过这样简单而有趣的文章来强化词汇是一个不错的方法。另外，我们来看一看，通过这样的文章，怎么加强学生的复述能力呢？第一段，比如我们就可以说成：Melotonin, a hormone that controls human’s sleep, controls a singing fish’s time to sing。所以，加以练习，我们可以把已经很简单的文章说得更加通俗易懂。
综上所述，合适的选材能够让考生在考试路上节能省时，更快地取得理想的口语成绩。
网友评论