Updated Nov. 8, 2012
Examples of Some Key Language Functions (Page 1)
A language function is the purpose of speaking that sentence or phrase. For example, “I’m sorry” represents the function of apologizing and, “Good Morning!” represents the function of greeting.
In the speaking test, the examiner will ask certain questions that are testing your knowledge of the suitable ways to speak for certain language functions. It is very useful if you can recognize these language functions.
You should also understand that some questions combine two (or even more) types of language function in one question.
Index of Language Functions
1. Talking About Personal Habits
2. Expressing Likes and Dislikes
3. Expressing Reasons for Likes and Dislikes
5. Comparing
6. Talking About Recent Changes
7. Contrasting
8. Suggesting
10. Giving Reasons for Opinions
11. Explaining
12. Speculating ( = Guessing When You Don't Know)
13. Speculating ( = guessing) About the Future
14. Expressing Plans, Intentions and Hopes for the Future
15. Clarifying
16. Explaining a Word When you have Forgotten (or don't know) the Word
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1. Talking About Personal Habits
Example question: What do you usually do in the evenings?
However, the following answer is OK because it includes the idea of "if": "How do you usually get your news?" – "I usually get my news from the TV or the internet but sometimes, (if there's some special news that I'm interested in,) I'll buy a newspaper and read more about a topic (that) I'm especially interested in."
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2. Expressing Likes and Dislikes
Example question: What kinds of music do you like?
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3. Expressing Reasons for Likes and Dislikes
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Example question: Do you (or, would you) prefer to travel alone or with others? (e.g., a friend)
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Example question:
What are the differences between people's homes in the city and people's homes in the countryside?
You can also use some of these:
Use “much” as in, “A is much better / worse than B”.
“A is not nearly as good as B.”
“B is nowhere near as big as A”
“A is not quite as important as B.”
“A is almost as important as B, but not quite.”
“In comparison to B, A is quite big.” Or, “A is quite big in comparison to B”.
“Compared to B, A is a lot/much bigger.”
Note that model 3, above, does not use a comparative adjective. Although comparative adjectives are most commonly used to form comparison sentences, you can just talk about "more X", "fewer X", or "less X" where X is a noun, usually a plural noun if the noun is countable.
6. Talking About Recent Changes
= Comparing the recent past and the present
Example question:
Has your hometown changed much in the past few years? (e.g. 20 years)
Yes, it has. For example, ...
today there are many more cars on the roads than there were thirty years ago.
( ... there are/is _____ than there were/was ....)
the air pollution is much worse/much better than it used to be.
( ______ is/are ____ than it used to be.)
compared to thirty years ago, the population of the city has increased by about two million.
(Compared to thirty years ago, _______ has + 过去分词)
the population of the city has increased by about two million people in the last thirty years.
(______ has + 过去分词 in the last thirty years)
more people today own a car than was the case thirty years ago.
(More/fewer/less _________ today + present tense than was the case thirty years ago.)
more and more people are living in high-rise apartment buildings today whereas thirty years ago, we had very few high-rise apartments buildings in our city.
(Today ______ are + 现在分词 whereas thirty years ago + past tense)
more and more large-scale supermarkets are being built nowadays but there were very few of them in my hometown thirty years ago
(More and more ________ are being + 过去分词 nowadays but + past tense thirty years ago.)
There are more sentences that could be used to answer this question. The sentences shown above give you some basic structures but, to give a complete answer to a question in the test, you also should try to use linking or introductory phrases for these sentences. Here's a complete answer, using some linking phrases and words:
A: "Has your hometown changed much in the past few years?" (e.g. 20 years)
B: "Yes, it has. For example, today there are many more cars on the roads than there were thirty years ago. As a result of that, the air pollution is much worse better than it used to be. As well as that, the population of the city has increased by about two million people in the last thirty years. Another change is that more and more people are living in high-rise apartment buildings today whereas thirty years ago, we had very few high-rise apartments buildings in our city."
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The question is usually 'a compare question'. When you answer one of these questions, you can use a contrasting statement. However, since the grammar of the comparing answers (see above) is more difficult, you will impress the examiner more by mostly using that, rather than by using contrasting statements.
Example: "A is big but B is small."
(____ is _____ but _____ is ____)
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