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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 

4. Expressing a Preference

5. Comparing

6. Talking About Recent Changes

7. Contrasting 

8. Suggesting

9. Expressing Opinions

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

17. Speaking in General

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1. Talking About Personal Habits

Example question:  What do you usually do in the evenings?

  1. I usually ...
  2. I often ...
  3. While I'm studying I usually ...
  4. Sometimes I ....
  5. As a rule, I ...
  6. Whenever I can I ...

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?

  1. My favourite  ... is ...
  2. I like ...
  3. I enjoy ...
  4. I'm (quite/rather) keen on ...
  5. I just love ...
  6. I absolutely adore ....
  7. I'm crazy about ...
  8. I'm addicted to ...
  9. I'm really into ...
  10. I don't mind ...
  11. As far as .... is concerned, I can take it or leave it.
  12. I don't care too much for ... = I'm not really into ...
  13. My least favourite .... is ...
  14. I dislike ...
  15. I can't stand ...
  16. I hate ... (extreme language)
  17. I find ... 

For the verb, "like", it's good to use the word, “really” as in, "I really like spicy food" – this is very natural spoken English. Of course, you can also say, "I like spicy food very much" or "I very much like spicy food".

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3. Expressing Reasons for Likes and Dislikes 

  1. ... because ...
  2. ... since ...
  3. The main reason I like...... is that it's ......
  4. What I like best about ..... is .....
  5. The thing I like best about ..... is ......
  6. The best/worst thing about ... is ...
  7. I don't like that very much because it's too ......
  8. That's because I find it ......

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4. Expressing a Preference

Example question:  Do you (or, would you) prefer to travel alone or with others? (e.g., a friend)

  1. I prefer ... because
  2. My preference is ... because ...
  3. I prefer A to B because ...
  4. If I had the choice, I'd + V ... because ... (假设的话)
  5. If I had the choice, I'd rather + V... because ... (假设的话)
  6. If I have the choice, I'll + V .... (a real possibility for the future)

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5. Comparing 

Example question:  

What are the differences between people's homes in the city and people's homes in the countryside?

  1. A is/are bigger than B.
  2. B is/are not as big as A. 
  3. A _____ than B.  (Example: "Old people usually have more money in the bank than young people.")    

    You can also use some of these:

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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, ...

 

  1. today there are many more cars on the roads than there were thirty years ago.

          ( ... there are/is _____ than there were/was ....)

  1. the air pollution is much worse/much better than it used to be.

           ( ______ is/are ____ than it used to be.)

  1. 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)

  1. 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)

  1. 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.)

  1. 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)

  1. 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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7. Contrasting 

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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