Vowels is measure of how closely your vowel sounds resemble those of a native speaker. Basically, it’s a measure of your pronunciation and how easy it is to understand you.
There are 12 vowel sounds in English: /æ/ as in cat, /ɑ:/ as in father, /ɒ/ as in hot, /e/ as in pet, /i:/ as in see, /ɪ/ as in kit, /o/ as in note, /ʊ/ as in put, /ʌ/ as in cup, /u:/ as in blue, /ə/ as in about, /aɪ/ as in time.
What is Vowels in TOEFL® Speaking?
Vowels (Vo) in TOEFL® Speaking is a SpeechRater™ indicator of your pronunciation.
Vo is a measure of how closely your vowel sounds resemble a native speaker
Stronger speakers tend to pronounce words very similar to a native speaker.
Your Vowels Score
Your Vo score is calculated based on how well you pronounce vowels in comparison to native speakers.
Vowels is scored out of 100. Your score is indicated by the “You are here” line.
- This response outscored 45% of the test takers in ETS’s database.
- 55% of the responses scored higher in this one dimension.
- This response is consistent with other TOEFL Speaking responses in the 10-17 range.
Tip: Learn more about how to read My Speaking Score charts, including the Impact score and what the coloured bars mean, in our knowledge base.
Why You Should Care
- Those who score 26+ on TOEFL Speaking have an average Vo score of 89.87.
- Vo is one of the stronger predictors of your overall TOEFL speaking score.
- Vo correlates well with some other indicators, such as phrase length and speaking rate (when your Vowels score is high, your score on these other indicators is likely to be high).
Increase Your Score
Make sure that you pronounce vowels similarly to a native speaker as much as possible. If you think you should improve your Vowels score, you should listen to the native pronunciation of words, especially when you are not completely sure about how you should pronounce them. You can also use an app or tool that can help you compare your pronunciation to that of a native speaker and realize the differences between them.
On My Speaking Score, remember to listen to your recording again to see if you pronounced some sounds incorrectly. You may need to get support from an expert who can give you feedback on your pronunciation.
Remember, Vowels is an important measure of your pronunciation, and it has a high impact on your overall SpeechRater score.
Check out our blog to learn more about how to improve your score in other dimensions!
