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1. Pronunciation The first important aspect of this section is that there are only four different socre bands: 2-4-6-8, instead of the nine bands. Approximately 90% of Chinese candidates score 4 or 6 in this section. The most common myth about the Pronunciation section is that many people place too much importance on accent. The pronunciation score is influenced by accent but there are other important factors wich influence the score. Pronunciation covers the following language aspects: 1) How easily the examiner understands what is being said; 2) Word stress; 3) Sentence stress; 4) Intonation; 5) Evidence of first language accent. 2. Fluency and Coherence In general terms, the score for Fluency and Coherence refers to the way that the candidate speaks. The features described in the marking system for this section include: 1)Ability to produce long responses; 2)How easily the candidate can produce long responses; 3)The amount hesitation; 4)The speed of speech; 5)Use of discourse markers/linking phrases/connectives; 6)The amount of self-correction | 
