A Critical Analysis of IELTS Test from Language Assessment

【Abstract】IELTS is the International English Language Testing System which is jointly managed by University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations， the British Council and IDP Education. It is recognized as a reliable means of assessing the language proficiency of candidates who want to study or work where English is the first language. This paper， from the perspective of language testing， tries to analyze the exam critically based on its four sections—listening， reading， writing and speaking. According to analysis， it is stated that the IELTS test does have many advantages and is beneficial to people for their further language development and study.

【Key words】IELTS Test （International English Language Testing System）； Language assessment； language proficiency

【作者簡介】何曉彤，內蒙古民族大學大學外語教學部。

It is acknowledged that the IELTS exam consists of two forms， the Academic Module， for people to study overseas and the General Training Module， for people to work or immigration abroad. The dividing of two forms is really a good way to make the test more specific and efficient， because different purposes require different aspects of language ability. For example， due to the IELTS score is the requirement of applying university in Commonwealth countries， students who want to study overseas can choose the academic module and in the process of preparing the exam， all the language knowledge and ability students learn will be extremely useful and helpful to their future academic life.

The academic module comprises four sections， listening， reading， writing and speaking. Among the four sections， the design and content of listening tests are the most effective ones. The first reason is that the materials in listening tests are very close to the real life language use and cover a large range of topics. For instance， the listening materials include many dialogues of various situations， such as applying a new account of bank， applying a membership of a gym or club， renting a new apartment， etc. All of the topics are very practical for international students which can help them adapt to the new life of abroad quickly. Furthermore， the listening tests use a wide range of testing techniques such as multiple choice， short-answer question， sentence completion， form/table/summary completion， labeling a diagram/plan/map， classification and matching， etc. From my point of view， using various test tasks can not only examine the candidates’ language ability efficiently but also ensure the IELTS exam’s reliability and validity.

It is evidently better than some tests such as the College English Test in China whose listening test techniques only contain multiple choice questions which cannot demonstrate the candidates’ real language proficiency to some extent. According to Hughes （2003）， the multiple choices item is risky sometimes because “the chance of guessing the correct answer in a three-option multiple choices is one in three， or roughly thirty-three percent.” That means it is possible for students who know some information or background of topics or some tricks of testing and they do not need to read the items or listening to the material. They simply choose the right answer based on the former knowledge and what part of any particular individual’s score has come about through guessing can never be known.（Hughes，2003） Nevertheless， the IELTS test successfully avoids these problems， which is beneficial to testees dramatically.

Like the listening tests， the reading tests of IELTS also contain a number of various types of test items instead of only multiple-choice item. For example， in addition to multiple choice questions， there is the matching format， Yes/No/Not Given or True/False/Not Given item， summary and open-ended question， etc. When preparing IELTS examination， students may feel relatively difficult with these unusual reading questions. But it is true that these types of items can really practice candidates’ information selection ability and enhance the reading ability that benefits them even after passing the exam. Additionally， these items show the creation and innovation of IELTS exam as well， because for Hughes （2003）， he believes that “the Yes/No and True/False items have obvious weakness that the test taker has a 50% chance of choosing the correct response by chance alone and modification of requiring test takers to give a reason for their choice is problematic.” However， the IELTS test adds the Not Given choice which relatively compensates this defect. Additionally， the listening and reading tests account for 40 minutes and 60 minutes respectively and the time duration is acceptable and reasonable， but it cannot be longer than that.

When it comes to the various test items， the writing test also applies different types of test techniques， especially the first part of writing. It is quite challenging that there is only one hour to complete the two compositions. Therefore， planning time carefully is rather essential when performing the writing tasks.

The speaking section of IELTS test is the more difficult and demanding part for Chinese students than any other sections. However， it is undeniable that the speaking test of IELTS is an effective way to assess the test takers’ speaking ability. Candidates and examiners will communicate with each other face to face and the conversation will be lasted 11-14 minutes in a relaxed atmosphere， which may encourage students to talk and express themselves freely. Although a number of students complained about their examiners without smile on their faces which made them nervous and then fail the test. It is true that in China there are always disagreements on the final score of speaking testing given by examiners. Even though the students can apply for reconsideration later， it will take about six weeks to get the results which may affect candidates’ study or work plan. In this regard， it is time-consuming and inefficient， but at least it provides the options for testees， which has been superior compared with other tests.

Furthermore， as a proficiency test and criterion-referenced testing， IELTS is scored on a scale of 0-9（non-user through expert user） and an overall band score is calculated. The band score is criticized and challenged by people. Indeed， there are limitations of this band scale which is considered as being too subjective and theoretical， but these limitations seem the general ones that are difficult to solve in all the tests. Therefore， according to my analysis above， this paper believe that the IELTS test with high reliability and validity have reflected what it is attempting to measure. The negative aspects cannot be ignored， but the benefits of the test outweigh the limitations.

References：

[1]Hughes，A.Testing for language teachers[M].Cambridge University Pres，2003.

[2]Hayes，B.Read，J.IELTS preparation in New Zealand：Preparing students for the IELTS academic module[J].TaylorFrancis E-library，2008.