About IELTS.doc

IELTS is the International English Language Testing System. It measures ability to communicate in English across all four language skills - listening, reading, writing and speaking - for people who intend to study or work where English is the language of communication. Since 1989, IELTS has been proven and trusted worldwide to provide a secure, global, authentic and customer-focused test which measures true to life ability to communicate in English. More than 6,000 education institutions, faculties, government agencies and professional organisations around the world recognise IELTS scores as a trusted and valid indicator of ability to communicate in English. Over 1,400,000 people a year are now using IELTS to open doors throughout the English-speaking world and beyond. The test is taken every year across 120 countries, and is one of the fastest growing English language tests in the world, and sets the standard in integrity, research and innovation. Test Administrator IELTS is jointly managed by the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL), British Council and IDP: IELTS Australia. In China, British Council and IDP: IELTS Australia work together to set the China IELTS Network responsible for the administration of IELTS test and provides examinations services to over 300,000 candidates in Mainland China. Why Take Ielts One Test, Multi-purposesAs the most important language testing system in the world, IELTS provides the most proven authoritative certificate of English language proficiency. A good IELTS scores helps to open doors to overseas study, immigration and career development for more opportunities.IELTS is recognised in major English speaking countries including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, etc. It is also popular among professional bodies, immigration authorities and government organisations. Click here for further information about IELTS global recognition. Educational InstitutionsIELTS is now the preferred choice of educational institutions in Australia, UK, New Zealand and Ireland and has gained full recognition in Canada. It is also widely accepted by a growing number of educational institutions in the USA. Immigration OrganisationsIELTS is recognised as an English language requirement by various immigration authorities, such as New Zealand Immigration Services, Australian Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, Australia and Canadian Citizen and Immigration. Professional BodiesMany professional bodies in the UK, Australia, Canada and the USA accept IELTS, including:UKGeneral Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council of the UK, Royal Pharmaceutical Society of the UK, UK Ministry of Defence, General Dental CouncilAustraliaAustralian Medical Council, Australian Nursing Council, Australian Teaching Registration Boards, Australian Institution of Engineers, Australian Pharmaceutical SocietyCanadaRegistered Nurses Association of British ColumbiaUSACommission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools of the USAIrelandIrish Nursing Board In the WorkplaceIELTS is also gaining popularity in the workplace as many airlines, banks, telecommunication, transport companies and government departments now use IELTS to assess the English proficiency of their employees.Test with a human touchThe IELTS test is committed to retaining the human touch, and to do everything possible to offer candidates top quality services to ensure they will have the most accurate band score and the most enjoyable examination experience. Here are some examples:IELTS is accessible through 35 test venues in 32 cities, covering all the main large and medium-sized cities in China. Candidates can choose to sit IELTS from 48 available test dates throughout the year. Candidates are offered maximum convenience in terms of time and place. The waiting period between the day of test registration and the test date has been effectively reduced to 7 or 8 weeks, which effectively means all candidates can take IELTS. IELTS is consistent in assessing candidates? listening, speaking, reading and writing skills comprehensively. The IELTS? Speaking Test has always had the one-to-one and face-to-face test format between an examiner and a candidate to ensure efficiency of communication and authentic demonstration of the candidate?s English proficiency. IELTS applies a series of measures to ensure consistency and accuracy, e.g., the introduction of double-marking, enquiry on results (EOR), and monitoring of examiners? professional performance and assessment.IELTS is also considerate to candidates with disability (e.g. visual and hearing disabilities) through provision of special test papers. As long as the candidates make such requests in advance, they can also sit IELTS.The IELTS Question Paper Production ProcessThe question paper production cycle involves checking material produced for the IELTS test against quality standards. The objective of the process is to ensure that the material in the test covers the range called for by thespecifications and is of proven quality. We apply both qualitative standards for the production of test material involving the judgement of qualifiedprofessionals, and quantitative, statistical standards for the selection of suitable test material and the maintenance of consistent levels of test difficulty over time.The question paper production process is summarised in Figure 1 below. Initial stages of commissioning, preediting and editing involve the selection of appropriate test content that reflects the aims of the academic and general training modules. The material is then trialled at pretesting with representative groups of candidates to ensure that it is appropriately challenging and that it discriminates between more and less able candidates. Finally, material is introduced to the live test in stages through a process known as standards fixing so that it can be related to the established IELTS metric. Figure 1. The Question Paper Production Process for IELTSCommissioningThere are one or two commissions each year for each of our item writing teams. These feed material into the question paper production process. To reflect the international nature of IELTS, test material is written by trainedgroups of item writers in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand and is drawn from publications sourced anywhere in the world. Overall test content is the responsibility of both externally commissioned language testingprofessionals D the Chairs for each of the Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking modules D and of Cambridge ESOL staff.Item writers work from a version of the test specifications which detail the specific characteristics of the six IELTS modules, outline the requirements for commissions and guide writers in how to approach the item writing processincluding the selection of appropriate material, the development of questions and the submission of material for pre-editing and editing.Pre-editingPre-editing is the first stage of the editing process and takes place when commissioned materials are initially submitted in draft form by item writers. A meeting is held involving chairs and Cambridge ESOL staff to reviewthe material. At this stage, guidance is given to item writers on revising items and altering texts, and advising on rejected texts and/or unsuitable item types.The purpose of pre-editing is: to ensure that all test material is suitable for editing; to ensure that all test material is culturally appropriate and accessible world-wide; to ensure that all test material meets the test specifications, to suggest appropriate changes to materials requiring amendments or rewriting.With respect to these considerations, the pre-editing process includes attention to the following features of test materials: Topic Topicality Level of language Suitability for the task Length Focus of text Style of writing Focus of task Level of taskEditingFollowing pre-editing feedback, material is completed and submitted for editing. Editing takes place at meetings involving Cambridge ESOL staff and chairs. Item writers are encouraged to participate in editing meetings dealingwith their material. This is seen as an important part of their on-going training.At editing, texts and selected items are approved for pretesting or are sent back to a writer for further revision. Revised material is then re-edited at a subsequent meeting.Pretest construction and PretestingIELTS pretests are similar to live modules, including task rubrics (instructions) and examples. Listening pretests are professionally recorded to ensure that they are of acceptable quality. Listening and Reading pretests are administered to IELTS candidates at selected centres or to prospective candidates on IELTS preparation courses.The pretests are marked at Cambridge ESOL and statistically analysed. Writing and Speaking pretests are administered to representative samples of candidates to assess the appropriateness of this material for use in livetests and to establish that the tasks are capable of eliciting an adequate sample of language to allow for the assessment of candidates against the scoring criteria.Pretest ReviewThe Validation Unit at Cambridge ESOL collates and analyses the pretest material.Listening and Reading pretestsAll candidate responses are analysed to establish the measurement characteristics of the material. Both classical item statistics and latent trait models are used in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the material. Classical item statistics are used to identify the performance of a particular pretest in terms of the facility and discrimination of the items in relation to the sample that was used. Rasch analysis is used to locate items on the IELTS common scale of difficulty. In addition, the comments on the material by the pretest centres and the immediate response of the pretest candidates are taken into account. At a pretest review meeting, the statistics, feedback from candidates and teachers and any additional information are reviewed and informed decisions are made on whether texts and items can be accepted for construction into potential live versions. Material is then banked to await test construction.Writing and Speaking pretestsSeparate batches of Writing pretest scripts are marked by IELTS Principal Examiners and Assistant Principal Examiners. At least two reports on the task performance and its suitability for inclusion in live versions areproduced. On the basis of these reports tasks may be banked for live use, amended and sent for further pretesting or rejected.Feedback on the trialling of the Speaking tasks is reviewed by experienced examiners, who deliver the trialling tasks, and members of the item writing team who are present at the trialling sessions. The subsequent reports arethen assessed by the paper Chair and Cambridge ESOL staff.Banking of materialCambridge ESOL has developed its own item banking software for managing the development of new live tests. Each section or task is banked with statistical information as well as comprehensive content description. Thisinformation is used to ensure that the tests that are constructed have the required content coverage and the appropriate level of difficulty.Standards Fixing and GradingStandards fixing involves combining a section of a previously live test with pretested sections, in the context of a live administration, in order to get a direct link between the standard of the current and new versions, and thusensure continuity in the application of performance standards. Standards fixing ensures that all new test versions of IELTS Reading and Listening modules are equated before they are released for use at test centres around the world. Equating test modules before they are released means setting the sco