This website doesn't hold the copyright of the 'HISTORY OF IELTS'. The information was thoroughly searched in the Internet and presented here.
IELTS test takers
and the organisations which rely on IELTS test results benefit from IELTS
continuing investment in quality assurance, research and development to ensure
that the test remains robust and relevant.
International teams
of writers contribute to IELTS test materials and we invest in on-going
research to ensure that IELTS remains fair and unbiased – wherever and whenever
the test is taken – and that IELTS encourages, reflects and respects
international diversity and is fair to anyone who sits the test, regardless of
nationality, background, gender or lifestyle.
The rigorous
processes used to produce the test materials ensure that every version of the
test is of a comparable level of difficulty, so that candidates’ results are consistent
wherever and whenever they take the test.
These and the other
benefits of IELTS today build on our history of English language testing over
many decades.
The beginning
The English
Language Testing Service (ELTS), as it was then known, made its first
appearance in 1980 when it replaced the English Proficiency Test Battery
(EPTB), a traditional largely multiple choice test battery that had been used
by the British Council in its overseas student recruitment operation since the
mid 1960s for the purpose of screening international applicants to universities
and colleges in the UK.
The new test had an
innovative format that reflected changes in language learning and teaching
theory and developments in language testing. In particular, the ELTS was influenced
by the growth in ‘communicative’ language learning and ‘English for specific
purposes’. Test tasks were based on an analysis of the ways in which language
was used in academic contexts and were intended to reflect the use of language
in the ‘real world’.
Test format
The ELTS test
offered a choice of six modules covering five broad areas of study of UK
tertiary education, plus one non-specific area. The six modules were:
1. Life Sciences
2. Social Studies
3. Physical Sciences
4. Technology
5. Medicine
6. General Academic
There was also a
Non-Academic test for vocational candidates.
Each candidate was
required to take three sections in their subject area or module and two common
tests in the General section:
M1 Study Skills
|
G1 General
Reading
|
M2 Writing
|
G2 General Listening
|
M3 Individual
Interview
|
A further feature
of the test was that the three subject area modules were thematically linked:
candidates were required to write on a topic connected to one of the texts in
the Study Skills paper. Similarly, in the Interview the candidate would be
asked to discuss a topic already covered in M1.
The ELTS Revision
Project
ELTS continued in
the form outlined above until 1989. During the 1980s the test numbers were
quite low (4000 in 1981 rising to 10,000 by 1985), and it was clear that there
were practical difficulties with the administration of the test, relating to
the number of test items and the time taken to complete the test; there were
also powerful reasons for change on the grounds of test redundancy.
In 1987 British
Council and UCLES EFL (now known as Cambridge ESOL) commissioned Edinburgh
University to conduct a validation study. (see Criper and Davies, 1988; Hughes,
Porter and Weir, 1988). Following this report the ELTS Revision Project, under
the academic direction of Professor Charles Alderson of Lancaster University,
was set up to oversee the design and construction of the revised test.
(Alderson and Clapham, 1993)
There was consensus
to broaden the international participation in the revision project and in response
to this the International Development Program of Australian Universities and
Colleges (IDP), now known as IDP Education Australia, joined British Council
and UCLES to form an international partnership, reflected in the new name for
the test: The International English Language Testing System. The immediate
outcome of this partnership was the secondment of an Australian academic,
Professor David Ingram of Griffith University, to the revision project.
The recommendations
of the revision team to simplify and shorten ELTS were accepted and a
compromise was sought "between practicality and maximum predictive
power". The number of subject-specific modules was reduced from six to
three and the Non-Academic test was replaced by the General Module. IELTS (the
International English Language Testing System) first became operational in
1989. (Clapham and Alderson, 1997)
Format of the 1989
IELTS
From 1989 IELTS
candidates took two non-specialised modules, Listening and Speaking, and two
specialised modules, Reading and Writing. The non-specialised modules tested
general English while the specialised modules were intended to test skills in
particular areas suited to a candidate's chosen course of study. Specialised
reading and writing modules (incorporating a direct link between the reading
and writing activities) were available in three discipline fields which linked
together related fields that had previously been separate modules in the ELTS
battery, as shown below:
Module A – Physical
Science and Technology
Module B – Life and
Medical Sciences
Module C – Business
Studies and Social Sciences
Reading
|
Module A
|
Module B
|
Module C
|
General
|
Writing
|
Module A
|
Module B
|
Module C
|
General
|
Listening
|
Non-specialised
Module
|
|||
Speaking
|
Non-specialised
Module
|
Over the next five
years the number of people taking the test rose by around 15% each year so that
by 1995 there were over 43,000 candidates in 210 test centres around the world.
1995 revision of
IELTS
In keeping with the
commitment of the IELTS partners to respond to developments in applied
linguistics, measurement theory and teaching practice, further modifications to
the test were implemented in April 1995. In addition to a number of
modifications to improve security and administration, there were three areas of
significant change:
The field-specific
Reading and Writing Modules A, B and C were replaced with ONE Academic Reading
Module and ONE Academic Writing Module. Details of the research behind this
change to the test design can be found in Clapham (1996) who concluded that the
different subject modules did not appear justified in terms of accessibility to
specialists. In addition, the thematic link between the reading and writing
activities was also removed to avoid confusing the assessment of reading ability
with that of writing ability.
General Training
Reading and Writing Modules were brought into line with the Academic Reading
and Writing Modules in terms of timing allocation, length of written responses
and reporting of scores. The difference between the Academic and General
Training Modules is in terms of the content, context and purpose for testing
rather than the scales of ability.
Measures were
introduced to gather data on test performance and candidate background so that
issues of fairness relating to test use and users could be more effectively
monitored.
A brief summary of
the 1995 revision of IELTS can be found in Charge and Taylor (1997).
Continuing
development
In keeping with
this history of innovation, the IELTS partners continue to be committed to the
ongoing development of the test. A revision project for the Speaking Test was
launched in 1998 and the revised IELTS Speaking Test was introduced in July
2001. New assessment criteria for the Writing Test were operational from
January 2005. A computerised version of IELTS was also introduced in 2005 at a
number of IELTS centres. Information on all these projects can be found in past
issues of the IELTS Annual Review, and in Cambridge ESOL’s quarterly
publication - Research Notes.
The current test
retains many of the features of the 1980 ELTS including the emphasis on the
comprehension of extended text in the receptive papers (Reading and Listening),
and the direct testing of performance through a face-to-face Speaking test and
the use of the essay and report formats in the Writing test. Other innovations
such as the links of theme and content between papers and the experiment with
subject specific modules have proved less successful and have not survived into
the current incarnation. However, the distinction between academic and
vocational purposes has stood the test of time and is still reflected in the
choice of Academic and General Training modules. In recent years, the
candidature has continued to grow rapidly, and by 2003 the total number of
Academic and General Training candidates had exceeded half a million.
A full account of
the development ELTS/IELTS and its place in the history of testing English for
academic purposes is in preparation as a volume in the Studies in Language
Testing series.
Score processing, reporting and
interpretation
All IELTS marking
takes place at the test centre by trained markers and examiners.
Markers are trained
to understand the IELTS marking policy and are required to demonstrate that
they are marking to standard before they are allowed to mark Listening and
Reading papers. Markers are re-tested every two years to ensure that their
marking remains up to standard. Systematic monitoring and double marking of a
proportion of answer sheets is carried out at each administration.
Examiners for the Writing and Speaking sub-tests are recruited and trained in
line with agreed standards. They are required to demonstrate that they are
marking to standard every two years in addition to on-going monitoring of their
performance.
Candidates receive scores on a Band Scale from 1 to 9. A profile score is
reported for each skill. The four individual scores are averaged and rounded to
produce an Overall Band Score. Overall Band Scores and scores for each sub-test
(Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking) are reported in whole bands or half
bands.
Overall Band Score
Candidates receive a Test Report Form setting out their Overall Band Score and
their scores on each of the four sub-tests: Listening, Reading, Writing and
Speaking. Each of the sub-test scores is equally weighted. The Overall Band
Score is calculated by taking the mean of the total of the four individual
sub-test scores.
Overall Band Scores are reported to the nearest whole or half band. For the
avoidance of doubt, the following rounding convention applies; if the average
across the four skills ends in .25, it is rounded up to the next half band, and
if it ends in .75, it is rounded up to the next whole band.
Thus, a candidate achieving 6.5 for Listening, 6.5 for Reading, 5.0 for Writing
and 7.0 for Speaking would be awarded an Overall Band Score of 6.5 (25 ÷ 4 =
6.25 = Band 6.5).
Likewise, a candidate achieving 4.0 for Listening, 3.5 for Reading, 4.0 for
Writing and 4.0 for Speaking would be awarded an Overall Band Score of 4.0
(15.5 ÷ 4 = 3.875 = Band 4.0).
On the other hand, a candidate achieving 6.5 for Listening, 6.5 for Reading,
5.5 for Writing and 6.0 for Speaking would be awarded band 6 (24.5 ÷ 4 = 6.125
= Band 6).
For more information on how IELTS test material is produced, please see the
IELTS Question Paper Production Process (PDF, 98KB).
Listening and reading
IELTS Listening and Reading papers contain 40 items and each correct item is
awarded one mark; the maximum raw score a candidate can achieve on a paper is
40. Band scores ranging from Band 1 to Band 9 are awarded to candidates on the
basis of their raw scores.
Although all IELTS test materials are pretested and trialled before being
released as live tests, there are inevitably minor differences in the
difficulty level across tests. In order to equate different test versions, the
band score boundaries are set so that all candidates’ results relate to the
same scale of achievement. This means, for example, that the Band 6 boundary
may be set at a slightly different raw score across versions.
The tables below indicate the mean raw scores achieved by candidates at various
levels in each of the Listening, Academic Reading and General Training Reading
tests during 2006 and they provide an indication of the number of marks
required to achieve a particular band score.
The Academic and General Training papers are graded to the same scale. The
distinction between the two modules is one of genre or discourse type. Academic
papers may contain source texts featuring more difficult vocabulary or greater
complexity of style. It is usual that, to secure a given band score, a greater
number of questions must be answered correctly on a General Training Reading
paper.
Writing and speaking
When marking the Writing and Speaking sub-tests, examiners use detailed
performance descriptors which describe written and spoken performance at each
of the 9 IELTS bands.
Writing
Examiners award a band score for each of four criterion areas: Task Achievement
(for Task 1), Task Response (for Task 2), Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical
Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. The four criteria are equally
weighted.
Speaking
Examiners award a band score for each of four criterion areas: Fluency and
Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy and Pronunciation.
The four criteria are equally weighted.
Versions of the band descriptors for Writing and Speaking have been developed
to help stakeholders better understand the level of performance required to
attain a particular band score in each of the criterion areas. IELTS examiners
undergo intensive face to face training and standardisation to ensure that they
can apply the descriptors in a valid and reliable manner.
Examiner
information
IELTS examiners are
qualified, experienced English language specialists. The Speaking and Writing
Modules of the IELTS test are assessed by certificated examiners. IELTS
examiners are required to re-certificate every two years and their performance
is closely monitored to ensure global standards are maintained.
It is the
responsibility of each IELTS test centre to recruit and train a pool of
examiners. Centres recruit on a needs basis and nominate examiners who meet the
following requirements:
1. Applicants must be
native speaker (or a non-native speaker of an overall IELTS Band 9 – with a 9
in both Speaking and Writing modules);
2. Applicants must
have a relevant TEFL qualification eg CELTS/DELTA;
3. Applicants must
have at least three years relevant teaching experience; and
4. Applicants must
have an undergraduate degree (or equivalent).
5. The applications of
the nominated examiners have to be approved by a qualified examiner trainer.
After approval the examiner undergoes face-to-face training, conducted by an
accredited IELTS trainer and is required to do the certification assessment.
If you are
interested in becoming an IELTS examiner and you meet the requirements outlined
above, please contact your local
test centre.
No comments:
Post a Comment