This study examines the history and
rationale for selection of IELTS as a language benchmarking
system for professional associations, and explores the main
competitors to IELTS in global testing for professionals, in
Canada, the UK and Ireland.
Researcher: Glenys
Merrifield, GBM & Associates
This study addresses the question of an
appropriate IELTS score for graduate entry teacher education
courses by investigating the extent to which current IELTS scores
into graduate entry teacher education courses are considered
adequate: by the lecturers of such students, by prospective teacher
registration authorities and by the students themselves.
Researchers: Wayne Sawyer and Michael Singh,
Centre for Educational Research, University of Western
Sydney
An investigation into the selection practices and decision
making rationales of admissions personnel in an international,
postgraduate UK setting and the consequences for borderline
non-native English speaking students’ academic progress.
Researchers: Gaynor
Lloyd-Jones, Charles Neame, Simon Medaney, Cranfield
University
This study investigates suitability of
items on the IELTS Academic Reading test in relation to the
reading and general literacy requirements of university study,
through a survey of reading tasks in both domains, and interviews
with academic staff from a range of disciplines.
Researchers: Tim
Moore, Swinburne University; Janne Morton, University
of Melbourne; Steve Price, Swinburne University
This study compares how trained and
untrained item writers select and edit reading texts to make them
suitable for a task-based test of reading and how they generate the
accompanying items. Both individual and collective test editing
processes are investigated.
Researchers: Anthony
Green and Roger Hawkey, University of Bedfordshire, UK
An investigation of the cognitive processes of candidates taking
IELTS Academic Writing Task One (AWT1) with different graphic
prompts at two time points – before short training on how to do
AWT1 tasks, and after. It explores the extent to which
candidates’ cognitive processes are affected by the use of
different graphs, their graphic skills and English writing
abilities, and by the training.
Researchers: Guoxing Yu, Pauline Rea-Dickins
and Richard Kiely, Univeristy of Bristol
