IELTS Masters Award
As part of the tenth anniversary of IELTS in 1999, the IELTS
partners - British Council, IELTS Australia and University of
Cambridge ESOL Examinations - established an annual award of £1,000
for the Master's-level dissertation or thesis in English which
makes the most significant contribution to the field of language
testing.
Submission and evaluation procedures
Each year the IELTS Research Committee, comprising members of
the three partner organisations, reviews submissions for the award
and shortlists potential winners. Submissions must be for a
dissertation/thesis written in partial or total fulfilment of the
requirements for a Master's degree or its equivalent, and must be
supported by a letter from the applicant's academic supervisor. The
work should be language testing focused but need not be
IELTS-related.
A full copy of all shortlisted dissertations/theses is then
requested and a further reference may be sought. Shortlisted items
are reviewed and evaluated by the IELTS Research Committee
according to a set timetable and established criteria. The
Committee's decision is final.
Annual timetable
- June: Deadline for submission of dissertation/thesis extracts
and reference to Cambridge ESOL
- August: Deadline for submission of full copy of short listed
dissertations/theses
- October/November: Meeting of IELTS Research Committee
- November/December: Announcement of award
The award is normally presented in public at a major language
testing event during the following year, e.g. at the annual
Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC), and the IELTS partners
sponsor the award winner's attendance at this event for this
purpose.
Application forms and further information
Please note that submission details for the IELTS Master's Award
may change from year to year. It is therefore important that the
most current procedures are consulted. Click here to download the
latest IELTS Master's Award Submission
Guidelines
|
Previous award winners
|
| 2007 |
Talia Isaacs Towards defining a valid assessment criterion
of pronunciation proficiency in non-native English speaking
graduate students
|
McGill University, Montreal Canada
|
| 2006 |
Youn-Hee Kim ‘An investigation into variability of tasks and
teacher-judges in second language oral performance assessment’ (L2
oral performance)
|
McGill University, Montreal Canada
|
| 2005 |
Fumiko Nakatsuhara ‘An investigation into Conversational
styles in paired speaking tests’ (CAE)
|
University of Essex , UK
|
| 2004 |
No award made
|
|
| 2003 |
Eunice Eunhee Jang ‘In search of folk fairness in language
testing' (TOEFL)
|
University of Urbana-Champaign , USA
|
| 2002 |
No award made
|
|
| 2001 |
Sang-Keun Shin ‘An exploratory study of the construct
validity of timed essay tests’ (L2 learners)
|
University of California at Los Angeles , USA
|
| 2000 |
Sally O'Hagan ‘Assessment of student essays: Methods of
marking work written by students from non-English speaking
backgrounds' (ESL)
|
University of Melbourne , Australia
|
| 2000 |
Lindsay Brooks ‘Adult ESL attitudes towards
performance-based assessment’ (ESL)
|
OISE/University of Toronto , Canada
|
