Volume 3, 2000, Paper 2
Paper 2: A study of response validity of the IELTS writing
subtest
Peter Mickan, Stephen Slater and Carol
Gibson
This paper reports on an investigation into the response
validity of the IELTS Writing Subtest. The general purpose of the
study was to identify factors in the assessment context which may
influence candidates' achievement on the Writing test.
The first part of the study examines the readability of test
prompts and identifies discourse and pragmatic features which may
influence candidates' comprehension of the prompts.
The second part of the study describes and analyses the test
taking behaviours of intending IELTS candidates on the IELTS
Writing Subtest. The analysis in this section is based on
researchers' observation of subjects, on verbal protocols recorded
as subject wrote their responses, and on post-test interview data
recorded with the same subjects.
The analysis for readability suggests that candidates'
understanding of the test prompts is influenced by factors such as
the purpose described for the tasks and the lexicon-grammar of the
tasks. The analysis of the test-taking behaviours of subject
points to socio-cultural influences on candidates' demonstration of
their writing ability.
The study suggests the usefulness of using qualitative
procedures such as verbal protocols for the investigation of
response validity.
