Volume 4, 2003, Paper 2
Paper 2: Text analysis and the assessment of Academic
Writing
Peter Mickan and Stephen Slater
This study was undertaken to investigate candidates'
interpretation of prompts and to compare the written responses of
English background speakers with those of IELTS intending
candidates, who were not English background speakers.
Subjects, both native and non-native speakers, were interviewed
during a pre-writing session as they prepared for a practice
writing test. They then took the writing test under
examination conditions. The interviews were analysed in order
to gain insights into the subjects' test preparation. The
detailed analysis of the essays followed a discourse approach in
order to add to the understanding of the characteristics of native
speaker and non-native speaker candidates' essays through the
comparison of the essays. The findings suggest implications
for item writers and for teachers preparing candidates for IELTS
examinations.
