ILETS Test Evaluation

ILETS Test EvaluationIELTS The International English style Testing SystemThe purpose of e truly sort is to diagnose what the learners know or dont know, in other words to check learning. The International English Language Testing System or IELTS outpouring is a language proficiency experiment which covers all quadruple language dexteritys reading, writing, listening and speaking and is the closely widely used and accepted running for English language. Each paper holds a percentage of the final score each equally weighted at 25%. The IELTS test is crotchety in that you pietism fail it (Takeielts.britishcouncil.org, 2017). Although we alive(p) in a very to a greater extent than modern, electronic world, the IELTS test is still a pen and paper-based test (Takeielts.britishcouncil.org, 2017).The papers/tests covering the four skills beReading a 60 minute test which includes three texts to be readWriting a 60 minute test display the test takers ability to summarise, exp lain or describeListening this test is a 30 minute testSpeaking this is the shortest of all four tests at 11-14 minutes.My es consecrate entrust be focusing on the evaluation and the validity or fitness for purpose of the speaking test within the IELTS test.Michael Halliday (1968 cited in Levine and Spencer, 1996, p. 46) quotesLanguage is a form of culturally determined behavior and this behaviour includes the ability to take on a range of linguistically defined roles in row situations. Unless the child grows up in an environment in which all these speech situation roles argon open to him, he will fail to master grand areas in the grammar of his language.With this is mind we must envision that all types of confinements have both advantages and limitations (or disadvantages) so it is necessary to ascertain the Fitness for purpose of a air divisionicular task and to use a different range of task types within the framework.We must provide different speaking tasks which activat e our different speaking processes. The tasks should elicit behaviour which truly represents the domiciliatedidates ability and which can be scored validly and reliably (Hughes, 1991, pg. 101). Although speaking can seem both simple and natural it is, in fact, a very complex skill with several stages to follow. From the conceptualisation of an idea we must and because convert that idea into language. This is d unrivaled through both lexical and grammatical knowledge. through this knowledge we are able to form sentences and phrases in order to vocalise our idea. Once we have the essential words, sentences and phrases these are then changed into sound or articulated. This is how a non-verbal idea becomes an actual verbal expression. As you will know, when we speak we are constantly monitoring ourselves in order to ensure the flow of speech continues smoothly, whether this be through our internal access to vocabulary, grammar or intonation, etc. When we speak all of these stages ar e effected automatically and naturally this is why speaking can be so challenging for learners. If a learner lacks both lexical and analytical knowledge their retrieval of that vocabulary or grammar may well take bimestrial causing a less natural or automatic response to a task or question through longer pauses and hesitations.We must then ensure that testing incorporates all manner of validity and reliability in order to produce a rounded and more thorough outcome.The IELTS speaking test is a face-to-face, one-on-one interview between the test taker and the IELTS trained examiner. The interview only lasts between 11 to 15 minutes and is recorded. The speaking test can be taken onward the other three sections listening, reading, writing of the test and the speaking comprises of three separate sections.The first section or social occasion 1 is known as the introduction and interview segment. Here the interviewer introduces him or herself to the test taker. This is then continue d as if it were an interview albeit a little formal whereby the test taker shares training with the examiner. The examiner will have a script of questions to ask the test taker which cover every day familiar fallics e.g. work, study, where you live, food, holidays, friends, goig out, festivals, sports, school and public imparting (TeachingEnglish British Council BBC, 2017).The test taker provides the examiner with information al virtually themselves, their family, work and interests through a series of open-ended questions like those in appendix 1 e.g. Whats the most interesting part of your colonization/ townsfolk? Would you say its a good place to live? Why? (Ieltsessentials.com, 2017) and answers them to the best of their ability. This section normally takes around 4-5 minutes.The second section or part 2 is known as the individual long turn. In this segment the prognosis or test taker is given a topic card (see appendix 2). The topic card has a subject on it which the test taker must talk almost for two minutes. Before speaking, the vista is allowed one minute in order to prepare notes on their given topic. These topic tasks are generally virtually a personal experience, for example, a unforgettable day or a person of great significance to them and they then have to produce a monologue on this topic. Once the candidate has completed their monologue the examiner will then ask them about follow up questions which then leads them into part 3 of the test.The third section or part 3 is known as the two- behavior banter. This two-way hold forthion or dialogue is between the test taker and the examiner and is generally thematically linked (Karim and Haq, 2014) to part 2. If you look at appendices 2 and 3 you will see that the candidate in part 2 spoke about a piano he once owned and in part 3 the examiner then asks to have a discussion regarding things we own.Interviewing is a tried and tested way of assessing a language learners speaking capabi lities, however, it can seem intensely formal to the interviewee and cause the interaction to be dominated by the examiner (Karim and Haq, 2014) in their role as interviewer in the IELTS test. In the test then, this tends, to lend itself toward a situation in which the speaking is less natural in form than it could be if it were in a different format e.g. an informal discussion over coffee. Hughes (1991) states the most obvious format for the testing of oral interaction is the interview, however, it has at least one potentially serious drawback. When the test taker feels they are in an interview situation they will speak to the examiner as if speaking to a superior (Hughes, 1991, pg.104). Therefore, the speaking agency of the test taker may be put to a disadvantage. This limitation may well be avoided should the candidate feel they are able to ask questions as well as the examiner. Through a relaxed dialogue rather than an interview the conversation could well take a more natural p ath providing more confidence for the test taker. Also, interviews can cause unnecessary anxiety and nervousness to the test taker which could limit their interaction.We could also argue that natural conversation is built up with more informal language, whereby a conversation is not scripted provided flows along an unseen path to an unseen destination. Conversation does not follow a strict or distinct route but is nudged along in many different directions.The question we are asking is Is the test successful in achieving its objectives? and for this we take to look at what is known as the validity and reliability of a test. Validity has several forms and I have looked at content, face and criterion-related validity. issue validity is a representative sample of the skills and abilities which have been taught. The organise and content of the IELTS speaking test is the same at all levels. This means that an elementary level candidate will be answering the same questions of those at advanced levels. This does not provide a concrete level of testing as the structure and content do not provide a more challenging course for those with more advanced skills.Face validity looks at the measurement of skill the test should be assessing. If we look at the format of the IELTS test we can see that it is clearly established. It is universal in its approach and anywhere you look for information on the IELTS test it always provides the same information.In contrast both IELTS academic and General English tests are no different with regards to what is tested for in the speaking section. If we look at the band descriptor (appendix 4) we can see that there is no distinction for specific English. This brings into question the validity of criterion-based validity.The reliability of the IELTS test must also be looked at. A one examiner is responsible for rating the candidate, therefore, the inter-rater reliability has to be questioned due to interpretation but a single person of t he test taker. The scoring is split between four categories (appendix 4) within these four categories there is no in-depth breakdown so scoring is at the goody of the examiner.The strongness of the IELTS speaking test has rough limitations. Overall it is a essenceful test which shows validity and reliability in some areas but there are areas in which both validity and reliability fall short as has been shown. The following suggestions could make the IELTS speaking test somewhat more valid and time-tested provide more time for the candidate to talk freely in the first section. In this way we could elicit more authentic data from the candidate and be provided with a more in-depth analysis of the actual ability the candidate has. More tasks would elicit a better performance from the candidate discussion about a picture or tasks which represent different communicative processes. The grading scale should be open to more variables to provide a broader perspective and finally, more than one examiner would ensure a more reliable assessment.APPENDICESAPPENDIX 1Speaking sample task Part 1https//www.ieltsessentials.com/global/-/media/IELTS/ spheric/Files/MP3s/speakingsamplepart1recording.ashx?la=enPart 1 Introduction and interviewThis part of the test begins with the examiner introducing himself or herself and checking the candidates identification. It then continues as an interview.Lets talk about your headquarters town or village.What kind of place is it?Whats the most interesting part of your town/village?What kind of jobs do the hatful in your town/village do?Would you say its a good place to live? (Why?)Lets move on to talk about accommodation.Tell me about the kind of accommodation you live in?How long have you lived there?What do you like about living there?What sort of accommodation would you most like to live in?Speaking sample task Part 1 transcriptPart 1 Introduction and interviewThis part of the test begins with the examiner introducing himself or herself and checking the candidates identification. It then continues as an interview. Transcripttester Now, in this first part, Id like to ask you some more questions about yourself, OK? Lets talk about your home town or village. What kind of place is it? panorama Its quite a small village, about 20km from Zurich. And its very quiet. And we have only little two little shops because most of the people work in Zurich or are orientated to the city.Examiner Whats the most interesting part of this place village? prospect On the top of a hill we have a little castle which is very old and quite well known in Switzerland.Examiner What kind of jobs do people in the village do?Candidate We have some farmers in the village as well as people who work in Zurich as bankers or journalists or there are also teachers and some doctors, some medicines.Examiner Would you say its a good place to live?Candidate Yes. Although it is very quiet, it is people are friendly and I would say it is a good pl ace to live there, yes.Examiner Lets move on to talk about accommodation. Tell me about the kind of accommodation you live in APPENDIX 2Speaking sample task Part 2https//www.ieltsessentials.com/global/-/media/IELTS/ globular/Files/MP3s/speakingsamplepart2recording.ashx?la=enPart 2 Individual long turnCandidate Task CardDescribe something you own which is very important to you.You should saywhere you got it fromhow long you have had itwhat you use it forand explain why it is important to you.You will have to talk about the topic for 1 to 2 minutes.You have one minute to esteem about what youre going to say.You can make some notes to help you if you wish.Rounding off questions Is it valuable in terms of money?Would it be easy to replace?Speaking sample task Part 2 transcriptPart 2 Individual long turnTranscriptExaminer Alright? Remember you have one to two minutes for this, so dont worry if I stop you. Ill tell you when the time is up.Candidate OKExaminer Can you start speaking n ow, please?Candidate Yes. One of the most important things I have is my piano because I like playacting the piano. I got it from my parents to my twelve birthday, so I have it for about nine years, and the reason why it is so important for me is that I can go into other world when Im playing piano. I can forget whats around me and what I can forget my problems and this is some generation quite good for a few minutes. Or I can play to relax or just, yes to to relax and to hypothesize of something completely different.Examiner Thank you. Would it be easy to replace this, this piano?Candidate Yes, I think it wouldnt be that big problem but I like my piano as it is because I have it from my parents, its some kind unique for me.APPENDIX 3Speaking sample task Part 3https//www.ieltsessentials.com/global/-/media/IELTS/Global/Files/MP3s/speakingsamplepart3recording.ashx?la=enPart 3 two-way discussionLets consider first of all how peoples values have changed.What kind of things give st atus to people in your country?Have things changed since your parents time?Finally, lets talk about the role of advertising.Do you think advertising influences what people buy?Speaking sample task Part 3 transcriptPart 3 Two-way discussionTranscriptExaminer Weve been talking about things we own. Id like to discuss with you one or two more general questions relating to this topic. First, lets consider values and the way they can change. In Switzerland, what kind of possessions do you think give status to people?Candidate The first thing which comes in my mind is the car. Yes, because lots of people like to have posh cars or expensive cars to show their status, their place in the society.Examiner Is that a new development?Candidate No, I think it isnt.Examiner People have thought like that for quite a long time?Candidate Yes. Another thing is probably the clothing. It starts already when you are young. When the children go to school they want to have posh labels on their jumpers or good shoes.Examiner What do you think of this way of thinking that I need to have a car or certain clothes to show my status?Candidate Probably its sometimes a replacement for something you dont have, so if your wife has left you or your girlfriend, you just buy some new, I dont know, new watches or new clothes to make you satisfied again.Examiner You dont think of it as a healthy way of thinking?Candidate Its probably not honest to yourself. You can understand what I mean?Examiner Yes. And do you think this will change? In the future, will cars and designer clothes be status symbols in the same way?Candidate Im sure that clothes will be that the thing with the clothes will be the same. Im not so sure about the cars because cars cause lots of environmental problems and probably in some years, a few years, this will change because its not reasonable to drive a car anymore.Examiner Can you tell me a little silicon chip more about that? APPENDIX 4 IELTS Speaking Band DescriptorsBand Fluency and coherence Lexical resource Grammatical range and accuracy orthoepy 9speaks fluently with only rare repetition or self-correctionany hesitation is content-related rather than to find wordsor grammarspeaks coherently with extensivey enchant cohesive featuresdevelops topics fully and appropriatelyuses vocabulary with full flexibleness and clearcutness in all topicsuses idiomatic language naturally and accuratelyuses a full range of structures naturally and appropriatelyproduces consistently accurate structures apart from slipscharacteristic of native speaker speechuses a full range of pronunciation features with precision and subtlety sustains flexible use of features throughout is effortless to understand8speaks fluently with only episodic repetition or self- correction hesitation is usually content-related and onlyrarely to search for languagedevelops topics coherently and appropriatelyuses a wide vocabulary resource readily and flexibly to convey precise meaning us es less common and idiomatic vocabulary skilfully, with occasional inaccuraciesuses paraphrase effectively as requireduses a wide range of structures flexiblyproduces a absolute majority of error-free sentences with only very occasional inappropriacies or basic/non-systematic errorsuses a wide range of pronunciation features sustains flexible use of features, with only occasional lapsesis easy to understand throughout L1 accent has minimal effect on intelligibility7speaks at length without noticeable effort or loss of coherencemay usher language-related hesitation at times, or some repetition and/or self-correctionuses a range of connectives and word markers withsome flexibilityuses vocabulary resource flexibly to discuss a variety of topicsuses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary and shows some awareness of style and collocation, with some inappropriate choices uses paraphrase effectivelyuses a range of complex structures with some flexibility prevalently produces error-fr ee sentences, though some grammatical mistakes persistshows all the positive features of Band 6 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 86is willing to speak at length, though may lose coherence at times due to occasional repetition, self-correction orhesitationuses a range of connectives and discourse markers but not always appropriatelyhas a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length and make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies generally paraphrases successfullyuses a mix of simple and complex structures, but with limited flexibilitymay make frequent mistakes with complex structures though these rarely cause comprehension problemsuses a range of pronunciation features with mixed control shows some effective use of features but this is not sustainedcan generally be understood throughout, though mispronunciation of individual words or sounds reduces clarity at times5usually maintains flow of speech but uses repetition, self correction and/or slow speech to keep goingmay over-use certain connectives and discourse markersproduces simple speech fluently, but more complex communication causes fluency problemsmanages to talk about familiar and unfamiliar topics but uses vocabulary with limited flexibilityattempts to use paraphrase but with mixed successproduces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracyuses a limited range of more complex structures, but these usually contain errors and may cause some comprehension problemsshows all the positive features of Band 4 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 64cannot respond without noticeable pauses and may speak slowly, with frequent repetition and self-correctionlinks basic sentences but with repetitious use of simpleconnectives and some breakdowns in coherenceis able to talk about familiar topics but can only convey basic meaning on unfamiliar topics and makes frequent errors in word choice rarely attempts paraphraseproduces basic sentence forms and some correct simpl e sentences but subordinate structures are rareerrors are frequent and may lead to misunderstandinguses a limited range of pronunciation features attempts to control features but lapses are frequent mispronunciations are frequent and cause some difficulty for the listener3speaks with long pauseshas limited ability to link simple sentencesgives only simple responses and is frequently unable to convey basic coreuses simple vocabulary to convey personal information has insufficient vocabulary for less familiar topicsattempts basic sentence forms but with limited success, or relies on apparently memorised utterancesmakes numerous errors except in memorised expressionsshows some of the features of Band 2 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 42pauses lengthily before most wordslittle communication possibleonly produces isolated words or memorised utterancescannot produce basic sentence formsSpeech is often unintelligble1no communication possibleno rateable language0 do es not attendREFERENCESHughes, A. (1991). Testing for language teachers. initiatory ed. Cambridge England Cambridge University Press.Ieltsessentials.com. (2017). Speaking Practice Tests. online addressable at https//www.ieltsessentials.com/global/prepare/freepracticetests/speakingpracticetests Accessed 01 Mar. 2017.Karim, S. and Haq, N. (2014). An Assessment of IELTS Speaking Test. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE), 3(3).Levine, J. and Spencer, M. (1996). Developing pedagogies in the multilingual classroom. 1st ed. Stoke-on-Trent Trentham Books.Takeielts.britishcouncil.org. (2017). IELTS teachers questions answered Take IELTS. online Available at http//takeielts.britishcouncil.org/teach-ielts Accessed 7 Feb. 2017.TeachingEnglish British Council BBC. (2017). Evaluating speaking the IELTS speaking test. online Available at https//www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/evaluating-speaking-ielts-speaking-test Accessed 07 Mar. 2017.