www.ielts.

org
Who owns IELTS?

 British Council

 IDP: IELTS Australia

 Cambridge ESOL
What is IELTS?
 A test of communicative proficiency in English:
 for study or work in English
 tests all four language skills

 A test of international English:

 Cultural or linguistic bias minimised

 content produced and checked internationally

 variety of accents used

 A task based test:

 model of communicative competence

 whole text contexts, not discrete point

 performance-based
 What’s the global candidature?

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350,000
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
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Who recognises IELTS?
 Institutes of further and higher education in United
States, United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong,
New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland
 Professional Bodies world-wide including:
 Ministry of Defence, General Medical Council in United
Kingdom
 Medical Council and Department of Immigration,
Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs in Australia
 New Zealand Immigration Service
 Citizenship and Immigration Canada
What makes IELTS a useful test?

 IELTS provides:
 a profile of a candidate's skills in all four language

areas
 an overall band score

 IELTS tests:
 the full range of proficiency levels, from non-user to

expert user
Why can IELTS results be trusted?

 Quality controls:
 test production process

 examiner training and certification

 centre management

 security and integrity

 ongoing research

 monitoring

 centralised verification of results

What do IELTS candidates have to do?

 Candidates must do all four test modules:

 Listening

 Reading

 Writing

 Speaking
Test Format

Listening
30 minutes, 4 sections, 40 items

Academic Reading General Training Reading

60 minutes, 3 sections, 40 items 60 minutes, 3 sections, 40 items

Academic Writing General Training Writing

60 minutes, 2 tasks 60 minutes, 2 tasks

Speaking
11 - 14 minutes, 3 parts
Listening Module

 Tests:
 specific and overall comprehension

 inference

 salient information

 Same for Academic and General Training candidates

 Variety of contexts (general and study)
 Variety of formats (dialogues and mini-lectures)
Reading Module

 Tests detailed and general comprehension

 Academic and General Training Modules
 Academic Module: academic texts
 General Training module: general and study-related
texts
Writing Module
 Academic and General Training Modules
 Tests:
 ability to write English appropriate to context and task
 use of language in a variety of contexts and topics
 skills at sentence, paragraph and whole text level

 Candidates rated on:

 task fulfilment
 coherence and cohesion
 communicative quality
 vocabulary and sentence structure
Speaking Module
 Same for Academic and General Training candidates
 Tests ability to communicate through speech in general
English contexts
 One-to-one interview
 Range of topics and contexts
 Range of skills and patterns of interaction
 3 parts:
 question and answer on personal topics
 unassisted short talk on a given topic
 two-way discussion on more abstract issues
What do the bands mean?
 9 band scale
 9 - expert user

 8 - very good user

 7 - good user

 6 - competent user

 5 - modest user

 4 - limited user

 3 - extremely limited user

 2 - intermittent user

 1 - non-user
Cecile - Band 5

click screen to play

Thibault - Band 6

click screen to play

IELTS Results

 Test Report Forms (TRFs)

 two year validity
 overall and module bands
 results available within two weeks
 results can be sent to receiving institutions
 no ‘pass’ mark
 security enhanced paper
 Online Verification Service (available from mid 2003)
IELTS is ...

 a reliable and valid test of English language

proficiency
 a test of communicative ability
 a test of all four language skills
 a task-based test in which candidates perform
interactive language tasks
For more information

 IELTS Candidate Information

 IELTS Handbook
 IELTS Annual Review
 IELTS website: www.ielts.org
 IELTS Specimen Materials
 IELTS Research Reports
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