A Critical Review of the Revised IELTS Speaking Test

Date
2013-12-26
Authors
Roshan, Saeed
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Macrothink Institute
Abstract

The International English Language Test System (IELTS) is currently one of the English tests of repute, which is employed to assess the language proficiency of candidates planning to study or work in contexts where English is employed as the language of communication. This study is a critical review of the Revised IELTS Speaking Test (RIST) in order to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the revised version. The findings indicate that the reduction from 5 phases to 3 phases in the structure, the introduction of an Interlocutor Frame (IF), the change of the rating system from holistic to analytic, and validity are the strong points of RIST. The weaknesses in the RIST could be subjectivity of the test, deviation from IF, and potential cultural bias. The study provides some recommendations for improvement of the Revised IELTS Speaking Test.

Description
Keywords
4703 Language Studies , 4704 Linguistics , 3901 Curriculum and Pedagogy , 39 Education , 47 Language, Communication and Culture , 2004 Linguistics , 2005 Literary Studies , 2099 Other Language, Communication and Culture , 3901 Curriculum and pedagogy , 4703 Language studies , 4704 Linguistics
Source
International Journal of English Language Education, ISSN: 2325-0887 (Print); 2325-0887 (Online), Macrothink Institute, 2(1), 120-127. doi: 10.5296/ijele.v2i1.4840
Rights statement
Copyright (c) 2013 Saeed Roshan. Creative Commons License. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.