IELTS Research Reports

Wayne Sawyer and Michael Singhand others. Students are spread across subject Method areas with slightly larger numbers in Maths,Science, Languages other than English (LOTE) (Chinese) – the latter being now subject to quotabecause of the difficulty of placement in schools (There is no Hindi taught in local schools, henceLOTE Method does not encompass the L1 of many Indian students). The course is full-fee paying. Allstudents are on student visas, though many want Permanent Residency. Local students, in contrast,study a Diploma in Education, which is a shorter course and their English needs to be better on entry.From 2010, the Masters course will expand to take in local students and the international students willsimply be a cohort within the larger course.Faculty of Education 3 runs a one-year Diploma of Education (Secondary), which can be taken overtwo years part-time by domestic students. LBOTE students are a relatively high (compared to otheruniversities) proportion of students and are mostly already Permanent Residents or citizens.Faculty of Education 4 runs a graduate entry Masters level course over 4 trimesters (1.5 years) fulltimefor pre-service secondary teachers, with an embedded 3-trimester Graduate Diploma of Teaching.Students are permitted to exit with the Graduate Diploma. LBOTE students are a relatively high(compared to other universities) proportion of students. This Faculty had previously run a Master ofTeaching specifically for international students.In all Faculties of Education in the research, there are relatively high numbers of LBOTE students.Academics from one Faculty offered their perceptions of why LBOTE student-teachers studysecondary teacher education:Often they come through systems where there is more status teaching secondary and they thinkteaching adolescents is going to be easier. It (also) means they are able to work within their specificdiscipline area, (one) that they have studied at university. Whereas (in) primary, except for Languagesand Music, you have got to be generalistFrom my conversations with international students and students who might be children of migrantswho grew up here, they see that in teaching, secondary school disciplines are something that theyknow very well…They probably have a tertiary degree in Maths or Science so therefore the comfortzone is there. In primary teaching …they need to teach the English language as a language as well andthat is something that might stop international students from applyingIn what follows, the academics’ answers to the interview/focus group questions are reportedby question.7.2 What are your views on the English language proficiency of your internationalstudents who have been subject to IELTS testing?7.2.1 Fitness for purpose of the testBy its very nature, language testing does not reflect a student’s overall ability to be part of an academiccommunity. Because of this, some academics felt the reliance on language testing alone for entry forthese students was a problem (‘English language proficiency is not the only issue’). Others felt that anappropriate language test needed to be occupation specific:The IELTS speaking test isn’t relevant to teacher education students because it doesn’t demand verymuch flexibility of expression from students. It’s a measure that we in teacher education have to usebecause it’s a university measure that the institution requires, but it’s not always helpful104 www.ielts.org