IELTS Research Reports

Lynda Taylorprofessions, particularly high stakes community roles such as those in nursing, medicine and veterinarycare, has emerged as a critical criterion for entry to English speaking countries as an immigrant to takeup a professional role. Against this background, it is not surprising that the IELTS partners have seen amarked growth in interest from professional associations worldwide wishing to use IELTS as a reliable,secure and widely recognised English language proficiency measure.Merrifield’s research provides a useful and informative survey of how IELTS is currently being usedby a range of professional bodies in the UK, Ireland and Canada, in particular the entry criterion scoresset and the way these can change with time and experience; in addition, she reports the perceptionsof the test among test score users within these bodies. Information is also provided on some of theother internationally available tests that are used in a similar way. The report highlights the perceivedadvantages of IELTS reported by the stakeholders consulted, in particular: worldwide accessibility acrossa broad testing network; testing date frequency; prompt reporting of results; inclusion of a face-to-facespeaking test component; an online verification service for test score users; support for test candidates;a strong research base underpinning the test; and extensive quality assurance measures. It is worthcommenting here that several of these features are generally regarded by academic language testers as‘non-technical’ features of a test; for this reason they receive little attention or discussion in the researchliterature. However, they are clearly high priority considerations for test score users and stakeholders, andthey are features that can help to explain a stakeholder’s preference for IELTS over an alternative test,even over a test that may have been developed in-country or a test with profession-specific content. Thesignificant factors that shape test choice and use need to be better understood and discussed within theprofessional language testing community. As the Merrifield report makes clear, most of those consultedin this study expressed general satisfaction with the reliability of IELTS and the support received fromthe test administration when needed.The study’s findings highlight how difficult it can be for institutional users of IELTS (and similar tests)to maintain their knowledge base and familiarity with the test and the meaning of its scores. Staffturnover and changes in responsibilities, especially in smaller organisations, can mean that accumulatedknowledge and experience of the test is quickly lost. Merrifield’s point about the advisability of theIELTS partners maintaining personal contact with responsible registration staff in the professionalassociations is well taken. It is encouraging to see that several professional associations have taken thestep of reviewing their existing standards and revising their minimum levels overall and for individualskills as appropriate to the needs of the profession. To do so, they have made use of the user-orientedband descriptors for Speaking and Writing available on the IELTS website and the ‘IELTS ScoresExplained DVD’, both of which were developed several years ago to assist stakeholders in IELTS scoreinterpretation and in setting appropriate band score thresholds for the context of use. These and otherresources form part of the IELTS partners’ established and ongoing strategy to respond appropriately tostakeholder needs.As Merrifield notes, these benchmark review and revision projects suggest a growing understandingof IELTS and its band scores and they reflect the advice the IELTS partners have always given, i.e.that score users should set their standards in an informed and, where possible, evidence-based manner.As a rule, the IELTS partners work closely with any professional body considering adoption of IELTSas its language proficiency measure, encouraging careful content analysis of the test against the skillsand competences of the relevant profession as well as consideration of key pragmatic requirements forthe association such as test security, recognition, accessibility and cost prior to any decision to adopt;if the evidence from this exploratory stage suggests the test to be appropriate for the context of use,then the IELTS partners support the carrying out of standard setting studies to set appropriate and safecriterion thresholds for the purpose and context of use. Examples of this type of collaboration with testusers include two standard setting studies conducted during 2004: one in the US in collaboration withthe National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), the BUROS Institute of Measurement andthe IELTS partners; and a second in collaboration with the UK General Medical Council, Lancaster10 www.ielts.org