IELTS Research Reports

Construct validity in the IELTS Academic Reading testTABLE OF CONTENTS1 Introduction.........................................................................................................................1882 Review of literature ............................................................................................................1892.1 The IELTS Academic Reading Test ......................................................................1892.2 Construct validity...................................................................................................1902.3 Dimensions of reading...........................................................................................1912.4 Frameworks used in reading assessment studies ................................................1923 Method.................................................................................................................................1933.1 Towards an analytical framework...........................................................................1933.2 Disciplines investigated.........................................................................................1973.3 Data and procedure...............................................................................................1984 Findings...............................................................................................................................2004.1 IELTS reading tasks...............................................................................................2004.2 Academic reading tasks ........................................................................................2214.3 Findings from interviews - Comments on IELTS reading tasks.............................2425 Summary and discussion of findings...............................................................................2455.1 Main findings..........................................................................................................2455.2 Specific findings.....................................................................................................2476 Implications of findings for future development of the Reading Test...........................2506.1 Should the IELTS Reading Test be modified? ......................................................2516.2 How could the IELTS Reading Test be modified? .................................................2516.3 Further research....................................................................................................255Acknowledgements...............................................................................................................256References ..........................................................................................................................256Appendix 1: List of materials used in the IELTS Task Corpus..............................................260Appendix 2: Schedule used in interviews with academic staff..............................................261Appendix 3: Additional sample items showing more global and/orinterpretative engagements..............................................................................266IELTS Research Reports Volume 11187