IELTS Research Reports

Tim Moore, Janne Morton and Steve PricePassage 1: section-summary match; gapped summary; true/false/not givenPassage 2: true/false/not given; information-category match; multiple choicePassage 3: section-summary match; sentence completionThe IELTS Academic Reading Test has been subject to several major changes since its introduction in1989. The most important of these, the result of extensive monitoring and evaluation work in the early1990s (eg Clapham 1996), saw the removal of subject-specific reading subtests, and the removal of thethematic link between Reading and Writing tests. The rationale for such changes has been extensivelydescribed in the IELTS literature (Charge & Taylor, 1997; Taylor, 2007). For example, the removal ofthe discipline specific component of the Reading Test was the outcome of findings that suggested thatthe range of subject-specific modules was not warranted, and that a single test did not discriminate foror against candidates from various disciplines (eg Taylor, 2007) The decision to separate the readingfrom the writing test was based on the observation that candidates varied considerably in the extentto which they exploited reading material in the Writing Test, with the implications this had for testfairness. It was thought further that having this connection also increased the potential for confusingthe assessment of writing ability and reading ability (Charge & Taylor, 1997).As mentioned, the focus of the current study is exclusively on the reading tasks and not on the readingpassages that accompany them. It does need to be acknowledged however, that having a separationof these components limits the perspective somewhat. This is for the reason pointed out by Alderson(2000, p 203) that there may be a relationship between the text type and the sort of task or techniquethat can be used with it. This idea will be returned to briefly in the concluding section of the report.2.2 Construct validityThe present study is concerned with investigating the construct validity of the IELTS Reading Test.In terms of reading tests, ‘construct validity’ is a measure of how closely a test reflects the modelof reading underlying the test. In other words, the concept of ‘construct validity’ is related to thoseabilities it is thought readers need to possess in order to handle the demands of the target languagedomain. In the case of the IELTS Academic Reading Test, this domain is study at university level.Thus, if the ability to scan for specific information is considered an important part of universityreading requirements, then the reading construct should include scanning and the test should diagnosethe ability to quickly locate specific information (Alderson, 2000). Whilst construct validity is oftenassociated with skills, another dimension is task structure. Bachman and Palmer (1996) suggest that afocus on the structure as well as the skills of target language use tasks might lead to the developmentof more ‘authentic’ test tasks (p.147).The construct validity of a test is particularly important when the test is a large scale public test,and where there is a close connection between the operations of the test and the conduct of relatededucational programs. The construct validity of such tests thus has implications for curriculum andclassroom practice through the so-called “test washback” (Alderson and Wall, 1993). As Messick(1996, p 252) points out:[i]f important constructs or aspects of constructs are underrepresented on the test, teachers might cometo overemphasise those constructs that are well-represented and downplay those that are not.Washback is considered harmful then when there is a serious disjunct between a test’s construct ofreading and the broader demands of real world or target language tasks.190 www.ielts.org