IELTS Research Reports

Construct validity in the IELTS Academic Reading testIt is noted that in this particular sample, the summary information is given as a ‘List of headings’(i.e. Contrary indications; Europe’s alpine glaciers; Growing consensus on sea level etc), with thecorrect heading in this case being option iv) – Causes of rising sea levels.A variation on this theme noted in the corpus was for the ‘headings’ category not to be used forthe summary text, but instead for this material to be constructed in a more extended form. In theseinstances, prompts were designated ‘information’, as shown in Sample 2:2 below (emphasis added).Note that the relevant option for the reading passage extract is ii) Predictions regarding the availabilityof the synthetic silk.Section – summary match 2Reading passage 1 has nine paragraphs, A - IWhich paragraph contains the following information?i) A comparison of the ways two materials are used to replace silk-producing glandsii) Predictions regarding the availability of the synthetic silkiii) Ongoing research into other synthetic materialsiv) The research into the part of the spider that manufactures silkv) The possible application of the silk in civil engineeringSample section from reading passage for option ii)SPIDER SILK CUTS WEIGHT OF BRIDGESSECTION HAt Du Pont’s laboratories, Dorsch is excited by the prospect of new super-strong biosilkmaterials, but he warns they are many years away. “We are at an early stage buttheoretical estimates are that we will wind up with a very strong, tough material, with anability to absorb shock, which is stronger and tougher than man made materials that areconventionally available to us”, he says.Sample 2.2: Section – summary match item, using ‘information’ rubricThe two samples provided above point to an additional variation in the Section – summary matchformat. This relates to the relative number of summary prompts and sections. Thus, for example, inSample 2:1 above the number of summary prompts exceeds the number of sections, whilst in Sample2:2, the ratios are reversed, with sections outnumbering prompts. This variation has implications forthe process by which section and summary are matched up. In the former case (greater number ofprompts), the process requires consideration of the text sections first, followed by identification of theappropriate summary prompt from the list given. In the latter case (greater number of sections), thesequence is reversed, with test-takers needing to begin with the summary prompt and then to matcheach of these up with the appropriate section of the text.IELTS Research Reports Volume 11205