IELTS Research Reports

Tim Moore, Janne Morton and Steve PriceBetween these two examples is the third sample item (Item 11), requiring test-takers to consider whatpoint is made in the text through the citing of particular information (i.e. reference to the film of the train).11 The writer refers to the film of the train in order to demonstrateA the simplicity of early filmsB the impact of early films etcSuch an item, with its focus on the underlying rhetorical purpose of a span of text, was analysed asrequiring a less literal form of engagement. The variety in the required form of engagement in theseitems is captured in Figure 7 below.More LocalMore GlobalT5aMore literalT5bT5cKeyT5a = Specific information itemFigure 7. Analysis of Multiple Choice task typeType 6: Short answerIn Short answer tasks in the corpus (7% of total items), test-takers needed to locate quite specificinformation from the reading passage in response to basic wh-questions. A stipulation of responses inthis format was that answers needed to be limited to no more than two or three words (or numbers),and that answers were composed only of lexis drawn from the reading passage. An example of thistype, referred to by Bachman and Palmer (1996) as ‘limited production response’, is shown in Sample6.1 below. The questions in this sample relate to a passage describing methods used to enhance theperformance of athletes.218 www.ielts.org