IELTS Research Reports

Tim Moore, Janne Morton and Steve PriceThe second sample, Sample A2, is a multiple choice question set in an exam context. The lecturerin this subject (Media Studies) explained in interview, that this particular question, related to “quitespecific information” contained in the textbook (and also covered in lectures), and would involvestudents, as he explained, recalling “basically factual information about one of the core beliefs ofthis intellectual movement” (Correct response: C). Other multiple-choice questions on the exam inthis subject, the lecturer explained, followed a similar format, requiring the same literal recall ofkey content covered on the course. It was noted however, that the exam paper in Media Studies alsoincluded other question types (eg short essays), the specifications of which, as we shall see, fit withother configurations on our matrix.The sample tasks we have described cover two of the task formats noted above, namely:1 weekly exercises and questions, set principally for the purpose of lecture and tutorialpreparation/review.2 questions and tasks set in formal examinationsIt is interesting to note that virtually all the ‘local – literal’ examples in our corpus relate to thesetwo formats; that is to say, tasks set principally for the purposes of either inputting key concepts andknowledge during a course of study, or else for the testing of students’ acquisition of these conceptsand knowledge at the end of a course (or course segment). We discuss each of these two formatsbriefly below.Weekly exercises and questionsA number of lecturers stressed the importance of weekly exercise tasks as a way for students to acquire(or to have reinforced) key content in their subject area.COMPUTER SCIENCE: We set questions each week which are generic technicalquestions, and involve encyclopedia-style retrieval of the relevant information from thetextbook and lecture.As explained by some, such questions do not usually need to be answered formally, but often involve thetaking of notes (or ‘scribblings’) from the set readings, that students would then bring to class to discuss:MANAGEMENT: In terms of reading for the tutorials, there is definitely a set of studyquestions each week …where the students can scribble things down and that will form partof the discussions of the tutorials. So those questions are guiding them through the reading,comprehension questions to make sure they have understood the reading.As suggested in the discussion of Sample A1 above, a focus of these comprehension-style questions isoften on key concepts in the discipline. This was a point taken up by a number of informants.BIOLOGY: Students have a handbook of tutorial questions that they get at the start ofsemester. Their purpose very much is to filter out what is most important about a specificconcept. So in their reading they have to be able to look for the concepts and fish out themost crucial points.The lecturer in Physics explained that part of this ‘conceptual’ understanding involved studentsrecognising how terms within a discipline often carry with them quite distinctive meanings, ones thatdiffer from a term’s everyday usage:230 www.ielts.org