IELTS Research Reports

Construct validity in the IELTS Academic Reading test6.3 Further researchMcNamara (1999), as noted earlier, has identified three areas of focus in appraising the validity of areading proficiency test:task stimulus i.e. the texts that candidates engage with on the testtask processes i.e. the reader-text interactions that actually take place in the completingof the testtask demand i.e. the test items, which prescribe certain types of interaction between thereader and text.This list provides a useful framework for thinking about further study into the IELTS AcademicReading Test. In relation to ‘task stimulus’, the issue of text selection on tests has already beenidentified as an area of priority. Such an investigation would also be well complemented by additionalresearch into the nature of texts typically used in studies in the disciplines in the contemporaryuniversity (Green, Unaldi & Weir, 2010). Whilst the present study observed the continuingimportance of traditional texts such as textbooks and journal articles, the ever-increasing role playedby various electronic media was also noted. Any efforts to enhance the validity of the text componentof the test (‘task stimulus’) would need to be based on a thorough and up-to-date understanding ofthese developments, along with the dynamic effects they appear to be having on literacy practices inthe academy.Another area of interest is the way that students actually read and interact with reading materials whenengaged with specific academic tasks (‘task processes’). Whilst the analysis used in the present studyallowed us to make some estimate of what was required to complete certain tasks, it was not possibleto know definitively from the data what the ‘psychological reality’ would be for students actuallyengaged in such tasks. Indeed research in the field of activity theory (Lantolf and Thorne, 2006) hasshown that one must be wary about assuming any straightforward correspondence between the ‘taskassigned’and the ‘task-performed’ (Coughlan & Duff, 1994). Weir et al’s (2009) study provides usefulgeneral information about student performance on the reading test and the TLU situation. Additionalresearch could also be conducted to find out about how these processes compare between performanceon specific test items and on larger ‘literacy events’ in academic study (Barton & Hamilton, 1998).Finally, in the area of ‘task demand’, the present study was relatively small-scale in its design,investigating the assessment requirements in only a limited number of subject areas. The largelyqualitative findings obtained could be complemented by larger-scale survey research which lookedinto reading requirements across a wider range of disciplines and institutions. To have a fuller pictureof university reading would not only help in processes of test validation, but also assist us in a broadereducational aim – to be able to prepare our students as best we can for the challenges and demandsthey will face in their studies.IELTS Research Reports Volume 11255