IELTS Research Reports

An empirical investigation of the process of writing Academic Readingtest items for the International English Language Testing SystemAPPENDIX B: BACKGROUND QUESTIONNAIRESVictoria Mathilda MaryQualificationsBA English and LinguisticsPostgraduate Diploma in Education/MATESOLBA Communication andEnglish Language/MAPragmaticsBA Politics Certificate in EnglishLanguage Teaching to Adults(CELTA)Diploma in English LanguageTeaching to Adults (DELTA)6 years teachingExperiencein EL18 years teaching, 5 years as an examiner,2 years in publishingAs advanced learnerExperienceof IELTSIELTS examiner (writing and speaking),IELTS preparation teacherAs test taker andpreparation course student2 years teaching IELTSpreparationCommentson IELTSThrough working as an examiner I havenoticed that I sometimes get repeatcandidates who score very well: band 8+ onthe other three tests and then perform poorlyin comparison on reading. Unfortunately forthese candidates they have to score wellon all four tests. One candidate I have beenexamining for the last two years. She is apharmacist originally from Lebanon who inorder to practise in the UK needs band 7 ormore for all four tests.My current employer used to run its owninternal IELTS test for placement purposes.The tests used were past papers. Here toocandidates/ students consistently performedbadly on reading in relation to the otherthree tests.My impression is thatfactual texts by faroutweigh literary texts(if any). The latter mightbe more suitable for peopleintending to study/workwith the literary or similargenre rather than in atechnical field.I find the reading test to bevery dense which does helpthe student concentrate onthe skills needed for reading,instead of just the reading. Ithink this is a really positivething. However, I think some ofthese skills are quite specificand need to be taught (whichcould be seen as quite anegative thing. I think the TrueFalse and Not Given questionsare not always presented well inpractise materials.I find the reading topics to bequestionable sometimes.Interestingly, native speakers are reputed tonot score well on IELTS readingTable 10. Non-Experienced Item WritersIELTS Research Reports Volume 11333