A Case Study on Language Testing in an IELTS Reading Section and its Assessment

抄録

Language testing and its assessment are indispensable for many EFL teachers to check how well their students have been learning English for a certain period of time. IELTS has long been well-known as a high-stakes test that can assess the four skills of learners of English separately on a highly reliable evaluation basis. In fact, it is a gatekeeper for the examinees who are applying for universities or colleges abroad. Especially, reading skills, one of the receptive skills along with listening skills, involves great many complicated learning strategies that the EFL teachers need to keep in mind. In order to help the learners of English improve their reading abilities in the IELTS reading section, the EFL teachers have to be aware of what kinds of steps or procedures the test developers would take. This is exactly the starting point for me to investigate how we should design a high-stakes reading test in the future. This case study is based on an empirical study conducted with my graduate students enrolled at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. I would like to clarify the aim of the trial IELTS reading test and its assessment by taking a sequence of procedures and analyzing it qualitatively and quantitatively.