Critical Analysis of the Ielts Academic Reading Component

INTRODUCTION:

English as a second language test has been widely used and demanded by the people all over the world as it is an important aspect of learning process. They have an important role in the life of an individual as it will help in the decision making process of the individual such as in taking admission to the colleges and universities. It will help in developing the skills of an individual which will increase the overall performance in academics as well. Tests are taken as the indicator which helps in ascertaining the individual performance and helps in the critical decision about the future. (Sohamy, 1997)

International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is considered to be one of the famous second language test world-wide. The test helps in estimating the skills and knowledge in general of the student in the language. It is a task based test which helps in assessing proficiency and strategic competencies in language of an individual which will be required at the work place or in the admission at any university. It is considered as the basic requirement for the entry in various courses. The overall score rate achieved will be helpful in the decision making process about the test takers.

The report gives the detailed insight about the critical analysis of International English Language Testing System (IELTS) academic reading component. It examines the task divided under academic and general training module which has been used under the proficiency segment. It discusses about the review of the literature of the international proficiency test. The brief about the IELTS has been done in the report. Afterwards, the strengths as well as the weakness of the same have been detailed out. The remedial steps for the avoidance or to overcome the weakness of the test have been given in the conclusion.

 

LITERATURE REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL PROFICIENCY TEST:

As English is the international language, it requires to be taken seriously. Many of the tests for the proficiency have been constructed. The main issue under such type of second language test is the question of reliability and validity. The paper will study in detail about the issues concerning the test researchers as well as the users. The review of the literature under this segment focuses on the skills of the academic reading. The skills required under academic reading consist of the process which has been followed for the reading and the how the implied meaning of the context has been understood. The above two facts will help in assessing the skill test. (Hyltenstam & Pienemann, 1985)

Firstly, the process of reading has been dealt with. Under the process, it helps the reader to understand the meaning of the written symbols by using the content and quality. The first fact helps in building the relationship between the text content and the person who is reading the same i.e. the reader. Secondly, the explanation regarding the actual meaning of the context has been given. The person reading the context decodes the literature given and tries to understand the true meaning behind it. It helps in ascertaining about how the reader has understood the implied meaning of the context. It will be an indication of the level of understanding of the individual reading the literature.

There are many arguments with respect to the above, as the limited types of text has been used and taken into consideration for the learning process. According to the researchers, if only limited portion of the texts has been used then the test takers will be having the disadvantage as they will be able to understand the few text types instead of knowing the whole. The candidates won’t be able to understand and read the other text type which will hamper their growth. As per the studies, it has been stated that any type of text should be readable by the student or the test takers. (Hughes, 2003)

 

BRIEF OF IELTS ACADMEIC READING COMPONENT

As it has been found that, the language is considered to be prominent in assessing the individual. The IELTS academic reading component is one of the sections in IELTS which will focus on the assessment of the reading skills of the test takers. It has been known to everyone that language is the pre-requisite in taking admission to any university or getting the job at the workplace. Many institutions depend upon the results of such test conducted and is widely accepted globally. It is known that reading is the pre requirement for any written task as well. The test will be helpful in taking admission as graduates, undergraduates or post graduate level. (Clapham, 1996)

 

The IELTS reading test consist of three sections. The test needs to be completed in the duration of 60 minutes. Each section consists of a reading passage of different topic and the level of difficulty will be increased as the student move further section by section. There will be 40 questions in total to answer.

A vast variety of questions will be used in order to assess the various skills of reading if the test taker. The question given in the test will be in the form of MCQ’s (multiple choice question), match the following, writing or opting the appropriate summary, completing the sentences, interpretation of various pictures, graphs, charts and diagrams, short answer type, etc. The text given in the test is taken out of the books, journals, company booklet, advertisement, notices, social media such as newspaper, magazines, etc. The different styles of the text has been used to assess the individual such as explanatory type, descriptive type, analytical, narrative type or any other type such as the images, graphs, pictorial representation, etc has been used.  This has been taken for the general readers to understand. (Ielts-exam.net, 2015)

The number of correct answers is to be more in order to get good grades. The academic reading test is the challenging among the other tests specified in IELTS. It examines the various aspects of the reading skills which are academic and general reading skills. The different style and types of texts helps in the ascertainment of the reading skills of an individual.

 

POSITIVE ASPECTS:

As the variety of question has been given in the test which includes MCQ’s, gap filling, match the following, etc., it helps in assessing the test taker to the maximum extent. The IELTS reading test helps in the ascertainment of the reading ability of the candidate. All the skills required for the reading purpose has been tested under the section of reading test. (Hughes, 2003) According to Alderson, the variety of text should be tested of the candidate as it will give the advantage to the student over the other and helps in the responsiveness of the various reading text. As the test includes the various methods to check the level of the candidate, it agrees with the above view point.(Alderson, 2000)

As the topics given in the test has been taken from the authentic and reliable books, news paper, magazines, etc as said above, it is considered to be the positive aspect of the test. The text adapted has been modified a little so that the general reader will be able to understand. This will help the test takers to take it. The material provided will be helpful for the better understanding of the vocabulary. According to the candidates, it has been seen that they would believe about the authentication of the material and reading passage if it has been taken from the real sources and situations. The test helps in the authencity of the test. (Brown, 2007)

As it has been given, that the three sections consist of different topics and the difficulty level, it helps the individual in getting the knowledge if the variety of field for the candidates. It helps in the validity and reliability of the test and helps the candidates to know the various aspect of the reading in different context. This will help in knowing the understanding level of potential candidate in an overall way. (Harrison & Salinger, 2002)

 

NEGATIVE ASPECT:

The IELTS reading test consist of many types of proficiency assessments such as understanding the insight of the text, decoding graphs, diagrams, charts, tables, etc., segregation of exact scenario and ideas. But the test lack in some of the ways. The first and foremost problem is that university use academic pattern to evaluate critically while the ILETS uses very basic format. A deep concern is also the low score in IELTS reading test for the international students to achieve. (Bogaards & Laufer-Dvorkin, 2004)

One more concern is that the reading test is mainly based on culture. The question asked in the test are culture oriented and they can be answerable only by the people have a verse knowledge about it. So, it creates a difficult situation for the student appearing who do not belong to same culture of the place and came from somewhere else. As it is known that the test should be bases on ascertaining the general knowledge of the student but sometimes, it ask the technical thing which lead to a problem for the candidate and impacted negatively in their minds.

The background about a certain text will affect the overall understanding of the reading task. The candidate is expected to have the knowledge and being familiar about the reading context.

 

CONCLUSION:

As it is known, assessment is a crucial part in the designing, implementing, executing and evaluation the overall success of any project. Everything has positive as well as negative aspects of it. The same applies here to the IELTS reading component of it too. It has been discussed in detail about the positive aspects of it which are different style of material, variety of questions to be asked, coverage of many topic having varied interest, etc. The negative aspects are there such as the culture biased test, the local literal format used, etc. Out of which, inclusion of academic patterns and interpretative material will help in improving the IELTS test. The focus on the culture has to be kept at minimum for the ease of the student. As per the above analysis, the IELTS reading test will surely prove a boon to test takers and for achieving the success in their life.

 

REFERENCES:

  • Alderson, J. (2000). Assessing reading. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Bogaards, P., & Laufer-Dvorkin, B. (2004). Vocabulary in a second language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub. Co.
  • Brown, H. D. (2007).Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
  • Clapham, C. (1996). The development of IELTS. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Hyltenstam, K., & Pienemann, M. (1985).Modelling and assessing second language acquisition. Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters.
  • Harrison, C., & Salinger, T. (2002). Assessing reading 1. London: Routledge.
  • Hughes, A. (2003). Testing for language teachers (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridg UniversityPress.
  • Ielts-exam.net, (2015). IELTS Exam Preparation – IELTS Reading Samples. [online] Available at: http://www.ielts-exam.net/ielts_reading/ [Accessed 20 Aug. 2015].
  • Shohamy, E. (2001). The power of tests: A critical perspective on the use of language tests. Harlow, UK. Pearson Education.