Page 35 - ELG2503 March Issue 493

FEATURE

and rather repetitive. Although complex September 2021, a writing test that spends System from Cambridge, is that, although
sentences are attempted, they tend to be 40 minutes on listening to a lecture and the IELTS keeps its full marking descriptors
faulty, and the greatest accuracy is achieved reading a summary before writing for only under wraps, for examiners only, most of the
on simple sentences. Grammatical errors may twenty minutes to paraphrase the contents information on how candidates are assessed
be frequent and cause some difficulty for the has low content validity. is to be found in the partial descriptors for
reader. Punctuation may be faulty.’ Listening to a lecture, reading an article teachers and students to read.
The key phrase here is ‘complex sentences and contrasting the main points made in After examining the TOEFL Writing
are attempted’ but faulty, and simple the two has high context validity, in that scoring system and descriptors, it remains
sentences are more accurate. The TOEFL this is certainly something students are unclear how the new TOEFL assesses test-
descriptors seem rather throwaway in expected to do in academia. However, takers grammar from their work in the writing
comparison overall, as they are only one it is a test of reading and listening as much as exam. Perhaps the teacher should keep their
quarter of the length. it actually assesses the learners’ writing. explanation ironically simple.
In terms of the usefulness and meaning of As the actual writing period is so short, it Grammar is scored ‘good,’ or ‘very good.’
the TOEFL scoring, it seems that the top US is not very demanding on the test-takers’ ‘Very good’ will get you into university, ‘good’
universities ask for 100 out of 120 over all ability to write grammatically correct needs a bit more work. As such, it may be
four skills, whereas less prestigious colleges sentences. difficult for teachers and learners to have
will accept 50. On the other hand, IELTS In contrast, the IELTS gives an hour for confidence in the TOEFL examination,
candidates can easily understand that they essay writing, giving only a two sentence an unnecessarily stressful situation for
need a 6.5 overall to enter a postgraduate prompt and leaving ample time to prospective undergraduates whose whole
degree at Masters level in the UK or brainstorm and plan your essay, matching financial future is at stake.
Australia, and so on. the tasks actually performed in academia
This greater consistency does suggest more closely.
higher academic standards in the UK. There Therefore, the level of grammatical Joanna Buckle has worked
is no scoring by points to convert, as scores accuracy and range tested is very much as an English language teacher
are holistic, let alone a system that is out of higher in the IELTS exam, and the test more for nine years, most recently
120, not 100, and is therefore more difficult stringent. To produce two essays, the first of for The American University
to calculate. A perfect score, meaning a 150 words, and the second of 250 words on of Sharjah. She has an MA
test-taker is a native-speaker of excellent a previously unseen question in one hour is in English Language Teaching
competence, is a 9, but no one is expected to obviously a far more difficult writing task than and is currently working on her second book
score this highly, as a rule. PhD study requires to write for only 20 minutes on visual and of fiction. Her first book, ‘Trailing Gold’, was
a score of 7.5. auditory prompts. published this year. Joanna has previously
As mentioned in my previous article on Another point in the favour of using the
this topic, published in EFL Magazine in International English Language Testing published five articles on the topic of ELT.

Updated
2023

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