The Development of IELTS (Paperback)

Caroline Clapham

ISBN 10: 0521567084 / ISBN 13: 9780521567084

Published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996

About this Item

Paperback. This book investigates the ESP claim that tertiary level ESL students should be given reading proficiency tests in their own academic subject areas, and studies the effect of background knowledge on reading comprehension. It is set against a background of recent research into reading in a first and second language, and emphasises the impact that schema theory has had on this. Results from versions of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) reading subtests are analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Rhetorical function, academic/topic specificity, EAP teacher uncertainty, student familiarity and varying background knowledge are all identified as causes of variation in the appropriacy of reading passages. The book concludes by considering the implications of the findings for future test construction and research into reading. This book investigates the ESP claim that tertiary level ESL students should be given reading proficiency tests in the own academic subject areas, and studies the effect of background knowledge on reading comprehension. It is set against a background of recent research in reading in a first and second language. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780521567084

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Development of IELTS (Paperback)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521567084
• ISBN 13: 9780521567084
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

This book studies the effect of background knowledge on reading comprehension and investigates the claim from the field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) that tertiary level students for whom English is a second language should be given reading proficiency tests in their own academic subject areas. The volume includes a comprehensive overview of recent research into reading, in both a first and second language, an account of the development of the reading subtests for IELTS, a full description of the pilot and main phases of the empirical study, a discussion of the relative importance of language proficiency and background knowledge in reading comprehension, consideration of the study's implications for future test construction and research into reading.

Book Description

This book studies the effect of background knowledge on reading comprehension and investigates whether tertiary level English language students should be given reading proficiency tests in their own academic subject areas.