Mr. Andrew Thomas, IELTS Principal Examiner, who recently came to St. Petersburg for a few of days to conduct two seminars for English teachers, university lectures and a master-class for potential IELTS candidates, has kindly agreed to answer a few questions for Britannia website.

“Britannia“: How did the idea appear to design another English language test, with TOEFL and other tests already available? Why was IELTS developed?

Andrew Thomas: There was felt to be a need in the 1980s for a test of International English. The tests at that time were considered either British or American-oriented tests, testing only one variety of English in the Listening and Reading parts of the test. The original intention was to assess the level of English of international students who wanted to study in any English-speaking country. Initially, the focus was on English for Further Education. It was seen as a test of EAP, English for Academic Purposes.

“Britannia“: Taking IELTS, candidates aim at a particular score. You said that only if your student wants to become an IELTS examiner will he want Band 9 – no other reasons?

Andrew Thomas: That is the only purpose I am aware of. There is no other higher cut-off point except for becoming an IELTS examiner. The highest demands I know come from certain recognizing organizations, professional associations, accounting organizations, certain medical bodies – but even they don’t require higher than Band 7.5 or 8.0.

“Britannia“: Do you think it’s possible to get ready for IELTS on your own, without a teacher?

Andrew Thomas: You can get to a certain level on your own, by using available materials, textbooks, online resources. But very often there is a sticking point around about perhaps Band 7. Then you may lack specific strategies for bridging the gap between 7 and 8. If you don’t have a lot of natural aptitude, then you might not see why you can’t get above Band 7. You don’t realise, for example, if you are not writing an overview in Academic Writing Task 1, or you are spending too much time reading the text in detail instead of focusing on the questions. For Band 7 onwards you may need specific individualised, personalised feedback.

“Britannia“: What should we look at when choosing an IELTS preparation coursebook?

Andrew Thomas: You need to look for a balanced approach between developing language skills, language proficiency, and giving enough specific test-taking techniques, because if students themselves can’t see the face validity of the textbook, they would say, “That seems like a General English textbook; where is it telling me about how to prepare for IELTS? I want something which is more specifically focused on test preparation!”

Test-preparation teachers are often under a lot of pressure to just give their students practice tests. Students think that the only way to obtain a particular score is by doing practice tests. A certain amount of learner training is necessary to make them realise the importance of raising their general language skills, their overall language proficiency. So language development has to go hand in hand with specific test preparation.

“Britannia“: Have you ever come across a course which was unsatisfactory? Claiming to be a preparation course book but being too exam-oriented or too general?

Andrew Thomas: I’ve come across several. They were written for the local market in non-English-speaking countries. But the major publishers are not going to make any big mistakes. They use well-known text-book writers who know how to present material with sound methodology and learn about the test before applying their textbook-writing skills to a new field.

“Britannia“: So the solution is just not to buy locally published books?

Andrew Thomas: That’s good advice. I am not aware of any textbooks produced in Russia for IELTS preparation, but that is the basic rule: rely on the major publishing houses, whether it’s Macmillan or Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Pearson…

“Britannia“: Should we always try out new books, or things do not basically change with IELTS?

Andrew Thomas: As far as the format of the test is concerned, the most recent change took place about five years ago, when in the General Training Reading component, work-related texts were included. So any textbook materials which were produced more than about 5 or 6 year ago wouldn’t have that same focus on work-related situations in the General Training Reading Test. There have been relatively few changes since IELTS was launched in 1989, and the test-producers have to give at least two years’ notice to publishers, if there is going to be any change in the test.

“Britannia“: Are there any ideas of putting IELTS online, like TOEFL?

Andrew Thomas: I’m sure all options for test-delivery are being considered! But think of the implications: a lot of research has to go into retraining examiners to rate from keyboard-written text instead of hand-written scripts. I’ve been part of a small research project where we were given hand-written and typed text and asked to see whether there was any impact on the raters. And I think there actually may be. You have to consider the possible need to train examiners to assess typed text if they’ve been previously trained on assessing hand-written texts. There could be subtle differences.

“Britannia“: Are there any areas or skills that IELTS does not cover? If someone decided to develop another test, what would be worth improving?

Andrew Thomas: IELTS doesn’t attempt to integrate skills. The candidates are assessed on the specific macro-skills: Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing. Other test providers claim to integrate skills. But do stakeholders actually want scores which reflect integrated skills? In the IELTS experience, stakeholders want to know the level of a candidate’s listening ability, what their speaking is like, their reading or their writing.

“Britannia“: So do you think that integrated skills testing is better than separate skills testing?

Andrew Thomas: It’s harder to interpret. For example, many users of a standardised language test want to know what someone’s Speaking score is, not what their combined Speaking-and-Writing score is.

“Britannia“: Do you think IELTS is going to replace all other language tests?

Andrew Thomas: (laughs) That would be wishful thinking! Other test providers have been on the scene for longer. Look at the Cambridge Main Suite tests – some have been around for almost a hundred years! But given that IELTS has grown to become very successful and highly respected, it’s obviously not a flash in the pan. I don’t think it’s very likely that the popularity of IELTS is going to evaporate overnight.

The workshops, lectures and master class were organised by our partners, Students International IELTS Test centre.