More and more private language schools provide IELTS preparation courses for candidates who want to sit the test for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate courses in English-speaking countries. This essay investigates whether the IELTS preparation course in a language school in China offers an adequate preparation for candidates. The study focuses on one preparation course for the IELTS reading test (other modules are beyond the scope of the present study). A questionnaire and interview questions concerning both the IELTS reading test and the preparation course were given to 20 candidates and two teachers by e-mail.This study first analyzed the reading skills tested in the IELTS reading test and discussed possible test difficulties. It then investigated the IELTS reading preparation course by means of candidate feedback on course expectations, course structure, teaching materials and teaching methods. The feedback shows that the course fulfilled the candidates’ expectations, i.e. it taught them useful test-taking techniques and reading skills. The teachers’ responses indicate that the course achieved its objective to familiarize candidates with the IELTS reading test. The study results demonstrate that the preparation course is test-based, teaching candidates IELTS test-taking strategies, which effectively prepare candidates for the IELTS test. Candidates and teachers also offered suggestions for future course improvement.

This study investigates the use and relevance of the most widely used test of English proficiency in the era of globalization, i.e. IELTS. It discusses different versions of the test along with their corresponding components. General Training IELTS Writing Task 2 is the central focus of the thesis, and as the result of the test directly impacts the future trajectories of the test takers' professions, the issue is of real life relevance and significance. The study concentrates on three of the scoring criteria included in the General Training IELTS writing rubric which are used to assess test-takers’ achievements on cohesion and coherence, lexical diversity, and grammatical range and accuracy. As the rubric attributes increases in these three measures solely to higher levels of proficiency in English and ignores the impact of such factors as age of the test-takers and their level of education, keeping proficiency level constant can be expected to result in a uniform performance on those measures. For this reason, groups of English native speakers (as homogenous groups with the highest possible level of proficiency) constituted the participants in this study who contributed to the written texts which were later analyzed as the primary data. It was attempted to see if they would exhibit invariably equal levels of performance on those three areas in their writing. In addition, the IELTS website openly states the so-called Standard English varieties spoken by native speakers in Britain, Canada, US, Australia, and New Zealand as the basis of its proficiency assessment. Analyzing texts written by groups of native speakers from those countries could verify the proposed validity of such claims.   The data used in this study consisted of texts written by English native speakers retrieved from the LOCNESS Corpus as well as some texts collected through two especially designed Google Forms. The texts later underwent automated textual analysis using an online program called Coh-Metrix to collect their textual features in the form of numeric indices on the areas of cohesion and coherence, lexical diversity, and grammatical range and accuracy. Those indices were then analyzed for statistically significant differences using such statistical procedures as ANOVA analyses, t-tests, and correlation studies. Findings indicated significant differences among different groups of English native speakers on the investigated measures. It is argued that IELTS not only fails to capture the contemporary realities around the use of English worldwide but also assesses test takers on expectations which are not met even by English native speakers. Due to the diverse use of English in professional as well as daily encounters in the age of globalization, it is most probable that a single way of assessing English proficiency fails to meet the requirements of every single context of English use, and it is more justified for recruiting organizations to base their proficiency assessment on more locally-defined norms and practices.

This thesis investigates the relationship which both academic vocabulary and lexical bundles have to academic performance at university. While academic vocabulary is defined in terms of the University Word List (Coxhead, 2000), lexical bundles are identified as groups of four words that commonly co-occur, such as on the other hand and as a result of. A corpus of student essay writing in a single discipline, psychology, was developed over the course of a three-year undergraduate degree. To provide a benchmark against which to compare the student academic writing, a corpus of published articles in the same discipline was developed. The VocabProfile program (Cobb, 2002) was used to establish the density of academic vocabulary in the student essays. Similarly, the density of lexical bundle use was analysed by means of WordSmith Tools (Scott, 2012). The densities were then correlated against students’ academic performance as measured by their essay results. Comparisons were also made between the use of academic vocabulary and lexical bundles by first- and additional-language speakers, and by first- and third-year students. A keyness analysis enabled comparisons of academic vocabulary and bundle usage by high and low achievers. An additional aspect of this study was the comparison of densities of academic vocabulary and lexical bundles found in the IELTS writing test and in student essays, and the correlation of IELTS reading and writing test scores to students’ academic performance. The students’ vocabulary knowledge was also tested by the application of receptive and productive vocabulary tests, and the results compared to their academic performance. Results indicate that the 10 000-word level is a stronger predictor of academic performance than either the 5000-word level or academic vocabulary, and that there is a significant relationship between the density of lexical bundle use by students and their academic performance. Both vocabulary measures are therefore arguably better predictors of academic performance than the IELTS test scores. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

[ES] Las artes mejoran nuestras vidas, realzan nuestro sentido de la estética y pueden ser un instrumento valioso para los educadores de idiomas y para los estudiantes de idiomas en el contexto del inglés como lengua extranjera. Este estudio evaluó el papel de las inteligencias múltiples y la educación artística en el desempeño de los candidatos del sistema internacional de pruebas de idioma inglés. (IELTS) en la sección de lectura del examen IELTS y sus motivaciones. El investigador diseñó las tareas de lectura artística visual para las habilidades de lectura del IELTS de acuerdo con las definiciones de Armstrong (2009) de tareas artísticas visuales para las habilidades de lectura, incluidas a) tareas artísticas visuales para el aprendizaje de vocabulario yb) tareas artísticas visuales para las habilidades de comprensión lectora del IELTS. En este estudio participaron 54 candidatos de IELTS que asistieron a un aula de lectura de IELTS en un instituto de inglés. El grupo experimental (N=27) implementó un programa de educación artística para aprender habilidades de lectura IELTS, y el método tradicional de instrucción se utilizó para el grupo de control (N=27). Primero, se administró una prueba previa de lectura IELTS a ambos grupos. Luego, se aplicó a todos los participantes la escala MIDAS de Shearer (1996) en 119 ítems. Al final del curso, todos los participantes realizaron una prueba posterior de lectura del IELTS y un cuestionario de motivación. Los resultados indicaron que el programa de integración artística resultó en un desempeño superior de los candidatos en el grupo tradicional en el examen de lectura IELTS, en comparación con el grupo de control. Además, la motivación de los candidatos al IELTS que asistieron a un programa de educación artística aumentó significativamente y tuvieron actitudes muy positivas sobre la integración del arte en las aulas de lectura del IELTS. Los resultados revelaron que las inteligencias múltiples de todos los candidatos al IELTS impactaron positivamente su desempeño en el examen de lectura IELTS, y Musical, Kinestésico Visual-espacial contribuyó más al desempeño en el examen de lectura IELTS y visual/espacial en tercer lugar, y después de eso, La inteligencia lingüística tuvo un papel importante en la mejora de las puntuaciones de lectura de los candidatos al IELTS. La inteligencia lógica/matemática tiene un impacto moderado, la interpersonal y naturalista, y la inteligencia intrapersonal tuvo un impacto menos significativo en el desempeño de los candidatos del IELTS en la sección de lectura. Además, los resultados indicaron que la inteligencia musical y la inteligencia cinestésica hicieron una contribución única y significativa al desempeño de predicción de los candidatos en el examen de lectura IELTS. Después de eso, la inteligencia visual-espacial y la lingüística desempeñaron un papel importante, respectivamente. / [CA] Les arts milloren les nostres vides, milloren el nostre sentit de l'estètica i poden ser un instrument preciós per als educadors d'idiomes i per als aprenents d'idiomes en el context d'anglès com a lengua extranjera. Aquest estudi va avaluar el paper de les intel·ligències múltiples i l'educació artística en el rendiment dels candidats a l'sistema internacional de pruebas de idioma inglés. (IELTS) a la secció de lectura de l'examen IELTS i les seves motivacions. L'investigador va dissenyar les tasques visuals de lectura artística per a les habilitats de lectura IELTS d'acord amb les definicions d'Armstrong (2009) de tasques artístiques visuals per a les habilitats lectores, incloent a) tasques artístiques visuals per a l'aprenentatge de vocabulari i b) tasques artístiques visuals per a les habilitats de comprensió lectora IELTS. En aquest estudi van participar 54 candidats a l'IELTS que van assistir a una aula de lectura IELTS en un institut d'anglès. El grup experimental (N = 27) va implementar un programa d'educació artística per aprendre habilitats de lectura IELTS, i es va utilitzar el mètode tradicional d'instrucció per al grup de control (N = 27). En primer lloc, es va administrar una prova prèvia de lectura IELTS per als dos grups. A continuació, es va administrar a tots els participants l'escala MIDAS de Shearer (1996) en 119 ítems. Al final del curs, tots els participants van fer una prova posterior de lectura IELTS i un qüestionari de motivació. Els resultats van indicar que el programa d'integració artística va donar lloc a un rendiment superior als candidats en el grup tradicional a l'examen de lectura IELTS, en comparació amb el grup control. A més, la motivació dels candidats a l'IELTS que van assistir a un programa d'educació artística va augmentar significativament, i van tenir actituds molt positives sobre la integració de l'art a les aules de lectura de l'IELTS. Els resultats van revelar que la intel·ligència múltiple de tots els candidats a l'IELTS va afectar positivament el seu rendiment a l'examen de lectura IELTS, i el musical, cinestèsic i visual-espacial va contribuir més al rendiment de l'examen de lectura IELTS i visual/espacial en tercer lloc, i després d'això, la intel·ligència lingüística va tenir un paper important en la millora de les puntuacions de lectura dels candidats a l'IELTS. La intel·ligència lògica/matemàtica té un nivell moderat, interpersonal i naturalista, i la intel·ligència intrapersonal va tenir un impacte menys significatiu en el rendiment dels candidats a l'IELTS a la secció de lectura. A més, els resultats van indicar que la intel·ligència musical i la intel·ligència cinestèsica van fer una contribució única significativa al rendiment de predicció dels candidats a l'examen de lectura IELTS. Després d'això, la intel·ligència visual-espacial i la lingüística van tenir un paper important, respectivament. / [EN] The arts improve our lives, enhance our sense of aesthetics, and can be a precious instrument for language educators and for language learners in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. This study evaluated the role of Multiple intelligences and Art-education in International English Language Testing System (IELTS) candidates' performance in the reading section of IELTS exam and their motivations. The researcher designed the visual Artistic Reading tasks for IELTS reading skills according to Armstrong's (2009) definitions of visual artistic tasks for reading skills, including a) visual artistic tasks for vocabulary learning and b) visual artistic tasks for IELTS reading comprehension skills. 54 IELTS candidates who attended an IELTS reading classroom in an English institute participated in this study. The experimental group (N=27) implemented an art-education program for learning IELTS reading skills, and the traditional method of instruction was used for the control group (N=27). First, an IELTS reading pretest was administered for both groups. Then, the MIDAS scale by Shearer (1996) in 119 items was administered to all participants. At the end of the course, all participants took an IELTS reading post-test and a motivation questionnaire. The results indicated that the art integration program resulted in candidates' outperformance in the traditional group in the IELTS reading exam, compared with the control group. Also, the motivation of IELTS candidates who attended an art education program was significantly increased, and they had very positive attitudes about integrating art in the IELTS reading classrooms. The results revealed that all the IELTS candidates' Multiple intelligences positively impacted their performance in the IELTS Reading exam, and the Musical, Kinesthetic Visual-spatial contributed the most to the IELTS reading exam performance and visual/spatial in third place, and after that, linguistic intelligence had a significant role in enhancing IELTS candidates' reading scores. Logical/mathematical intelligence has a moderate, interpersonal and naturalistic, and intrapersonal intelligence had a less significant impact on the IELTS candidates' performance in the reading section. Furthermore, the results indicated that musical intelligence and kinesthetic intelligence made a significant unique contribution to the prediction performance of candidates in the IELTS reading exam. After that, visual-spatial and linguistic intelligence played a significant role, respectively. / Heidari Panah, L. (2024). The Role of Multiple Intelligences and Art-Education in performance of IELTS candidates on Reading comprehension section of IELTS Exam and their motivations [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/202762