Studies in Language Testing 4

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 study is set against a background of recent research into reading in a first and second language, especially the impact of schema theory in this field. Students took two versions of the INternational ENglish Language Testing System (IELTS) test which, at that time, had reading modules in three different academic areas. Statistical and content analyses were undertaken to explore the complex relationship between students' familiarity with the subject areas, the nature and extent of their background reading activities, and their performance in a reading test.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 backgroudn knowledge in reading comprehension - consideration of the study's implications for future test construction and research into reading. The volume is based upon Caroline Clapham's doctoral dissertation completed at Lancaster University in 1994, which later received the TOEFL Outstanding Doctoroal Dissertation research award gioven by Educational TEsting Service (ETS). The book is a useful resource for those directly involved with IELTS, as well as others interested in the testing of reading and of English for academic purposes.