People who have taken IELTS

[esperando]

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering what people thought of the IELTS (English proficiency test).

I'm not applying for a FSW visa, but I had to take it last month in order to become eligible for a practice permit as an RN in Alberta. I grew up in the U.S. and my first language is English, so needless to say having to take the test was insulting enough. However, I was extremely surprised on the day of the test when I found out that the Listening portion of it was presented in Australian, Kiwi, or British accents because the test itself was developed among those three countries. I'm sitting there wondering, "How is this test supposed to measure how well a potential employee or immigrant will be able to communicate in English in CANADA?"

I would really appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks and good luck to everyone who is waiting or getting ready to apply.

[canada_dream100]

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering what people thought of the IELTS (English proficiency test).

I'm not applying for a FSW visa, but I had to take it last month in order to become eligible for a practice permit as an RN in Alberta. I grew up in the U.S. and my first language is English, so needless to say having to take the test was insulting enough. However, I was extremely surprised on the day of the test when I found out that the Listening portion of it was presented in Australian, Kiwi, or British accents because the test itself was developed among those three countries. I'm sitting there wondering, "How is this test supposed to measure how well a potential employee or immigrant will be able to communicate in English in CANADA?"

I would really appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks and good luck to everyone who is waiting or getting ready to apply.

IELTS is developed by Australian, British consulate & Cambridge university in USA.  IELTS examiner considers British & USA English for candidate's answer's evaluation. There are well planned 4 modules (sections) - reading, writing, speaking, listening. Candidate needs to take all 4 exam & candidate gets bands for each section. That score (band) is considered for evaluation at consulate office & consulate office awards points on basis of those bands.

"How is this test supposed to measure how well a potential employee or immigrant will be able to communicate in English in CANADA?"
Writing - A candidate needs to write his/her view in English.
Speaking - A candidate needs to communicate with examiner in English.
Reading - Candidate needs to find answers from given text
Listening - Candidate needs to fill the answers while a CD is played.

If a candidate does good in those exams, that means candidate is proving his/her skills in reading/writing/speaking/listening English.

[NeedAChange]

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering what people thought of the IELTS (English proficiency test).

I'm not applying for a FSW visa, but I had to take it last month in order to become eligible for a practice permit as an RN in Alberta. I grew up in the U.S. and my first language is English, so needless to say having to take the test was insulting enough. However, I was extremely surprised on the day of the test when I found out that the Listening portion of it was presented in Australian, Kiwi, or British accents because the test itself was developed among those three countries. I'm sitting there wondering, "How is this test supposed to measure how well a potential employee or immigrant will be able to communicate in English in CANADA?"

I would really appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks and good luck to everyone who is waiting or getting ready to apply.

Though not a native speaker I found the test to be not that tough. I studied in English medium through out so it was not that bad. But now a days institutions have starting using this to filter our candidates.

Just curious how much did you score in this test. I always wondered how would a native speaker would perform.

[esperando]

IELTS is developed by Australian, British consulate & Cambridge university in USA.  IELTS examiner considers British & USA English for candidate's answer's evaluation. There are well planned 4 modules (sections) - reading, writing, speaking, listening. Candidate needs to take all 4 exam & candidate gets bands for each section. That score (band) is considered for evaluation at consulate office & consulate office awards points on basis of those bands.

"How is this test supposed to measure how well a potential employee or immigrant will be able to communicate in English in CANADA?"
Writing - A candidate needs to write his/her view in English.
Speaking - A candidate needs to communicate with examiner in English.
Reading - Candidate needs to find answers from given text
Listening - Candidate needs to fill the answers while a CD is played.

If a candidate does good in those exams, that means candidate is proving his/her skills in reading/writing/speaking/listening English.

I don't think you understood the intent of my question. I'm asking, "How is taking a listening exam in an Australian or New Zealand accent relevant to a person's ability to communicate efficiently in Canada?" The majority of Canadians I know speak with a North American accent. I realize that both American and British English are considered acceptable on the IELTS. My issue is with the listening section, which also leads to questions about the appropriateness of the test as a whole. Of all the standardized English tests available, why would Canada use a test developed by the Australian & British Consulates and Cambridge University?

[esperando]

Though not a native speaker I found the test to be not that tough. I studied in English medium through out so it was not that bad. But now a days institutions have starting using this to filter our candidates.

Just curious how much did you score in this test. I always wondered how would a native speaker would perform.

I found the test extremely easy in some areas and more appropriate for testing a candidate's English skills in others. For example, several of the listening questions involved writing down exactly what someone was saying (simple dictation of telephone numbers, addresses, etc.). To me, this is nothing more than a very superficial form of language skills testing, more suitable for a Grade 5 foreign language class. On the other hand, I actually enjoyed the reading section because it required more than a surface understanding of the passage contents, i.e. I had to understand what the passage was about and use that understanding to answer the questions. As for the writing section, I love writing but I absolutely loathe timed essays, and that may have contributed to the lower-than-expected score. Overall, without any preparation or knowledge of IELTS, my score was 8.5.

[Sisifo]

Of all the standardized English tests available, why would Canada use a test developed by the Australian & British Consulates and Cambridge University?

Well isn't the Queen still the titular head of Canada ?? Besides what other standardised test is there for English ?? TOEFL - complaint from many years ago was that you needed to understand the American accent.
Easier for the rest of the world to tackle an exam spoken in an accent that is either British , Australian or Kiwi rather than American.

[esperando]

Well isn't the Queen still the titular head of Canada ?? Besides what other standardised test is there for English ?? TOEFL - complaint from many years ago was that you needed to understand the American accent.
Easier for the rest of the world to tackle an exam spoken in an accent that is either British , Australian or Kiwi rather than American.

I was under the impression that the English proficiency requirement for non-Canadians was to evaluate their English skill level and ensure that they will not have issues communicating whilst living and working in Canada. TOEFL does require understanding of the American accent, which, to me, is closer to what Canadians sound like than Australian, New Zealand, or British accents. In other words, for the very reason you mentioned, wouldn't TOEFL be a more appropriate way to measure one's level of Canadian English?

To set IELTS as the standard required test for immigrating to Canada simply because it was developed by Commonwealth countries does not seem like a practical solution to being anti-TOEFL. If anything, maybe Canada should develop its own standardized English test.

[canada_dream100]

I was under the impression that the English proficiency requirement for non-Canadians was to evaluate their English skill level and ensure that they will not have issues communicating whilst living and working in Canada. TOEFL does require understanding of the American accent, which, to me, is closer to what Canadians sound like than Australian, New Zealand, or British accents. In other words, for the very reason you mentioned, wouldn't TOEFL be a more appropriate way to measure one's level of Canadian English?

To set IELTS as the standard required test for immigrating to Canada simply because it was developed by Commonwealth countries does not seem like a practical solution to being anti-TOEFL. If anything, maybe Canada should develop its own standardized English test.

I am not sure if you are aware that CELPIP (Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program) is also accepted for same,
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/language-testing.asp