Comments on: What is “Competent English”?

By: Australian Immigration And Citizenship | Australia Information

Australian Immigration And Citizenship | Australia Information — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:33:41 +0000

[…] have also been trying hard to make local friends by learning some Australianisms (in Taiwan we are expected to learn American English) and by trying to figure out interesting […]

By: Dariush Izadi

Dariush Izadi — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 01:35:34 +0000

Excellent blog, grace!
If IELTS is a standard test and claims to set the “Standard”, why is it that the candidates I know take the test first to get rid of the formality and then strive to improve their real English! As a nonnative speaker of English, I had to take the test twice and the outcome of my first attempt was much better than that of my second one, though I had been living in an English speaking country for about a year at the time of my second attempt! In addition, although IELTS is used as an entry requirement to demonstrate English Language proficiency for universities and as a requirement for immigration purposes, research into IELTS writing (Academic Modules, 1&2) and speaking shows that the topics in IELTS are not in line with those of university assignments! (Chalhoub-Deville, M. 1995: Deriving oral assessment scales across different tests and rater groups. Language Testing, 16–33). By the way, what is meant by “competent English”? Oh, let’s take the test and then figure it out!

By: Jean Cho

Jean Cho — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 07:05:59 +0000

Thanks Grace for such an insightful posting! Last year, I was required to present IELTS scores to do PhD at Macquarie, because I didn’t have any overseas academic qualifications to evidence my English competence. They simply disregarded the fact that I had taught at an Australian university for 5 years and Ingrid and I worked so hard to convince them that my English was sufficient to pursue a higher-degree. We lost the fight and I had to sit the test to prove my English skills through “official” methods… The whole process took about 4 months and I cannot help but wonder what my 5-year teaching experiences in Australia mean…

By: khan

khan — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:59:57 +0000

Dear Grace Chu-Lin Chang,

Wonderful post. Looking forward to reading more from you.

Khan