In what ways can the IELTS test be described as integrated?
The term ‘integrated’ is sometimes used to refer to different features or qualities of testing procedures or test tasks, e.g. close tasks have been described as ‘integrative’ as opposed to ‘discrete-point’. A more common approach today is to talk about testing ‘integrated skills’; this usually means that completion of a test task involves using more than one macro-skill, e.g. a speaking or writing task depends upon the test-taker processing some associated reading and/or listening input. The term ‘integrated’ may also be used to suggest that test tasks bear a close resemblance to ‘real-life’ language activities. For example, Task 1 of the Academic Writing Module gives candidates some visual input (a diagram or table) and asks them to present the information in their own words. Task 1 of the General Training module involves reading a short prompt about a particular situation and using the information it contains to write an appropriate letter of response. Task 2 for both modules present
