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Volume 11. Issue 3
Article 5

Title
Iranian Candidates' Attitudes towards IELTS

 Author
Iman Rasti

Bio Data:
   Iman Rasti is currently a PhD candidate in applied linguistics at Liverpool University. He teaches English and academic writing to speakers of other languages at Liverpool. His main research interests include discourse analysis, metadiscourse, and language assessment.  He has co-authored a book on how to teach IELTS preparation programs.
 
Abstract

IELTS, International English Language Testing System, is designed to assess the language ability of candidates who intend to study, work, or live where English is used as the language of communication. Highly significant growth in candidature particularly in South Asia and the Middle East clearly illustrates how globally IELTS is recognized currently. Statistics demonstrate that Iran was among the top 25 locations in which candidates took IELTS in 2003 (IELTS Annual Review, 2003). This study aimed at investigating the attitudes of Iranian candidates towards the IELTS test. Using test method facets (Bachman 1990, p. 119) as the theoretical framework, the relationship between examinees' characteristics and their attitudes were studied. This study used casual comparative (ex post facto) as its research method given the fact that there would be no manipulation of the variables involved. Accordingly, an attitude questionnaire was developed based on the theoretical framework of the study and then administered to 60 Iranian IELTS candidates who had taken the actual test in Iran.

The questionnaire was validated to ensure its reliability and validity. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with 12 candidates. In addition, narrative vignettes including candidates' written self-reports were produced by 20 candidates. Data were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The collected data were analyzed through t-tests and other statistical programs to see if there were any meaningful relationships between candidates’ age, sex, educational background, and test scores and their attitudes towards the IELTS test. Written protocols including transcribed interviews and candidates' written self- reports were codified for key concepts. The contribution of different test method facets (factors) on IELTS examinees’ performance was also identified. The finding indicated that almost 80% of the participants in this study had a positive attitude towards IELTS.

No meaningful relationship was found between Iranian candidates’ sex, age, educational background, and IELTS scores with their attitudes towards IELTS. Implications can be drawn for all the stakeholders including candidates intending to sit the test, institutes running IELTS preparation programs, teachers wishing to teach such programs and IELTS test administrators.

Key words: IELTS, Iranian candidates, Attitude, Test Method Facets

1. Introduction
1.1. Preliminaries
IELTS, which is now jointly administered by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), the British Council, and the IDP Education Australia, is required for anyone who wishes to pursue his education in an English speaking country or anyone who desires to migrate to or work in such countries. Hughes et al. (1988) believe that IELTS has an innovative format that reflects changes in language learning and teaching theory and developments in language testing.  Statistics clearly show that IELTS is growing more popular worldwide day in day out. Just as IELTS candidature is growing significantly, so is the number of organizations, universities, professional bodies and governments that recognize IELTS results. Iran was among the top 25 countries in terms of the number of candidates who took the IELTS test in 2003 (IELTS Annual Review, 2003). According to Keyvanfar (2005), in the last five years a great number of young Iranians have traveled to other countries and they have been required to take the IELTS or other proficiency exams for the assessment of their communicative abilities in English.
   The concept of attitude, on the other hand, has been the focus of attention in explanation of human behavior offered by social psychologists. Attitudes are usually defined as a disposition or tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain thing such as an idea, object, person or situation. Students have positive or negative attitudes towards the language they want to learn or the people who speak it. Having positive attitudes towards tests also is claimed to be one of the reasons which make students perform better on the tests (Malallaha 2000). A large number of studies have investigated the relationships between attitudes and proficiency in the language (see for example, Bachman 1976, Malallaha 2000, & Coleman et al. 2003). Gardner (1985) believes that attitude and other affective variables are as important as aptitude for language achievement.
   The present study, therefore, seeks to investigate the attitudes of Iranian candidates towards IELTS and determine whether their views towards this test have any significant effect on their performance on the actual IELTS tests.

1.2. Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study is to determine the attitudes of Iranian candidates towards the IELTS test and if their views have any significant relationship with their performance on the actual IELTS test. In addition, factors such as testing environment, test rubric, candidates' age, sex, and educational background and their relationship with candidates’ attitude will be investigated. The study, therefore, seeks answers to the following research questions:

1- What do Iranian candidates think of the IELTS test?
2- Is there a significant relationship between testees' characteristics including their sex, age, and educational background and their attitudes towards IELTS test?
3- Is there a significant relationship between Iranian IELTS candidates’ scores (performance) and their attitudes?
   The dependent variables in this study are Iranian candidates’ attitudes towards the IELTS test and their test scores. The independent variables are sex, age, educational background, and candidates' IELTS scores.

1.3. Significance of the Study
The present study hopes to gain significance as the results can help all the IELTS stakeholders including candidates intending to sit the test, institutes running IELTS preparation programs, teachers wishing to teach such programs and the IELTS test administrators in Iran.
   IELTS Joint-funded research program 2006/2007 states that one of the areas of interest for IELTS external research purposes is the investigation of attitudes of IELTS test takers. Thus, the study gains significance from this point of view as well.

1.4. Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework of this study is test method facets presented by Bachman (1990). She points out that performance on language tests can be affected by the facets such as familiarity of the place and equipment, personnel, time of testing, physical conditions and also individual attributes including factors such as age, sex and educational background and random factors including for example, idiosyncratic differences in the way different test administrators carry out their responsibilities. The attitude questionnaire administered in this study was developed based on the theoretical framework of the study. Figure 1.1 shows the theoretical framework of this study.

2. Review of literature
2.1. History of IELTS
English Language Testing Service (ELTS) which was originally designed as a test for prospective postgraduate students made its first appearance in 1980. ELTS replaced the English Proficiency Test Battery (EPTB), a traditional largely multiple choice test battery that had been used by the British Council in its overseas student recruitment operation since the mid 1960s for the purpose of screening international applicants to universities and colleges in the UK (Weir 1990). Hughes et al. (1988) believe that the new test had an innovative format that reflected changes in language learning and teaching theory and developments in language testing. They also state that ELTS was influenced by the growth in ‘communicative’ language learning and ‘English for specific purposes’. "Test tasks were based on an analysis of the ways in which language was used in academic contexts and were intended to reflect the use of language in the ‘real world’ " (ibid).
   During the 1980s the test numbers were quite low (4000 in 1981 rising to 10,000 by 1985) (Research Report 3, 1997) and it was clear that there were practical difficulties with the administration of the test, relating to the number of test items and the time taken to complete the test; there were also powerful reasons for change on the grounds of test redundancy (Hughes et al. 1988).
   In 1987 British Council and UCLES EFL (now known as Cambridge ESOL) commissioned Edinburgh University to conduct a validation study. (See Criper and Davies, 1988; Hughes, Porter and Weir, 1988). Following their report the ELTS Revision Project, under the academic direction of Professor Charles Alderson of Lancaster University, was set up to oversee the design and construction of the revised test (Alderson & Clapham, 1993). There was consensus to broaden the international participation in the revision project and in response to this the International Development Program of Australian Universities and Colleges (IDP), now known as IDP Education Australia, joined British Council and UCLES to form an international partnership, reflected in the new name for the test: The International English Language Testing System. The recommendations of the revision team to simplify and shorten ELTS were accepted and a compromise was sought "between practicality and maximum predictive power". The number of subject-specific modules was reduced from six to three and the Non-Academic test was replaced by the General Module. A growing demand from other student groups and receiving institutions, especially in Australia, as well as developments in testing theory led to the emergence of IELTS (International English language Testing System) in 1988 which was eventually launched in December 1989 (IELTS Australia Published Research Reports, 2004). "International" was taken as a prefix to acknowledge the involvement of the International Development Program Education Australia (IDPEA) that joined the British Council and the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) in managing the test (IELTS Handbook, 2003). Charge and Taylor (1997) believe that one important advantage of this aspect of the test's management was that it helped to prevent any perception of Eurocentric bias and instead ensured a fully international perspective. IELTS proponents claim that IELTS encourages, reflects and respects international diversity and is fair to anyone who sits the test, regardless of nationality, background, gender or lifestyle. The phrase “International English Language” in the IELTS’s name is significant as it emphasizes the scope of both the population of potential test takers and the varieties of English language to be measured. But what renders IELTS ‘international’? Chalhoub-Deville and Wigglesworth (2005) hold that in making the argument for the international nature of IELTS developers refer to the international partnership of the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations and the British Council, on the one hand, and the IDP of Australia, on the other, as a significant dimension of the test. One IELTS publication states: “the fact that test materials are generated in both the UK and Australia ensures that the content of each test reflects an international dimension” (IELTS, July 1996, p, 16). Chalhoub-Deville and Turner (2000) review IELTS research documents and manuals and argue that:
such collaboration and approach to test development is likely to avoid country- specific lexical or cultural knowledge that might disadvantage test takers who do not have specific knowledge. Nevertheless, this does not automatically render the test international. Research documenting claims that IELTS can be used as a measure of English as an international language needs to be made available. (p. 533.)
   Chalhoub-Deville and Turner also note a conspicuous absence of any reference to what might be referred to as the international English knowledge base, (e. g., Quirk and Widdosown, 1985; Kachru, 1992; Crystal, 1997). Ingram and Wylie (1993) state that IELTS is rooted more in the traditional skills and components models (e.g., Canale and Swain, 1980; Bachman, 1990; Bachman and Palmer, 1996). IELTS developers need to articulate the international English theoretical arguments and empirical research that inform the construct definition and motivate the design of the test and the intended interpretation and use of scores. Chalhoub-Deville and Wigglesworth (2005) regards international collaboration in test development and the ensuing sensitivity to English language variation in the international market a good foundation. Nevertheless, given the explicit reference in the name, they believe a research agenda that grounds construct formulation and test development efforts in the international English knowledge base is critical. Also, research is needed that systematically examines score interpretation in markets where the IELTS scores are being marketed and used. Therefore, IELTS developers need to engage in a research agenda that explores a range of international English language issues research.
   In keeping with this history of innovation, the IELTS partners continue to be committed to the ongoing development of the test. The IELTS reading, writing and listening were revised in April 1995 (see Charge and Taylor, 1997). A revision project for the Speaking Test was launched in 1998 and the revised IELTS Speaking Test was introduced in July 2001 (see Taylor, 2001). New assessment criteria for the Writing Test are operational from January 2005 (see Bridges and Shaw, 2004). A computerized version of IELTS (CB IELTS) designed in 2005 is now subject to successful trialing and validation.
   Maycock and Green (2005) claim that CB IELTS is a linear computer-based version of IELTS that has been under development since 1998. They maintain that CB IELTS is generally popular with candidates. Their findings are in keeping with results from similar studies (O’Sullivan et al. 2004, and Taylor et al. 1998) in that candidate ability and experience is not found to have any significant impact on the differences between Paper-based and CB IELTS scores for any of the tested skills. Green and Maycock (2004) believe that Computer-based IELTS test, in the context of growing computer use, increases the options available to candidates and allow them every opportunity to demonstrate their language ability in a familiar medium.
2.2. The Global Popularity of IELTS
Since 1989 the number of people taking the test rose by around 15% each year so that by 1995 there were over 43,000 candidates in 210 test centers around the world; while just under 30,000 people took the test in 1991(IELTS Annual Review, 2000/ 2001). The number of candidates taking IELTS in 2000 increased dramatically to more than 120,000 in over 200 countries (ibid). IELTS’ candidature had reached 212,000 by the end of 2001(ibid). Following a steady upward trend, this figure reached the peak of 475,000 people in 2003 (IELTS Annual Review, 2003). An analysis of the Candidate Information data collected from candidates who took the IELTS test in 1995 reveals that the majority of candidates (69%) take IELTS in South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand (Charge and Taylor, 1997). South Korea, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, India, Thailand, and China were among the top 10 locations in which candidates took the IELTS test (IELTS Annual Review, 2000/2001).
   Along with such global popularity, a large number of studies have been conducted worldwide to investigate issues related to IELTS. A number of studies, for instance, have investigated the preparation materials and IELTS publications in the market. Everett and Colman (2003) investigated the appropriateness of the content, organization, learning approaches and presentation of the listening and reading components of six of the most widely used IELTS publications. They also considered the broader issue of the role of the publications in preparing students for the IELTS and in the development of language skills in general, with particular reference to preparation for further study. The study finds that IELTS preparation materials should include more texts and tasks that would contribute to the social and academic acculturation of students. Morgan Terry (2003) claims that the strong motivation and serious purposes of IELTS candidates is taken for granted. However, he believes that publishers need to respond more to the growing market for IELTS preparation and to start investing in colorful, attractive, motivating publications that can help promote learning for IELTS candidates in the way they have for students preparing for other exams.
   Merrylees (2003) conducted a study to investigate two IELTS user groups: candidates who sit the test for immigration purposes and candidates who sit the test for secondary education purposes. He believed that with the increase in candidature of both user groups, there is an increasing need to investigate and analyze how each group is performing on the test in terms of nationality, age, gender and other factors. 
   A large number of studies have been also carried out investigating issues related to writing section of the IELTS test. For example, Mickan and Slater (2003) investigated candidates' interpretation of prompts and compared the written responses of English background speakers with those of IELTS intending candidates, who were not English background speakers. Their findings suggest implications for item writers and for teachers preparing candidates for IELTS examinations. O'Loughlin and Wigglesworth (2003) conducted a study on task difficulty in the IELTS Academic Writing Task 1. The study examined firstly, the extent to which the difficulty of the task is affected by the amount of information provided to the candidate and secondly, the extent to which the difficulty of the task is affected by the presentation of the information to the candidate. The findings indicated that there were no substantial differences in difficulty between the tasks, either in terms of the amount of information presented or in terms of the differences in presentation of the tasks. Annie Brown (2003) wanted to find out whether handwriting and neatness have any impact on the overall judgment of the IELTS writing quality of the candidates or not. The findings of her study clearly indicated that in general the quality of handwriting in IELTS does have an impact on the scores awarded to essays, and that increased legibility results in higher ratings. Robert Ayres (2003) designed and delivered an online academic writing course (www.ielts.ac.nz). His course is specifically targeted at prospective candidates of IELTS examinations with the aim to develop both writing proficiency and awareness of the IELTS examination format and requirement.
   Some studies have examined the relationship between IELTS preparation programs and candidates’ performance on the actual IELTS test. Read and Hayes (2003) for instance, investigated the impact of IELTS preparation programs on international students’ academic performance on tertiary study in New Zealand. The findings of this study revealed that there were a number of substantial differences between the performance of the group which was undergone preparation programs and the group which was not. Elder and O'Loughlin (2003) investigatedthe relationship between intensive English language study and band score gain on IELTS. The results of their study revealed that students made variable progress in English during the three month period with an average gain of about half a band overall. Rao, McPherson, Chand and Khan (2003) assessedthe impact of IELTS preparation programs on candidates’ performance on the General Training reading and writing test modules. The findings revealed that there was significant gain in the scores of candidates in the Writing module. The gain in the Reading module was not as dramatic. The researchers highlight the influence of several factors such as time, motivation, anxiety and the nature of the skill itself on the candidates’ performance during the preparation program, and in the actual IELTS exam. Brown (1998) examined the approaches to IELTS preparation, with particular focus on the Academic Writing component of the test. He presented an evaluation of an English Language Intensive Course for Overseas Students (ELICOS) language program and found out that IELTS preparation programs are more successful in preparing students for the IELTS test than EAP courses. 
   Compared with such studies, however, it seems that fewer studies have been carried out to examine and identify the IELTS candidates' attitudesand views towards this test. The attitudes of IELTS stakeholders were once investigated in a study conducted by Coleman et al. (2003). Respondents perceived the IELTS test to have high validity in this study. Another study carried out by McDowell and Merrylees (1998) investigated the receiving institutions’ attitudes to IELTS. However, to the best of my knowledge, no formal study seems to have been conducted to investigate Iranian IELTS candidates’ attitudes towards IELTS.

2.3. Attitudes toward Language, Language Learning, and Language Tests
Brown (1994) defines instrumental orientation as motivation to acquire a language as means for attaining instrumental goals and integrative orientation as motivation to be integrated within the culture of the second language group. Students may wish to learn a foreign language because of its practical benefits, like finding a job, or they might learn it to become similar to native speakers, or at least talk to them or travel to their country. According to Oxford and Shearin (1994) attitude is one of the factors impacting motivation in language learning. Holmes (1992) believes that people develop attitudes towards languages which reflect their views about those who speak the languages, and the contexts and functions with which they are associated. Attitudes in the context of language learning are defined as the way people look at the language, the class and the people, and the culture of language. Attitudes that have been explored in relation to language learning range from anxiety about the language and the learning situation, through attitudes to speakers of the L2, the country in which it is spoken, the classroom, the teacher, other learners, the nature of language learning, particular elements in the learning activities, tests and beliefs about learning in general (Johnson and Johnson, 1998). According to Brown (2000), second language learners benefit from positive attitudes and negative attitudes may lead to decreased motivation. Nevertheless, he believes negative attitudes can be changed, often by exposure to reality – for example, by encounters with actual persons from other cultures. Positive attitudes on the part of language learners can cause the development of an integrative motivation and this can consequently facilitate second language achievement. The influence of initial motivation and attitudes upon success in language learning is widely acknowledged. To substantiate it, extensive studies have been done to examine the effect of attitudes on language learning and the relationship between attitudes and language success. Holmes (1992) state that if people feel positive toward those who use the language, they would be more successful and also more highly motivated toward learning it. Van Lier (1996) maintains that that one of the claims of proponents of language awareness is that drawing attention to and working with interesting and meaningful manifestations of language enhances motivation and positive attitudes to language and language learning. Byram et al. (1991) found that girls tend to have more positive attitudes towards the language learning process.
   Mantle (1995) examined the language and culture attitudes of middle school students participating in a foreign language exploratory program. Results clearly revealed that many students enter their first language class with misconceptions about language learning that may hinder their progress or persistence in language study. If second language learners initiate their language learning while they have negative attitudes towards the target language and the people using that language, they are not expected to make considerable progress in their process of language learning. Truitt (1995) found in a study regarding attitude of language learners that students’ beliefs and attitudes about language learning may vary based on cultural background and previous experiences. Thus, it can be argued that positive or negative attitudes do not develop accidentally but have some reasons for their emergence. Malallaha (2000) investigated the attitudes of Arab learners towards English and discovered that they have positive toward the English language and their proficiency in tests was positively related to their positive attitude to English. Hence, it can be argued that having positive or negative attitudes towards a certain language can exert considerable effect on the learners’ performance on a language test. By the same token, learners’ attitudes towards a certain language proficiency test may affect their performance on that test. IELTS candidates’ attitudes towards IELTS might, therefore, affect their overall band score they get in this standardized test. The purpose of this study, as such, is to investigate the relationship between Iranian IELTS candidates’ attitudes and their performance on IELTS.

3. Method

3.1. Participants
This study was conducted with 60 Iranian IELTS candidates who had taken the actual IELTS test in Iran. The sampling procedure used in this study was purposive sampling since it is believed that the participants in such studies must be typical informants of the population. All the participants sat for the actual IELTS test held in Shiraz city on September the 22nd, 2006. In fact, all the candidates taking that test were selected for this study. The participants were divided into two age groups: 20 to 30 and above 30. There were 44 participants aged between 20 to 30 and 16 participants above 30. All participants, both males and females, were from Iran and spoke Farsi as their first language. Participants were from 6 different cities of Iran. There were 29 males and 31 females. Candidates were of different educational background ranging from individuals having their high school diploma to those holding PhD. There were 40 candidates holding high school diploma or BA/S and only 20 participants holding MA/S or PhD.

3.2. Instruments
Four instruments were used in this study to collect the required data. An attitude questionnaire was developed by the researcher addressing the overall attitude of the candidates towards the IELTS test based on the theoretical framework adopted for this study (test method facets: Bachman 1990, p: 119). The questionnaire addressed the following major categories: the overall attitude of the candidates towards IELTS, and their attitudes towards the four components of the IELTS test that is listening, reading, writing, and speaking. The format of the questionnaire items was Likert. The respondents were asked to indicate their attitude by choosing one of the five alternatives: Strongly agree, Agree, Undecided, Disagree, and Strongly disagree. To check the reliability of the fifty-nine item questionnaire, which is to measure the internal consistency of the questionnaire, Cronbach Alpha was used. Also, to check the validity of the questionnaire, factor analysis was run. Exploratory factor analysis with Vaimax rotation was run to find the underlying factors. The questionnaire intended to measure the candidates’ overall attitude towards IELTS and its four components and factor analysis led to the validity of the questionnaire by yielding five main factors. The loadings above 0.30 were considered. 10 items were omitted after the study because their loadings did not reach the acceptable point. 
   A small portion of the candidates, 12, were selected randomly to take part in semi-structured interviews conducted by the researcher. The interviews were recorded by permission and then transcribed for analysis. Transcribed protocols were segmented for finding recurring patterns emerging from them and then codified again by the researcher for key concepts and then by another coder.
   20 participants were selected and invited randomly to produce vignettes in the form of written self-reports of their overall attitudes towards IELTS. They were asked to write down any comments regarding the test, test environment, timing, different sections of the test, etc. The written protocols were, then, codified for key concepts by the researcher and another coder who was recruited by the researcher how to codify the written protocols. Based on the key points stated by the participants, the researcher designed a coding scheme to analyze the data (see Appendix 1). Since the key points stated by the participants in the interview and those who had produced written self- reports were quite similar, the researcher designed one coding scheme for the analysis of both of them. To calculate the inter- and intra- coder reliability indices the percentage of similarity between 10% of the qualitative data was calculated. The inter- coder reliability was proven to be 0.8 and the intra- coder reliability was 0.79.
   The following is an example of a coded segment of a part of one interview. More examples can be found in Appendix 2.
    Interviewer:
    What is your overall attitude towards IELTS?
     Participant:
     On the whole, I have a positive attitude towards IELTS...
                      Positive Attitude (PA)
    Interviewer:
    How did you find the listening section of IELTS?
    Participant:
    … the speakers’ accent caused some problems for me…
         Listening Accent (LA)
     Interviewer:
    How did you find the reading section of IELTS?
    Participant:
  
 … the passages were lengthy and we were under time pressure…
Reading Lengthy Passages (RLP)        Reading Time Limit (RTL)

   The last instrument used in this study was the candidates’ IELTS Report Forms both to insure that they had taken the actual IELTS test and also to find out if there were any meaningful relationship between candidate’ attitudes towards IELTS and their performance on the actual test. The participants’ IELTS scores is shown in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1 Participants’ IELTS Scores

3.3. Data Collection and Data Analysis Procedures
The participants were from six different cities of Iran. However, they either used to live in Shiraz or they had come to Shiraz to collect their IELTS Report Forms of the IELTS test they had taken in Shiraz on September the 22nd, 2006.Therefore, the researcher did not have any difficulty accessing to them. The participants were asked to give a copy of their IELTS Report Form to the researcher. All the 60 participants were asked to fill out the attitude questionnaire in Dibagaran Techical College, which is one of the offsite IELTS venues of the British Council in Shiraz, upon their collecting their IELTS Report Forms. Before administering the questionnaire, the researcher explained the nature of the questionnaire and the study to participants. Participants were allowed to spend as much time as they needed to fill out the questionnaire. Having filled out the questionnaire, 20 participants were selected randomly and invited to produce vignettes in the form of written self-reports. They produced the written self-reports individually since the researcher did not have access to all of the participants at one time. They were asked to write down any comments regarding the test, test environment, timing, different sections of the test, etc. Finally, 12 participants were selected randomly and invited for the interview. The researcher conducted the interviews himself in Dibagaran Technical College after the candidates filled out the questionnaire. The interviews were conducted individually and each interview lasted around 10 minutes. The semi-structured interviews were recorded by permission. The researcher first asked each of them to present their overall attitude towards IELTS and its administration and then asked them to express their ideas and attitudes towards different components of IELTS including, listening, reading, writing, and speaking respectively.

4. Results and discussion
4.1. Factor Analysis
Exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation was run to determine the construct validity of the questionnaire, using the loadings above 0.3. From the rotated component matrix items were loaded in five factors. The underlying factors included overall attitudes, and attitudes towards Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. 10 items (5, 9, 14,19,24,34,45,50,52, and 56) were omitted after the study since they did not load on any factor.
Table 4.1. depicts the factors and items related to them.

Table 4.1 Factors and items related to them

The reason for which the researcher named the factors as such was that he intended to measure the Overall Attitude of the candidates towards IELTS and their attitude towards individual components of IELTS that is listening, reading, writing, and speaking.
   Exploratory factor analysis clearly divided the items into five factors. There was high correlation among the items related to each factor. Therefore, it can be claimed that the questionnaire measured what it had supposed to measure thus ensuring the construct validity.

4.2. Correlation Results
Positive items of the questionnaire were scored from 5 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree), while the reverse scoring was used for negative items. The respondents’ total attitude score was computed by summing all item scores. Therefore, each participant had a score for his attitude towards IELTS. To find out whether there was any significant relationship between candidates’ attitude towards IELTS and their IELTS scores, Pearson Product Moment Correlation was run between candidates’ attitude scores and their IELTS scores and a weak and reverse relationship was found (-.225) and no significant relationship was found at 0.05 level of significance (P=.084). Table 4.2 shows the correlation between attitude and candidates’ IELTS scores.

Table 4.2 Correlations between Attitude and Candidates’ IELTS Scores

Iranian IELTS candidates' attitudes towards IELTS did not show any significant relationship with their scores.

4.3. Independent t-tests
To find out whether there was any significant relationship between candidates’ age, sex, and educational background and their attitude towards IELTS, independent t-tests were run.
   The results of the independent t-tests run to find out the relationship between sex, and attitude reveal that no significant relationship at the 0.05 level of significance existed (P=0.99). Table 4.3 shows the independent t-test run between sex and attitude.

Table 4.3 Independent t-test between Sex and Attitude (Group Statistics)

Independent Samples Test

To examine whether there was any significant relationship between age groups and attitude, independent t-test was run and the result indicated that no significant difference existed between different age groups and their attitude towards IELTS (P=0.195).  Table 4.4 shows the independent t-test between age and attitude.

Table 4.4 Independent t-test between Age and Attitude
(Group Statistics)

Independent Samples Test

Finally, to determine whether there was any significant relationship between different educational backgrounds and attitude independent t-test was run and the results depict that no significant relationship had been found at 0.05 significance level (P=0.106). Table 4.5 shows the independent t-test between education and attitude.

Table 4.5 Independent t-test between Education and Attitude
(Group Statistics)
Group Statistics

To sum up, no relationship was found among variables such as sex, age, and educational background and Iranian IELTS candidates’ attitudes towards IELTS. Males and females, candidates aged between 20-30 and candidates aged above 30, candidates holding their high school diploma and BA/S and candidates holding their MA/S and PhD have similar attitudes towards IELTS. In other words, Iranians’ age, sex and education did not have any significant relationship with their overall attitude towards IELTS. The same results were reached regarding Iranian IELTS candidates’ attitudes and their scores on the actual IELTS test.

4.4. Descriptive Statistics
The frequency (F), the percentage (P), and the Chi-Square and its significance for each item of the questionnaire are presented in separate tables. When no significant difference is observed between the expected and observed score, the item is marked with an asterisk (*). What follows is the analysis of the questionnaire items, self- reports and interviews.

4.4.1. Questionnaires
4.4.1.1. Overall Attitude

Almost 80% of the respondents believed that familiarity with the place of IELTS test helped them to perform better. More than 75% of the candidates claimed that the time of IELTS test administration affected their performance and almost 90% of them regarded the physical conditions of the test such as, temperature, lighting and chairs as important factors affecting their performance. Exactly half of the candidates viewed the announcement of the remaining time in the reading and writing sections by the invigilators as distractive. 60% of the respondents believed that their fear of the test affected their performance. Just above 90% of the candidates considered their familiarity with the format of the test and test rubric as beneficial. Approximately 60% of the respondents preferred IELTS to other English proficiency tests and nearly 80% of them had a positive attitude towards IELTS. Less than 60% of the candidates believed that IELTS is not only a proficiency test to evaluate linguistic competence but it is also a comprehensive test which measures other components such as communicative competence.

4.4.1.2. The Listening Module 

see PDF file

Only about 40% of the respondents viewed listening as the most difficult section of IELTS. So, it can be concluded that based on the results of this study, listening is not the most difficult section of IELTS unlike what people generally believe. Nearly half of the candidates believed that their lack of familiarity with British or Australian accent had influenced their comprehension ability adversely. Almost 6 out of 10 respondents claimed that tempo or speed was very high in the listening section of IELTS. Approximately two thirds of the candidates were grateful that they had had the opportunity to wear headphones in the listening section since they believed this had helped them to comprehend more clearly. Nearly 80% of the respondents agreed upon the fact that the quality of the voice in the listening section influenced their performance. Approximately 70% of the candidates put the blame of missing some questions on the listening section on the fact that they had to respond at the same time they were listening. They believed it was rather hard for them both to listen and write simultaneously. Around 40% of the candidates maintained that their performance improved as the test moved forward; however, just a little above 70% of them stated that the listening section became more difficult section by section which in turn had deteriorated their performance particularly on the last section. 45% of the respondents held that the existence of a variety of questions had distracted them. Nearly 70% of the IELTS candidates in this study stated that 10 minutes is sufficient time for the answers to be transferred to the answer sheet from the question booklet. Almost half of the respondents believed that the listening section tended to evaluate their knowledge of vocabulary and their speed of writing rather than their listening comprehension. Just little above 30% of the candidates was undecided about the difference between American and British accents in the listening section. Approximately 70% of the respondents agreed that listening to English programs can have a great influence on their ability and consequently their better performance on this section. Finally, around 60% of the candidates regarded good command of vocabulary items as helpful in better listening comprehension.

4.4.1.3. The Reading Module

see PDF file

Just more than half of the respondents believed that reading is the most difficult section of IELTS (56.7%). Therefore, based on the findings of this study it can be claimed that reading is the most difficult section of IELTS for Iranians which is in line with what Keyvanfar (2004) found. Only around 30% of the candidates complained about the fact that reading is immediately after listening, a fact which may exert negative influence on the performance. Nearly 40% of them disliked the variety of question types in the reading section of IELTS. Almost 75 % of the respondents believed that lengthy passages had created difficulty for them locating the answers easily. Exactly 80% of the candidates did not like lengthy passages and believed it had made them exhausted and 60% of them regarded one hour as insufficient time for responding all the questions in the reading section. 60% of them believed that texts became more difficult towards the end of the reading section. More than 90% of the respondents viewed good command of vocabulary items and grammatical structures as quite helpful for them to answer the questions. Less than 30% of them accepted the idea that knowledge of vocabulary and grammar is not important in the reading section. Half of the candidates were undecided about the difference between the difficulty level of the reading of General Training Module and Academic Module. Eventually, nearly 90% of the respondents believed that reading a lot of English texts before the exam had helped them dramatically approach this section better.

4.4.1.4. The Writing Module

see PDF file

Only 15% of the respondents viewed writing as the most difficult section of the IELTS test. So, it can be concluded that writing is one of the easiest sections of IELTS for Iranians. 60% of the candidates believed that they were tired in this section because of their performance on the first two sections. Approximately half of the respondents regarded one hour to fulfill two writing tasks in the writing section as sufficient. Exactly 50% of them held that lengthy topics had adverse effects on their concentration for writing. 75% of the respondents believed that the knowledge of vocabulary and grammar is crucial in this section. Nearly 40% of the candidates stated that they had not enough knowledge of the world or information related to the given topic which, as a result, had negative effects on what they wrote. A large number of candidates (almost 80%) viewed having practiced a lot before the actual test helped them to write better and faster. Less than 70% of the respondents preferred to be given only one task to fulfill in the writing section so that they can have a full concentration on one of the tasks. And eventually, 70% of the candidates regarded the knowledge of essay writing as very crucial in their performance on this section.

4.4.1.5. The Speaking Module

Only less than 20% of the respondents believed that speaking is the most difficult section of the IELTS test. Hence, based on the findings of this study it can be concluded that the most difficult sections of IELTS for Iranians are reading, listening, speaking, and writing respectively. Only half of the candidates regarded sitting in front of an Iranian IELTS examiner relaxing. Nearly 50% of the respondents maintained that the examiner’s gender affected their performance. Less than 20 percent of the respondents agreed with the fact that the interview examines one’s listening ability more than speaking ability. Nearly half of the candidates regarded the interviewer’s accent as influential. Approximately 70% of the respondents reported to have stress at the time of interview. Only 45% of them complained about being asked too many questions in rather a short time. Almost half of the candidates held that they had self-confidence when faced with the interviewer. 85% of the respondents were pleased with the fact that the examiners were good-tempered. Nearly half of the candidates did not agree with 15 minutes as a fair criterion based on which their level of oral ability be assessed by the examiners. 60% of them believed that practicing similar questions before the actual test can be very helpful. Less than 40% of the respondents did not like their voices to be recorded as they believed it would add to their test anxiety. Around 80% of the candidates viewed living in Iran and having little opportunity to use the language much as a fact which affected their performance in this section. Finally, only 40% of the respondents stated that the questions in this section were not related to each other.

4.5. Vignettes (Written self-reports) and Interviews
The qualitative data including the written self-reports and interviews were analyzed and codified and key concepts were extracted.   
                            
Almost 60 % of the respondents had a positive attitude towards IELTS. They believed that IELTS is a comprehensive test which measures candidates’ ability in four areas of language quite precisely. Candidates maintained that at the first glance IELTS seemed very difficult and stressful for them but once they practiced, they seemed to like it more. In general, most candidates believed that stress was one the major barriers in most of the components of the test and some of them claimed that IELTS is more like an IQ test. Physical conditions of the test were also believed to have exerted great influence on the candidates’ performance on different sections of the test.
   In the listening section, heavy accents of the speakers, stress, and confusion had been enumerated by the participants as the main barriers to their answering the questions properly. Most of the respondents held that they had missed a number of questions due to the fact that they were supposed to both listen to and write simultaneously. They also believed that there was a sharp difference between the score they had expected to gain and what they actually got. Most candidates claimed that they might have performed better on the listening section of IELTS had they practiced more before the test and some of them believed that they might have performed better if they had had the chance to listen to different sections twice. Some candidates believed that the speakers spoke very fast and having a good command of vocabulary items is very beneficial to them. Listening was viewed as one of the most difficult sections of IELTS due to the fact that it was both fast and confusing. However, participants believed that by practicing and building on their knowledge of vocabulary it would become easier. Some of the candidates stated that they were stressful at the outset of the listening section but as the test moved forward their level of stress reduced dramatically. The good quality of the voice was also mentioned to be helpful to the candidates in this section. On the whole, candidates had a positive attitude towards the listening section of IELTS.
   Participants in this study had a variety of opinions about the reading section of IELTS. First, they believed in order to answer the questions correctly, one needs a very good command of vocabulary. Second, they believed that in reading section the candidate should comprehend the texts, must be quick and should know the strategies to approach the questions. They also maintained that passages had been very lengthy and they had been under time pressure which added to their level of stress. Most candidates regarded one hour as insufficient to finish the reading section. They believed that being under pressure of time limit increased their level of stress which in turn exerted adverse influence on their performance in this section. Knowledge of vocabulary was seen as one of the factors which can help candidates perform better in the reading section. Reading was also viewed as the most boring and tiring section of IELTS. Finally, most respondents regarded reading as the most difficult section of IELTS and that is absolutely in line with what the researcher found in the analysis of the questionnaires.
   Writing seems to be the least difficult section of IELTS and this is also exactly in line with what the researcher found in the analysis of the questionnaires. Meanwhile, the respondents believed that having good general English that is having high command of vocabulary and grammatical structures is definitely essential for one to get a good score. They held that knowing the standard format of essay writing is very important and attending IELTS preparation programs can be very helpful with a focus on writing. As far as time limit was concerned, most of the respondents had no objection about the 60 minutes given to them. Some candidates believed that one’s knowledge of the world or background knowledge is very helpful in this section since if you do not have any clue whatsoever about the topic you are given, how can you write about it? Most candidates believed that the topics were fine and selected based on everyday issues but some of them claimed that having to fulfill two tasks is a bit difficult and tiring. Using prefabricated chunks and phrases in essays seems to be a good and effective strategy for most of them. Writing did not seem to produce any stress for most of the candidates. Participants believed that linguistic competence is very important. Only a small portion of the candidates objected to the time allotted for the writing section but the rest of them viewed one hour as sufficient to fulfill two tasks. Finally, some candidates were unhappy about the subjective scoring of the writing section of IELTS.
   As far as speaking is concerned, stress seems to be the most crucial problem for half of the candidates. Candidates regarded the way the interviewers behaved with them as a very significant factor in reducing or increasing their level of stress. However, they believed that provided that they did away with stress, speaking would be an easy section compared with the other three sections. They also maintained that having a good knowledge of vocabulary could help them speak better and more fluently. They held that the questions in this section were authentic and various but the subjective scoring is not fair. They believed that interviewers had very heavy accents and spoke very fast. Most candidates regarded speaking as one of the easiest sections of IELTS. However, some of the candidates regarded the topics to discuss rather bizarre and believed that chance could play a bit role in this section. They also believed that having practiced similar questions before the test could have helped them perform better. Knowledge of the world also was claimed to exert influence on the way they performed in this section. Finally, some of the participants objected to 11 to 14 minutes and claimed that it is insufficient to assess their speaking ability.

4.6. Discussion
The findings of this study revealed that Iranians have a positive attitude towards IELTS. Statistics(IELTS Annual Review, 2003)  indicate Iran was among the top 25 countries where candidates took IELTS in 2003. Increasingly significant growth in candidature in Iran shows how much popularity IELTS has gained among Iranians which is exactly in line with the findings of the present study. Coleman et al. (2003) also find IELTS a very popular test and according to their study IELTS stakeholders in Australia, the UK, and China have a high attitude towards IELTS.
   Reading was found to be the most difficult section of IELTS for Iranians and writing the easiest. This is definitely in line with what Keyvanfar (2005) stated in her study. Reading seems to be the most difficult section of IELTS since it is very much dependent on vocabulary repertoire and most candidates ignore increasing their knowledge of vocabulary. Good knowledge of vocabulary accompanied by proper reading strategies can enhance one’s chance of success in IELTS. Unlike reading, good performance on the writing section of IELTS is more dependent on familiarity with the format of essay writing and knowing a number of prefabricated patterns. Practicing and attending IELTS preparation programs seem to be very helpful for IELTS candidates to improve their writing abilities in a rather short time.
   Lambert (1972) found a positive relation between attitude and linguistic abilities. However, the present study found no significant relationship between candidates’ IELTS scores and their attitude towards IELTS. The findings demonstrate that although candidates have a positive attitude towards IELTS, this does not affect their performance on the test and thus the scores they get. Obviously having a mere high attitude towards this test does not guarantee gaining a good score and no formal study has shown this either. Candidates, however, should go through learning effective strategies to approach the test and attending IELTS preparation programs can be a good and effective step. Many studies have investigated the impact of IELTS preparation programs on candidates’ performance on the IELTS test (see, for example, Elder et al. 2003, Rao et al. 2003, and Brown 1998). The findings of such studies mostly reveal that attending such programs has high impact on candidates’ better performance. Nevertheless, whether such programs can be found in various parts of the country is a big question. Unfortunately, the growing demand of candidates to attend IELTS preparation programs in Iran does not fit the number of qualified IELTS instructors and standard IELTS preparation programs. This is a serious problem which needs to be solved in order to satisfy the never ending demand of Iranian IELTS candidates.
   Merrylees (2003) believes that with the increase in candidature of IELTS, there is an increasing need to investigate and analyze how candidates perform on the test in terms of nationality, age, gender and other factors. Based on the findings of the present study no significant difference was found between Iranian males and females in terms of their attitude towards IELTS. This is exactly the same as what Keyvanfar (2005) found. She states that both males and females have a high tendency to take IELTS in Iran. The reason for this might be justified by the fact that many young Iranians, regardless of their gender, intend to pursue their studies in English speaking countries and as a result have to sit the test. In addition, sex differences do not necessarily reflect low or high attitude towards a language proficiency test and no formal study, to the best of my knowledge, has investigated the relationship between sex and IELTS candidates’ attitudes.
   Having investigated the relationship between Iranian IELTS candidates’ age and their attitude towards IELTS, the present study found no significant difference. The fact that different age groups have a positive attitude towards IELTS makes it obvious why IELTS is so popular a test among Iranians. Terry (2003) found out that IELTS is important for all people regardless of their age and claimed that the strong motivation and serious purposes of IELTS candidates should be taken for granted.
   The current study found no significant difference between Iranian IELTS candidates’ educational background and their attitude towards IELTS. Candidates’ education ranged from those holding their high school diplomas to those having their PhD. This can be justified by the fact that the popularity of IELTS in Iran is not dependent on people’s level of education. However, in some countries students and those having academic degrees seem to be more in favor of IELTS than ordinary people. Coleman et al. (2003) conducted a study investigating the attitude of university students towards IELTS in Australia, the UK, and China. They found that university students and staff are very much in favor of IELTS.

5. Conclusion
5.1. Conclusion
The findings of this study clearly highlighted that Iranians have a positive attitude towards IELTS. Almost 80% of the respondents to the attitude questionnaire had a high opinion of IELTS. Approximately 70% of the respondents preferred IELTS to other English proficiency tests. Around 60% of the candidates believed that IELTS is not only a proficiency test which evaluates linguistic competence but also a comprehensive test which measures other components such as communicative competence. Participants in this study seemed to be very much influenced by the test method facets. Exactly 80% of the respondents believed that familiarity with the place of IELTS test helped them to perform better. 75% of the candidates claimed that the time of IELTS test administration affected their performance and almost 90% of them regarded the physical conditions of the test such as, temperature, light and chairs as important factors affecting their performance. 53% of participants viewed reading as the most difficult section of IELTS. Listening was viewed by candidates as the second difficult component of the test. Speaking was regarded as the third difficult section of IELTS and writing was viewed by 85% of the participants as the easiest component. Stress seems to be a common problem for almost all the candidates in all the sections particularly speaking. 80% of the candidates viewed living in Iran and having no or little access to English speakers as a basic problem for the improvement of their oral abilities. The qualitative analysis of the written self-reports and the interviews also clearly indicated that Iranians have a positive attitude towards IELTS. They believed that IELTS is a comprehensive test which measures their ability in four areas of language quite accurately. Participants in this study claimed that IELTS is a test which assesses their linguistic and communicative abilities precisely. They believed that IELTS is an authentic test. Candidates believed that first they did not like IELTS very much but as they got familiar with the format of it, they seemed to like it more. 95% of the candidates considered their familiarity with the format of the test and test rubric as beneficial. On the whole, IELTS was viewed as an authentic, comprehensive English proficiency test which measures the linguistic level of the candidates in a very reasonable way. Therefore, based on the findings of this study, it can be claimed that IELTS is a very popular test in Iran.
   To investigate whether there was a significant relationship between testees’ characteristics including their sex, age, and educational background and their attitude towards IELTS, independent t-tests were run and no significant relationship was found.
   To examine whether there was a significant relationship between Iranian IELTS candidates’ scores (performance) and their attitudes, Pearson Product Moment Correlation was run and no significant relationship was found.
   In conclusion, the findings of this study clearly demonstrate that while Iranian IELTS candidates have a positive attitude towards IELTS, no meaningful relationship exits between their sex, age, educational background, and IELTS scores with their attitudes towards IELTS.  

5.2. Implications
Implications can be drawn for all IELTS stakeholders from those who intend to sit for IELTS and those who run IELTS preparation programs to those who develop the questions and administer the IELTS tests. Those in charge of administration of IELTS in Iran should pay proper attention to the demands of the Iranian candidates. Equipping all the IELTS centers with some facilities such as headphones for the listening section of IELTS seems to be essential. Participants in this study viewed physical conditions of the IELTS centers such as, temperature, lighting, chairs, and quality of the voice as really effective on their performance on the IELTS test and thus their attitudes towards IELTS. IELTS administrators must recruit the examiners, invigilators, and ushers to behave appropriately with the candidates since their behavior seems to affect candidates’ performance on different sections of the IELTS test. IELTS centers and venues must be frequently visited and inspected by the IELTS administrators to find out if they are in need of any modification.
   IELTS test makers can also benefit from the findings of this study. They might decide to modify the listening section of the IELTS test in a way so that it will reduce the stress and confusion of the candidates who are not familiar with the format of the test. They might also increase the time limit of the reading section or else truncate the length of passages. IELTS test makers may give only one task to candidates and assess their writing ability in writing English essays through that. Finally, they might take required measures to alleviate the stress from candidates in the speaking section since based on the findings of this study candidates suffered a lot from stress in their IELTS interviews.
   Those in charge of running IELTS preparation programs can also take advantage of this and similar studies in that they can now be sure that reading and listening are the most difficult sections and speaking and writing are the easiest sections of IELTS for Iranians. They should provide the candidates with many authentic texts and encourage them to read extensively outside the classroom. They should also expose the candidates to authentic listening materials. Candidates can solve the problem of stress in the speaking test by being provided with similar speaking questions. IELTS candidates can benefit from strategies in all the four skills to approach the test more confidently provided that IELTS instructors equip them with such strategies. Finally, TEFL experts must train prospective IELTS instructors in Iran to meet the never-ending and growing demands of IELTS candidates.

5.3. Suggestions for further Studies
Further studies must be carried out to investigate issues related to IELTS in Iran. Studies can be done investigating the use of IELTS General Training. Studies can also be conducted involving the IELTS Listening and Reading tests. Further studies can be run on the use of IELTS for professional purposes or for migration. Studies to establish appropriate IELTS score levels for specific uses of the test (for access to a university department, for professional registration, for access to a vocational training course) can also be conducted. Studies of test preparation practices and investigation of the cognitive processes of IELTS test takers can be done as well. Finally, further studies must be carried out to investigate the process of writing IELTS test items.

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