ABSTRACT

This study aims to identify, interpret and analyse viewpoints of Chinese, Indian-Malaysian and Arab students from the Gulf; evaluate their attitudes, perception and knowledge of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), and make a comparative analysis across gender lines. The findings are based data obtained from a structured questionnaire that was administered to 200 candidates students at three Australian universities. The results reflected both differences and agreement on their broader attitudinal response to IELTS including its test components: speaking, writing, reading and speaking. The ratio of females to male was almost two to one, indicating a heightened awareness, perhaps a subdued criticism, of the reality that students in their country of origin were ‘not encouraged to develop critical thinking as in Australia’. A similar ratio was also found, towards anxiety and time affecting their performance; being familiar with the design, structure and format of the test. A negative link was not found between gender and the response to the former statement with regards to (the absence of) freedom of the press, not as a socio-cultural factor, nor as way it limits one’s ability to perform on the IELTS test.