Predicting IELTS ratings using vocabulary measures
This thesis addresses the relationship between vocabulary measures and IELTS ratings. The research questions focus on the relationship between measures of lexical richness and teacher ratings. The specific question the thesis seeks to address is: Which measures of lexical richness are the best for predicting the ratings? This question has been considered central in vocabulary measurement research for the last decades particularly in relation to IELTS, one of the most popular exams in the world. Therefore, if a model can predict IELTS scores by using vocabulary measures it could be used as a predictive tool by teachers and researchers worldwide. The research was carried out through two studies, Study 1 and Study 2 and then the model was tested through a third smaller study. Study 1 was a small pilot study which looked at both oral and written data. Study 2 focused on written data only. Measures of both lexical diversity and sophistication were chosen for both studies. Both studies followed similar methodologies with the addition of an extra variable in the second study. For the first study data was collected from 42 IELTS learners whereas for the second study an existing corpus was used. The measures investigated
Demetriou, Theodosia
vocabulary measurement ; lexical richness ; IELTS ; ratings ; predictive model ; vocabulary richness
Predicting IELTS ratings using vocabulary measures. This thesis addresses the relationship between vocabulary measures and IELTS ratings. The research questions focus on the relationship between measures of lexical richness and teacher ratings. The specific question the thesis seeks to address is: Which measures of lexical richness are the best for predicting the ratings? This question has been considered central in vocabulary measurement research for the last decades particularly in relation to IELTS, one of the most popular exams in the world. Therefore, if a model can predict IELTS scores by using vocabulary measures it could be used as a predictive tool by teachers and researchers worldwide. The research was carried out through two studies, Study 1 and Study 2 and then the model was tested through a third smaller study. Study 1 was a small pilot study which looked at both oral and written data. Study 2 focused on written data only. Measures of both lexical diversity and sophistication were chosen for both studies. Both studies followed similar methodologies with the addition of an extra variable in the second study. For the first study data was collected from 42 IELTS learners whereas for the second study an existing corpus was used. The measures investigated
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