Don't "deify" IELTS
Mr. Nguyen Minh Tri, a PhD student in English teaching at Ho Chi Minh City Open University, said that IELTS is essentially just a language proficiency test with its own set of criteria and philosophy, similar to many other tests such as TOEIC or PTE. Using IELTS as a "talisman" is becoming a problem, distorting the nature of learning by confusing the concepts of "language proficiency" and "talent".
"In terms of knowledge, the content of the IELTS exam covers a variety of topics from natural sciences to social sciences. However, this knowledge is only a tool through which learners demonstrate their language ability, and does not reflect whether candidates are good at related fields or branches," said Mr. Tri.
An IELTS preparation class
From there, Mr. Tri believes that IELTS does not reflect the candidate's in-depth learning ability in other subjects. In addition, in the context of the open digital age, we should normalize the use of English as a "survival skill", avoiding "deification" of IELTS because this will cause unnecessary waste when people rush to study IELTS with expensive tuition fees.
Similarly, Master Chau The Huu, lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology, also assessed that the use of IELTS for different purposes such as admission, direct admission in different grades... or simply testing English learners' ability is being widely applied due to the popularity of the test.
"The British Council also stated that IELTS is used for higher education and immigration. Therefore, making IELTS a standard for assessing English proficiency can only be applied to certain subjects, not to the general public at all levels and in exams as it is now," said Master Huu.
According to Mr. Huu, based on that purpose, the IELTS test in skills is also designed to be suitable for learners and candidates of a certain age, matching their university education stage. Therefore, those who have not reached this age or level will not be completely suitable for the test.
"Forcing them to take the test can lead to counterproductive consequences such as losing the opportunity to fully improve and the motivation to learn English, and increasing the fear of foreign languages in learners," said Master Huu.
Need to properly recognize the role of IELTS certificate
Master Huu also stated: "For those in remote areas, or who do not have access to IELTS, this is even more disadvantageous for them when the number of teachers who understand and are qualified to teach IELTS is limited, not to mention other related issues such as curriculum, teaching facilities, training management costs, remuneration... In addition, the tuition fee for an IELTS course at the centers is not cheap, not to mention having to take many courses".
Master Nguyen Minh Tri frankly said that the abuse of IELTS certificates in admission to all levels of education will cause financial pressure and create unfairness for students in remote areas.
Master Nguyen Thanh Hai, Principal of Truong Dinh High School (Tien Giang province), also commented that because IELTS is favored too much, students will "race" to get IELTS certificates to be given priority in admission or converted into scores, exempted from foreign language exams.
"This is very unstable and unfair to the majority of students. For other cultural subjects, students can study at home, but for IELTS, most students have to go to a center to study with expensive tuition fees, high exam fees, only those with economic conditions can invest. Poor students, students in rural areas or remote areas, many of them have language skills but do not have enough finance and conditions to study, so they are at a disadvantage," shared Master Hai.
Mr. Hai also emphasized that IELTS is only a test to assess language skills, while studying at university requires many other skills and when graduating, foreign languages are just one factor besides expertise, professionalism, and soft skills.
"Stimulate English learning by recognizing the correct role of the IELTS certificate to use it appropriately, not abusing this certificate as it is now," added Master Nguyen Thanh Hai.
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