by Erica L. Meltzer | Apr 28, 2021 | Blog
If you’re studying for the IELTS, you’re probably aware that obtaining a high score in Writing tends to be more difficult than obtaining a high score in Listening, Reading, or Speaking. In fact, it is common for Writing scores to be lower than the others by a full band, sometimes more. The statistics kept by the British Council indicate that this pattern holds true across countries and native languages, including English.
In many cases, candidates score in the 8-9 range without too much trouble in Listening and Reading, and often above 7 in Speaking, but then find themselves stuck—sometimes repeatedly—at 6 or 6.5 in Writing.
This is not entirely surprising. Expressing oneself in a foreign language generally is more challenging than understanding one, and unlike in speaking, tone of voice and facial expressions cannot be used to convey or support written meaning—if a person doesn’t say precisely what they mean, the reader will become confused. (more…)
by Erica L. Meltzer | Apr 25, 2021 | Blog
A sharp-eyed reader recently called to our attention a mistake involving switched names in the questions and explanations accompanying the Booker T. Washington/W.E.B. DuBois paired passages that appear on p. 293.
We were under the impression that the errors had been fixed a very long time ago, and we’re still trying to figure out how they made it through so many rounds of checking without anyone noticing, but please know that the pages have now finally been corrected.
If you already have the 3rd or 4th Edition of The Critical Reader, you can download them here (also available on the Errata page):
p. 294
p. 298
We apologize for the inconvenience.
by Erica L. Meltzer | Apr 24, 2021 | Blog
Photo by Andy Barbour from Pexels
In all the discussions of why IELTS Writing scores are routinely lower than scores for Listening, Reading and Speaking, there is one very important factor that is virtually never mentioned: the placement of the Writing Test within the structure of the overall exam.
I suspect that this relationship is not entirely a coincidence and that, on the contrary, it may play a hidden role in some candidates’ difficulty to achieve their goal in that portion of the exam. Just how large of a role is impossible to say. But it seems plausible to assume that it may sometimes act as a “tip” factor that, when combined with the myriad other factors that make IELTS Writing so challenging (for starters, the need to juggle grammar, vocabulary, syntax, tone, and content), results in just enough errors to push candidates’ scores to the next half-band down—often, I would imagine, from 7.0 to 6.5. (more…)
by Erica L. Meltzer | Jul 26, 2020 | Blog
The question of when to use a comma with so vs. so that vs. so…that isn’t normally tested on any standardized test I’m familiar with, but I’ve noticed a lot of confusion about it in various people’s writing recently, and so I wanted to address it here.
Essentially, the issue is that while all three constructions involve the word so, they’re actually three different types of conjunctions, and that in turn affects how they are punctuated.
So… (pun intended), here goes:
1) So by itself – synonym for therefore
So is a coordinating (FANBOYS) conjunction that serves to connect two independent clauses (complete sentences). Like the other FANBOYS conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or & yet), so must follow a comma when it is used this way.
Incorrect: The skin is located at the interface between our body and the outside world so its cells can respond to many different kinds of stimuli.
Correct: The skin is located at the interface between our body and the outside world, so its cells can respond to many different kinds of stimuli. (more…)
by Erica L. Meltzer | Jul 5, 2020 | Blog, College Admissions
Over the past few weeks, the test-optional dominos have continued to fall, with Harvard grudgingly deciding to consider applications from students who have faced exceptional obstacles in taking the SAT or ACT, and Princeton even more grudgingly following suit. As of now, the Ivies seem pretty clear about the fact that these are one-year policies only, and that applicants applying in the fall of 2021 and beyond will be expected to take the tests as usual.
At other other selective colleges, however, this year’s policies are part of a multi-year test-optional trial period, and so I think it’s worth taking a hard look at the implications of these policies in a non-Covid context, and to ask who really benefits from them. (more…)
by Erica L. Meltzer | May 24, 2020 | Blog, College Admissions
So it’s official: The University of California—the country’s largest public university system, serving several hundred thousand students—has voted to phase out standardized testing.
The SAT and ACT will be optional for freshman applicants for applicants in 2021 and 2022; for 2023-4, test scores will be used only for out-of-state-students and to determine scholarship awards; and will be eliminated completely in 2025. If a new, UC-created exam is not ready by that point, then no exam will be considered.
This is obviously a major shakeup in the testing industry, although not a completely unforeseen one. Historically, there has been tension between the University of California and the College Board, with discussions of abandoning the SAT dating back to the early 1990s. More recently, there has been considerable speculation about whether the UCs would continue to require the SAT or ACT essay. Since last winter, however, additional pushback against the use of standardized testing has ramped up. (more…)
