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3.3 Witness testimonies
This study draws on witness testimonies. This includes private testimonies offered to the author
of this report in addition to verifiable accounts that exist in the public domain.
Since March 2017, the author of this research report has consulted directly with 63 members of
the public (e.g. IELTS stakeholders) to discuss virtually all aspects of the IELTS exam. This interim
sample includes former IELTS test-takers (35), linguistics and pedagogy academics (19) and
current and former IELTS examination staff (9). In addition to this sample, I draw on my extensive
face-to-face consultations with two practicing IELTS examiners during 2010 when I was employed
and trained as a learning skills instructor at an accredited Australian university. In this capacity, I
was trained by this University to assist students to prepare for the IELTS examination. In my
capacity as a learning skills tutor, I consulted with around 25 IELTS test-takers, most of whom had
previously sat for one or more IELTS tests in the past. Furthermore, I draw on my experience
working as an IELTS tutor at a Registered Training Organization in New Zealand (mid to late 2015)
in addition to volunteer IELTS tutoring work performed between 2010 and 2017 in Australia and
New Zealand, such as my volunteer work with The Free School.
Table 9, overleaf, summarizes the sources and quantity of my direct engagement data collection
consultations.