Nobody seemed to
have heard of PTE Academic until a couple of years back. The only
language-based qualifying exam that came to one’s mind for all general
migration and for Study Abroad purposes in respect of Europe, Asia-Pacific,
even Canada, was IELTS. TOEFL iBT was a distant second as it was more aligned
to US-oriented qualifying exams like GRE and GMAT.
And now, all of a
sudden, PTE Academic is making waves, and every other aspiring migrant to the
West is talking of PTE in the same breath as IELTS. The more ‘aware’ an
aspirant is, the more s/he is thinking in terms of PTE Academic. The niche that
PTE has made for itself is bound to become the mainstream in foreseeable
future, and unless IELTS does something substantive to stem the tide, its
popularity is bound to be overtaken by PTE Academic.
The question is why PTE Academic has gained so much of popularity (and
acceptability across continents) in such a short period. Here are a few
reasons:
Objective
Assessment: Whereas IELTS still follows the old-world pencil and
paper format, wherein the scoring in Speaking and Writing sections is
subjective, the PTE Academic is modernistic, online, and strictly free of human
intervention (computer-administered, computer-assessed). There is no undue
external influence and personality or cultural bias. Objectivity is built into
the system and assessment is solely on the basis of language performance.
Greater objectivity brings greater student confidence in the veracity of the
test.
Quick Results: The
computer-assessed interface makes assessment in PTE Academic almost
instantaneous. Whereas IELTS takes
no less than two weeks (often more) to intimate the results, the PTE results
may be delivered even in two days. If you are in a hurry, if you want to take a
language proficiency test at a short (almost instant) notice, PTE academic is
the go-to test.
Freedom from Long
Texts: Test takers often have aversion to long texts for
which they are tested in both IELTS and TOEFL. PTE Academic has
only short to medium texts and gives them freedom from concentrating on long
texts.
Student-friendly
Test Format: Some people are naturally shy in front of strangers.
In an IELTS Speaking Test, the format involves such interaction with strangers
as may impact performance. The PTE format carries no such baggage. Even in the
Writing Test, where the test taker is supposed to write a relatively long
essay, the PTE Academic format allows
the test taker to type the essay on a system than to write using a pencil. This
student-friendly format for the internet generation removes a lot of hassles
and saves a lot of time in erasing, correcting and re-ordering of the text and
makes it much easier to do so.
Evenly Balanced
Assessment System: IELTS and TOEFL only sum up the
individual scores in various language modules. PTE Academic scores are better
integrated. In fact, while IELTS and TOEFL score the test taker only for
communicative skills (Speaking, Writing, Reading and Listening), PTE Academic tests for these as well
as Enabling Skills (Grammar, Fluency, Pronunciation, Vocabulary etc.). That
makes PTE academic a more comprehensive and better integrated language
proficiency test.
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