How is the CAEL Assessment different from IELTS and TOEFL?

Historical Perspective
The CAEL Assessment was designed as an in-house (within University) response to what was perceived as a failure on the part of other standardized tests to effectively identify students who were able to use English at levels required for study at the university.

Based on the initial needs analysis (or domain specification) which took place from 1987-89 across a range of first-year introductory courses at the university, a number of “typified and recurring” patterns of response were identified and these patterns formed the content of the CAEL’s test specifications.

The history of the test is important because the test is grounded in the day-to-day use of language within first-year courses at the university. It asks and answers the question: how exactly do students need to use English in order to engage in academic study? This is not the question that is asked or answered by other standardized tests of English that are more interested in a global or decontextualized use of English. Their test scores are used for immigration, work permits, vocational certification, etc. We assert that CAEL Assessment scores are most meaningful in English-medium academic contexts.

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Perspective
Because of the EAP construct of the CAEL Assessment, the design of the test differs from other standardized tests. The CAEL Assessment attempts to create for the test taker an experience, which approximates the experience of joining a first-year, introductory university course. The test taker listens to a lecture and takes notes on a topic, which the professor assumes they know little or nothing about. The test taker learns more about the topic by reading several articles from a range of readings, which are frequently used in university courses. Then, the test taker writes a response to a question which is provided at the beginning of the test, drawing on relevant information from the lecture and the readings. In writing the response, the test takers must situate themselves within the input provided by the test in much the same way as students situate themselves within the content of a course.

The CAEL Assessment is a fully integrated, criterion-referenced, topic-based test of English in use for Academic Purposes. Neither TOEFL nor IELTS measures language ability in this way. Further, because the most common response formats in university-level study are not multiple-choice, the CAEL Assessment uses constructed response items/tasks rather than multiple-choice items. TOEFL relies on multiple-choice responses.

There is a direct overlap between taking a CAEL Assessment, taking an academically-oriented English as a Second Language course or taking a first-year course at a university or college. The overlap is clear in the tasks and activities of the test. In this way, the CAEL Assessment promotes positive and useful learning and does not undermine, as other standardized tests may do, learning that takes place in the classroom.