Topic and Accent Coverage in a Commercialized L2 Listening Test: Implications for Test-takers' Identity.

This article examines the topic and accent coverage in the listening section of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) from 1996 to 2021, analyzing 256 test sections to understand the assumptions test designers make about real-life contexts for test-takers. It identifies 15 broad topic areas and 300 subtopics, noting a decline in topic diversity over time and a lack of sociocultural and sensitive issues, which may reflect and reinforce particular ideologies while limiting the construct's representativeness. The study also finds a strong dominance of British and American English accents, with minimal representation of English-as-a-second-language (L2) accents, raising concerns about racialized perspectives embedded in the test. Recommendations include broadening topic and accent representation through interdisciplinary collaboration, cross-cultural research, and the use of generative artificial intelligence to enhance fairness, inclusivity, and validity in language assessment.