Representatives from the world' s three major IELTS test organizers gave a face-to-face lecture to over 600 eager Chinese students in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province Saturday.

The IELTS, the International English Language Testing System, is designed to assess the English of people who want to study or work in countries and regions where English is the language of communication.

Those who attended the lecture were considered lucky to have the chance of getting the most authentic answers from the test's three main administering organizations: the British Council, the IDP Education Australia and the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate.

IELTS has boomed in popularity in China since it was launched in April 1990. The test system has set up a network of 21 centers around China's major cities, registering over 40,000 Chinese last year.

The number of IELTS test centers will be increased to 26 this year.

The testing station in Guangzhou accepted a world record 696 people to take a single IELTS test last year.

At the meeting, participants were most interested in whether IELTS would take the place TOFEL, and whether more countries would accept IELTS' effectiveness.

Jane Henry, a manager of IELTS test in China, responded that English-language tests using multiple choice questions have been considered unreliable to assess a student's English capability, while IELTS can give a more comprehensive assessment.

Beryl E. Meiron, an IELTS manager from Cambridge, said that 201 American universities and colleges have accepted the effectiveness of IELTS, and it has won more credit in Australia and New Zealand.

The IELTS managers told Chinese examinees to study gradually and solidly in preparation for the test, which demands a comprehensive application capability of English.

(People's Daily March 10, 2002)