a comparative study between the test of spoken english (tse) and the iel ts interview with respect to their authenticity

this study is an attempt to investigate the nature of authenticity in two interviews: the interview section of the toefl (tse) and the speaking module of the ielts. after defining the term authenticity based on bachman (1990), and bachman and palmer (1996) it is argued that the h:lts interview is a more authentic test than the tse. this is done in two ways. first, by using bachman and palmer's framework of test task characteristics, it is demonstrated that the ielts interview test tasks arc more similar to the features of target language use contexts. second, by collecting data from a number of participants who took both tests, it is found that the iel ts interview replicates real life performance more than the tse.