“This topic was inconsiderate of our culture”: Jordanian students’ perceptions of intercultural clashes in IELTS writing tests

Abstract

Abstract In this contribution, we analyse how students perceive and comment on potential instances of intercultural clashes in the writing component of the International English Language Testing System. Following student accounts, we argue that intercultural bias is indeed perceived, preventing test takers from fully positioning themselves regarding cultural practices in general, and religious beliefs more particularly, as well as from expressing their sociocultural identities. Analysing a corpus of interviews in Amman (Jordan) with Jordanian students who took the test, we uncover how student perceptions of elements that reflect the culture of the test creator negatively influenced their performance, or at least their perception of what constitutes a good performance, which they implicitly identify with like-mindedness and alignment with the test creator’s cultural expectations.