What is the purpose of the TOEFL?
Since 1963 the TOEFL has been used by scholarship selection committees of governments, universities, and agencies such as Fulbright, the Agency for International Developments, AMIDEAST, Latin American Scholarship program and others as standard measure of the English proficiency of their candidates.
How Difficult is the TOEFL?
The level of difficulty of the TOEFL is directly related to the average level of proficiency in English of the candidates who take the examination. This means that each question will probably be answered correctly by 50 percent of the candidates.
Types of Test
The TOEFL® test is the world’s most popular English-language test. There are two popular version of TOEFL available in the world today namely :
1. TOEFL-iBT 2. TOEFL paper-based
Score well, get the ticket of admission world wide
Almost every student wants to go abroad for further study especially to USA, UK, New Zealand, Canada, AUSTRALIA etc., If you score well on the TOEFL® iBT, it is like a ticket for admission in the world most prestigious universities and colleges. TOEFL® iBT help students getting sure admissions into more than 6,000 universities worldwide.
The Internet-based TOEFL test is available almost in every city world wide. The TOEFL paper-based test is offered to the students where the facility for TOEFL iBT is not available.
List of TOEFL Centers
To view the list of TOEFL test center locations, visit www.ets.org/toefl/locations
TOEFL Registration
The test comprises of four sections and can be taken on the same day. If you want to register visit this website address. www.ets.org/toefl/info/register
How can one obtain TOEFL Score?
Test scores can be obtained online after 15 business days after the test and a copy of the score dispatched to the students by mail. Colleges, schools universities and agencies are allowed to view the score online by the ETS.
Test Details
TOEFL iBT provide an opportunity to the students to prove their English-language skills to communicate effectively in a scholastic atmosphere. For instance, test participants read a passage, listen to a short lecture about a topic and then speak or write in response.
In the Speaking section, students use headphones and reply the questions into a microphone. The responses are digitally recorded and sent to ETS’s Online Scoring Network (OSN). To guarantee utmost impartiality and trustworthiness, three to six certified ETS raters assess the responses. All raters undergo constant monitoring to guarantee the maximum accuracy and quality control.
There are two tasks to be responded by the participants in the Writing section, Responses are sent to the ETS OSN, where they are assessed and evaluated by four raters.
English language skill level is exposed from the score of the test takers. Comprehensive scoring information, including four skill scores and a total score is provided by the ETS. A performance feedback is also sent to the students about their strong and weak points so that they can improve their skills.
Comparison of TOEFL and TOEFL-iBT
Below is a comparison of two tests showing great flexibility for Internet based TOEFL test.
|
Features |
Internet-based TOEFL Test |
Paper-based TOEFL Test |
|
Skills tested |
• Listening • Speaking • Reading • Writing |
• Listening • Structure • Reading • Writing |
|
Total time |
4 hours |
3 hours |
|
Integrated tasks |
Yes |
No |
|
Note taking
|
Yes |
No |
|
Computer adaptive |
Not computer adaptive. Each test taker receives the same range of questions in any given form of the test.
|
Not applicable |
|
Reading |
3-5 passages from academic texts Approximately 700 words long Includes multiple-focus passages (compare/contrast, cause/effect) 12-14 questions for each passage Time: 60-100 minutes Score scale: 0-30 |
5 passages from academic texts 250-350 words long 10 questions per passage Time: 55 minutes Score scale: 31-67 |
|
Listening |
4-6 lectures, some with classroom discussion
• each 3-5 minutes long, 6 questions each2-3 conversations • each 3 minutes long, 5 questions each Time: 60-90 minutes Score scale: 0-30 |
3-4 mini-talks • each 60-90 seconds long, 3-5 questions each 2-3 extended conversations • each 60-90 seconds long, 3-5 questions each 30-40 dialogues • each 5-15 seconds long,1 question each Time: 30-40 minutes Score scale: 31-68 |
|
Speaking |
Six tasks • 2 independent tasks — express an opinion on a familiar topic
• 4 integrated tasks — speak based on what is read and heard Up to 30 seconds to prepare the response Up to 1 minute to respond Time: 20 minutes Score scale: 0-4 points; total of ratings converted to 0-30 score scale
|
Not measured |
|
Writing |
Two tasks • 1 integrated task — write based on what is read and heard
• 1 independent task — support an opinion on a topic Time: 50 minutes • 20 minutes for integrated task • 30 minutes for independent task Score scale: 0-5 points; total of ratings converted to 0-30 score scale |
1 independent task (Test of Written English TM) Time: 30 minutes Score scale: 0-6 points, reported separately on score report Handwriting only |
|
Structure (grammar) |
No grammar section on the test, although grammar is Evaluated in speaking and writing responses. |
40 questions Time: 25 minutes Score scale: 31-68 |
|
Total score |
0-120
|
310-677 |
|
Performance feedback |
Performance feedback for each skill is provided on the Test-taker report.
|
Not provided |
|
Features |
Internet-based TOEFL Test |
Paper-based TOEFL Test |
|
Skills tested |
• Listening • Speaking • Reading • Writing |
• Listening • Structure • Reading • Writing |
|
Total time |
4 hours |
3 hours |
|
Integrated tasks |
Yes |
No |
|
Note taking
|
Yes |
No |
|
Computer adaptive |
Not computer adaptive. Each test taker receives the same range of questions in any given form of the test.
|
Not applicable |
|
Reading |
3-5 passages from academic texts Approximately 700 words long Includes multiple-focus passages (compare/contrast, cause/effect) 12-14 questions for each passage Time: 60-100 minutes Score scale: 0-30 |
5 passages from academic texts 250-350 words long 10 questions per passage Time: 55 minutes Score scale: 31-67 |
|
Listening |
4-6 lectures, some with classroom discussion
• each 3-5 minutes long, 6 questions each2-3 conversations • each 3 minutes long, 5 questions each Time: 60-90 minutes Score scale: 0-30 |
3-4 mini-talks • each 60-90 seconds long, 3-5 questions each 2-3 extended conversations • each 60-90 seconds long, 3-5 questions each 30-40 dialogues • each 5-15 seconds long,1 question each Time: 30-40 minutes Score scale: 31-68 |
|
Speaking |
Six tasks • 2 independent tasks — express an opinion on a familiar topic
• 4 integrated tasks — speak based on what is read and heard Up to 30 seconds to prepare the response Up to 1 minute to respond Time: 20 minutes Score scale: 0-4 points; total of ratings converted to 0-30 score scale
|
Not measured |
|
Writing |
Two tasks • 1 integrated task — write based on what is read and heard
• 1 independent task — support an opinion on a topic Time: 50 minutes • 20 minutes for integrated task • 30 minutes for independent task Score scale: 0-5 points; total of ratings converted to 0-30 score scale |
1 independent task (Test of Written English TM) Time: 30 minutes Score scale: 0-6 points, reported separately on score report Handwriting only |
|
Structure (grammar) |
No grammar section on the test, although grammar is Evaluated in speaking and writing responses. |
40 questions Time: 25 minutes Score scale: 31-68 |
|
Total score |
0-120
|
310-677 |
|
Performance feedback |
Performance feedback for each skill is provided on the Test-taker report.
|
Not provided |
FURTHER INFORMATION:
For the latest information about the TOEFL iBT, please visit >>>
www.ets.org/toefl/info
