Test of English as a Foreign Language or TOEFL is a standardized test of English
language proficiency for non-native English language speakers
wishing to enroll in U.S. universities. The test is accepted by many
English-speaking academic and professional institutions. TOEFL is one of the
two major English-language tests in the world, the other being the IELTS.
TOEFL is a trademark of ETS (Educational Testing Service), a private
non-profit organization, which designs and administers the tests. The scores
are valid for 2 years; then they are no longer reported
Since its introduction in late 2005, the TOEFL
Internet-based Test (iBT) format has progressively replaced the computer-based
tests (CBT) and paper-based tests (PBT), although paper-based testing is still
used in select areas. The TOEFL iBT test has been introduced in phases, with
the United States,
Canada,
France,
Germany,
and Italy
in 2005 and the rest of the world in 2006, with test centers added regularly.
The CBT was discontinued in September 2006 and these scores are no longer
valid.
Initially, the demand for test seats was higher than
availability, and candidates had to wait for months. It is now possible to take
the test within one to four weeks in most countries. The four-hour test
consists of four sections, each measuring one of the basic language skills
(while some tasks require integrating multiple skills), and all tasks focus on
language used in an academic, higher-education environment. Note-taking is
allowed during the TOEFL iBT test. The test cannot be taken more than once
every 12 days.
- Reading
The Reading
section consists of questions on 4–6 passages, each approximately 700 words in
length. The passages are on academic topics; they are the kind of material that
might be found in an undergraduate university textbook. Passages require
understanding of rhetorical functions such as cause-effect, compare-contrast
and argumentation. Students answer questions about main ideas, details,
inferences, essential information, sentence insertion, vocabulary, rhetorical
purpose and overall ideas. New types of questions in the TOEFL iBT test require
filling out tables or completing summaries. Prior knowledge of the subject
under discussion is not necessary to come to the correct answer.
- Listening
The
Listening section consists of questions on six passages, each 3–5 minutes in
length. These passages include two student conversations and four academic
lectures or discussions. The conversations involve a student and either a
professor or a campus service provider. The lectures are a self-contained
portion of an academic lecture, which may involve student participation and
does not assume specialized background knowledge in the subject area. Each
conversation and lecture passage is heard only once. Test-takers may take notes
while they listen and they may refer to their notes when they answer the
questions. Each conversation is associated with five questions and each lecture
with six. The questions are meant to measure the ability to understand main
ideas, important details, implications, relationships between ideas,
organization of information, speaker purpose and speaker attitude.
- Speaking
The Speaking
section consists of six tasks: two independent and four integrated. In the two
independent tasks, test-takers answer opinion questions on familiar topics.
They are evaluated on their ability to speak spontaneously and convey their
ideas clearly and coherently. In two of the integrated tasks, test-takers read
a short passage, listen to an academic course lecture or a conversation about
campus life and answer a question by combining appropriate information from the
text and the talk. In the two remaining integrated tasks, test-takers listen to
an academic course lecture or a conversation about campus life and then respond
to a question about what they heard. In the integrated tasks, test-takers are
evaluated on their ability to appropriately synthesize and effectively convey
information from the reading and listening material. Test-takers may take notes
as they read and listen and may use their notes to help prepare their
responses. Test-takers are given a short preparation time before they have to
begin speaking. The responses are digitally recorded, sent to ETS’s Online
Scoring Network (OSN), and evaluated by three to six raters.
- Writing
The Writing
section measures a test taker's ability to write in an academic setting and
consists of two tasks: one integrated and one independent. In the integrated
task, test-takers read a passage on an academic topic and then listen to a
speaker discuss it. The test-taker then writes a summary about the important
points in the listening passage and explains how these relate to the key points
of the reading passage. In the independent task, the test-taker must write an
essay that states their opinion or choice, and then explain it, rather than
simply listing personal preferences or choices. Responses are sent to the ETS
OSN and evaluated by at least 3 different raters.
