TOEFL (TEST OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

TOEFL iBT is an English language proficiency test. TOEFL stands for Test of English as a Foreign Language, and iBT represents Internet-based test. It tests your ability to use and understand English at the university level. It measures how well you can combine your listening, reading, speaking and writing skills to perform academic tasks. Many North American colleges and universities, and a large number of institutions, agencies and programs require official TOEFL test scores during the admission process. TOEFL is designed and administered by Educational Testing Services (ETS) Princeton, New Jersey, USA.TOEFL is conducted on fixed dates in a network of secure Internet-based test centers. During the TOEFL test, you can take notes. Pencils and paper will be provided. However, you cannot use your own pencil or paper. You must give your notes to the test site manager at the end. You cannot pass or fail the TOEFL test. You will get a score out of 120 total points. Your TOEFL scores are valid for two years. You cannot renew your TOEFL score. You must retake the test and get a new score.You can retake the test as many times as you wish, but you cannot take it more than once in a 12-day period. 

 

Test time

The total test takes just under 2 hours to complete, but you should plan for 2.5 hours, allowing 30 minutes for check in.

 

Section Estimated Timing Questions/

Tasks Description

Reading 35 minutes 20 questions Read passages and respond to questions.

Listening 36 minutes 28 questions Answer questions about brief lectures or classroom discussions.

Speaking 16 minutes 4 tasks Talk about a familiar topic and discuss material you read and heard.

Writing 29 minutes 2 tasks Read a passage, listen to a recording, type your response. State and support an opinion in an online classroom discussion.

 

TOEFL iBT Reading Section

The TOEFL iBT Reading section assesses how well you can read and understand materials used in an academic environment.It includes two reading passages, each approximately 700 words long, with 10 questions per passage. It should take about 35 minutes to complete the Reading section.

Reading passages are excerpts from university-level textbooks that would be used in introductions to a topic. The passages cover a variety of subjects. All the information you need to answer the questions will be included in the passage. There is a glossary feature available to define words that are not commonly used, if you need it.

 

TOEFL iBT Listening Section

The TOEFL iBT Listening section is designed to measure your ability to understand conversations and lectures in English. It includes listening for:

     • basic comprehension

     • understanding the speaker's attitude and degree of certainty

     • connecting information

You’ll hear lectures and conversations in this section. Both use language you would hear on a university campus.

     • 3 lectures, 3-5 minutes each, some with classroom discussion; 6 questions per lecture

     • 2 conversations, 3 minutes each; 5 questions per conversation

You can take notes on any audio item throughout the test to help you answer questions.

Test time: It should take about 36 minutes to complete the Listening section.

 

Accents

The Listening section includes native-speaker English accents from North America, the U.K., New Zealand or Australia to better reflect the variety of accents you might encounter while studying abroad. 

 

TOEFL iBT Test Writing Section

The TOEFL iBT test Writing section measures your ability to write in English in an academic setting, and to present your ideas in a clear, well-organized way.

There are two writing tasks.

     • Integrated writing task (20 minutes) — read a short passage and listen to a short lecture, then write in response to what you read and listened to.

     • Writing for an Academic Discussion task (10 minutes) — state and support an opinion in an online classroom discussion.

 

You'll type your responses on a computer keyboard.

Test time: It should take about 29 minutes to complete the Writing section.

Scoring: Writing tasks are scored based on the Writing Scoring Guides (Rubrics) by a combination of AI scoring and certified human raters. Raw scores are converted to a scaled section score of 0–30.

The writing tasks measure your English proficiency, so you don't need deep knowledge on a specific topic to get a high score. Score raters recognize that each essay is a first draft, and you can receive a high score with an essay that contains some errors.