TOEFL

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) evaluates the potential success of an individual to use and understand Standard American English at a college level. It is required of non-native applicants at most of colleges and universities in the United States. Additionally, institutions such as government agencies, businesses, or scholarship programs may require this test. A TOEFL score is valid for two years and then is deleted from the official database. Colleges and universities usually consider only the most recent TOEFL score.

The TOEFL is an examination used to evaluate a non-native English speaker's proficiency in the English language. Many North American colleges and universities, as well large
number of institutions, agencies, and program, ask for official TOEFL score reports. An acceptable score on the TOEFL exam depends on the specific requirements of the particular institution or agency involved.

Why Universities ask for TOEFL?

Most Universities and Colleges in United States ask for the official TOEFL score reports before they consider your application. The main reason behind universities asking prospective students to submit TOEFL scores is that they want to make sure that you are proficient enough in English language to complete your education in the U.S. successfully.

Internet based testing (iBT)

Since its introduction in late 2005, the Internet-Based test (iBT) has progressively replaced both the computer-based (CBT) and paper-based (PBT) tests. The iBT was introduced in phases, with the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and Italy implementing it in 2005 and the rest of the world in 2006, with test centers added regularly.
Since the demand for test seats was very high, and candidates had to wait for months. But with iBT, it is now possible to take the test within one to four weeks in most countries. The four-hour long test consists of four sections, each measuring mainly one of the basic language skills (although some tasks may require multiple skills) focusing on language used in an academic, higher education environment. Note taking is allowed during the iBT.

•  Reading

The reading section consists of 3–5 long passages and questions about the passages. The passages are on academic topics; they are the kind of material that might be found in an undergraduate university textbook. Students answer questions about main ideas, details, inferences, sentence restatements, sentence insertion, vocabulary, function and overall ideas. New types of questions in the iBT require paraphrasing, filling out tables, or completing summaries. Generally prior knowledge of the subject under discussion is not necessary to come to the correct answer, though it might help to know the subject already.

• Listening

It consists of six long passages and questions about the passages. The passages consist of two student conversations and four academic lectures or discussions. The questions ask the students to determine main ideas, details, function, stance, inferences, and overall organization.

• Speaking

It consists of six tasks, two independent tasks and four integrated tasks. In the two independent tasks, students must answer opinion questions about some aspect of academic life. In two integrated reading, listening, and speaking tasks, students must read a passage, listen to a passage, and speak about how the ideas in the two passages are related. In two integrated listening and speaking tasks, students must listen to long passages and then summarize and offer opinions on the information in the passages. Test takers are expected to convey information, explain ideas, and defend opinions clearly, coherently, and accurately.

• Writing

The Writing Section consists of two tasks, one integrated task and one independent task. In the integrated task, students must read an academic passage, listen to an academic passage, and write about how the ideas in the two passages are related. In the independent task, students must write a personal essay.

It should be noted that at least one of the sections of the test will include extra, uncounted material. Educational Testing Service includes extra material to try out material for future tests. If the test taker is given a longer section, he must work hard on all of the materials because he does not know which material counts and which material is extra. For example, if there are four reading passages instead of three, three of the passages will count and one of the passages will not be counted. It is possible that the uncounted passage could be any of the four passages.

Test Scores

The score you receive on the TOEFL exam is not the percentage of correct answers. Your score is converted to take into account the fact that some tests are more difficult than others. The converted scores correct these differences. Therefore, the converted score is a more accurate reflection of your ability than the correct answer score is.

The iBT version of the TOEFL test is scored on a scale of 0 to 120 points. Each of the four sections (Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing) receives a scaled score from 0 to 30. The scaled scores from the four sections added together to determine the overall score. Speaking is initially given a score of 0 to 4, and writing is initially given a score of 0 to 5. These scores are converted to scaled scores of 0 to 30.

Scoring of Essay
In TOEFL you do not get immediate results/score, but a range like 203 to 260. Generally you get a range of about 50 to 60 points. If that is the case and if your essay is average (of the type (4/6) then you would score about 44 points out of about 57. Don't calculate your writing score as 4/6*57.In fact you get more than that.

Preparing for the TOEFL test

1. If you do not have a sound basic knowledge of English, it is strongly advised to take English language courses before taking a TOEFL preparation course. TOEFL exam preparation materials are designed to prepare you for the test. They are not designed to teach you English.

2. Begin your TOEFL studies as soon as you decide to take the exam. It will not be useful to try to learn everything the week before the exam date.

3. Study on a regular basis. Thoroughly learning a small amount of information daily is better than insufficiently or inaccurately learning a large amount of information at one sitting.

4. All English practice is helpful. Listening to a movie or radio program in English is good for building your listening comprehension skills. Systematically add new words to your vocabulary. Even though these activities are not directly related to the TOEFL test, they will help you.

5. Work carefully through the exercise in preparation for the TOEFL Test. It is better to concentrate the most effort on your weak areas.

Studying tips for the TOEFL Test

1. Practice budgeting your time. The TOEFL test is taken under time-limit pressures. Learn to use your time wisely so that you can complete each section.
2. Identify your problem areas. Concentrate on those areas, but review other areas as well.
3. Know your goal. Write to the administration office of the college or university of your choice, and ask for their entrance requirements. They will confirm what TOEFL score is required for admission.
4. Check yourself on the Practice Tests to discover if you usually change correct answers to incorrect answers when unsure of an item. If you do change correct answers to incorrect answers, you will want to stay with your first choice when you take the TOEFL test.

Taking the TOEFL test

1. The test center staff will tell you where to sit. You can ask for the volume of the cassette to be adjusted at the beginning of the test administration, but remember that it is unlikely that all test-takers will be pleased.
2. Listen to the instructions carefully. The cassette will explain how to complete the personal data sheet and how to mark your answer sheet. It is important that you follow these instructions.
3. If you need to erase, do so thoroughly using a clean eraser.
4. Work quickly through the easy item. Be sure to skip a space on the answer sheet when you skip a difficult item. After you answer the easy items, return to the ones you skipped.
5. Do not underline any words in the test book or make any notes in either the test book or on the answer sheet. A light checkmark on your answer sheet by any item you wish to recheck should be carefully erased before the end of the test.
6. If you finish one of the sections early, go back through only that section to double check your answers. Do not work on any other section of the test. This is not permitted. If you are caught working on the wrong section, your test will be invalidated.
7. Be prepared for changes. Occasionally a TOEFL test has a change in format or more items to answer in a longer period of time.
8. Answer all questions; however, do not waste time on difficult items. If you think one of two answers is correct, choose one and go on. If you don't know, then you should guess. You are not penalized for guessing, and your guess may be correct.
9. If you see that the time is almost finished and you can't read and answer all the remaining items, choose A, B, C, or D as your guess letter and quickly answer the items with that one letter. You are more likely to get some correct answers if you use one letter than if you use them all.

Tips for TOEFL Speaking Section

Record yourself to speak better
When practicing for the Speaking task of the TOEFL test pay close attention to natural speaking patterns. Listen and make note of how words are pronounced and stressed, as well as the speaker's intonation patterns and pauses. Try making a recording of your own speaking effort and play it back to evaluate it. Ask yourself these questions: Did I speak clearly? Did I make grammatical errors? Did I use words correctly?

Preparing for the integrated Speaking tasks
You can practice for the integrated Speaking tasks on the TOEFL test by doing the following: select a topic or an assigned reading and then find listening material that covers the same topic. (You can find these on the Internet or the library.) Create an outline to summarize both materials. This task will help you to synthesize what you read with what you hear.

How to practice speaking English without a listener
If you find yourself without the opportunity to practice speaking with a native speaker of English, try one of these independent tasks in English: Describe a familiar place. Recount a personal experience. State a personal opinion about something that is going on in your community or the world. Do these independent tasks alone, and then try them with a native speaker of English.

Find a friend that speaks English
You have probably heard that the best way to practice speaking the English language is with a native speaker of English. But finding one may be challenging. In some countries, there are English-speaking tutors or assistants who help students with conversation skills and overall communication skills. It is critical to find them and speak with them as often as possible. You can also link up with an English club and join the members in English-language conversations about movies, music and travel.

Scoring better on TOEFL Speaking test
To improve your English language learning and reading skills, try to read English-language publications on a regular basis. Focus on university textbooks or other materials that cover a variety of subject areas, such as science, arts, social sciences and business. You can find many academic texts on the Internet, as well as in magazines and journals.

Tips for TOEFL Listening Section

Practice listening to English to connect and synthesize ideas
Sometimes, a lecture is organized so that he or she builds a "point of view" or "claims a position" about a particular topic. Other lectures are organized to express many ideas or different points of view. When you listen to a lecture, try to listen for words that tell you which structure the lecture is building. You can even write down words that indicate certain relationships in the lecture, such as cause/effect, compare/contrast or the steps of a process.

It's important to understand a speaker's tone
No matter the language, we all use tone or inflection to emphasize our communication. Noticing a speaker's tone is essential to understanding what the speaker is trying to accomplish. Next time you are listening to an English-language conversation or lecture, focus on the speaker's tone. Is he using formal or casual language? Is her voice calm or emotional? What does the speaker's tone of voice say?

Why watching MORE TV can help you score well?
There are different ways to build your English-language listening skills, which are very important for success on the TOEFL test. Of course, listening to CDs and audiotapes of lectures are terrific ways to hear the English language spoken, especially on academic topics. Try watching TV, movies and listening to the radio to improve your listening skills on news and cultural topics. Even the Internet is a great source for listening material. Try www.npr.org or www.bbc.co.uk/radio

Tips for TOEFL Reading Section

Why paraphrasing is important
Did you know that the READING section of the TOEFL test measures your ability to recognize a proper paraphrase? Paraphrasing is restating a sentence or a passage into your own words without changing the meaning or context. Knowing how to paraphrase is also important for the integrated tasks of WRITING and SPEAKING. For example, if you hear a conversation, you may not be able to repeat it exactly, but you may be able to paraphrase, or convey the gist of the conversation. Practice your ability to paraphrase after reading your assignments. Ask someone to listen and evaluate.

Learn to recognize a pronoun instantly
Do you know what a pronoun is? These words take the place of the real noun in the sentence. Words like he, him, she, her, they, them, etc. are pronouns. A pronoun can substitute for first names like John or Mary or for descriptions like my brother, our neighbour and your parents. Read through some English-language passages and identify all pronouns. Then connect each pronoun with the actual noun it is replacing.

Expand your English vocabulary
To expand your English vocabulary, identify unfamiliar words in a reading passage and try and guess their meaning from the surrounding sentences. After several guesses, look up each word in a dictionary to see how close you came to determining their meaning. You can also make flashcards of these words to use for study aids.

You can improve your reading comprehension
To improve your reading comprehension when learning the English language, try this technique: practice skimming a paragraph or passage quickly to get a general impression of the main idea, instead of carefully reading each word and each sentence. Be sure to also write down the main idea, important facts, and several details and persuasive arguments that convey that idea.

For more information on TOEFL visit TOEFL Official Website:
http://www.toefl.org/

To register online for the TOEFL test click here

To download the TOEFL bulletin (2008-2009) click here

To find out which institutions around the world accept the TOEFL scores click here

Practice for TOEFL online

TOEFL iBT tips

TOEFL Test Locations and Dates in India