TOEFL
The TOEFL /ˈtoʊfəl/ TOH-fəl, formally known as Test Of
English as a Foreign Language, is a test of an individual’s ability to use and
understand American English in an academic setting designed and administered by
Educational Testing Service (ETS) and TOEFL is a registered trademark of ETS.
It was developed to address the problem of ensuring English language
proficiency for non-native speakers wishing to study at U.S. universities. It
has become an admission requirement for non-native English speakers at many
English-speaking colleges and universities. Additionally, institutions such as
government agencies, licensing bodies, businesses, or scholarship programs may
require this test. A TOEFL score is valid for two years and then will no longer
be officially reported.
History
In 1962, a national council made up of representatives of
thirty government and private organizations was formed to address the problem of
ensuring English language proficiency for non-native speakers wishing to study
at U.S. universities. This council recommended the development and
administration of the TOEFL exam for the 1963-1964 time frame. The test was
originally developed at the Center for Applied Linguistics under the direction
of Stanford University applied linguistics professor Dr. Charles A. Ferguson.[3]
The TOEFL test was first administered in 1964 by the Modern
Language Association financed by grants from the Ford Foundation and Danforth
Foundation. In 1965, The College Board and ETS jointly assumed responsibility
for the continuation of the TOEFL testing program.
In 1973, a cooperative arrangement was made between ETS, The
College Board, and the Graduate Record Examinations board of advisers to
oversee and run the program. ETS was to administer the exam with the guidance
of the TOEFL board.
Format and Contents
Internet-based Test
Since its introduction in late 2005, the TOEFL iBT format
has progressively replaced both 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scores are no longer valid.
Although 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.[4] 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 a week.
- Reading
The Reading section consists of 3–5 passages, each
approximately 700 words in length 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. 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 six passages 3–5 minutes
in length and questions about the passages. These passages include two student
conversations and four academic lectures or discussions. A conversation
involves two speakers, a student and either a professor or a campus service
provider. A lecture is 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 stimulus 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
tasks and four integrated tasks. 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 task and one
independent task. In the integrated task, test-takers read a passage on an
academic topic and then listen to a speaker discuss the same topic. The
test-taker will then write a summary about the important points in the
listening passage and explain how these relate to the key points of the reading
passage. In the independent task, the test-taker must write an essay that
states, explains, and supports their opinion on an issue, supporting their
opinions or choices, rather than simply listing personal preferences or
choices. Responses are sent to the ETS OSN and evaluated by four raters.
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One of the sections of the test will include extra,
uncounted material. Educational Testing Service includes extra material in
order to pilot test questions for future test forms. When test-takers are given
a longer section, they should give equal effort to all of the questions because
they do not know which question will count and which will be considered extra.
For example, if there are four reading passages instead of three, then three of
those passages will count and one of the passages will not be counted. Any of
the four passages could be the uncounted one.
Paper-based Test
The TOEFL paper-based Test (PBT) is available in limited areas.
Scores are valid for two years after the test date, and test takers can have
their scores sent to institutions or agencies during that time.
- Listening (30 – 40 minutes)
The Listening section consists of 3 parts. The first one
contains 30 questions about short conversations. The second part has 8
questions about longer conversations. The last part asks 12 questions about
lectures or talks.
- Structure and Written Expression (25 minutes)
The Structure and Written Expression section has 15
exercises of completing sentences correctly and 25 exercises of identifying
errors.
- Reading Comprehension (55 minutes)
The Reading Comprehension section has 50 questions about
reading passages.
- Writing (30 minutes)
The Writing section is one essay with 250–300 words in average.
Test Score
TOEFL IBT Test
- The TOEFL iBT 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 are added together to determine the total score.
- Each speaking question is initially given a score of 0 to 4, and each writing question is initially given a score of 0 to 5. These scores are converted to scaled scores of 0 to 30.
Paper-based Test
- The final PBT score ranges between 310 and 677 and is based on three subscores: Listening (31–68), Structure (31–68), and Reading (31–67). Unlike the CBT, the score of the Writing section (referred to as the Test of Written English, TWE) is not part of the final score; instead, it is reported separately on a scale of 0–6.
- The score test takers receive on the Listening, Structure and Reading parts of the TOEFL test is not the percentage of correct answers. The 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 the ability than the correct answer score is.
Accepted TOEFL Scores
Most colleges use TOEFL scores as only one factor in their
admission process. Each college or program within a college often has a minimum
TOEFL score required. The minimum TOEFL iBT scores range from 61 (Bowling Green
State University) to 100 (MIT, Columbia, Harvard). A sampling of required TOEFL
admissions scores shows that a total TOEFL iBT score of 74.2 for undergraduate
admissions and 82.6 for graduate admissions may be required.ETS has released
tables to convert between iBT, CBT and PBT scores.
TOEFL ITP Tests
TOEFL ITP tests are paper-based and use academic content to
evaluate the English-language proficiency of nonnative English speakers. The
tests use new and previously administered TOEFL test questions and are used for
placement, progress, evaluation, exit testing and other situations. Unlike the
TOEFL iBT test, TOEFL ITP tests are administered by the institution and should
not replace the need for the TOEFL iBT test. There are two levels: Level 1
(intermediate to advanced) and Level 2 (high beginning to intermediate).TOEFL
ITP scores are mapped to the CEFR and test takers are provided with a
certificate of achievement.
TOEFL junior Test
ETS also offers the TOEFL Junior tests, a general assessment
of middle school-level English-language proficiency, and a distinct product
within the TOEFL family. The TOEFL Junior is intended for students ages 11–14.
The tests are administered in two formats — TOEFL Junior Standard (paper-based)
and TOEFL Junior Comprehensive (administered via computer). The TOEFL Junior
Standard test has three sections: Reading Comprehension, Listening
Comprehension and Language Form and Meaning. The TOEFL Junior Comprehensive
test has four sections: Reading Comprehension, Listening Comprehension,
Speaking and Writing. TOEFL Junior scores are mapped to the CEFR and test
takers are provided with a certificate of achievement. TOEFL Junior is a
trademark of ETS.
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