Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is a standardized
test to measure the English Language ability of non-native speakers wishing to
enroll in English-speaking universities. The test is accepted by many English speaking
academic and professional institutions. TOEFL is one of the two major English
language test in the world the other being the IELTS.
TOEFL is a trademark of the
Educational testing Service(ETS), a private non-profit organization, which
designs and administers the tests. ETS issues official score reports, sent
independently to intitutions, for two years following the test.
HISTORY
In 1962, a national council made
up of representative 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 centre for applied linguistics under the direction of Stanford
University applied linguistics professor Dr. Charles A. Ferguson.
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 the advisers to oversee
and run the program. ETS was to administer the exam with the guidance of the
TOEFL board.
To the present day, college admission
criteria for international students who are nationals of some the Commonwealth
nations exempt them from taking the TOEFL exam. Nations which are part of the
Anglophere (from most Commonwealth realms to former British colonies e.g., Hong
Kong SAR or former protectorates of the United States) where English is the de
facto official language automatically grants a TOEFL exemption with some
restrictions( e.g., residents of Quebec are required to take TOEFL while the
rest of Canada is exempt also inclusive of Commonwealth nations where English
is not an official language e.g., Mozambique or Namibia (English is co-official
but spoken by 3% of the population)). However, this does not apply to some
Commonwealth nations outside the Anglophere, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh
etc. Eventhough, they may have English as de facto official language.
FORMAT AND CONTENT
Internet-based test
Since its introduction in late
2005, the TOEFL Internet-based Test(iBT) format has progressively replaced the
computer-based test(CBT) and paper-based tests(PBT), Although papefr-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 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 allowing during the TOEFL iBT test. The test cannot be taken more than once
every 12 days.
1.
Reading
The reading
section consists of questions on 4-6 passages, each approximately 700 words in
length. The passage are on academic topics; they are the kind of material that
might be found in an undergraduate university textbook. Passages require
understanding of rethorical functions such as cause-effect, compare-contrast
and argumentation. Students answer questions about main ideas, details,
inferences, essential information, sentence insertion, vocabulary, rethorical
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.
2.
Listening
The listening
setion 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 professor or a
campus service provider. The lectures are a self-contained portion of an
academic lecture, which may involve student participation an does not assume
specialized background knowledge in the subject area. Each conversation and
lecture passage is heard only once. Test-takers may take note s 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.
3.
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 integrate 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 integrate 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 integrate 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.
4.
Writting
The Writing
section measures a test takers’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-takers the wites 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-takers 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.
|
Task
|
Decription
|
Approximate time
|
|
Reading
|
3-5 passages, each containing 12-14
quetions
|
60-80 minutes
|
|
Listening
|
6-9 passages, each containing 5-6
questions
|
60-90 minutes
|
|
Break
|
Mandatory break
|
10 minutes
|
|
Speaking
|
6 tasks
|
20 minutes
|
|
Writing
|
2 tasks
|
50 minutes
|
One of the sections of the test will include extra,
uncounted material. Educational Testing Service includes extra material 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 be considered extra. For example,
if there are four reading passages instead of three, then one of the passages
will not be counted. Any of the four 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 thre test date, and test takers can
have their score sent to institutions or agencies during that time.
1.
Listening
(30-40 minutes)
The Listening
section consists of 3 parts. The first one contains 30 questions about short
conversation. The second part has 8 questions about longer conversations.
The last part
asks 12 questions about lectures or talks.
2.
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.
3.
Reading
Comprehension (55 minutes)
The Reading
Comprehension sections has 50 questions about reading passages.
4.
Writing
(30 minutes)
The TOEFL PBT
administrations include a writing test called the Test of Written English(TWE).
This is one essay question with 250-300 words in average.
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