Test of English as a Foreign Language or TOEFL /ˈtoʊfəl/ toh-fəl,
is astandardised 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 organisation, which designs and administers the tests. The scores
are valid for two years; then they are no longer reported.
History of TOEFL
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.
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.
To the present day,
college admission criteria for international students who are Commonwealth of Nations nationals are exempted from taking the
TOEFL exam - nations which are part of the Anglosphere (from 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).
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 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.
1.
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.
2.
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.
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
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.
4.
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.
Task
|
Description
|
Approximate time
|
Reading
|
3–5 passages, each containing 12–14 questions
|
60–100 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 will 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 the test date, and test takers can have
their scores 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 conversations. 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.
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 component (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 raw score is.
Accepted TOEFL Scores
Most colleges use TOEFL scores as only one factor in their
admission process, with a college or program within a college often setting 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
non-native English speakers. The tests use new and previously administered
TOEFL test questions and are used for placement, progress, evaluation, exit
testing and other situations. The test scores, format and content of the test
matches the "TOEFL PBT", with the exception of not including the TWE (Test of Written
Expression).
Unlike the TOEFL iBT and PBT tests, TOEFL ITP tests are administered
by the institution and for internal use. It should not replace the need for the
TOEFL iBT test, which is administered securely and includes Speaking and
Writing components. There are two levels of TOEFL ITP: 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 Tests
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 aged 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 JuniorComprehensive 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.
TOEFL Junior Tests
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 aged 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 JuniorComprehensive 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.
Linking TOEFL iBT Scores to IELTS Scores
|
IELTS Score
|
TOEFL Score
|
|
9
|
118-120
|
|
8.5
|
115-117
|
|
8
|
110-114
|
|
7.5
|
102-109
|
|
7
|
94-101
|
|
6.5
|
79-93
|
|
6
|
60-78
|
|
5.5
|
46-59
|
|
5
|
35-45
|
|
4.5
|
32-34
|
|
0-4
|
0-31
|
Reference : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_of_English_as_a_Foreign_Language
YUNITA HILDA N
27211679
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