What is TOEFL?

The Test Of English as a Foreign Language (or TOEFL , pronounced "toe-full") evaluates the potential success of an individual to use and understand standard American English at a college level. It is required for non-native applicants at many US and other English-speaking colleges and universities. The TOEFL is the product of the Educational Testing Service (ETS), which is contracted by the private, non-profit firm, the College Board to administer the test in institutions in the US; they also produce the SAT.

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 test was first administered in 1964 and has since been taken by nearly 20 million students.

If you are planning to study abroad, the TOEFL test is the one test that can take you anywhere.

In fact, more institutions accept TOEFL test scores than any other test scores in the world — more than 6,000 colleges, universities and licensing agencies in 136 countries, to be exact. And, with more than 4,300 test centers worldwide, taking the test is convenient and easy.

Formats of TOEFL

iBT (internet Based Test)
PBT (Paper Based Test)
CBT (Computer Based Test)

Internet-Based Test (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 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.

Although the demand for test seats was very high, 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 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. The test cannot be taken more than once a week. For taking Test of English as a Foreign Language, TOEFL Test no minimum educational qualification is required. The test administrator “Educational Testing Services” recommend that 11th grade level or above is suitable qualification for taking this test.

· 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 prior knowledge may help.

3 passages and 39 questions or 5 passages and 70 questions, 60 minutes or 100 minutes

· 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.

6 passages and 34 questions, 50 minutes

· 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.

6 tasks and 6 questions, 20 minutes

· 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.

2 tasks and 2 questions, 55 minutes

Scoring

· 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 are 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.

Fees

Item	Fees
Registration	Fees vary by country.
Late registration	US$25
Rescheduling	US$50
Reinstatement of canceled TOEFL iBT scores	US$20
Additional score reports (per institution or agency)	US$17 each
TOEFL iBT Speaking or Writing Section rescore	US$60
TOEFL iBT Speaking and Writing Section rescore	US$120
Returned personal check (paper or electronic)	US$20

How Test Questions Are Created

Language specialists prepare TOEFL test questions and follow rigorous, standardized procedures to ensure that test material is of consistent high quality. Each question is reviewed by several ETS staff members. The TOEFL Committee of Examiners — an independent group of professionals in the fields of linguistics, language testing and language teaching that reports to the TOEFL Board — establishes guidelines for test content.

After test questions have been reviewed and revised, they are administered in trial situations and assembled into tests. Tests are reviewed according to ETS and TOEFL program procedures to ensure that all tests are free of cultural bias. Statistical analyses of individual questions ensure that all items provide appropriate measurement information.

Paper-Based Test

In areas where the iBT and CBT are not available, a paper-based test (PBT) is given. Because test takers cannot register at the testing center on the test date, they must register in advance using the registration form provided in the Supplemental Paper TOEFL Bulletin. They should register in advance of the given deadlines to ensure a place because the test centers have limited seating and may fill up early. Tests are administered only several times each year.

The PBT tests essentially the same skills as the CBT, albeit with some differences, noticeably the number of questions (which is higher in the PBT) and the score scales. The test lasts 4 hours more or less. Students can take the test as many times as they wish. However, colleges and universities usually consider only the most recent score.

· Listening (30–40 minutes)

It consists of three 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)

This part has 15 exercises of completing sentences correctly and 25 exercises of identifying errors.

· Reading Comprehension (55 minutes)

It has 50 questions about reading passages.

· Writing (30 minutes)

One essay with 250-300 words in average.

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.

Computer-Based Test

The Computer Based Test for TOEFL called the CBT, is an adaptive test; meaning that your next question's difficulty level depends on the correctness of your response to the current question. This helps TOEFL to grade the person's knowledge on the English language; by assuming him/her to be of an average capability at the beginning of the test, and with the responses received at the every question the program decides to give you a tougher or easier question based on whether your question was answered correctly or not. The CBT follows computer adaptive test strategy for the Listening and Structure section alone. The reading comprehension and Essay writing is not computer adaptive.

· Three subscores are obtained, each of which is given on a 0–30 scale: Listening, Structure/Writing (combined), and Reading. These subscores are averaged to obtain the final score, which is on a 0–300 scale.

· The score for Writing is a component of the score for the Structure Section. Even though the college or university where the test taker applied did not require a score for Writing, the test taker had to write the essay to complete the test.

· The Writing test is scored on a scale from 0 to 6. A score of 6 showed strong writing abilities, 5 average writing abilities, and 4 minimal writing abilities. A score of 3, 2 or 1 showed a lack of writing technique. The essay was read by two testing evaluators. Each one gave the essay a score. The two scores are averaged to produce the final Writing scores. If the evaluators were more than 1 point different in their assessment, a third evaluator scored the essay.

IELTS or TOEFL IBT? Which one is easier?

I have just finished my undergraduate studies and i want to pursue a postgraduate degree in the United Kingdom. The scores that are required by the universities are 100 in IBT Toefl or 6,5 in Ielts. I have spent the last 2 months studying the IBT but the test is very difficult and i am sure that i won't be able to get the appropriate score (i need 25/30 in every section which is very very difficult especially in the speaking part of the examination where my performance is very bad).Some friends of mine gave the test in December and their results were very low...

On the other hand in IELTS, from what i have read, in order to gain a 6,5 in every section of the examination you need to have 26-28/40 which sounds far more easier than 25/30 in every section that the IBT requires! What do you think?

100 in IBT is equal to a 6.5 in IELTS? I have seen some universities in Sweden or Denmark that equal a 6,5 score in IELTS with an 83 score in TOEFL...Tell me what do you think

Where Can I Take the TOEFL TEST?

The test is usually taken on a computer in a test center, although paper versions are available where it is not possible to take it this way. TOEFL is administered worldwide.