TOEFL Test

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The Test Of English as a Foreign Language^TM (or TOEFL Test, pronounced "toe-full", or sometimes just "toffle") 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 American and English speaking colleges and universities. The TOEFL test 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. 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 test is administered worldwide. The Computer Based Test for TOEFL test 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 test 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 stratergy for the Listening and Structure section alone. The reading comprehension and Essay writing are not computer adaptive.

The test consists of four sections:

Section I: Listening Comprehension
Section II: Structure and Written Expression
Section III: Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary
Section IV: Essay Writing

Sections

Listening Comprehension

• Objective :

To test the candidate's listening capabilites

• Type of Questions :

Conversations between two or more people in academic environments. Short conversations between students, and lectures may be possible conversations. Questions are basically of the who said what type.

• Duration :

45-70 minutes

Structure

• Objective :

To check the candidate's knowledge of English grammar.

• Type of Questions :

Identify the erroneous words(s) in the sentence. Fillup the blanks using the appropriate word.

• Duration :

15-20 minutes

Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary

• Objective :

To test the candidate's reading and vocabulary skills.

• Type of Question :

Three or four long passages, typically 300 words long are given, and questions based on the content, intent of the author, and ideas inferred from the passage.Generally prior knowledge of the subject under discussion is necessary to come to the correct answer; though apriori knowledge helps, invaribly.

• Duration :

70-90 minutes

Essay Writing

• Objective :

To test the candidate's writing skills

• Type of Question :

To write an essay on some general topic, and your position towards it. eg: "Is stem cell research necessary? Explain your stand?"

• Duration :

30 minutes.

The test was first administered 1964 and has since been taken by nearly 20 million students. A revamped version of the test is due for release in 2005 . This has been dubbed the Next Generation TOEFL test and will include diagnostic reports on a student's strengths and weaknesses. Currently, the TOEFL test does not include a test of speaking, although this will be introduced in 2005 when the TOEFL Academic Speaking Test (TAST) is integrated into the main TOEFL Test. A stand-alone TAST is currently available only as a practice test, which is taken using a telephone. The TAST assesses a student's ability to speak English clearly and fluently.

The IELTS (International English Language Testing System) which is also known as the Cambridge First Certificate tests are similar, but they are oriented towards British English and are for positions within or based on the British educational system.

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