What is TOEFL?

TOEFL is a trademark of the Educational Testing Service (ETS), a private non-profit organization, which designs and administers the test to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers wishing to enrol in English-speaking universities.  TOEFL is an internationally recognized test and is accepted as proof of English proficiency in 9,000 colleges, universities and organizations and other TOEFL participating institutes across 130 countries in the World.

TOEFL has essentially two versions: TOEFL iBT (Internet-based test) and TOEFL PBT (paper-based test). Both the versions of TOEFL have four sections- Reading, Speaking, Listening and Writing. The total TOEFL test score is between 0–120. TOEFL results are valid for two years after the test. TOEFL test scores are posted online within 2 weeks of the test date.

TOEFL is a four-hour, computerized test with four sections: Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing.  The Reading and Listening sections vary in length due to unscored, experimental questions. Reading ranges from 60 to 80 minutes long, while Listening ranges from 60 to 90 minutes long.

*There will be no indication to figure whether the questions are experimental or not

*A student will get a mandatory break for 10 minutes after the Reading and Listening sections.

Test Format

Reading:  The Reading section is the first section of the TOEFL. A student will be given three or five passages of approximately 700 words with each passage comprising of 12 to 14 questions. A student has flexibility to skip answers and come back to them later at any time during the reading testing period.

Listening: The listening section is made up of four to six lectures, each accompanied by six questions, and two or three conversations, each accompanied by five questions.

Speaking: The Speaking section is the shortest section on the TOEFL, lasting just 20 minutes in total.  Every Speaking task is different but is divided into two main types: Independent and Integrated.

The Independent tasks or tasks 1 and 2 focus on familiar topics. For task 1 a student must choose one of many options and for task 2 a student must choose one of two options.

Integrated tasks or tasks 3-6 requires student to combine reading and listening skills with speaking skills. Tasks 3 and 5 focus on campus situations, while tasks 4 and 6 focus on academic course content.

For tasks 3 and 4, a student must read a passage, listen to an audio clip, and answer a question about both the passage and audio clip. A student will have 45-50 seconds to read the passage, about one minute to listen to the clip, 30 seconds to prepare the response, and 60 seconds to speak.

For tasks 5 and 6, a student must listen to an audio clip and then answer a question about it. The audio clip is usually about two minutes long, and a student will have 20 seconds to prepare the response and 60 seconds to speak.

*There are no reading passages for tasks 5 and 6.

Writing: There are two types of essays you must write for this section: The Integrated task and the Independent task.

Integrated Writing Task

A student will need to read a passage on a specific topic, listen to a lecture about the topic read and then write an essay summarizing the points in the passage and the lecture.

Independent Writing Task

A student will be required to provide viewpoints or provide a response as required for the specific task.