Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) was developed to measure the English language proficiency of non-native speaker wishing to apply in American Universities. This test is must for students planning to study in American colleges and universities. Since 1964, TOEFL has evolved from paper-based exam to internet based exam.
An adequate TOEFL score is often a criterion for awarding a scholarship. The scores are valid for two years
TOEFL is conducted by ETS (Educational Testing Service), a private non-profit organisation, which designs and administers the tests.
TOEFL Format
TOEFL iBT contains 4 modules – Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing.
Reading
The Reading section consists of 4 – 6 passages, each approximately 700 words in length and questions about the passages. The passages are on academic topics. Students answer questions about main ideas, details, inferences, essential information, sentence insertion, vocabulary, rhetorical purpose and overall ideas. Prior knowledge of the subject under discussion is not necessary to come to the correct answer.
Listening
The Listening section consists of six passages 3 – 5 minutes in length and questions about the passages. These passages include two student conversations and four academic lectures or discussions. A conversation involves two speakers, a student and either a professor or a campus service provider. A lecture is 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 stimulus 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.
Speaking
The Speaking section consists of six tasks: two independent tasks and four integrated tasks. 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.
Writing
The Writing section measures a test taker’s ability to write in an academic setting and consists of two tasks: one integrated task and one independent task. In the integrated task, test-takers read a passage on an academic topic and then listen to a speaker discuss the same topic.
TOEFL Test Scores
The TOEFL iBT test is scored on a scale of 0 to 120 points.
TOEFL Fees
TOEFL Fees exam fees in India is $165 – as of 2013.