The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) tests the proficiency of non-native speakers of English to use and understand English when they are planning for international education or migration to a foreign country. It is necessary to score good marks in the TOEFL exam as English is spoken, heard and written in colleges and universities location. This test is accepted by many English-speaking academic and professional institutions all over the world, as it is a standardized exam. TOEFL Exam score is officially accepted for a period of 2 years. Even with a sound knowledge of English, it is important that one studies extensively to gain a high score.
Firstly TOEFL exam pattern must be understood properly to prepare in such a manner so as to achieve the desired result. Questions may arise in your mind regarding TOEFL exam pattern like what kinds of questions it’ll ask? how the test is structured? and how you can ultimately use this information to get a high score.
Educational Testing Service(ETS) decides the TOEFL exam pattern. It is the conducting body that has the right to make decisions regarding the TOEFL exam. There is no specific syllabus for the TOEFL exam. Questions can be asked from anywhere, as it is a language test and pays attention to the candidate’s English language skills. However, one should know the TOEFL exam pattern so that it becomes a bit easy to prepare for the TOEFL exam.
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Time duration and marking scheme are witnessed to be changed significantly and apart from these major changes there will also be many helpful options for the candidates are also introduced. TOEFL test time is reduced by 30 minutes, to just 3 hours. According to the recent press announcement by Educational Testing Service (ETS)’s Executive Director of the TOEFL Program, Srikant Gopal, from the beginning of August, test takers will be able to gain a lot more from the format, score reporting and registration process that has been enhanced. So now the difficulty level of the TOEFL exam is reduced and made a bit liberal for the candidates.
TOEFL Exam Pattern consists of two types. One is the iBT exam (internet-based test) and the other is the PBT exam(paper-based test). To measure your skill or proficiency to communicate, the test is divided into 4 sections, named as Listening, Reading, Speaking, and Writing. Now let’s look at the TOEFL exam pattern section by section:-
Section |
Time Limit in Minutes |
Number of Questions |
Tasks |
Reading |
54-72 |
30-40 |
3-4 Passages of academic texts and answering questions related to it |
Listening |
41-57 |
28–39 |
Classroom lectures, conversations, and discussions are to be listened to with great attention and answer the questions based on them. |
A 10-minute Break is given |
|||
Speaking |
17 |
4 tasks |
Express an opinion on a familiar topic |
Writing |
50 |
2 tasks |
Opinions and Arguments Essay, Express your opinions in writing |
The test duration of TOEFL will be 3 hours or 180 minutes The total score is the sum of scores of all four sections. The scores are been posted after the 10 days of the exam date. The TOEFL test scores can be viewed online as well. Your official reports will be sent to four institutes of your choice once they are declared, by ETS.
Here is the complete guide for all the four sections of TOEFL
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Do’s and don’ts before and on the TOEFL test day
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