What is the TOEFL test?
ScottsEnglish
Administrator Posts: 1,296 admin ✭✭✭✭✭✭✭
Currently, the TOEFL test is an internet-based test (iBT). There are some areas that still use the paper-based test but this is limited.
The focus of the test is on academic English, that is, the type of English that is necessary for university studies. Each university, and sometimes each university department, has its own passing level. A university may require a higher score from a student wishing to enroll in Medicine than a student enrolling in Art History.
There are four sections to the test:
|
Reading |
60–80 minutes |
36–56 questions |
Read 3 or 4 passages taken from academic texts and answer questions about the texts. |
|
Listening |
60–90 minutes |
34–51 questions |
Listen to academic lectures, classroom discussions and conversations, then answer questions about the listening exercises. |
|
| |||
|
Speaking |
20 minutes |
6 speaking tasks |
Express an opinion about a familiar topic; speak about a subject based on reading and listening tasks. |
|
Writing |
50 minutes |
2 tasks |
Write essay responses about subjects based on reading and listening tasks; support an opinion in writing. |
The test is evaluated on a scale of 0 to 120:
- Reading Section (Score: 0–30)
- Listening Section (Score: 0–30)
- Speaking Section (Score: 0–30)
- Writing Section (Score: 0–30)
- Total Score (0–120)
|
TOEFL Score |
Description |
|---|---|
|
118-120 |
Expert English User |
|
115-117 |
Very Good English User |
|
110-114 |
|
|
102-109 |
Good English User |
|
94-101 |
|
|
79-93 |
Competent English User |
|
60-78 |
|
|
42-59 |
Modest English User |
|
35-41 |
|
|
32-34 |
Limited English User |
|
0-31 |
Extremely Limited/Intermittent/Non English User |
Answers