Test Of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) Overview

Started by magesh.p, Jun 11, 2008, 03:00 PM

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magesh.p

What is TOEFL ?

The Test Of English as a Foreign Language (or TOEFL, 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 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 is administered worldwide.

The Computer Based Test for TOEFL 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 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 strategy for the Listening and Structure section alone. The reading comprehension and Essay writing are not computer adaptive.

TOEFL Exam Questions


TOEFL Test is to be taken for seeking admission in any course in USA and Canada. The score is also used for admission in many other countries where the medium of instruction is English. The test aims at evaluating proficiency in English of candidates whose mother tongue is not English. It is important to note that 'American English' is not quite like the language we are used to in India. Their accent in particular, is quite different. Scores in TOEFL test help the colleges to judge whether the applicant, seeking admission, would be able to comprehend the lectures etc.

The purpose of the TOEFL sample questions is to evaluate proficiency in English writing and reading of people whose native language is not English, focusing mainly on international students planning to study in the United States and Canada.

There are following categories in TOEFL sample questions:

1.  Paper and Pencil Test

Reading Comprehension - It measures ability to read and understand short passages.

Listening Comprehension - It measures ability to understand English as it is spoken in North America.

Structure and Written expression - The Structure and Written Expression section consists of sentences that test your knowledge of important structural and grammatical elements of standard written English.

Writing - It measures ability to write an essay in English on an assigned topic.

2.  Computer based TOEFL test

Reading
Listening
Writing
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