Test of English as a Foreign Language

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL /ˈtoʊfəl/ TOH-fəl) is a standardized test to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers wishing to enroll in English-speaking universities. The test is accepted by many English-speaking academic and professional institutions. TOEFL is one of the two major English-language tests in the world, the other being the IELTS.

Test of English as a Foreign Language
AcronymTOEFL
TypeInternet-based or paper-based standardized test.
Developer / administratorEducational Testing Service
Knowledge / skills testedReading, listening, speaking and writing of the English language.
PurposeTo assess the English language proficiency of non-native English speakers.
Year started1964 (1964)
DurationInternet-based test (iBT): 2 hours 47 minutes to 3 hours 23 minutes (excluding 10-minute break in-between).
Paper-based test (PBT): 2 hours 20 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes.[1]
Score / grade rangeiBT:
0 to 30 (in 1 point increments) on each of the 4 sections. So total of 0 to 120.
PBT:
Listening: 31 to 68, Structure: 31 to 69, Reading: 31 to 67. Total of 310 to 677. Writing (separate): 0 to 6. (All in 1 point increments.)
Score / grade validity2 years
OfferediBT: More than 50 times a year.[2]
Restrictions on attemptsiBT: Can be taken only once in any 3-day period.[3]
Countries / regions4,500 test centers in 165 countries.[2]
LanguagesEnglish
Annual number of test takers2.3 million p.a
Prerequisites / eligibility criteriaNo official prerequisite. Intended for non-native English speakers.
FeeiBT: US$ 160 and up, depending on the country.[2]
PBT: US$ 180.[4]
Scores / grades used byMore than 10,000 colleges, agencies and other institutions in over 130 countries.[5]
Websitewww.ets.org/toefl

TOEFL is a trademark of the Educational Testing Service (ETS), a private non-profit organization, which designs and administers the tests. ETS issues official score reports which are sent independently to institutions and are valid for two years following the test.[6]

History

In 1962, a national council made up of representatives of thirty government and private organizations was formed to address the problem of ensuring English language proficiency for non-native speakers wishing to study at U.S. universities. This council recommended the development and administration of the TOEFL exam for the 1963-1964 time frame.[7]

The test was originally developed at the Center for Applied Linguistics under the direction of Stanford University applied linguistics professor Dr. Charles A. Ferguson.[8]

The TOEFL test was first administered in 1964 by the Modern Language Association financed by grants from the Ford Foundation and Danforth Foundation.[7]

In 1965, The College Board and ETS jointly assumed responsibility for the continuation of the TOEFL testing program.[7]

In 1973, a cooperative arrangement was made between ETS, The College Board, and the Graduate Record Examinations board of advisers to oversee and run the program. ETS was to administer the exam with the guidance of the TOEFL board.[7]

To the present day, college admission criteria for international students who are nationals of some of the Commonwealth nations exempt them from taking the TOEFL exam. Nations which are part of the English-speaking world (from most Commonwealth realms to former British colonies e.g., Hong Kong SAR or former protectorates of the United States (Philippines, Puerto Rico) where English is the de facto official language automatically grants a TOEFL exemption with some restrictions (e.g., residents of Quebec are required to take TOEFL while the rest of Canada is exempt - also inclusive of Commonwealth nations where English is not an official language e.g., Mozambique or Namibia (English is co-official but spoken by 3% of the population)). However, this does not apply to some Commonwealth nations outside the Anglosphere, due to the IELTS, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc., even though they may have English as the de facto official language.

Formats and content

Internet-based test

Since its introduction in late 2005, the TOEFL Internet-based Test (iBT) format has progressively replaced the computer-based tests (CBT) and paper-based tests (PBT), although paper-based testing is still used in select areas. The TOEFL iBT test has been introduced in phases, with the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and Italy in 2005 and the rest of the world in 2006, with test centers added regularly. The CBT was discontinued in September 2006 and these scores are no longer valid.

Initially, the demand for test seats was higher than availability, and candidates had to wait for months. It is now possible to take the test within one to four weeks in most countries.[9] The four-hour test consists of four sections, each measuring one of the basic language skills (while some tasks require integrating multiple skills), and all tasks focus on language used in an academic, higher-education environment. Note-taking is allowed during the TOEFL iBT test. The test cannot be taken more than once every 3 days, starting from September 2019.[10]

  1. Reading
    The Reading section consists of questions on 3-4 passages, each approximately 700 words in length and with 10 questions. The passages are on academic topics; they are the kind of material that might be found in an undergraduate university textbook. Passages require understanding of rhetorical functions such as cause-effect, compare-contrast and argumentation. Students answer questions about main ideas, details, inferences, essential information, sentence insertion, vocabulary, rhetorical purpose and overall ideas. New types of questions in the TOEFL iBT test require filling out tables or completing summaries. Prior knowledge of the subject under discussion is not necessary to come to the correct answer.
  2. Listening
    The Listening section consists of questions on 2-3 conversations with 5 questions each, and 5-7 lectures with 6 questions each. Each conversation is 2.5-3 minutes and lectures are 4.5-5.5 minutes in length. The conversations involve a student and either a professor or a campus service provider. The lectures are 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 passage is heard only once. Test-takers may take notes while they listen and they may refer to their notes when they answer the questions. The listening 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.
  3. Speaking
    The Speaking section consists of 4 tasks: 1 independent (Task 1) and 3 integrated (Task 2, 3, 4). In task 1, 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 task 2 and 4, 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 task 3, test-takers listen to an academic course lecture 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. Test-takers may take notes as they read and listen and may use their notes to help prepare their responses. Test-takers are given a short preparation time before they have to begin speaking. The responses are digitally recorded, sent to ETS's Online Scoring Network (OSN), and evaluated by three to six raters.
  4. Writing
    The Writing section measures a test taker's ability to write in an academic setting and consists of two tasks: one integrated and one independent. In the integrated task, test-takers read a passage on an academic topic and then listen to a speaker discuss it. The test-taker then writes a summary about the important points in the listening passage and explains how these relate to the key points of the reading passage. In the independent task, the test-taker must write an essay that states their opinion or choice, and then explain it, rather than simply listing personal preferences or choices. Responses are sent to the ETS OSN and evaluated by at least 3 different raters.[11]
Task Description Approximate time
Reading 3-4 passages, each containing 10 questions 54-72 minutes
Listening 5-7 passages, each containing 5–6 questions 41-57 minutes
Break Mandatory break 10 minutes
Speaking 4 tasks 17 minutes
Writing 2 tasks 50 minutes

One of the sections of the test will include extra, uncounted material. Educational Testing Service includes extra material to pilot test questions for future test forms. When test-takers are given a longer section, they should give equal effort to all of the questions because they do not know which question will count and which will be considered extra. For example, if there are four reading passages instead of three, then one of the passages will not be counted. Any of the four could be the uncounted one.

Paper-delivered Test

The TOEFL PDT is an official test for use where the internet test is unavailable, usually due to internet & computer issues.

It consists of the Listening, Reading, and Writing sections, with scores that are the same scale as the Internet Based Test. There is no total score.

Paper-based test

The TOEFL® paper-based Test (PBT) was still available in limited areas until 2017, when it was replaced by the Paper-delivered test. Scores are valid for two years after the test date, and test takers can have their scores sent to institutions or face time.[12]

  1. Listening (30 – 40 minutes)
    The Listening section consists of 3 parts. The first one contains 30 questions about short conversations. The second part has 8 questions about longer conversations. The last part asks 12 questions about lectures or talks.
  2. Structure and Written Expression (25 minutes)
    The Structure and Written Expression section has 15 exercises of completing sentences correctly and 25 exercises of identifying errors.
  3. Reading Comprehension (55 minutes)
    The Reading Comprehension sections has 50 questions about reading passages.
  4. Writing (30 minutes)
    The TOEFL PBT administrations include a writing test called the Test of Written English (TWE). This is one essay question with 250–300 words in average.[13]

Test scores

TOEFL iBT Test
  • The TOEFL iBT test is scored on a scale of 0 to 120 points.
  • Each of the four sections (Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing) receives a scaled score from 0 to 30. The scaled scores from the four sections are added together to determine the total score.
  • The reading and listening sections are tested first, followed by a ten-minute break. The speaking and writing sections are then completed following the break. A maximum amount of 203 minutes is allowed to complete the whole exam process.[14]
  • Each speaking question is initially given a raw score of 0 to 4, with 1-point increment, and each writing question is initially given a raw score of 0.0 to 5.0, with 0.5-point increment. These scores are converted to scaled scores of 0 to 30.

Paper-based Test
  • The final PBT score ranges between 310 and 677 and is based on three subscores: Listening (31–68), Structure (31–68), and Reading (31–67). Unlike the CBT, the score of the Writing component (referred to as the Test of Written English, TWE) is not part of the final score; instead, it is reported separately on a scale of 0–6.
  • The score test takers receive on the Listening, Structure and Reading parts of the TOEFL test is not the percentage of correct answers. The score is converted to take into account the fact that some tests are more difficult than others. The converted scores correct these differences. Therefore, the converted score is a more accurate reflection of the ability than the raw score is.

The TOEFL PBT was discontinued at the end of May 2017. Official testing in areas without internet or computers now uses the TOEFL PDT.[15]

Accepted TOEFL Scores

Most colleges use TOEFL scores as only one factor in their admission process, with a college or program within a college often setting a minimum TOEFL score required. The minimum TOEFL iBT scores range from 61 (Bowling Green State University)[16] to 110 (University of Oxford).[17]

ETS has released tables to convert between iBT, CBT and PBT scores.[18]

TOEFL ITP Tests

TOEFL ITP ("ITP" stands for "Institutional Testing Program") tests are paper-based and use academic content to evaluate the English-language proficiency of non-native English speakers. The tests use new and previously administered TOEFL test questions and are used for placement, progress, evaluation, exit testing and other situations. The test scores, format and content of the test matches the "TOEFL PBT",[19] with the exception of not including the TWE (Test of Written Expression).

Unlike the TOEFL iBT and PBT tests, TOEFL ITP tests are administered by the institution and for internal use. It should not replace the need for the TOEFL iBT test, which is administered securely and includes Speaking and Writing components. There are two levels of TOEFL ITP: Level 1 (intermediate to advanced) and Level 2 (high beginning to intermediate).TOEFL ITP scores are mapped to the CEFR and test takers are provided with a certificate of achievement.[20][21]

TOEFL Junior Tests

ETS also offers the TOEFL Junior tests, a general assessment of middle school-level English-language proficiency. It is intended for students aged 11+.The tests are administered in two formats: TOEFL Junior Standard (on paper) and TOEFL Junior Comprehensive (via computer). The TOEFL Junior Standard test has three sections: Reading Comprehension, Listening Comprehension and Language Form and Meaning. The TOEFL Junior Comprehensive test has four: Reading Comprehension, Listening Comprehension, Speaking and Writing. TOEFL Junior scores are mapped to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and test takers are provided with a certificate of achievement.[22]

The test is scored on a scale of 200 to 300 on each section, added up to determine the total score (600 - 900).

Linking TOEFL iBT Score Ranges to other scores*[23]
IELTS Score TOEFL Score TOEFL PBT Score CEFR IELTS Description
9.0 118-120 667 - 677 C2 Expert User
8.5 115-117 657 - 663 Very Good User
8.0 110-114 637 - 653 C1
7.5 102-109 610 - 633 Good User
7.0 94-101 587 - 607
6.5 79-93 550 - 583 B2 Competent User
6.0 60-78 500 - 547
5.5 46-59 453 - 497 Modest User
5.0 35-45 417 - 450 B1
4.5 32-34 400 - 413 Limited User
0.0 - 4.0 0-31 310 - 397 A1 Extremely Limited/Intermittent/Non User

*Note: the above comparison scores are provided by ETS, the company that creates the TOEFL tests. Other charts show different ranges [24]

CEFR TOEFL Reading Listening Speaking Writing
C1 95 24 22 25 24
B2 72 18 17 20 17
B1 42 4 9 16 13
A2 N/A N/A N/A 10 7
gollark: Ale: I'm just 10600 blocks away from you now!
gollark: Ah, good, good.
gollark: Wait, do you have keepInventory enabled, or any sort of gravestones thing?
gollark: No routing or anything though, as it turns out that mesh networking is extremely hard.
gollark: I made one back in 2019, even: <https://pastebin.com/L0ZKLBRG>

See also

Notes and references
  1. "TOEFL: Paper-based Test: Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  2. "TOEFL iBT: About the Test". Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  3. "TOEFL iBT: Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  4. "ETS TOEFL 2017–2018 Information and Registration Bulletin" (PDF). Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  5. "TOEFL iBT: Who Accepts TOEFL Scores". Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  6. "TOEFL iBT: Scores". Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  7. Cf. ETS 2007 document "Test and Score Summary for TOEFL Internet Based Test: September 2005-December 2006 Test Data", p.3, section "History of the TOEFL Program"
  8. Stanford University, Memorial Resolution: Charles A. Ferguson (1921–1998), May 1999
  9. "TOEFL iBT Locations and Dates". Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  10. "TOEFL iBT: About the Test". Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  11. http://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/TC-10-08.pdf
  12. "Test Of English as a Foreign Language". Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  13. "TOEFL: Paper-based Test: Test Content and Structure". Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  14. http://umasterexam.com/reading/
  15. About the TOEFL PBT. ETS website. retrieved 2020-06-29.
  16. BGSU Undergraduate Admissions Requirements. BGSU website. retrieved 2014-10-03.
  17. English language requirements. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  18. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 16, 2006. Retrieved November 16, 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. "TOEFL® ITP Assessments: Test Content". Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  20. "TOEFL® ITP Assessment Series". Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  21. "TOEFL iBT Score Comparison Tables" (PDF). www.etsglobal.org. 2005.
  22. "TOEFL® Junior™ Tests Th". Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  23. "Linking TOEFL iBT Scores to IELTS Scores" (PDF). ETS. p. http://www.ets.org/toefl/institutions/scores/compare/. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  24. "MEXT (Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science)" (PDF). February 18, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
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