TOEFL iBT Tips or Treat

by Galina Romantsova, OSU
Russia - USA

As many people know, TOEFL is a standardized test used to evaluate a candidate's skills to understand and use the English language in the English-speaking community and mostly at universities and colleges.

TOEFL iBT (Internet-based TOEFL), though it has a similar structure to that of the paper-based TOEFL and TOEFL cBT (computer-based TOEFL), tests not only reading, listening and writing, but it also has a new section-Speaking. This section includes independent and integrated communicative tasks, which can be very confusing for the non-English speaking people.

Well, what should your students expect from the new TOEFL iBT? What should they focus their attention on? The main thing here is to let them know that this new version will only do them good, since they will be more prepared to enter the English-speaking community.

Main features of TOEFL iBT *

1. TOEFL iBT evaluates equally both the ability to understand the information while listening and to express your own thoughts. Half of the score is for the Reading section, which tests your ability to understand reading information. The second half is built up of the scores obtained from the Speaking and Writing sections, i.e. the skills to express thoughts by means of the English language.

2. TOEFL iBT also evaluates combined skills. The Reading and Writing sections offer several questions in which the candidates have to read and/or listen to the passage and analyze it either in writing or orally. The following are the general modules to test the combined skills:

• read, listen, then speak in response to a question
• listen, then speak in response to a question
• read, listen, then write in response to a question

3. TOEFL iBT doesn't include a Structure section. The knowledge of grammar is evaluated while performing each of the four sections.

4. The iBT unlike other forms of the TOEFL allows note-taking throughout the entire test.

* You can find much information about TOEFL iBT features by downloading TOEFL_tips.pdf from the links below.

The following chart describes the types of the tasks and the time limits for each section. It also shows the difference between TOEFL iBT and the previous versions.

TOEFL iBT Syllabus *

LISTENING

• 4 - 6 lectures, some with classroom discussion each 3 - 5 minutes long, 6 questions each


• 2 - 3 conversations each 3 minutes long, 5 questions each


• Introduction of additional native English accents


• Time: 60-90 minutes


• Score scale: 0-30


• What's different?

Longer, more authentic conversations and lectures
Note taking allowed
New questions that measure understanding of a speaker's attitude, degree of certainty, purpose, or motivation

SPEAKING

• 6 tasks


• 2 independent tasks express an opinion on a familiar topic


• 4 integrated tasks speak based on what is read and heard


• Up to 30 seconds to prepare the response


• Up to 1 minute to respond


• Time: 20 minutes


• Score scale: 0-4 points; total of ratings converted to 0-30 score scale


• What's different? Everything it's a brand new section!

READING

• 3-5 passages from academic texts


• Approximately 700 words long


• Includes multiple-focus passages (compare/contrast, cause/effect)


• 12-14 questions for each passage


• Time: 60-100 minutes


• Score scale: 0-30


• What's different?

  Glossary to define key words; easy-to-use review feature
  New task categorize information and fill in chart/complete summary

WRITING

• 2 tasks


• 1 integrated task: write based on what is read and heard


• 1 independent task: support an opinion on a topic


• Time: 50 minutes (20 minutes for integrated task and 30 minutes for independent task)


• Score scale: 0-5 points; total of ratings converted to 0-30 score scale


• What's different?

  Integrated task
  0-5 points
  Typing required

* Taken from http://www.toeflindia.com

If you feel that the textbook is not enough for your students or you've done all the suggested assignments and the students still lack some knowledge in any of the language skills, you can always find something on the Internet. The material found on - line can be used for in class work or self-study as well.

New requirements for the iBT are becoming one of the most popular Internet searches. While the previous TOEFL formats have collected a huge number of on-line preparation materials, the iBT, being relatively new, doesn't have many free resources. The links below proved to be the most useful web pages recommended by the teachers all over world.

TOEFL iBT links

I. Official site:

TOEFL® Internet-based Testing Overview. Everything about TOEFL iBT can be found here from the source. It?s well-structured and it will be easy for the teachers as well as students to get the necessary information. Sample practice tests are also available here: http://www.ets.org/toefl/nextgen/

II. TOEFL tips:

TOEFL iBT TIPS. A link to the PDF document which contain a lot of useful information on every aspect of TOEFL iBT. It is based on the ETS material. Don't miss it! http://www.mcgill.ca/files/applying/TOEFL_Tips.pdf#search=%22toefl%20ibt%22

TOEFL TIPS & TRICKS. Another interesting thing to read about TOEFL iBT Listening tips. The author of the article points out the main problems of listening, offers several exercises on idiomatic expressions and gives general tips for the test: http://toefl-tips.blogspot.com/

Tips before taking the exam. This webpage offers not only an overview and very useful tips on what to do before and during the test but in just few minutes you can register on this webpage and take a real mini test of the new TOEFL iBT: http://www.kaplan.com.co/new/ colombia/tips.htm

III. TOEFL iBT practice and other useful stuff:

free-ENGLISH.com. It's a place where you can find scoring information and again, by registering on the site, take a free sample test: http://www.free-english.com/ TOEFL-iBT-practice-test.aspx

TOEFL iBT Success. You can find absolutely free sample TOEFL practice tests for each section here: http://www.toeflibtcourse.com/

ESL services computer lab. A very good web-page, containing links for practicing speaking, listening, reading, grammar and writing: http://www.utexas.edu/student/esl/computer/testprep.html

ESL-Pro systems offers practice tests for each section of TOEFL iBT. All you need is just to sign up and practise: http://www.esl-pro.com

A chart of the ten top skills the Northstar series targets, with the corresponding iBT tasks connected to those skills:
http://www.longman.com/ae/northstar_ets/skills_chart.pdf

Deborah Phillips's own PDF on her popular Longman TOEFL preparation book, with ideas users of any book could benefit from:
http://www.longmankorea.com/admin/lecture/after_data/ txt/Handout_Deborah.pdf

Sample TOEFL iBT writing responses, with benchmarks, ratings, and annotations:
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/TOEFL/pdf/ ibt_writing_sample_responses.pdf

Scoring Guides (Rubrics) for the Speaking Responses:
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/TOEFL/ pdf/Speaking_Rubrics.pdf

Scoring Guides (Rubrics) for the Writing Responses:
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/TOEFL/pdf/ Writing_Rubrics.pdf

TOEFL podcast. You'll be able to train your listening skills with the help of dialogues created especially for TOEFL test: http://www.eslpod.com/toefl/

"TOEFL question of the day" is a great web-page with lots of resources, links to the test-practice centers and just tips for the iBT sections: http://www.toeflindia.com/

TOEFL iBT forum for teachers and test-takers: http://www.hyderabadforums.com/ toefl-tips-vt37.html

A very good website on the basics of writing essays and the tricks to writing various essay types, some of which appear on the TOEFL. This is not exactly a TOEFL preparation tool, but there?s a lot of helpful information on writing essays: http://essayinfo.com/

Writing for the TOEFL test. The webpage offers a range of topics which are usually touched upon in the TOEFL Writing section: http://web.sfc.keio.ac.jp/~kmizuno/ TOEFL/2001f/

Grammar tests and games. The EduFind English Online Tests and Learning Games is part of an English language resources service where you can work through fully interactive tests and educational games to improve your English language skills, access learning material and English language guides: http://www.edufind.com/english/englishtests/index.cfm

LearnOutLoud.com is your one-stop destination for audio and video learning. You can browse over 10,000 educational audio books, MP3 downloads, podcasts, and videos. This webpage is a great tool for Listening practice: http://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Education-and-Professional/ Exam-Preparation/TOEFL-Podcast/16898

About the author:

Galina Romantsova is a visiting Fulbright student researcher at the English Language Institute during the 2006-2007 academic year. Her home institution is Orenburg State University in Orenburg, Russia. Feel free to write at galinarom @ yahoo.com.