TOEFL Changes- Have an Idea of IBT TOEFL

The Test of English as a Foreign Language TOEFL® is undergoing some important changes. In order to meet the challenge of providing a more comprehensive assessment of an applicant’s ability to understand and use the English language in an academic environment, the next generation TOEFL® has been developed to assess all four language skills - listening, reading, writing, and speaking. While some questions in each of the sections will be similar to questions found on the current computer-based TOEFL® test (CBT), others will be new.

The scoring system will change as well. Each of the four language skills will now be reported on a scale of 0 to 25 and there will also be a total score. In addition, the next generation TOEFL® will no longer have computer-adaptive sections; it will be a linear assessment test covering a full range of question difficulty. Note taking will be allowed on the new TOEFL® in order to better reflect real-life academic situations. The new TOEFL® will take approximately four hours to finish.Starting in July 2004, students will be introduced to this new version of the TOEFL® on the Internet. Full-length tests will be unproctored (i.e.: not supervised), and the scores will be given to the examinee only. In September 2005, the next generation TOEFL® will begin to be administered at official ETS test centers.

A very important change to the TOEFL® is the inclusion of a mandatory speaking component - the Academic Speaking Test (AST). This test will last approximately 20 minutes. Your responses will be recorded on tape and then reviewed later and given a score. During the test you will be asked six questions, two of which will focus on familiar topics. The other four will ask about short conversations, lectures, and reading passages. Both the questions and the reading passages will be printed in the test book. The time you have to prepare your response and speak will be printed below each question. The preparation time begins as soon as the question is finished, and you will be told when to begin speaking.

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Example 1:(Script)

Narrator: Number 1.
You will now be asked to give your opinion about a familiar topic. After you hear the question, you will have 15 seconds to prepare your response and 45 seconds to speak.

Some students study for classes individually. Others study in groups. Which method of studying do you think is better and why?
Preparation time: 15 seconds Response time: 45 seconds

Example 2:(Script)
Narrator: Number 2.
You will now read a short passage and then listen to a talk on the same topic. You will then be asked a question about them. After you hear the question, you will have 30 seconds to prepare your response and 60 seconds to speak.The administration at Central University feels it needs to find a way for more people to be able to attend sporting events. Read the article from the university newspaper below. You will have 45 seconds to read it. Begin reading now.

New Stadium Plans- The university has decided to accommodate more people at sporting events and is considering two alternative plans to accomplish this goal. One plan is to expand the current stadium, doubling it in size. The other plan is to build a new, larger stadium on the empty southern edge of the campus. The expansion of the current stadium would be by far the less costly of the two alternatives.

Narrator:
Now listen to a student who is speaking at a student council meeting about the stadium plans.

Student:
I’m all for saving money, but money isn’t everything. If you look at the area around the stadium, you’ll see that expansion would cause the main street to be rerouted right around a main classroom building. Can you imagine the added noise? Also, they’ll have to build where there are now student parking lots, and we barely have enough parking spaces as it is. And you know that it’ll take up part of the large open area next to the Student Center and that’s become a really popular place for students to hang out in good weather. This is what they should be worried about, not money.

Narrator:
The student expresses her opinion about one of the university’s plans for a new stadium. State her opinion and explain the reasons she gives for holding that opinion.
Preparation time: 30 seconds Response time: 60 seconds

Conclusion:
As you can see from these two examples, the new TOEFL® contains questions that integrate the four basic communication skills; thus, the test is an excellent measure of how well individuals are able to communicate in English in an academic situation. This integrated approach will help students prepare for success in the real academic environments they will be in once they begin their studies.ESL-Pro, Free-TOEFL, and Free-English will be closely monitoring the introduction of the next generation TOEFL® and will be among the first to offer high-quality test preparation materials for this exam. Check back with us regularly to stay tuned!