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Test of English as a foreign language popularly known as TOEFL and pronounced as “toe-full ” is an international test that assesses ?an individual’s proficiency in English language. It is one of the most widely accepted English language tests in the world. Unlike tests like GRE and GMAT, TOEFL not only tests your vocabulary but also your skills in reading , listening and understanding, speaking and writing in English.

TOEFL is a pre-requisite for non-native English speakers for their admission into international English speaking colleges and universities. Additionally, institutions such as government agencies, licensing bodies, businesses, or scholarship programs may require this test.

The test was first administered in 1964 and has since been taken by more than 23 million students. The TOEFL test is a registered trademark of?Educational Testing Service (ETS). The TOEFL Committee of Examiners is composed of 12 specialists in linguistics, language testing, teaching or research. Its main responsibility is to advise on TOEFL test content. The committee helps ensure the test is a valid measure of English language proficiency reflecting current trends and methodologies.

What makes TOEFL stand out from rest of the exams is that it is the most widely accepted English language testing exam in the world. It is accepted in more than 6000 institutions in 110 countries which includes some of the top rated universities in the world. Also the entire test gets over on the same day which helps the test taker save time and travel costs. If you want to improve your score you could always retake the test after 7 days. The institutions always looks at the most recent score. A TOEFL score is valid only for 2years after which it is removed from the database.

The listening section consists of 3-4 mini talks, 60-90 seconds long with 3-5 questions each, 2-3 extended conversations, 60-90 seconds long with 3 to 5 questions each, and 30-40 dialogues, 5-15 seconds long with 1 question each.

The reading section consists of 5 passages from academic texts mostly undergraduate standard, 250-350 words each, with 10 questions per passage.

In the Test of Written English, test takers write an essay stating, explaining and supporting their opinion on an issue.

Scores for the listening and structure sections range from 31-68. For reading, the range is 31-67. The average of the three scores is taken and multiplied by 10, to give a total score of between 310 and 677.
The Test of Written English is scored separately. The essay is independently rated by two assessors, and the average of the two scores is taken. An essay can score between 0 and 6, although 0 is only given if the paper is blank, the essay is in a different language, or the wrong question has been answered.

The reading section consists of 3 to 5 passages from academic texts, each about 700 words long, with 12-14 questions for each passage. There is a glossary with definitions of key words. Question types include understanding the content of the text and the author’s intent, inferring ideas from the text, paraphrasing and understanding the relationship between facts and ideas in different parts of the passage by sorting information into a category chart or summary.

The listening section consists of 4-6 lectures of 3-5 minutes, with 6 questions per lecture, and 2-3 conversations of 3 minutes, with 5 questions each. Question types include listening for basic comprehension, recognising the speaker’s attitude, degree of certainty, function or purpose, recognising the organisation of information and understanding relationships between ideas, making inferences and drawing conclusions, making connections, recognising topic changes, examples, digressions, aside statements, introductions and conclusions.

The speaking section consists of 6 tasks. In the first task, the test taker must express and defend a personal choice from a given category. In the second task, the test taker must defend a personal choice between two contrasting behaviours or courses of action. 15 seconds is allowed to prepare the response, and 45 seconds to deliver it.

Tasks 3 to 6 are integrated. 30 seconds is allowed to prepare the response, and one minute to deliver it. Tasks 3 and 4 involve reading a passage, listening to a passage which comments on issues in the reading, and then summarising the speaker’s opinion, or relating important information from both the reading and listening passages.