The TOEFL iBT is about 3 1/2 to 4 hours long, and is divided into four sections:
1. The first section is READING, which lasts about 60-90 minutes.
2. The second section is LISTENING, which lasts from 60-90 minutes
!. Then you get lucky –- you have a 10-minute break!!
3. The third section is SPEAKING, which is the shortest, about 20 minutes
4. The last section is WRITING, for which you have about 60 minutes.
Though the exam itself covers the four main skill areas, it’s important to remember that to get
a high score in the TOEFl iBT, you need to master quite a few other skills in English.
These include the secondary skills of grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation, as well as general academic support skills such as note-taking, keyboarding, mind-mapping, summarizing, paraphrasing, skimming, and so on.
Section Answering time Scoring
Reading
Listening
Speaking
Writing
Number of Passages Number of Tasks, or
Questions per passage
12 - 14 3 - 5
4 – 6 lectures
2 - 3 conversations
6 each
5 each
Break 10 minutes
2 independent
4 integrated
1 integrated
1 independent
60 – 100 minutes
60 – 90 minutes
20 minutes
20 minutes
30 minutes
0 - 30
0 - 30
0 - 30
0 – 30
0 - 120

The Reading section of the TOEFL measures your ability to read and understand
passages in English. This is a critical skill because students in North American universities are expected to read (a lot!), and to understand, discuss, write about, paraphrase, and summarize the ideas they have read.
The reading passages in the TOEFL iBT deal with subjects that students normally study in the first and second years of university. These include the natural sciences, social sciences, business, and the arts. The language used in the reading passages is formal and academic.
Nevertheless, you don’t need any specific subject knowledge to do well in the Reading section.
Of course, if your subject is economics, and there is a passage about economics, then no doubt you will feel more comfortable but you don't need to have specific knowledge about economics to answer the questions.
In fact, the exam is testing your ability to read about different types of subject areas and still gain a basic, intelligent understanding of what has been written.
The purpose of the passages may be to describe something, to make an argument, to provide historical information or to give a biography of someone's life.
TWO POSSIBLE VERSIONS
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There are two possible versions of the TOEFL Reading Section:
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The short version
The long version
The reason for this difference is that ETS – the makers of the TOEFL – experiment with certain passages for future tests and students are the ones they experiment on. That's how it is.
So that means you may get three passages to read on your exam, or you might get
five. Also, you don't know which passages will be graded and which ones are experimental, so you have to do all of them as well as you can.
So if you have the short format, you have three passages of 20 minutes each and 12–14 questions each. That means this whole section would be 3 x 20 minutes, or 60 minutes long.
If you have the long format, you could get two additional passages which would mean that this section would be 100 minutes in all.

Reading is the first section of the TOEFL iBT. It includes 3 to 5 reading passages (about
700 words long) and 12-14 questions following each passage. You are given 60 -100 minutes to answer all the questions in the entire section.
Do not be frightened if the subject of the TOEFL iBT Reading passage is unfamiliar to
you. All of the information you need to choose the right answer is given. In addition, you will find the definition to some of the technical terms in the glossary that is available during the test.
Skim through the passage to get the main idea and organization of ideas in the
passage. Since you can reread the text while answering the questions, it's not necessary to read the passage in depth. This technique will enable you to devote more time to the question and answer choices. Nevertheless, if you're running out of time, guess at an answer, as it can only increase your score. On the TOEFL, there is no penalty for incorrect answers.
QUESTION TYPES
There are 10-12 different types of multiple choice TOEFL iBT reading questions. The way to
get a high score is to become familiar with all types of questions. This will help you to narrow down the options and select the right answer.
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TOEFL iBT reading questions fall into three categories: basic information, inferencing
skillsand reading to learn skills. These questions can be of different kinds: understanding facts and details identifying negative facts locating referrents understanding vocabulary in context making inferences determining purpose paraphrasing understanding coherence identifying main ideas following logic summarizing important points
TOEFL READING TIPS
Learning and practicing certain reading and academic strategies can help you succeed on the
TOEFL and after the TOEFL. While preparing for the test, read on a variety of topics to expand your vocabulary. You can read from textbooks, newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals and websites. Guess at the meaning of unfamiliar words and try to grasp the main idea even when you don't know the meaning of each word.
Other skills worth developing include: pre-viewing, reading faster, using context, making inferences, skimming, scanning, making connections, summarizing, taking notes, and synthesizing.
Improving each of these sub-skills will enable you to get a higher overall score in the reading section.

The Listening section of the TOEFL iBT measures your ability to understand conversations and lectures in English.
In this part of the TOEFL iBT, you will encounter two types of language:
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Informal, Non-academic, and Conversational- in the form of typical campus conversations – for example, between two students, a student and professor, etc.
Formal and Academic – in the form of lectures from various fields of study such as natural sciences, social sciences, the arts and business. Again, you don't need any special knowledge to do well in this section.
The entire listening section consists of 2-3 conversational passages and 4-6 lectures. This takes about 40–60 minutes to complete because you could get some extra experimental listening passages. You hear the conversations and lectures only once but you are allowed to take notes. You will see the questions on the screen in addition to hearing them.
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In general, the questions in the TOEFL iBT Listening section fall into three categories:
Basic comprehension questions
Pragmatic understanding questions
Connecting and synthesizing questions
The Listening section of the TOEFL, which lasts about 40-60 minutes, measures your ability to understand the English spoken in academic settings in North America. There are 6-9 listening tasks, which include the following:
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A minimum of 2 questions between two people - such as two students or a student and a professor, a librarian, a counselor, etc; followed by questions
A minimum of 2 lectures, followed by questions
A minimum of 2 lectures, with student comments and questions interspersed, followed by questions
You will need headphones for this portion of the test. You can adjust the volume during the test. You may also take notes at any time and use your notes to help you answer the questions. Your notes will be destroyed before you leave the exam hall.
Each question in the TOEFL iBT Listening section must be answered before you can
go on to the next question. You are not permitted to go back to previous questions once you have left a question.
TYPES OF TOEFL LISTENING QUESTIONS
TOEFL iBT listening questions fall into three different categories:
 basic comprehension questions
 pragmatic understanding questions
 connecting information question
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There are 6-7 different types of questions, as shown below: identifying the main idea determining the purpose understanding detail determining attitude understanding implication

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 making inferences connecting content
The Speaking section of the TOEFL iBT is about 20 minutes long and measures your
ability to express yourself orally in English about a variety of topics. There are six
tasks in this section, of two different kinds: independent andintegrated.
The first two are independent tasks in which you are asked questions based on your personal knowledge and experience. An example of an independent task is "What event in your life made you very happy?" You are given the topic, you have 30 seconds to prepare, and 45 seconds to speak.
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The next four are integrated speaking tasks, which are divided in the following way:
In the first two, you have a short reading passage, then a listening, and then you have
 to speak. You are given 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to speak.
In the last two, you listen to a conversation or lecture and then speak in response to a question about it. You are given 20 seconds to prepare, and 60 seconds to speak.
You can take notes on paper, but you don't have much time to write. The 30 seconds given during the Listening section of the TOEFL is just to organize your thoughts, not to actually think.Your preparation time is really in all your life up to that point.
The third section of the TOEFL iBT is the Speaking section. This part is made up of six tasks: two independent and four integrated. You do not meet a live examiner, but speak directly into a microphone. Your responses are recorded on the computer and then graded by two qualified evaluators.
You are given from 45–60 seconds to record your response. Because this time is relatively short, it is essential to practice extensively before appearing for the TOEFL. Recording and then listening to yourself can be helpful. However, this is one part of the test where you can benefit the most by working with an ESL teacher or joining aTOEFL exam preparation
class because you need the objective feedback and advice.
In general, speaking clearly, logically and simply are what matter most in the speaking section. Many students think they must use complex sentence structures and high-level vocabulary to impress the examiner and then end up getting nervous and making mistakes. Communicating simply and correctly in an organized way will get you a higher score every time.
Remember, in this section of the test, more than any other, you can do very well if you learn how to implement the right strategies and conversely, you can lose points easily by not
understanding all that is asked of you.
INDEPENDENT TASKS
The two independent tasks measure your ability to speak about a familiar topic. In other words, your own experience and ideas are the basis for your answer. You hear and see a question, you have 15 seconds to prepare your answer and you speak for 45 seconds.
The first independent task usually requires you to do two things:
1. Describe a person, place, object or event that you know.
2. Give reasons why you chose this example.
An example of the first independent question is:
"Choose a teacher you admire and explain why you admire him or her. Please include specific
examples and details in your explanation." (ETS)

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The second independent task presents you with two actions, options, situations or opinions and asks you to choose. You must: state which one you prefer
 explain why
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It doesn't matter which position you choose to support, but how clearly and how well you do so.
An example of the second independent question type is:
"Do you prefer to take essay exams or multiple choice exams? Use reasons to support your
response."(Longman)
INTEGRATED TASKS
These tasks test your ability to integrate information from different sources.
Two of the integrated tasks require you to read, listen, and speak. The other two integrated tasks ask you to only listen and speak.
In the third TOEFL speaking task, you are first given 40–45 seconds to read a short passage
– an announcement, a bulletin, a letter, etc. – describinga campus-related issue. You then hear one or two students expressing their opinion about the issue. The question then asks you to integrate what you have read and heard by synthesizing or summarizing what the speaker said. It does not ask you for your opinion.
In the fourth speaking task, you are given 40-45 seconds to read a short passage about anacademic subject. You then listen to a professor lecturing briefly about the same subject.
Next, you are asked a question based on what you read and heard.
In the fifth speaking task, you are not given a reading selection. You listen to a short
 conversation about a campus-related situation and then answer a question about what you heard. Specifically, you are asked to: describe the problem being discussed
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 state which of the two solutions or options you prefer explain why you chose that option.
You can justify your choice based on what the speakers said or on your own experience.
The sixth speaking task is based on academiccontent. You listen to a brief excerpt from a professor’s lecture and are then asked to explain a point, giving examples from the lecture. It will be important for you to take notes here so that you can speak easily, confidently and comprehensively.
It is best to prepare for each of the TOEFL iBT speaking tasks separately by doing as many practice sessions as possible, ideally with an experienced teacher at hand to give you valuable feedback.

These valuable tips will help you get a much higher score on the Speaking section of your
TOEFL exam. Use all of them, if you can, for a top score.
Everything you need to do well on the TOEFL is right here:
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What to do:
Structure your response as a mini essay.
Make sure your response has an introduction, a body and a conclusion.
Use transition words to guide your listener in a logical, organized way.
Use clear English in a confident, expressive way. Simplicity is powerful.
Give two or three reasons to develop your response and to avoid going round and round only one point.
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Use verbs rather than nouns. Verbs are more dynamic and make your English sound more interesting.
Speak at an even pace. It’s better to slow down and be completely understood, rather than rush and lose points because the examiner cannot understand your words.
Say the endings of words fully. For example, Spanish speakers tend to leave off the endings of words and this can make it difficult to catch the words. They might be saying,
“custom” but it sounds like “custa”. This can be confusing.
Pronounce the “t” in words. It makes it easier for native speakers to understand foreign accents. An example is the word “water”. Say “wah-ter”. Avoid saying “wadder” or “waher”.
 Don’t waste time rephrasing the question. The examiner already knows what the question
 is. He or she wants to hear your response, right from the start.
Avoid using words which are difficult to pronounce. You will waste time in correcting yourself if you can’t say the words easily. For example, say “chance” instead of
“opportunity’.
 Don’t use higher-level vocabulary unless you’re 100% sure of the meaning. It’s better to present a response that’s easily understandable rather than one that’s vague and unclear.
 Don’t use idioms at all, unless you are 100% sure of their meaning, and can use them in a grammatically correct way.
 Don’t state exactly how many reasons you will provide because you may not have enough time to do so. Just say “I like to dance for many reasons.” or “ I prefer traveling alone for
 several reasons.” Then include as many reasons as you have time for. Usually this means two or three reasons.
 Don’t worry about your accent. Just speak as clearly as you can.
Don’t go back and try to rephrase what you have said, unless you are correcting a grammatical error. Generally, you don’t have time to say the same thing twice.

An easy way to get a high score on the TOEFL independent speaking tasks is to think of your answer as a mini essay. Of course, you have only 45 seconds in total, so your introduction and conclusion may be only one line each. Even so, by including them, you provide a complete answer.
INTRODUCTION: The introduction should immediately answer the question asked in the task.
State clearly what you are going to speak about or what you prefer. This is like the thesis statement in an essay.
BODY: The body is where you provide the reasons, details or examples to explain or support your answer.
CONCLUSION: Your last sentence allows you to conclude in a logical, powerful and convincing way.
Let’s look at some sample TOEFL speaking tasks below. You can practice for your exam by reading the answers aloud. In this way, you’ll have a better idea how to structure your own answer on exam day.
TOEFL SPEAKING SAMPLE 1 - TASK 1
Describe something that you do to reduce stress. Explain why it is helpful. Include
details and examples to support your answer.
Introduction
Reading books helps me to relieve stress like nothing else can.
Body
This is true for several reasons. First, when I read a book I mentally enter the world of ideas. I can forget my day-to-day worries.
Second, from an emotional angle, reading is a solitary act. It enables me to spend time alone, away from others. This helps me feel more peaceful.
Third, from a physical perspective, reading allows me to stop working and relax my body. At home, I like to read while lying in bed or on the sofa.
Conclusion
The act of reading transports me to another world. That’s why books are good friends and why reading is such an effective way of reducing my level of stress.

The last section on the TOEFL iBT is Writing, for which you have a total of 50
minutes. This part measures your ability to communicate clearly in writing and compose wellorganized essays using correct grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and sentence structure.
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You are given two types of writing tasks:
Integrated
 Independent
In the integrated TOEFL writing section, you will be given a short reading passage and listening passage on the same topic. You can take notes during this time. Then you will be given 20 minutes to write an essay of about 150-225 words, explaining how the listening passage either supports the reading passage or contradicts the reading.
The second part of the TOEFL Writing section is the independent essay. You are given one topic, and you have 30 minutes to write an essay of about 4-5 paragraphs, or 300-350 words. For key transition words and essay strategies which can earn you a top score in the independent essay, check the Writing Skills section.
The last section of the TOEFL is Writing, which lasts for about 50 minutes. It consists of two parts: the integrated writing task (150-225 words) and the independent writing task (300-350 words).
INTEGRATED WRITING
The integrated writing task comes first and is organized in the following way:
You read a passage - 3 minutes
You listen to a related lecture - 2 minutes
You write an essay - 20 minutes
In your response to the integrated question, you will be asked to summarize the points made in the lecture and either show how the lecture supports the points made in the reading passage or show how the lecture casts doubt on the points made in the reading passage.
It is helpful to make notes of the main points as you read, though the reading passage does reappear when it is time to write. More importantly, you must make notes while
listening, as you have only one opportunity to hear the lecture. Listen carefully for arguments, explanations and examples which support or challenge the points made in the reading. It is essential that you take detailed notes while listening or you won’t have enough material to write about.
Your essay may be set up as one long paragraph or three paragraphs. In terms of organization, you have two ways in which you could structure your response: You could compare and contrast each point as you go along. For example, “The reading passage states that….” , “On the other hand, the lecture argues that… .” Alternatively, you could list all of the points made in the reading passage in one paragraph and all the points made in the lecture in the next paragraph.
Bear in mind that for the integrated task, you are not being asked to give your opinion, but to relate what you have read and heard. Do only what the question asks you to do - no
more and no less.