A Brief Overview
of TOEFL iBT
Deny A. Kwary, S.S., M.Hum
www.kwary.net
Paper-Based TOEFL
TOEFL iBT
Testing
Points
Listening
Structure
Reading
Listening
Reading
Speaking
Writing
Test
Duration
2 hours
4 hours
Score
range
220 – 667
0 – 120
Usage
Until June 1998
From July 2006
Why is the TOEFL Test Changing?
• To measure the ability to
communicate successfully
in an academic setting;
• To reflect how language is
really used;
• To keep up with the best
practices in language
learning and teaching
(integrated skills).
TOEFL Reading Question Types
Basic Information and Inferencing Questions:
1. Factual information questions
2. Negative factual information questions
3. Inference question questions
4. Rhetorical purpose questions
5. Vocabulary questions
6. Reference questions
7. Sentence simplification questions
8. Insert text questions
Reading to Learn questions:
9. Prose summary
10. Fill in a table
Vocabulary Question (iBT)
Growth, reproduction, and daily metabolism all require an
organism to expend energy. The expenditure of energy is
essentially a process of budgeting, just as finances are
budgeted. If all of one's money is spent on clothes, there
may be none left to buy food or go to the movies. Similarly,
a plant or animal cannot squander all its energy on growing
a big body if none would be left over for reproduction, for
this is the surest way to extinction.
The word squander in the passage
is closest in meaning to:
a. extend
b. transform
c. activate
d. waste
Taken from ETS
Website
TOEFL iBT Listening Materials
Conversations:
 Office Hours
 Service Encounters
Lectures:
 Arts
 Life Science
 Physical Science
 Social Science
These conversations and talks are typical of those
that occur on North American university campuses
Speaking Question Types
Independent:
1. Question about a person, place,
object, or event.
2. Question about preference from
two possible actions, situations, or
opinions
Integrated Listening/Reading/Speaking
(questions #3 & #4)
Integrated Listening/Speaking
(questions #5 & #6)
Examples of speaking questions
1. Choose a teacher you admire and
explain why you admire him or her.
Please include specific examples
and details in your explanation.
2. Some students study for classes
individually. Others study in groups.
Which method of studying do you
think is better for students and why?
Writing Section of the TOEFL iBT
The Integrated Writing Task
1. Read a passage about an academic topic
2. Listen to a lecture related to the topic
3. Write a summary of the main points
The Independent Writing Task
• Write an essay about your opinion on an
issue
Example of Writing Question
Do you agree or disagree with the following
statement?
Always telling the truth is the most important
consideration in any relationship.
Use specific reasons and examples to support
your answer.
TOEFL iBT
Number of
Questions
Time
Reading
45 – 70 Qs
60 – 100 min
Listening
35 – 50 Qs
60 – 90 min
Speaking
6 tasks
20 – 30 min
Writing
2 tasks
50 min
THANK YOU
Deny A. Kwary, S.S., M.Hum
www.kwary.net