TOEFL iBT Exam

TOEFL iBT stands for TOEFL Internet Based Exam.

The TOEFL iBT exam was introduced in the year 2005. The inception of TOEFL iBT exam led to a stop to the computerized TOEFL exam, then referred to as TOEFL CBT exam.

In less than a decade, the TOEFL iBT exam gained vast popularity and is taken up by 97% TOEFL test takers.

In India, now only the TOEFL iBT exam is conducted.

The TOEFL iBT exam is delivered by internet to test the English proficiency of non native English users who aspire a career abroad. Test takers of TOEFL iBT exam are examined in the following areas :

• Reading
• Writing
• Listening
• Speaking

TOEFL iBT exam – About

The TOEFL iBT exam tests the applicant’s English proficiency at an university level.

Students use QWERTY keyboard to answer the TOEFL iBT exam.

TOEFL iBT exam test dates

The TOEFL iBT exam is conducted in over 50 test dates in a year.

The TOEFL iBT exam can be taken up as many times a test takers wishes to. However, they need to maintain a gap of 12-working days from their previous exam date, for successful registration.

TOEFL iBT exam time duration

The total time duration of TOEFL exam is 4 hours 30 minutes (including a ten minute break in between).

TOEFL iBT exam format

TOEFL iBT Syllabus:

Reading: This section consists of 3 or 4 passages which are academic in nature and mostly found in an undergraduate university textbook. Candidates need to understand rhetorical functions such as cause-effect, compare-contrast and argumentation in a given passage. Students answer questions about essential information, main ideas, sentence insertion, rhetorical purpose, vocabulary, inferences and overall ideas. New types of questions in the TOEFL iBT test requires completing summaries and filling out tables.

Listening: The listening section of TOEFL exam requires candidates to listen to lectures, classroom discussions and conversations, to answer the questions. To answer the questions correctly, a student need to first listen well to understand main ideas, important information or details, relationships between ideas, speaker purpose, speaker attitude and implications. Each conversation and Lecture passage is heard only once. Students can take down notes while listening to the conversations and lectures and refer them while answering the questions. There are likely to have five questions for the Conversation recording and 6 questions for each lecture.

Speaking: TOEFL section consists of six tasks – 2 independent and 4 integrated. In the independent tasks, candidates need to answer opinion on familiar topics. They are evaluated on the basis of their ability to speak fluently and convey their ideas clearly and coherently. In the integrated tasks, candidates are evaluated on their ability to appropriately synthesize and effectively convey information from reading and listening material. Candidates may take notes as they read and listen and may use to help prepare their responses. They will be given a short time to prepare for speaking and the responses are recorded digitally.

Writing: In the writing section, candidates will be tested on their ability to write in an academic setting which consists of 2 tasks: 1 integrated and 1 independent. In the integrated task, a candidate needs to read a passage on an academic topic and then listen to a speaker discuss it. After listening, test taker writes a summary about the critical points in the listening passage and explains how these relates to the key message of the passage. In the independent task, candidates must write an essay that states their choice or opinion and explain it, rather than simply personal choices and preferences.

Integrated task in TOEFL iBT exam

Integrated task in TOEFL iBT exam are questions which require the use of more than one skill at the same time:

– 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

TOEFL iBT score

The score range for each section of TOEFL iBT exam is 0-30.

The total score range of TOEFL iBT exam is 0-120.

Test takers can check their TOEFL iBT exam score online after 15-days of taking the test. Students also receive their TOEFL iBT score card via mail.

The TOEFL iBT exam score is valid for two years.