TOEFL Internet Based Test
Since its introduction in late 2005, the TOEFL Internet-based Test (iBT) has replaced the computer-based tests (CBT) and Paper based Tests (PBT). Though Computer based tests have been used widely before the introduction of the Internet-based tests was discontinued in September 2006 and these scores are no longer valid. In the year 2005, The TOEFL iBT has been introduced in phases with the United States, Canada, Germany, France, and Italy. And in rest of the Countries, it was introduced in 2006, with test centers added regularly.
Initially, the demand for test seats was higher than availability, and candidates had to wait for months. It is now possible to take the test within one to four weeks in most countries. The four-hour test consists of four sections, each measuring one of the basic language skills (while some tasks require integrating multiple skills), and all tasks focus on language used in an academic, higher-education environment. Note-taking is allowed during the TOEFL iBT test. The test cannot be taken more than once every 12 days. The four sections of the TOEFL iBT Test are Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing.
Reading
The Reading section consists of passage questions. In total, it consists of 3-5 passages of each approximately 700 words in length. The passages require the understanding of rhetorical functions such as cause-effect, compare-contrast, and argumentation. The topics that will be given in passages are the kind of material that might be found in an undergraduate university textbook. Students should Answer this Questions with main ideas, inferences, details, essential information, vocabulary, sentence insertion, rhetorical purpose and overall ideas. The New type of questions in TOEFL iBT test require filling out tables or completing summaries too.
Listening
The Listening section consists of six passages of each 3-5 minutes in length. The test taker should answer the questions on six passages. These passages include four academic lectures or discussions and two student conversations. The Lectures are the self-contained portion of an academic lecture that involves student participation and does not assume specialized background knowledge in the subject area. And the conversations involve a student and either a professor or a campus service provider. Both Conversation and lecture passage are heard only once. There are five questions associated with each conversation and six with each lecture. The Listening section assesses the student ability to understand main ideas, implications, important details, relationships between ideas, organization of information, speaker purpose, and speaker attitude.
Speaking
The Speaking section of the IELTS exam consists of six tasks including four integrated tasks and two independent tasks. The independent tasks are used to evaluate the student ability to speak spontaneously and convey their ideas clearly and coherently. In the two independent sections, the test-takers need to answer questions on familiar topics. In two of the integrated tasks, test-takers read a short passage, listen to an academic course lecture or a conversation about campus life and answer a question by combining appropriate information from the text and the talk. In the remaining two integrated tasks, test-takers listen to an academic course lecture or a conversation about campus life and then respond to a question about what they heard. The Integrated task section evaluates the student ability to appropriately synthesize and effectively convey information from the reading and listening material. The test-takers may take notes while listening & reading and can use their notes to prepare their responses. The test-takers will be given a short preparation time before beginning their speaking.
Writing
The writing section consists of two tasks such as one integrated and one independent section. This writing section is conducted to assess the test taker’s ability to write an academic setting. The integrated task section consists of a passage on an academic topic, the students should read this passage and then listen to a speaker discuss it. After listening to it the test taker should write a summary of the important points in the listening passage and explain how these relate to the key points of the reading passage. In the independent task he test-taker must write an essay that states their opinion or choice, and then explain it, rather than simply listing personal preferences or choices. All the responses are sent to the ETS OSN and evaluated by at least 3 different raters.
