- Test Structure
- Reading Section
- Listening Section
- Speaking Section
- Writing Section
- Tips for the Test Day
- Study Tips
- Useful Reference
(Ref: TOEFL iBT® Test Content)
Maximim score is 120. Each section has 30 score maximum.
- Vocabulary(academic)
- Concentration
- Time management
- Atleast there are three articles, each of which is 700+ words.
- The articles are quoted from college-level texts.
- Each article comes with 13 ~ 15 qustions.
- If there are three articles, you can only use 20 minutes for each.
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Factual | Choose truth/false. | "According to paragraph 1, which one of the following is true?" |
| Inference | Anticipate the author's idea | "Which one of the following is most similar to the author's idea?" |
| Rhetorical | Reason the author's writing approach | "Why the author refers to the example here?" |
| Vocabulary | Distinguish words' meaning | "Which one of the following is most similar to {a word used in the article}?" |
| Reference | Understand the structure/context | "Which one of the following does "It(Paragraph.1, line.2)" equal to?" |
| Sentence Simplification | Simplify the contents | "Which one of the following is most similar to the highlighted sentence?" |
| Text Insert | Place a line properly in the article. | "Where is the best place to put the following sentence?" |
| Purpose Summary | Summarize the article, or categorize the ideas. The score is doubled. |
"Summarize this article." "Categorize the ideas described in the article." |
- Stop at the end of each paragraph, and answer the related questions.
- Get used to reading academic articles.
The listening section consist of conbination of the two types(C/L) of questions like the graph above.
Each C/L block takes 3~6 minutes.
- A conversation in a college : C
- Easier than the other. Should get perfect score here.
- A lecture in a class room : L
| Type | Situation | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| C | Office hour | A conversation between a professor and a student. |
| Trouble shooting | A conversation between a college staff and a student. | |
| Academic discussion | A conversation between students.(More difficult one than the others.) | |
| L | One way | A lecture from a professor.(Not so interactive.) |
| Two way | A discussion between a professor and students. In this case, the background of the conversation tends to be asked. |
- Do not take care of your note taking too much.
- Listen from the bird's-eye view.
- Get the perfect score for the questions related to type:C.
Ref: 誰でも５分で思い出せるTOEFL iBT Speaking 問題形式・採点方法のレビュー法
Ref: Speaking templates
Ref: TOEFL Speaking Question 3 Help
- Total 6 questions for the section.
- There is 2 types of the questions, independent / integrated(like the writing section).
- Your score is evaluated by three aspects: intonation/accent, vocabulary, structure.
- Each question is evaluated within 4 grades, and they are gathered and averaged, then converted to result scale(30 score maximum).
| Question# | Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Independent | A question related to you. Prepare within 15 secs, and answer within 45 secs. |
"Where is your favorite place? and why?" |
| 2 | Independent | A question asking a better option for you. Prepare within 15 secs, and answer within 45 secs. |
"A family has a cat, the other family has a cat and a dog. Which is a better choice for animals' health?" |
| 3 | Integrated | A question asking a summary of a conversation about college's announcements. (Reading: ７５～１００ words) |
"New facility policy during Spring breaks" |
| 4 | Integrated | Same procedures as Question#3. This is an academic content, not like #3. |
"Future of Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing Industries." |
| 5 | Integrated | A question asking a better option for you. Topics are related to students' daily lives.  |
"Which is better option for you to solve the noise around your domitory?" |
| 6 | Integrated | The procedures are like the question #5, but the contents are like #4(academic). | Similar to the question #4 |
- Get prepared with some template answers.
- If the question doesn't require unique ideas and asks your choice, don't hesitate to reuse the sentences in the reading/listening materials.(Question #2, #3, #4, #5, #6)
| Evaluation aspect | How is it evaluated? |
|---|---|
| Delivery | - Clear - Smooth - Natural Speed - Good accents - No unnatural pauses |
| Language use | - Basic grammer usage - Complicated / various expressions - Proper vocabulary choices - Various vocabulary |
| Topic development | - Meet the question perfectly - Concrete - Logical. No contradiction. - Multiple ideas are organized - Manage the answer time well. |
Ref: TOEFL（トーフル）スピーキングの問題形式〜まずは敵を知り、己を知ることから始めよう〜
- Two types of writing tasks(Integrated / Independent).
- Each assignment has 15 score maximum.
- Multiple markers evaluate your answer, then the evaluations are gathered and averaged.
Ref: Writing strategy - Integrated Ref: Integrated - techniques Ref: Integrated - memo techniques
| step | time limit | description |
|---|---|---|
| Read an academic article | 3 min | 250-300 words. It's okay to take a note. |
| Listen to a professor's opinion | 2 - 3min | A same / opposite opinion toward the article. Basically Opposite to the article. It's okay to take a note. |
| Write your opinion | 20 min | Should refer the listening contents, not the reading contents. 150 - 225 words.(225+ words are fine.) Prepare with templates. |
Ref: Writing strategy - Independent
Ref: 155 toefle independent writing topics
| step | time limit | description |
|---|---|---|
| Read the writing subject. | - | "Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Opinion:-------- Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer." |
| Write your opinion | 30 min | Should write 500 words (at least 300 words). Prepare with a 5-paragraph styled template. |
Relation between the words count and the score
| Words range | Score range |
|---|---|
| ~３００ | around ５ |
| 300~400 | 7~8 |
| 400~450 | 9~12 |
| 400~500 | 13~15 |
- Get prepared with templates.
- Write as much as you can.
- Make same efforts for each question because both two questions have same score.
- The test places are noisy at the begging of the exam because of the mic test.
- ETS may offer you some dummy questions (not evaluated, only for its statistical reasoning).
- TOEFL Listening勉強法：長く聞くよりも『意識して』聴き取る
- TOEFL iBT リスニングで29点取った勉強法
- Note taking techniques
- TOEFL iBTSpeaking で絶対２０点以上取るコツ、スピーキングメモ術を探る
- Ref: TOEFL Speaking Question 3 Help
- Ref: 【TOEFL Speaking Task 1, Task 2 練習用ファイル】
- Ref: 【Speakingサンプル群】：この説明ページにtranscriptsや音源へのアクセス法有り。
- Ref: 【Free Conversationのトピック群】