Details of the TOEFL Format and Preparatory Tips

Let’s get into the specifics of the TOEFL and know where we stand. The good news is that the TOEFL’s four sections (Reading/Listening/Speaking/Writing) include a built-in 10 minute break to rest your weary hands! Starting with the Reading section, you’ll need to read three or four passages and answer questions- their topics will be academic. Of course, it’s always important, but here I can’t stress enough that in the Reading section you must read the instructions because they tell you how much time you can spend on each question and avoid any sticky situations!

Next up, the Listening section which has (you guessed it!) an academic slant so expect things like classroom discussions, pieces from lectures and generally the things that you would hear at your future university, with associated questions about the content. A great tip here is that since 2013 the TOEFL has made a big effort to include a variety of different native English speaking accents, outside of North America, and I’d be very surprised if you didn’t hear at least one speaker from UK, New Zealand or Australia. These accents just mentioned, are those specifically noted as sources for the listening on the ETS official website, so I would call them good bets! Luckily, they also have samples to get you tuned in to these accents, so head on down to that website.

Thirdly we have the Writing section, and to get your score here you’ll need to write essay submissions based upon the reading and listening tasks and also support an opinion through writing, for example, one side of a debate. Remember, this is about academic writing, so keep your tone formal and avoid slang or contractions. It’s a huge help if you use mindmaps to associate words, and so learn lots of great academic vocabulary: try looking up ‘anaylsis’ ‘factors’ ‘hypothetical’ and ‘variables’ as starting points.

Lastly we have the Speaking section, and good news here again, in that the section will relate to topics discussed in the other papers and ETS assures us that it will be ‘a familiar topic’ – so not too obscure, then! You will have a certain amount of choice regarding what you talk about- so practise chatting for a few minutes about topics that matter to you and come prepared with some ideas- are you studying science and passionate about the environment?

This could form part of a response to a lot of questions! What about access to free education, does that stir your interest? Next you’ll be given stimuli (a text to read and a talk you can listen to) and will have the chance to talk about it in your own words. This skill is easy to practise, just take the soap opera you saw last night or the last website you read and explain its contents to anyone who will listen! To round off the speaking you will hear part of a class or lecture and be asked questions about what you heard. Here there is more freedom for you to give your own opinion so learn some opinion-giving phrases- ‘I have to agree that’ ‘I appreciate his position, but’ ‘For me, what matters is...’ and try not to re-use the exact words you’ve heard in the tape. The examiners want to hear your voice, not the tape! So, enough reading, let’s get practising!

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