To better understand the Test of English as a Foreign English or TOEFL as it is more commonly known, a person needs to understand its purpose, its different parts, and its scoring system.
The TOEFL iBT is an important test since thousands of universities use this test to make important decisions such as admissions, scholarships, and decisions regarding graduate study. Several million students take this test each year so they can enter respected universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Moreover, whether it is passed or not will determine acceptance into an undergraduate or graduate program.
Administered at thousands of designated locations throughout the world, the TOEFL iBT consists of reading, listening, speaking, and writing. It takes about 4 1/2 hours to complete with a 10 minute break given after the listening section. The cost of the TOEFL iBT is approximately $150. Note-taking is permitted on all of the parts.
The reading section can be completed in about 60-100 minutes and has three 750 word academic passages, with 36-70 questions measuring the test-taker's ability of comprehension and analysis. The listening section can be completed in about 60-90 minutes and has two conversations (3-5 minutes long) and four lectures (3 minutes), with 34-51 questions measuring the test-taker's ability to understand what they have heard.
The speaking section generally takes 20 minutes and has six speaking tasks. The first two speaking tasks ask a test-taker to either (1) express an opinion on a topic or (2) choose a preference between two choices. The last four speaking tasks require a test-taker (3) to read, listen, and speak in relation to a campus-related topic; (4) to read, listen, and speak in relation to an academic-related topic; (5) to listen and speak in relation to a campus-related to topic; and finally (6) to listen and speak in relation to an academic-related topic. The test-taker is given 15-30 seconds to prepare and 45-60 seconds to give the responses.
The writing section, taking 50 minutes, has two tasks. In the first writing task, a test-taker is given 30 minutes to write on a familiar topic. In the second writing task, a test-taker is given 20 minutes to read, listen, and write an essay in response to the two academic sources.
The final scores on the TOEFL iBT range from 0 - 120, each section receiving a scaled score from 0 - 30. The scaled scores in the reading and listening sections are based on the total number of correct answers. Human raters score the six speaking tasks from 0 - 4, the sum of which are converted into a scaled range from 0-30. Like the speaking section, human raters also score the two writing tasks from 0 - 5, the sum of which are converted into a scaled score of 0-30. Though many universities sets their own admission policies, a total score of 60-61 and 80-81 is generally seen by most institutions as acceptable for undergraduate and graduate study.