What are the characteristics of the TOEFL test?

The TOEFL test is a test launched by the American Educational Testing Service to examine candidates' comprehensive English quality and ability. Its full name is "The Test of English Proficiency for Non-native English Speakers". We Chinese are used to it. Yu calls it the "TOEFL test", which is derived from the transliteration. It is very vivid and easy to remember.

After so many years of implementation and improvement, the TOEFL test has gained international recognition. Therefore, many candidates need to provide TOEFL scores to prove their English quality and ability when applying to foreign schools. In 2010, the TOEFL test officially entered China, and now many Chinese people know about this test.

The TOEFL test has its own fixed question bank, so it can also modify its test questions according to the requirements of the target institution or the suggestions of customers, so as to make its test questions more targeted and more professional. Examine the comprehensive quality of candidates to help educational institutions or universities formulate more targeted teaching plans and help students improve their English abilities from more aspects, angles, and levels. 1. Basic information (1) Test format

The TOEFL test is a computer-based test. Candidates can choose to take the test in front of the computer, which is very convenient and fast. However, it may be a little difficult for people who are not familiar with computers and require some extra time to practice computer operations. However, overall it is more convenient than paper-and-pencil exams. (2) Test content

The test content of the TOEFL test is very comprehensive, covering the four parts of reading, listening, speaking, and writing. It can comprehensively examine the candidate's English ability in all aspects and judge each candidate's English ability. comprehensive English quality. Therefore, many schools use TOEFL scores as an important indicator to judge candidates' English proficiency. 2. Question types

The TOEFL test has been revised once. During the revision process, it abandoned the previous independent listening and reading test models. At the same time, it no longer examines pure grammar questions, but adds spoken language. The content increases the weight of the writing test. This can more prominently examine students' English use ability.

At the same time, many contents of the TOEFL test are related to the school background. This is because the purpose of the TOEFL test is to select candidates so that they can enter colleges and universities with an English language background to study. Therefore, candidates can imagine how they will communicate with professors and listen to lectures after entering university. In this way, your understanding of the content of the TOEFL test will be improved to a higher level.

As mentioned above, the content of the TOEFL test is divided into four parts, namely reading, listening, speaking and writing. Let me introduce to you the characteristics of each of these four question types in detail. 1. Reading

The reading questions in the TOEFL test are not diverse. It only has one form of multiple-choice questions. Each question has ABCD and 4 options. If you carefully study the real questions of the TOEFL test, you will find that each question has a focus on testing content. For example, some questions focus on testing the facts of the article, some focus on testing reasoning and judgment, some focus on testing vocabulary, and some Test your ability to extract and summarize full-text information.

The reading articles in the TOEFL test will be academic in nature. Most of them are extracted from some academic research, so they will not read in a particularly daily way, which also increases the difficulty of the test accordingly.

Compared with the old TOEFL test, which had 5 articles per day, and the number of words in each article was relatively short, the new TOEFL test has reduced the number of reading articles to three. Accordingly, we also The number of words in each article has been increased from about 300 words to about 700 words. As the number of words increases, the difficulty, depth, and structural complexity of the article increase accordingly.

For many candidates, reading long articles is far more difficult than reading short articles. When they first start reviewing, many candidates will find it difficult to read such a long article in one breath. This is normal. Therefore, in the process of training your reading ability, you must pay attention to cultivating your ability to read long articles. Don't forget the content of the first half after reading the second half. This will cause certain obstacles for us to answer reading reasoning questions.

The scoring for the TOEFL reading test is also very interesting. It adopts two modes: 7-answer type and 5-answer type. You can refer to the table below for details. 2. Listening

The listening questions of the TOEFL test are also relatively difficult because the speaking speed is relatively fast. For candidates from countries where English is not their native language, the increase in speaking speed has an exponential impact on the difficulty. level.

But the simple thing about the TOEFL listening test is that it does not examine too many details, such as the specific time when two people talked, the specific place where the incident occurred, etc. Therefore, candidates should focus on grasping the structure and overall content of the entire conversation. If you don't understand just a few scattered words or even a few scattered sentences, don't worry about it. As long as you grasp the central sentence, the big frame, and the text content, it won't be a problem.

The setting of the listening selections for the exam is also relatively fixed. The materials are usually set on university campuses that we are all familiar with. The content is often conversations between students and professors, or scenes of professors giving lectures. They are all very real and life-like, so that students will sound more immersed in them. feel. Instead of letting candidates listen to content that is out of touch with campus life and recorded by a standard announcer in a recording studio. This is also to allow candidates to adapt to foreign campus life faster and better.

But the content of the material is usually relatively unfamiliar. For example, it will choose content where the professor is talking about the characteristics of an unfamiliar animal or plant. I wonder if candidates who study zoology or botany will have a slight advantage? But I believe that the organizers of the exam will definitely avoid this problem. This is a joke.

The old TOEFL listening test also included short conversations, but in the new TOEFL test, we have canceled this link and enriched the listening question types. In addition to traditional multiple-choice questions, We have also added a variety of very flexible and diverse question types such as matching questions, form-filling questions, sorting questions, etc., and these question types appear randomly, so candidates must pay more attention when practicing. 3. Writing

The writing part of the TOEFL test is divided into two parts, namely independent writing and comprehensive writing. The second part of comprehensive writing requires candidates to read first and then listen. A listening session, complete your own composition based on the text and what you heard. Therefore, in the writing part, the candidate's listening level will also be tested. Therefore, listening training needs to occupy a relatively large proportion during the preparation process for candidates.

At the same time, candidates must also practice their dictation and shorthand skills. How to quickly record what they hear and flexibly use it in their own compositions are the top priorities that candidates should train. , these are important magic weapons to improve candidates' writing scores. 4. Speaking

Although many candidates are very afraid of speaking and think that they are learning dumb English, in fact, speaking in the TOEFL test is not very difficult.

The speaking test of TOEFL is a computer-based test. You need to conduct human-computer dialogue during the test and answer the questions asked by the machine. This method can make the questions more fixed. You will not be disturbed by the examiner's tone and accent, and you can answer your own questions more focused. But at the same time, machines will definitely lack a lot of humanity than people. Therefore, once you are distracted a little while listening to a question, you cannot ask the machine to repeat the question for you, so you must be particularly focused. Listen carefully to the questions the machine asks for you and complete the conversation with the machine.

The topics of the speaking test are also relatively fixed. Like the listening test, it is mostly based on campus themes, so students will have an immersive feeling. But its content is also more academic. You can think back to the English speaking tests you took before. The content may have focused on survival English knowledge, such as how to ask for directions, how to read an English map, etc. The focus of the TOEFL test is whether you can communicate with professors in academic language and whether you can use logical words to summarize what the teacher said in class. The academic level is greatly improved. Therefore, the TOEFL speaking test not only tests the candidates' English pronunciation ability and intonation, but also indirectly tests the students' grammar when they organize English sentences.

Therefore, although we have canceled the grammar test part compared to the old TOEFL test, this part will still be integrated into every part of the existing TOEFL test.

Of course, the biggest challenge for each candidate in the TOEFL speaking test is not the accent or intonation, but the ability to build knowledge structure, logical thinking ability, and our language organization ability. . Therefore, simply speaking fluent English is not enough. We must also improve our critical thinking skills and learning experience to better complete the exam. This way of thinking is also a very useful tool after we actually enter university with an English language background.

However, the fixed pattern of the TOEFL speaking test will basically not change, so candidates will be much more relaxed when preparing for the test, and the preparation content can be more targeted.

In addition, everyone must note that the answering time in the speaking test is fixed, so you must ensure that you complete your answers within the specified time. Once you are speaking, Any inaccuracies or even blanks may affect your score. 3. TOEFL ITP test

The TOEFL test also extends to many test items, such as the TOEFL ITP test, which has similarities with the well-known TOEFL IBT online test, but also has many differences. (1) Examination content

The TOEFL ITP test takes the form of multiple-choice questions and has one less dimension than the TOEFL IBT test. It is divided into three levels: listening, grammar, and reading. Its test objectives are Test the candidates' English proficiency at a certain stage. (2) Grading

The TOEFL ITP test is divided into two levels: Level 1 and Level 2. Different levels have different requirements for candidates, and the maximum score and examination items will also change accordingly. For example, the maximum score for the first-level exam is 677 points, while the maximum score for the second-level exam is 500 points. (3) Question Settings

Both levels of the TOEFL ITP test have listening and grammar sections. There is no difference in their question formats, but there will be some differences in the reading levels.

First of all, the first-level exam only requires candidates to read paragraphs, while the second-level exam not only requires candidates to read paragraphs, but also requires candidates to take a vocabulary knowledge test, that is, candidates are required to find and underline Some words with the same meaning.

The other two exams also have some differences in material selection, question description, number of questions, and time requirements. You can feel it through the following table. (4) Score report

After taking the TOEFL ITP test, candidates will receive their scores within 7 to 8 working days. This score is valid for two years. If your score is above 460 points, you will also get a score report.

In the score report, you can not only get your own score, but also the language level, ability level, and corresponding specific level description.

In addition to the TOEFL ITP test, there are other TOEFL test formats. They have different scoring requirements, so there may be some differences in scores, but there is a corresponding relationship between them. You can check them below Feel it in the picture. 4. The Enlightenment of the TOEFL Test on English Testing in China

China’s emphasis on English education can be said to have a long history. Our country is also the largest English learning group in the world. In order to examine the English proficiency of our country’s candidates, we also organize There are English exams of various levels, large and small, such as the CET-4 and CET-6 exams that we are all familiar with, as well as the CET-4 and CET-8 exams specifically for English majors.

Nowadays, society’s requirements for English proficiency are constantly rising, and examinations, as an important means of screening students’ English proficiency, cannot be abandoned, but should be continuously developed to make them more adaptable to the requirements of modern society.

Therefore, our country’s English exams can also learn from the advantages of some international English exams to enrich and develop themselves and better serve our country’s candidates.

The reason why our country’s professional English exams can learn from the TOEFL exam is that they have many similarities: first, they both have very high standardization; second, they both have considerable authority. The test results have a very high reference value in many environments; finally, both tests examine students' comprehensive English ability.

I believe that my country’s English test can work hard in the following aspects: (1) Use real materials to improve authenticity

As mentioned above, the listening content and speaking content of TOEFL They all come from the campus background, allowing students to experience immersively what their daily lives will be like after entering a college with an English-based background.

Authenticity is an indispensable and important element in English exams. Only by achieving authenticity and making the exam materials more authentic and authentic can we ensure that the exam content truly examines students’ daily life The content can be applied while allowing students to improve their English ability in a more targeted manner.

my country's English test can also combine this to improve the authenticity of the test. For example, when companies with an industrial background screen for high-level English talents, their topic setting can be based on industrial scenes. They can choose some industrial papers to set up reading materials, and choose the topics of workers and administrators in factories. Dialogue as listening material. Only in this way can we truly select the talents that the company needs. (2) Improve scoring methods

For every English test, we cannot help but evaluate it from two aspects: reliability and validity.

Rader reliability is an important dimension. For example, for the same batch of candidates, if they are marked by different marking groups, can their scores be the same? The content will be graded to see if the scores obtained are the same. If the identity is high, we say that the test has relatively high inter-rater reliability.

The most important thing to improve the reliability of the raters is to make the test questions more objective. Therefore, we can use more objective multiple-choice questions in the test to test the candidates' English ability, so that our scores will also be better. It will be relatively certain and will not change to a large extent due to the subjective intentions of the raters. (3) Improve the score reporting system

Many English tests in our country only provide you with a score after the test, and do not conduct a detailed analysis of the score. We can learn from the TOEFL test format and provide a corresponding assessment of the candidate's English proficiency level after giving the candidate's score.

We can build a Chinese English proficiency system based on the level of English language proficiency in our country. After the candidates get their scores, they will be given a corresponding grade. This will make every score report more accurate. Be targeted and personalized.

Candidates can measure their learning progress and evaluate their English ability based on their English score reports, so that they can be more targeted in their future study life and improve their learning trajectory. (4) More emphasis on fairness and equality

There are many disabled people in our society. They may not be able to hear or see, which may cause them to face problems in exams that we normal people cannot imagine. difficulties. Therefore, we can add more humanized settings to the exam to make our test more fair and equal.

For example, for some people with disabilities, we can arrange separate examination rooms for them, extend their answering time, read the examination papers aloud to them, or use blind examination papers, etc.

Only by truly starting from the perspective of candidates can we further improve our examination system and select more outstanding talents to serve the construction of our country. (5) Enrich the testing mechanism

The TOEFL test adopts a computer-based test method, which can save costs to a certain extent and protect the environment. Our country’s exams can also use more computer-based exam methods to provide convenience to candidates.

At the same time, for some large-scale professional level examinations, we can increase the number of examinations per year and conduct more than one examination per year, so that candidates can choose more freely and flexibly.

In response to different customer needs, we can also make the test questions more targeted, and can register and take the test at any time, providing convenience for all parties.

As an international professional examination, the reason why TOEFL is recognized by so many schools is that it is very professional, authoritative and authentic.

The TOEFL test has very distinctive characteristics. It can comprehensively examine students’ English proficiency levels from all aspects. Therefore, our country’s English tests can also learn from them to improve the quality of our tests and provide more positive guidance to students.