Structure of the TOEFL-iBT

Hi everyone, thanks for visiting this blog. As always, I'll be talking about new information on the TOEFL-iBT. This article will focus on helping prospective test-takers to understand the structure of the TOEFL-iBT.  in order for them to maximize the tips that would be discussed subsequently.

1. READING SECTION

The reading section is the first section of the TOEFL-iBT. This section evaluates your ability to read, understand and analyze passages similar to what students of North American students encounter in their courses.

 In this section, the screen is split into two partitions, with the passage being displayed on the right hand side. Sometimes, the passage can be long and may require for you to scroll down to read the entire passage. You can scroll up and down by left-clicking the scroll arrows on the page. When the reading section begins, the instructions will be immediately displayed. To skip the instructions (if you are conversant with them) click on "NEXT". After reading the passage,you can click on "NEXT" to bring up the question.

In addition, the TOEFL-iBT has a REVIEW button, which shows questions you've answered, those you've not and those you're yet to see. The glossary function helps to give the definition of complex words, which are highlighted in blue. To find helpful explanations, you can click on the "HELP" button.

2. LISTENING SECTION 

The listening section evaluates your ability to listen and understand English as it is spoken in the academic settings of North American schools. During the listening section, you will be required to wear headphones with adjustable volume settings. The listening section is a four-option, multiple-choice set of questions designed to measure your listening skills in the under-listed scenarios;

a. Conversation between two people.

b. North-American styled Lectures with student input.

c. Two lectures devoid of student input.

3. SPEAKING SECTION 

This is usually the most challenging section to many students who are non-native English speakers. This is due to the interference of mother-tongue in accent, intonation and pronunciation. DO NOT BE SCARED HOWEVER, as we shall discuss the tips to score high in this section.

The speaking section measures the ability of a test-taker to speak clearly and coherently on a range of topics, while demonstrating a wide range of vocabulary. The speaking section has a preliminary exercise which can get you up to speed on your speaking skills.

4. WRITING SECTION

This sections is designed to evaluate your ability to write essays as it is written in the North American academic setting. In the TOEFL-iBT, it is extremely important to be able to type using a keyboard. Kindly visit https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/about/content/ for more information.

Thank you for reading this article. As always, comments, questions and suggestions are welcome. Cheers!