The TOEFL full form stands for Test of English as a Foreign Language and the TOEFL exam tests international students’ usage and understanding of English as it is spoken, written, and heard in college and university surroundings. The TOEFL is a popular English test for students going to American universities and colleges, Canadian universities and colleges and other English-speaking countries.
ETS (Educational Testing Services) is the conducting body of the TOEFL test. It sets the TOEFL questions and sends each examinee their scorecard. Because of the outbreak of the coronavirus, the TOEFL test is also available for students from their homes with the launch of the TOEFL at the Home version of the TOEFL test.
In this article, let us look at:
1. TOEFL Syllabus & Exam Pattern 2021
The TOEFL syllabus for students includes reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Following are the TOEFL exam format covering the TOEFL writing syllabus, TOEFL reading syllabus, TOEFL listening syllabus, and TOEFL speaking syllabus:
TOEFL Reading Syllabus
Description: In this section, you will read 3-4 passages and answer 10 questions on each passage. The section is scored based on the number of correct reading comprehension responses.
TOEFL Reading Exam Pattern:
- 3–4 passages, 10 questions each
- Total no. of questions: About 30-40
- Total time: 54-72 minutes
TOEFL Listening Syllabus
Description: In the Listening test, you will hear lectures and conversations, based on campus language. This section aims to understand the test taker’s ability to understand lectures and conversations in English.
TOEFL Listening Exam Pattern:
- 3–4 lectures (3-5 minutes long, about 500-800 words), 6 questions each
- 2–3 conversations (about 3 minutes long, about 12-25 exchanges), 5 questions each
- Total time: 41–57 minutes
TOEFL Speaking Syllabus
Description: For you to score the highest scores in the Speaking Section, your responses must meet the demands of the task given with only small errors or lapses. The scoring is based on how well the student answers the questions correctly.
TOEFL Speaking Exam Pattern:
- independent task (prep time: 15 sec; response time: 45 sec)
- 3 integrated tasks – Read/Listen/Speak
- Total no. of questions: 4
- Total time: 17 minutes
TOEFL Writing Syllabus
Description: The two essays should have a topic each. The response should be well-organized and well-developed. Furthermore, it should also display unity, progression, and coherence. If you want to achieve a high writing score, make sure that you show the syntactic variety and good word choice with minor grammatical errors.
TOEFL Writing Exam Pattern:
- 1 integrated task – Read/Listen/Write (20 minutes) (reading time: 3 min; listening
- time: 2 min; writing: 15 min)
- 1 independent task (30 minutes)
- Total no. of questions: 2
- Total time: 50 minutes
2. Universities & Colleges Accepting TOEFL Score
Worldwide more than 130 countries and 11,000 universities, colleges, and educational institutes accept the TOEFL scores. Educational institutions in major international education destinations like the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK accept the TOEFL score. Candidates can easily register for the TOEFL exam 2021 and book the TOEFL Test Centers at their convenience.
3. TOEFL Test Scores
For understanding the TOEFL exam score, candidates need to understand how each section is scored. After six days of giving the exam, candidates receive an email from ETS when their scores are available. One can check the TOEFL scores online. The printed score reports of candidates are sent through email after 11 days of the TOEFL test date.
The four-section scores of the TOEFL exam are divided as follows:
Section | QuestionsDuration | Tasks |
Reading | Questions: 30–40 questionsDuration: 54–72 minutes | Reading 3 or 4 passages from the academic texts and answering questions based on them. |
Listening | Questions: 28-38Duration: 41-57 minutes | Listening to lectures, conversations, classroom discussions, and, then answer questions based on them. |
Break: 10 minutes | ||
Speaking | Questions: 4 tasksDuration: 17 minutes | Candidates need to express their opinion on a topic familiar to them and speak based on reading and listening tasks. |
Writing | Questions: 2 tasksDuration: 50 minutes | Candidates need to write essay responses based on reading and listening tasks, along with supporting the opinion in writing. |