Changes in TOEFL

TOEFL( Test of English as a Foreign Language) is a standardized test to assess the English language proficiency of the non-native speakers who wish to enroll in English-speaking universities.

Educational Testing Service(ETS)  which designs and administers TOEFL has decided to change the test format from August 1, 2019. The test-takers will now be able to benefit a lot more from the enhancement of the format, score-reporting and registration process. This enhancement has made the TOEFL more student-friendly and aspires to improve the experience of the test-takers. The reliability or validity is not to be affected by the change in the exam format and marking it will evaluate the same skills but with fewer questions to make the exam shorter and better. This article aims to answer all the queries about the revised TOEFL exam.

TOEFL iBT (internet-based test) is conducted online. It typically consists of 4 sections- reading, speaking, listening and writing.

All the changes in each section are discussed in detail below:

1. TOEFL exam format and marking

The reading section:

• The number of questions per passage have been reduced.
• Before August 1, 2019- There were 3-4 reading passages consisting of 12-14 questions each and a duration of 60-80 minutes.
• After August 1, 2019- There will be 3-4 reading passages, each passage will consist of only 10 questions with a time duration of 54-72 minutes.

The listening section:

• The number of lectures has been reduced.
• Before August 1, 2019- There were 4-6 lectures, each lecture followed by 6 questions and 2-3 conversations, 5 questions each. Time duration eas 60-90 minutes.
• After August 1, 2019- The number of lectures has been reduced to 3-4, each lecture followed by answering 6 questions and 2-3 conversations with 5 questions each. The time limit will now be between 41-57 minutes.

The speaking section:

• There will be fewer tasks. Speaking questions 1 (personal preference) and speaking question 5 (campus situation) will be eliminated from the test.
• Before August 1, 2019 – There were a total of 6 tasks with a time limit of 20 minutes.
• Before August 1, 2019 – There will be only 4 tasks to be completed in 17 minutes.

 The writing section:

There are no changes made in the writing section. 2 tasks have to be completed in a duration of 50 minutes.

2. TOEFL exam duration

From August 1, 2019, it will take only 3 hours to complete the test instead of 3.5 hours. There will be no changes in the overall test-format and question-type, but there will be fewer questions in reading, speaking and listening sections which will reduce the time duration of the test.

3. TOEFL exam registration

   The changes in the TOEFL exam registration have been made to improve the test-taking experience of the candidate. The new registration and account-management system ensure enhanced functionality and registration-experience for the test takers. The candidates who are yet to register can also now check the details by going through the website without even making an account.

4.   MyBest™ score feature

A new feature called  MyBest™ score has been added to the test now. This new feature will combine your best scores from each section from all the valid test scores in the last 2 years. This way the candidates will now be able to show their best performance in the colleges and universities of their choice. Although the college or university may or may not consider these scores and may continue to accept the single test scores as usual.

All these changes have made TOEFL more convenient to tackle. So, take full advantage of the TOEFL 2019 format changes and get ready to score higher this time.