Saturday, August 1, 2020

TOEFL :Test of English as a Foreign Language

Importance of TOEFL Examination

TOEFL :TEST OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Started in 1964

TOEFL scores are accepted in universities spread across 150 countries including the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, and widely accepted in Canada.

INTRODUCTION : TOEFL as one of the principal tools of measurement that evaluates the ability of a person to use and understand English as an academic language. TOEFL stands for Test of English as a Foreign Language. It pertains to the scheme of evaluation meant for testing the capability of non English speaking candidates. Candidates desirous of pursuing higher education in the English speaking nations are tested by means of TOEFL.

WHY TOEFL EXAM IS REQUIRED?

Studying in an English speaking University will prove advantageous in the job market. The TOEFL is largely known for its Internet based English language assessment test that measures the candidates’ ability to integrate and use all four skills: Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing.

TOEFL vs IELTS:

Which Exam is Better?

Both the TOEFL (AMERIACAN ACCENT) and IELTS (UK) are English language tests for students wanting to study abroad. However, both these tests have their own benefits and drawbacks. Both tests are accepted for college admissions, however, students are advised to check with their university admission guidelines before applying for the exam. Here is a guide to making the decision.

FEES:

The registration fee for TOEFL in India is 13500 Rs , need to pay extra for other services like late registration, rescheduling the exam or score review

TOEFL Centres:

In India, TOEFL iBT is conducted in 39 cities

Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Delhi, East Godavari District, Gurgaon, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Madurai, Mumbai, Mussoorie, Nagpur, Nashik, Nizamabad, Patna, Pondicherry, Pune, Raipur, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Tirupati, Trichy, Vadodara, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, and Warangal

Skill/ Score Range	Level*
Reading Score Range 0–30	Advanced (24–30) High-Intermediate (18–23) Low-Intermediate (4–17) Below Low-Intermediate (0–3)
Listening Score Range 0–30	Advanced (22–30) High-Intermediate (17–21) Low-Intermediate (9–16) Below Low-Intermediate (0–8)
Speaking Score Range 0–30	Advanced (25–30) High-Intermediate (20–24) Low-Intermediate (16–19) Basic (10–15) Below Basic (0–9
Writing Score Range 0–30	Advanced (24–30) High-Intermediate (17–23) Low-Intermediate (13–16) Basic (7–12) Below Basic (0–6)
Total Score	These are added together for a total score of 0–120.

Brief information about TOEFL

Essentially an evaluating yardstick
Can also be looked upon as one of the standardized criteria for admission
An essential part of 'ETS'- operational worldwide
Officially, the score obtained by means of the mentioned evaluation; retains effective for a period of two years.
It is administered by an advisory board consisting of sixteen members
Committee guiding its evaluation process consists of linguistic experts, the ones dealing with linguistic research.
A committee of twelve linguistic experts not only helps formulate test content; but also ensures that the evaluating scheme is a proper blend of proficiently developed methodologies.

Origin of TOEFL

Came into being as one of the concerted efforts of as many as thirty nations & privately based organizations
It was a combined endeavor to put into effect so that lingual proficiency of non English speakers is duly assessed
Joint endeavor initiated in 1962, developed as an assessment technique during 1963 & 1964.

Importance of TOEFL in Overseas Education

As you embark upon your dream of pursuing higher studies from one of the overseas universities- essentially English speaking in nature- TOEFL becomes one of its inseparable constituents.
Whether you want to make it to the IT training school or pursue further studies in English language course, you have to cross the bounds of TOEFL
It throws light on your capability to use and comprehend English.
The purview of use & comprehensibility pertains to the areas of reading, hearing, speaking, listening and writing
Besides Australia, Great Britain and United States of America as many as 130 nations rely on this yardstick of evaluation.
The fact, that the measuring pattern guides the admission scheme of as many as eight thousand universities speaks volumes about its globalised importance

Online TOEFL Test

An internet centric test- also referred to as 'iBT' serves to assess the essential cognitive ability of foreign speakers. It is basically a free online grammar test.
In the absence of internet accessibility; one can opt for its paper based alternative
In fact, the various cognitive aspects are integrated to make for a complete assessment of your proficiency
Essentially, the candidate's power of integration in respect of the four fold skills of reading, speaking, listening and reading are brought into test

Registration preceding TOEFL

In order to be duly eligible for TOEFL a prior registration is required
You ought to register at least three to four months prior to the test
It is important that you separately earmark a handful of college/university or institutions whose test scores you want to bank upon

Scores of TOEFL

There isn't any common cut of marks
Scores vary from place to place as much as they vary from course to course
Nobody secures pass or failed status
Minimum requirement is determined by respective universities/colleges/institutions
Generally speaking, it is important that minimum of one question is attempted from each of the four sections.
Delivery, enunciation, relevant use of grammatical norms and synchronized styles of presentation are dwelt upon

Scales of TOEFL scores

Internet centric test is based on total score of 0 - 120
Computer centric test is based on total score of 0 - 300
Paper oriented test is based on the total score of 310 - 677

Scores specific to different courses/universities/categories

Arizona University necessitates the bare minimum score of 83
Auburn University necessitates minimum of 80 in the Test of English as Foreign Language
University of Western Reserve for its school of 'Graduate Studies' necessitates the bare minimum score of 79
In order to avail visa for United Kingdom category specific TOEFL score is necessitated
To cite a few instances, students are required to have minimum score of 87
But moderately skilled workers are required to reach the bare minimum limit of 57
Skilled workers belonging to the highly efficient categories are required to score 110
Do bear in mind that each institution making use of TOEFL has bare minimum requisites for each and every cognitive skill (skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking )

How to prepare for free online grammar test

In order to give your best try, it is important that you make the best use of test preparation classes. There are online guides to interact with. The purpose of such guides is to help you reach out to interactive examples.
Besides making use of preparation classes, it makes sense going for free online test preparation

· those who take the TOEFL want to attend university or graduate school abroad. But anyone who needs to demonstrate a mastery of English for an academic purpose can take the TOEFL. This includes anyone applying to a foreign high school, exchange program, community college, or for a student visa.

· The TOEFL focuses on how English is used in an academic setting, which is why schools and universities use TOEFL scores for admissions purposes. The reading passages in the TOEFL use formal, academic language and high-level vocabulary rather than casual or conversational English

TOEFL Exam Structure

The test has four sections and will typically take a total of 4.5 hours to complete. These four sections are: reading, listening, speaking, writing

Each section is scored out of 30. These section scores are then added together for a final, total score of 120 points.

Section 1: Reading

The TOEFL reading section is completely multiple choice. Each reading section will have three or four written passages with 12-14 questions for each passage. (Typically, tests with three written passages will have more questions per passage than tests with four written passages.) Reading passages can be on any academic topic, including science, history, or literature.

Section 2: Listening

The TOEFL listening section is also completely multiple choice. Each listening section will include four to six lectures with six questions each and two or three conversations with five questions each.

Section 3: Speaking

The TOEFL speaking section is a little more complicated than the reading or listening section. But, luckily, each speaking section will always follow the same pattern, so you can prepare yourself for it.

In the speaking section, you will get six speaking prompts, or “tasks.” The first two tasks will be independent and ask you to talk about your own thoughts and experiences. The final four tasks will be integrated tasks, where you must answer questions based on a given conversation or piece of text.

Let’s break down each speaking task one-by-one.

Independent Speaking Tasks:

Task 1 will ask about your interests or your thoughts on a particular topic.

Task 2 will ask you to give your opinion and choose between two given options.

Integrated Speaking Tasks:

Task 3 asks you to read a short text and then listen to a dialogue between two speakers discussing that same topic (usually, them agreeing or disagreeing about parts of the article). You’ll then summarize what the speaker’s opinions are and compare that to the text.

Task 4 gives you two lectures on the same topic–one spoken and one written. You’ll then summarize the information from each lecture or answer a more specific question.

Task 5 has you listen to a conversation between two people who are discussing a problem with two possible solutions. You’ll then summarize the content and give your opinion (no text to read). (Note that Task 5 is often the most difficult listening task because you must discuss three things: what the student said, the student’s suggested solutions to a problem, and what solution you prefer and why.)

Task 6 asks you to listen to a monologue and then summarize or answer a more specific question about the information (no text to read).

Section 4: Writing

There are two parts to the TOEFL writing section: one integrated task and one independent task.

1 Integrated Writing Task (20 minutes)

For this section, you must both read a short passage and listen to a lecture. You will then respond to/summarize the discussion.

1 Independent Writing Task (30 minutes)

For this section, you’ll usually be asked to choose between two options and give your reasons and examples why you chose the way you did. For example, “Do you agree or disagree that most parents are too controlling of their children?” or “Do you believe that people are inherently ‘good’ or ‘bad?'”

What are the TOEFL Requirements for Top Universities?

Now that we have talked about the importance of high TOEFL scores, let us take a look at the minimum TOEFL criteria set by the top universities of the world. You can check the minimum criteria of your target university in the following table. If your dream university is not in the list below, then you can go to their official website and look for its minimum TOEFL cut-off in the admission requirements section.

Top Universities and their Minimum TOEFL Score

Ranks	Colleges	Minimum TOEFL IBT Scores
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	90
2	Stanford University (School of Engineering)	89
3	Harvard University (MS Courses)	80
6	ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)	100
8	UCL (University College London)	92-109
9	Imperial College London	92-100
10	University of Chicago	104
14	Cornell University	87
18	Columbia University	100
25	Duke University	90

TOEFL Syllabus

Reading - Candidates should practice reading to find information and learn basic comprehension skills. The passages will be excerpts from textbooks at the university level covering sciences, arts, social sciences, business which will be written in the academic style.
Listening - This part of TOEFL exam aims at testing the ability to understand spoken English. It includes Listening for Basic Comprehension, Listening for Pragmatic Understanding, and Connecting and Synthesizing Information.
Speaking - It aims at testing spoken skills within an academic setting as well as outside. There is one Independent Speaking Task and other Integrated Speaking Tasks. The questions will be related to campus-based situations, personal experiences, and academic content.
Writing - It tests the student’s ability to write in English in an academic setting. The candidate must know how to write grammatically correct English of an academic level. There will be two tasks - Integrated Writing and Independent Writing. The former will require you to summarize the written and listening passages on academic content. The

Visit websites for more info.

www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/register

www.toeflgoanywhere.org

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

IELTS :Information of The International English Language Testing System

Importance of IELTS examination

IELTS introduction

Started 1980

The International English Language Testing System

What is use of IELTS?

IELTS is accepted as evidence of English language proﬁciency for study, work and migration in

Accepted as evidence of English proficiency by 10,000 institutions

An IELTS certificate is recognised as evidence of proficiency in English by more than 10,000 education and training providers worldwide. Some universities in non-English speaking countries require an IELTS score, where courses are taught in English.

Who owns IELTS?

IELTS is jointly managed by British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge Assessment English.

IELTS

Skills/knowledge ll be tested

Listening, reading, writing and speaking of the English language

Purpose

To assess the English language proficiency of non-native English speakers

IELTS test fees

Test type	Fee
1.Book Paper-based and Computer-delivered IELTS (Academic and General Training)	INR 14,000
2.IELTS for UK Visas and Immigration (Academic and General Training)*	INR 15,050
3.IELTS Life Skills (A1 and B1)**	INR 10,950

Test locations:

The British Council India offers IELTS tests in more than 55 locations in India

Maharashtra: Mumbai, Nagpur, Navi Mumbai, , Pune, , Surat and Thane. Goa,

North India:

Ambala, Amritsar, Barnala, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Delhi, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Karnal, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Moga, Noida, Patiala, Rajkot Kolkata, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi Baroda, Bhopal

South India

How IELTS is scored?

IELTS results are reported on a 9-band scale

IELTS results are designed to be simple and easy to understand. They are reported as band scores on a scale from 1 (the lowest) to 9 (the highest).

The IELTS scale

Band score	Skill level	Description
9	Expert user	The test taker has fully operational command of the language. Their use of English is appropriate, accurate and fluent, and shows complete understanding.
8	Very good user	The test taker has fully operational command of the language with only occasional unsystematic inaccuracies and inappropriate usage. They may misunderstand some things in unfamiliar situations. They handle complex and detailed argumentation well.
7	Good user	The test taker has operational command of the language, though with occasional inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings in some situations. They generally handle complex language well and understand detailed reasoning.
6	Competent user	The test taker has an effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings. They can use and understand fairly complex language, particularly in familiar situations.
5	Modest user	The test taker has a partial command of the language and copes with overall meaning in most situations, although they are likely to make many mistakes. They should be able to handle basic communication in their own field.
4	Limited user	The test taker's basic competence is limited to familiar situations. They frequently show problems in understanding and expression. They are not able to use complex language.
3	Extremely limited user	The test taker conveys and understands only general meaning in very familiar situations. There are frequent breakdowns in communication.
2	Intermittent user	The test taker has great difficulty understanding spoken and written English.
1	Non-user	The test taker has no ability to use the language except a few isolated words.
0	Did not attempt the test	The test taker did not answer the questions.

Calculating the overall band score

A score is given for each test component – Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. These individual scores are then averaged and rounded to produce an overall band score.

IELTS results validity period

While it is up to each organization to set a validity period that works for their purposes, the IELTS partners recommend a

IELTS Academic or IELTS General Training

IELTS is available in:

Test format:

The IELTS test assesses your abilities in listening, reading, writing and speaking – in less than three hours.

There are two types of IELTS: Academic and General Training. Listening and Speaking are the same for both tests, but the subject matter of the Reading and Writing sections differs depending on which test you take.

The Listening, Reading and Writing sections of all IELTS tests are completed on the same day, with no breaks in between them.

The Speaking section, however, can be completed up to a week before or after the other tests. Your test centre will advise.

The total test time is 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Test format – Listening

30 minutes

Recording 1 – a conversation between two people set in an everyday social context.
Recording 2 - a monologue set in an everyday social context, e.g. a speech about local facilities.
Recording 3 – a conversation between up to four people set in an educational or training context, e.g. a university tutor and a student discussing an assignment.
Recording 4 - a monologue on an academic subject, e.g. a university lecture.

Assessors will be looking for evidence of your ability to understand the main ideas and detailed factual information, the opinions and attitudes of speakers, the purpose of an utterance and evidence of your ability to follow the development of ideas.

IELTS listening description

Paper format	From 4 January 2020, some small changes were introduced to the instructions and layout of the paper-based Listening test: The word ‘Sections’ was changed to ‘Parts’ – The paper-based test will now be divided into Part 1, 2, 3, 4. The Part 1 example was removed. We have also removed the page number references. There are four parts with ten questions each. The questions are designed so that the answers appear in the order they are heard in the audio. The first two parts deal with situations set in everyday social contexts. In Part 1, there is a conversation between two speakers (for example, a conversation about travel arrangements), and in Part 2, there is a monologue in (for example, a speech about local facilities). The final two parts deal with situations set in educational and training contexts. In Part 3, there is a conversation between two main speakers (for example, two university students in discussion, perhaps guided by a tutor), and in Part 4, there is a monologue on an academic subject. The recordings are heard only once. They include a range of accents, including British, Australian, New Zealand, American and Canadian.
Timing	Approximately 30 minutes (plus 10 minutes transfer time).
No. of questions	40
Task types	A variety of question types are used, chosen from the following: multiple choice, matching, plan/map/diagram labelling, form/note/table/flow-chart/summary completion, sentence completion.
Answering	Test takers write their answers on the question paper as they listen and at the end of the test are given 10 minutes to transfer their answers to an answer sheet. Care should be taken when writing answers on the answer sheet as poor spelling and grammar are penalised.
Marks	Each question is worth 1 mark.

IELTS Listening in detail

A detailed look at the paper with links to related resources.

Task type 1 – Multiple choice

Task type and format

In multiple choice tasks, there is a question followed by three possible answers, or the beginning of a sentence followed by three possible ways to complete the sentence. Test takers are required to choose the one correct answer - A, B or C.

Sometimes, test takers are given a longer list of possible answers and told that they have to choose more than one. In this case, they should read the question carefully to check how many answers are required.

Task focus

Multiple choice questions are used to test a wide range of skills. The test taker may be required to have a detailed understanding of specific points or an overall understanding of the main points of the listening text.

No. of questions

Variable

Task type 2 – Matching

Task type and format	Test takers are required to match a numbered list of items from the listening text to a set of options on the question paper. The set of options may be criteria of some kind.
Task focus	Matching assesses the skill of listening for detail and whether a test taker can understand information given in a conversation on an everyday topic, such as the different types of hotel or guest house accommodation. It also assesses the ability to follow a conversation between two people. It may also be used to assess test takers’ ability to recognise relationships and connections between facts in the listening text.
No. of questions	Variable

Task type 3 – Plan, map, diagram labelling

Task type and format	Test takers are required to complete labels on a plan (eg of a building), map (eg of part of a town) or diagram (e.g. of a piece of equipment). The answers are usually selected from a list on the question paper.
Task focus	This type of task assesses the ability to understand, for example, a description of a place, and to relate this to a visual representation. This may include being able to follow language expressing spatial relationships and directions (e.g. straight on/through the far door).
No. of questions	Variable

Task type 4 – Form, note, table, flow-chart, summary completion

Task type and format

Test takers are required to fill in the gaps in an outline of part or of all of the listening text. The outline will focus on the main ideas/facts in the text. It may be:

Test takers may have to select their answers from a list on the question paper or identify the missing words from the recording, keeping to the word limit stated in the instructions. Test takers do not have to change the words from the recording in any way.

Test takers should read the instructions very carefully as the number of words or numbers they should use to fill the gaps will vary. A word limit is given, for example, ‘NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER’. Test takers are penalised for writing more than the stated number of words, and test takers should check this word limit carefully for each task. Contracted words will not be tested. Hyphenated words count as single words.

Task focus

This focuses on the main points which a listener would naturally record in this type of situation.

No. of questions

Variable

Task type 5 – Sentence completion

Task type and format

Test takers are required to read a set of sentences summarising key information from all the listening text or from one part of it. They then fill a gap in each sentence using information from the listening text. A word limit is given, for example, ‘NO MORE THAN ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER’.

Test takers are penalised for writing more than the stated number of words. (Test takers should check this word limit carefully for each task: the limit is either ONE, TWO or THREE words). Contracted words will not be tested. Hyphenated words count as single words.

Task focus

Sentence completion focuses on the ability to identify the key information in a listening text. Test takers have to understand functional relationships such as cause and effect.

No. of questions

Variable

Task type 6 – Short-answer questions

Task type and format	Test takers are required to read a question and then write a short answer using information from the listening text. A word limit is given, for example, ‘NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER’. Test takers are penalised for writing more than the stated number of words. (Test takers should check this word limit carefully for each task.) Contracted words will not be tested. Hyphenated words count as single words. Sometimes test takers are given a question which asks them to list two or three points.
Task focus	Sentence completion focuses on the ability to listen for concrete facts, such as places, prices or times, within the listening text.
No. of questions	Variable

IELTS Listening – how it's marked

The Listening test is marked by certificated markers, who are regularly monitored to ensure their reliability. All answer sheets, after being marked, are further analysed by Cambridge Assessment English.

Band score conversion

A Band Score conversion table is produced for each version of the Listening test which translates scores out of 40 into the IELTS 9-band scale. Scores are reported in whole bands and half bands.

One mark is awarded for each correct answer in the 40-item test. Care should be taken when writing answers on the answer sheet as poor spelling and grammar are penalized.

Websites for more information

www.ielts.org

www.britishcouncil.in

www.ielts.com.au