Test Of English as a Foreign Language
The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is an examination designed to assess the English language proficiency of nonnative speakers, primarily for those seeking admission to universities in English-speaking countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia. Established in the early 1960s, the TOEFL has evolved significantly, transitioning from a paper-based format to a computer-based test in the late 1990s, and ultimately to an Internet-based format (iBT) introduced in 2005. The iBT includes four sections: reading, listening, speaking, and writing, each designed to evaluate different aspects of language comprehension and communication skills in an academic context.
Administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), the TOEFL is recognized by over 9,000 institutions in more than 130 countries, making it a vital component for many international students' admissions processes. The test aims to ensure that students possess the necessary English skills to succeed in an academic environment where English is the primary medium of instruction. With participation from nearly thirty million candidates worldwide, the TOEFL plays a significant role in facilitating educational opportunities and fostering cross-cultural exchanges in higher education.
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Test Of English as a Foreign Language
The Test of English as a Foreign Language, more commonly known by its acronym TOEFL, is an examination used to evaluate the English-language ability of international students seeking to study at universities in the United States, Canada, Australia, and numerous other countries. Since 2005, the test has been Internet-based (though some locations continue to offer the paper-based exam) and includes four sections. Educational Testing Service (ETS), a private company, designs and oversees the exam, which nearly thirty million people worldwide have taken.
Overview
In 1962, a council composed of approximately thirty government officials and private-sector representatives convened to establish an examination to test the proficiency of international students seeking to study at American universities. Based on the recommendations of the group, the TOEFL was developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC, headed by Dr. Charles Ferguson, who eventually founded what became Stanford University’s Department of Linguistics.
The TOEFL was first administered by the Modern Language Association (MLA) during the 1963–64 school year and was made possible through funding from the Ford Foundation and the Danforth Foundation. In 1965, MLA turned administrative duties over to ETS and the College Board.
In its original format, the TOEFL was a five-part examination but, in 1976, was reduced to three parts. The format was revisited and modified slightly in 1995. In 1998, ETS began to move away from a paper-based test, introducing the computer-based test (CBT).
The CBT represented efforts to align the exam more closely with college curriculum and standards and real-world academic issues faced by nonnative English-language learners. Therefore, based on the recommendations of TOEFL’s fifteen-member board, ETS redesigned the test to better assess both competency in communication and students’ abilities to adapt to academic settings in which English was the only language in use. It also sought to provide a better model of assessment for students’ speaking and writing abilities. The CBT improved on the paper-based exam not only in terms of direct measures of aptitude but also how the test could be administered, with shorter wait times between tests, unofficial scores displayed immediately following the completion of the test, ostensibly more accurate scoring, and a shorter time frame for reporting official scores to universities.
The CBT represented the technological bridge between the paper test, the primary format for more than thirty years, and the Internet-based test (iBT), introduced in 2005 and now the most widely administered version of the exam. According to ETS's website in 2015, 96 percent of students sitting for the exam used the iBT over the paper-based format. The iBT, which costs between $160 and $250 and takes from three to four and one-half hours to complete, consists of four parts: reading, listening, speaking, and writing. For the reading section, students must engage several short passages on academic topics then answer a series of questions that tests their comprehension. In the listening portion, students hear five-minute conversations, generally between a student and a teacher, and lectures, and are required to answer questions related to the content they have heard. For the speaking section, students are asked their opinions on miscellaneous topics and also must answer questions related to a short listening segment. The writing portion has two components, one of which requires students to write a short academic essay.
The TOEFL exam is a requirement for foreign students wishing to study at many universities in countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. According to ETS's website in 2015, over nine thousand colleges and other institutions in more than 130 countries were accepting TOEFL scores. The integrative format highlighted in the iBT allows admissions officials as well as teachers and professors to better assess the academic readiness of nonnative students.
In June 2015, the TOEFL was offered for the first time to a handful of Cuban students hoping to attend universities in countries that require the standardized test for admission. This development was considered by many to be a positive sign of an improved relationship between the formerly isolated Communist nation and countries such as the United States.
Bibliography
"About the TOEFL iBT Test." TOEFL. Educational Training Service, n.d. Web. 26 June 2015.
"About the TOEFL PBT Test." TOEFL. Educational Training Service, n.d. Web. 26 June 2015.
Gellman, Lindsay. "For First Time, International University Admissions Tests Coming to Cuba." Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones, 17 June 2015. Web. 26 June 2015.
Kokhan, Kateryna. “Investigating the Possibility of Using TOEFL Scores for University ESL Decision-Making: Placement Trends and Effect of Time Lag.” Language Testing 29.2 (2012): 291–308. Print.
Pierce, Douglas, and Sean Kinsell. Cracking the TOEFL iBT. New York: Random, 2013. Print.
Sharpe, Pamela J. Barron’s Outsmart the TOEFL: Test and Strategies and Tips. New York: Barron’s, 2012. Print.
Sharpe, Pamela J. TOEFL iBT: Internet-Based Test. 14th ed. Hauppauge, NY: Barron’s, 2013. Print.
Wait, Isaac W., and Justin W. Gressel. “Relationship between TOEFL Score and Academic Success for International Engineering Students.” Journal of Engineering Education 98.4 (2009): 389–98. Print.