Sources:http://toefl.uobabylon.edu.iq/papers/ibt_2015_1842462.pdfhttp://www.testden.com/toefl/speaking.htmhttps://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/about/content/

TOEFLSpeaking

TestPreparationandStrategies

Overview

PreparingforanyinternationalEnglishexamcanbeastressfulandtime-consumingexperience.Butifyou’vegottenthisfar,congratulations!Ittakesalotofhardworktoarriveatthislevel.Nowiswhentherealworkbegins.TakinganinternationalexamrequiresdisciplineandnotonlyahighlevelofEnglish,butalsoastrongunderstandingoftesttakingstrategiesandadeepknowledgeofthestructureofthetest.ThisdocumentwilladdressthestructureofthespeakingsectionoftheTOEFLtestandgivesomestrategiestohelpyoubesttackletheexam.

Sources:http://toefl.uobabylon.edu.iq/papers/ibt_2015_1842462.pdfhttp://www.testden.com/toefl/speaking.htmhttps://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/about/content/

TheTestofEnglishasaForeignLanguage(TOEFL)isaninternationalexamwrittenandassessedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.Onthespeakingsectionoftheexam,testtakersaregivensixquestionstorespondtowithavarietyofresponseandpreparationtimes.Likelythemostimportantthingtoknowaboutthissectionofthetestisthatyouwillnotbespeakingwithtestadministratorbutratherrecordingyouranswersintoamicrophone.SomeoneintheUSAthenlistenstoyouranswersandgivesyouagrade.Thiscanoftenfeeladauntingtaskforstudentsbecauseitisuncomfortabletobespeakingtonoone,andadditionallyhaveotherpeoplearoundyouspeakingatthesametime.Itisdefinitelysomethingthatrequirespracticeinordertoadjusttotheuniquefeelingoftakingthissectionoftheexam,butshouldnotbesomethingthatinfluencesyourdecisionnottotaketheTOEFL.Thisexam,likemostinternationalexams,followsaverystrictpatternforeachtest.Thespeakingsectionofthistestisnodifferent.Thequestionsonthissectionofthetestcanbebrokenintogroupsofpairs.Belowyouwillfindanoverviewofthequestionsofthetestandsomestrategiesforeachquestiontype:

Questions1&2

Hereyouwillbeaskedabouttopicsthatareimportanttoyouandyourpersonalpreferences.Onceyouhearthequestion,youaregiven15secondstoprepareyourresponseand45secondstospeak.

Question1 Question2Typically,apersonalquestionaboutaperson,place,objectoreventthatisofvaluetoyou.Ex:Talkaboutaplacethatisimportanttoyouandexplainwhyitisimportanttoyou.

Usuallyapreferencequestion,askingyoutochooseonethingoranotherthingandjustify.Ex:Doyouprefertoworkingroupsorindividually?Pleaseexplainwhy

Somestrategiesforthesequestionsontheexam:1.GetintheHabitofAnswering‘Why’Onthesequestions,yourmostpowerfultoolisyourabilitytoexplainwhysomethingisimportanttoyouorwhyyoupreferonethingtoanother.Donotwastetimesimplylistingorrecitingandtrynottorepeatthequestion.Instead,spendasmuchtimeaspossiblejustifyingyouranswerwithsoundreasoning.Usingwordslike‘because’,‘dueto’and‘since’willhelpyoutoillustrateyourpoint.2.Don’tFeelBeholdentotheTruth

Sources:http://toefl.uobabylon.edu.iq/papers/ibt_2015_1842462.pdfhttp://www.testden.com/toefl/speaking.htmhttps://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/about/content/

Thetestadministratorwillneverknowwhetherthereasonsyouaregivingareyouractualbeliefs,sothetruthisnotrequired.Oftentimeswemayfeelthatonepointorideaiseasiertojustifyorarguethananother,sofeelfreetofollowthepathofleastresistance.Onethingtokeepinmindisthatlyingorimprovisinginyoursecondlanguageisnotasimpletask,soexperimentwiththisoneoutbeforeyouputitintopractice.3.TellaStoryOneofthebestwaystojustifyyourthinkingonacertainideaistouseapersonalanecdote.Bydoingthis,youcanillustrateyourreasoninginahighlypersonalandtangiblewaythatcanshowthetestgraderadeeperunderstandingofthetopic.

Questions3&4Thissectionwillrequireyoutofirstreadsomething,thenlistentosomething,andfinallyspeakabouttherelationshipbetweenthosetwothings.Youwillbegivenaround45secondstoread,andthelisteningwilllastapproximately90seconds.Youwillthenhave20secondstoprepareand60secondstorespond.

Question3 Question4Reading:Somesortofannouncementornoticeinanacademicsettingsuchaslibraryhoursorbusroutechangesoncampus.Listening:Conversationbetweentwoormorepeople,withoneofthemexpressingtheiropinionaboutthenewchanges.Speakingtask:Discusstheperson’sopinionrelativetotheannouncement.

Reading:Somesortofacademictopicinfieldssuchassciencesorthehumanities.Between75-100words.Listening:Academiclectureaboutthesametopicasthereading,eithershowingpracticalapplicationoforoppositiontothereading.Speakingtask:Discusshowthelectureeitherillustratesorcontradictsthereadingtask.

Somestrategiesforthesequestionsontheexam:1.TakeNotesItishighlyrecommendedthatyoufindawaytotakenoteseffectivelyduringthissectionbecauseyouwillhavelimitedtimewiththereadingpassagesandonlyoneattemptatthelistening.Makingatwo-columnchartcanbeveryeffective,puttingthecharacteristicsofthereadinginonecolumnandthelisteningintheother.Duringyour20secondsofpreparation,youcanthendrawconclusionsonyourcharteasilyandfeelconfidentinyourspeaking.2.AnswertheQuestionBeforeyoustartplanningyourspeaking,besuretoreadthepromptandframeyouranswerinthecorrectway.Ifthepromptasksaboutthespeaker’sopinion,thendonotspendalotoftimereviewingthefactsofthereadingandviceversa.Partofgettingastrongscoreinthissection

Sources:http://toefl.uobabylon.edu.iq/papers/ibt_2015_1842462.pdfhttp://www.testden.com/toefl/speaking.htmhttps://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/about/content/

relatestoyourunderstandingofhowtoanswerthequestioncorrectly,soaddressingitfromtherightpointofviewisessentialtoyoursuccess.3.SticktoWhatYouKnowDuringthecourseofthereadingandlistening,rememberthatthemostimportanttaskistoshowyourunderstandingoftherelationshipbetweenthetwo.Itcanbetemptingtothrowindetailsabouteachinordertodemonstrateyourabilitiesbutdonotmakeguesses.Ifyouaresureabouttheinformationyouaregivingthenuseittoyouradvantage,buttryingtoshowyourunderstandingandbeingwrongcanbedetrimentaltoyourscore.

Questions5&6Inthefinalpartofthespeakingexam,youwillhavealongerlisteningpassageandwillbeaskedtorespondinyourspeaking.Again,20secondsareprovidedforpreparationand60secondsforspeaking.

Question5 Question6Youwilllistentoaconversationbetweentwopeople.Oneofthosepeoplewillhaveaproblemordilemma,andtwosolutionswillbepresented.Speakingtask:Presenttheproblem,thetwosolutionsandwhichsolutionyoupreferandwhy.

Youwilllistentoanextendedacademiclectureof3-5minutesonasingletopic.TherewillonlybeonespeakerSpeakingtask:Summarizethemainpointsofthelecturespeakinginasmuchdetailaspossible.

Somestrategiesforthesequestionsontheexam:1.PaceYourselfHavingenoughtimetocoveralloftherequirementsinthissectionisveryimportant.Forinstance,inquestionfive,themostimportantaspectisexplainingwhichsolutionyouwouldchooseandwhy.Inquestionsixyoumusttrytosummarizeasmuchaspossiblewithinthe60seconds.Youwillnotbepenalizedforleavingemptytime,butnotcompletingthetaskisharmfultoyourscore.2.KnowHowYouTakeNotesBecausethesesectionscanoftenpresentalotofinformation,itisimportanttoknowwhattypeofnote-takingstylesuitsyoubest.Somepeoplepreferalinearword-basedformwhileothersmightprefertodrawpicturesorcreateaflowchart.Thereisnogoldenkeyhereexcepttoknowwhichoneisthemosteffectivestrategyforyou.3.LookfortheMainIdeasandtheDetailsWithin

Sources:http://toefl.uobabylon.edu.iq/papers/ibt_2015_1842462.pdfhttp://www.testden.com/toefl/speaking.htmhttps://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/about/content/

Structuringyournotetakingandresponsewillbeofhighimportanceonthesequestions.Yourfirstgoalshouldbetoacquaintyourselfwiththemainpointsofthelistening,andthenseekthedetailsonceyouhaveastrongerunderstandingofthestructure.Thetestgraderwantstoknowthatyouunderstandtheconceptsandcandrawconclusionsbasedonwhatisbeingpresented,notthatyoucansimplyrecitefactsandfigures.Finally,herearesomegeneralstrategiesforthespeakingoftheexam:1.FocusonContentTheTOEFLisanexamthatassessesyourabilitytodrawconclusionsandcommunicateconceptsinEnglish.Thesethingsshouldbeyournumberonegoal.Yes—youshouldstrivetospeakflawlessEnglish,butyourfocusmustbeonconveyingideas,notworryingaboutyouraccentorifyoushouldhaveusedpastcontinuousorpastsimple.Onceyoufeelverycomfortablewiththecontentofyourspeaking,moveontoyoureffectiveuseofthetechnicalitiesofthelanguage.2.PracticetheTestConditionsTheonlywaytogetcomfortablewiththeformatofthespeakingtestistopracticeitconsistently.Itiscertainlyanoddfeelingtoberecordingyourselfintoamicrophone,butthereisnotanotheroption.Also,whenyoupractice,usetherecordingasalearningtoolandlistentoyourself.Youwillbeamazedatwhatyoubothdowellandneedtoimproveon,andtherecordingdoesnotlie.Thiscanbeoneofthemosteffectivewaystoself-correctinyourpreparationfortheexam.3.ImplementKeyPhrasesComingtothetestwithafewidiomsinyourbackpocketcanbeveryhelpful.Phrasesandidiomsdemonstrateamasteryofthelanguagebecausenativespeakersusethemconstantly.However,becareful—donotcomewithalistof20phrasesandusethemonlyifyoufeelverycomfortable.Havingamanageablelistoffiveismucheasiertoworkwith,andincorrectlyusingaphrasecanbedamagingtoyourscore,sobesurethatyouknownotonlythephrasebutthecontextofitsusageaswell.4.PlanningisParamountWhentakingnotesandplanning,itisveryimportantthatyoulimityourwritingtokeywordsorphrases.Ifyoutrytowriteascriptofwhatyouplantosay,youwillcertainlynotfinishandlikelybeforcedtoimprovisealargepartofyourspeaking.Itwillalsobeobviousthatyouarereadingsomething,whichwillverylikelyloweryourscore.Spendyourtimeplanningthestructureofyourspeakingandgivingyourselfsomekeywordsthatcanhelptokeepyoumovingthroughoutyourspeech.5.UnderstandingtheTime

Sources:http://toefl.uobabylon.edu.iq/papers/ibt_2015_1842462.pdfhttp://www.testden.com/toefl/speaking.htmhttps://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/about/content/

ItisveryimportantontheTOEFLtoknowhowtomanagetheshorttimethatyouhavetospeak.Runningoutoftimeandnotcompletelyaddressingapromptwillloweryourscore,howeverfinishingearlyandleavingsomesilenceattheendisnotpenalized.6.FlowandCalmSpeakinginthistypeofstructurecanoftenbestressfulanddifficult,especiallyinahigh-pressuretestsituation.Concentrateonyourflowandconnectionofyourideastohelpkeepyoucalmandrememberthateveryoneneedsapausenowandthen,andthatafewhesitationswillnotkillyou,butpanickingaboutthoselapseswill.Ifyouhaveafewpausesandbegintopanic,rememberthatyouaremissingmoretimetospeakduringyourfreak-outsession.Takeadeepbreathandremaincalm,panicsessionsrarelyhelp.7.StudytheRubricTypicallyavailabletoyouonlineorinatestpreparationbookwillbetherubricsthattestgradersusetoevaluateyourspeaking.Studythisrubricindetailandknowwhatexactlytheywillbelookingforwhentheygradeyourpaperinordertobemoreinformedaboutyourwriting.Thesesamecriteriawillbeusedtogradeyou,sostudyingitcanonlybenefitinyourpracticefortheexamitself.8.PracticeMakesPermanentThenotionthe“practicemakesperfect”isaveryflawedone.Howyoupracticeishowyouwillperformonthetest.Ifyoupracticeinconsistentlyanddon’thaveaplan,thiswillreflectinyourtestscore,butifyoulookatthedetailsandpracticeyourweaknesses,youwillcertainlybemoresuccessful.Comingupwithaplan,andseekingoutvaluableresourceswillundoubtedlyresultinamoreidealscoreandhopefullysaveyousometimeandmoneyinthelongrun.9.TakeaPreparationCourseIfthereisonethingthatistrueaboutmostinternationalexamsitisthattheyarenotcheap.Oftentimesmakinganinvestmentinapreparationcoursecanmeanthedifferencebetweentakingthetestonceorthreetimes,whichcanbeasounduseofyourmoneyinthelongrun.Becausethesetestsfollowaspecificformula,studyingforthetestandmasteringtesttakingskillswilloftenleadtoahigherscoreandmorepositiveoutcomeforthestudent.