The Motive

Many adults studying ESL at an intensive English program (IEP) have their eyes set on one goal: earning the minimum score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) that is necessary for admission to a degree program in the United States. In fact, some of them have occasionally been known to skip their IEP classes of grammar, reading, oral skills, and so forth to study for the TOEFL. As a faculty member in an IEP serving these students, I had long ago familiarized myself with the Internet-based TOEFL iBT using materials provided freely by the test developer, ETS, and had even taught a TOEFL preparation course using materials from Pearson Longman. However, there is no substitute for firsthand experience. So I decided to register and take the exam just as my students must, to be certain that my courses were indeed preparing students to succeed both on this high-stakes exam and on the language tasks that would face them in the degree programs that they desperately want admission to.

The $180 price tag made me balk, but I reasoned that it was an investment in my professional development. At the very least, I would command more attention from my students in the future, I imagined, if I could tell them that I have taken the TOEFL and know what it demands of test takers. They may even believe me when I say that attending our IEP classes and completing assigned work is, in fact, studying for the TOEFL.

By sharing my experience in this newsletter, I hope to equip other ESL teachers, academic counselors, and administrators to field questions about the TOEFL for the benefit of their current and prospective students. Of course, my experience cannot be compared with the experience of an actual test taker who may feel intense pressure to reach a university’s minimum score for admission, for example, and who may not be able to understand all the test directions, let alone the test questions. My future does not depend on my linguistic performance for 4 hours on a Saturday morning, but for some test takers, it does.

(To maintain the integrity of the test, this article does not disclose any test items. ETS offers many materials—some free and some not—for those who wish to know more about the format and topics on the test.  I invite contact from ETS regarding this informal report.)

The Procedure

The first step was creating an online profile, being careful to enter my name exactly as it appears on my official government-issued ID. Next, I registered for a date that fit my schedule; walk-ins are not allowed. To register, a test taker must provide information that I am not accustomed to sharing with strangers: date of birth; address; phone number; country of birth; native language; country of citizenship; country I hope to study, work, or settle in; current level of study; next level of study; desired field of study; and my reason for taking the TOEFL. I declined the offer to buy test prep materials.

I found the ETS chart “TOEFL Test Day Tips” helpful and reviewed it the night before the big day. It reminded me to arrive at 7:30 a.m. with my ID and registration confirmation, informed me of materials deemed contraband in the testing room (such as electronic devices), and provided an overview of the test: reading for 60–100 minutes, listening for 60–90 minutes, a mandatory 10-minute break, speaking for 20 minutes into a microphone, and writing for 50 minutes. (Test takers may use the restroom at any time, but the clock keeps ticking.)

After registering, I solicited questions about the TOEFL from my fellow ESL instructors. Some asked me to verify complaints that they had heard from students who had taken the test previously: It’s too noisy to concentrate. Time is not accurately kept. The headphones malfunction. Other colleagues asked: Is note-taking worthwhile? Is paper provided for that? Is 45 seconds enough time for a native speaker, let alone a nonnative speaker, to prepare an effective oral response? Not being a glib extemporaneous speaker, I had the same doubt.

After arriving at the test center, each test taker signed a confidentiality statement promising not to disclose any test questions and received a key to a locker. There I stored my purse, cell phone, snack bar for an energy boost during the break, and in fact everything except for the clothes I was wearing plus my ID. I recognized several students from the IEP in which I teach; most of them were repeating the TOEFL, hoping for a score of 80, the cut-off score for admission at many U.S. programs. Then we passed through security. A female test administrator waved a metal detector wand over each of us in turn and asked us to turn our pockets inside out, push up our long sleeves to show our forearms, and raise our pant legs a few inches. I whispered to a former student of mine, a dignified Muslim woman, to ask whether she felt uncomfortable lifting her conservative ankle-length skirt. She responded that it did not bother her. She then laughed and said: “As if you could put all of English on your ankles!” I agreed; it seemed comical. Upon further thought, I’m sure many inventive schemes have been tried at high-stakes tests such as this one.

Our photos were taken. We each were assigned a cubicle with a desktop computer, keyboard, mouse, headset with microphone, pencils, scratch paper, and noise-cancelling earphones. Four and a half hours later, I emerged from the testing room with a slight headache, emptied my locker, and headed home to eat a late lunch. I crossed paths with a test taker who was dejected by his poor performance on the listening part. Another was more optimistic; he believed his score would be higher than his previous attempt. All of us would wait until the following Tuesday for the score to be reported online. For me the score was irrelevant, a thing of curiosity, but for others it meant the difference between a closed door and an open door to the degree program of their choice.

Responses to Teachers’ Questions About the Exam

Let’s return now to the questions from my inquisitive colleagues, starting with their concerns about distracting noises. Testing conditions probably differ slightly from one testing center to another, but I will share my own anecdotal experience. Though at times the voices of other test takers could be heard doing microphone checks or giving answers, the pair of bright yellow noise-cancelling earphones provided worked well on those test sections that did not require audio input. Also, test takers are allowed to bring and use their own soft (wireless) earplugs.

As far as delays, time was not accurately kept on the morning I took the test, but that was an aberration, according to fellow test takers who had taken the same test there on earlier occasions. Not all test takers were seated by 8 a.m., but all had the full amount of time to complete the test. In other words, their start times were staggered. (Some started as late as 8:35 a.m.) Since there was no clock either in the testing room or on the computer screen, and since watches are prohibited, there was no reference to outside time. (A countdown clock on the computer screen shows minutes and seconds remaining for a task; it can be hidden by a test taker who finds it distracting or stress-inducing.) The unpredictable end time of the TOEFL has caused us to reconsider our policy of excusing our IEP students from only morning classes but expecting them to attend afternoon classes. Some test takers may be legitimately occupied beyond noon.

A couple of headphones malfunctioned, but the test administrators responded promptly. Test takers experiencing difficulties are told to raise their hands to ask for help. At the testing site I used, administrators can see the raised hands through the one-way glass and on a monitor that displays the input from a dozen or so cameras installed on the ceiling above test takers’ cubicles.

Note-taking is essential for the listening section, because even details must be recalled, but note-taking for the speaking section (during the 30 seconds allotted to gather your thoughts before giving a 45-second response) can necessarily be only a few key words. Test administrators supply booklets of blank yellow paper as well as sharp pencils for note-taking purposes.

As to the last question: Can native speakers prepare a coherent response in the short time frame given on the speaking section? Well, this native speaker barely could. I ran out of time on nearly all the responses (I tend to ramble) and scored a 29 out of 30 on the speaking section.

The Score

When and how did I receive my score? A week and a half after taking the exam, an email from ETS appeared in my inbox with the subject “Your TOEFL Scores Are Now Available.” By logging back on to my TOEFL iBT Profile, I could see the scores online while waiting for a hard copy to arrive via snail mail at my address and at any institutions I had chosen. Scores for reading, listening, speaking, and writing were displayed, followed by the total score. The maximum score for each section is 30, for a total maximum of 120.

For the curious, I’ll divulge my scores: 30 in all sections, except speaking (29), for a total of 119. Phew! Anything less would be embarrassing for a native English speaker with a master’s in applied linguistics.

There was no customized feedback unique to my responses. I was informed that I performed in the “HIGH” range in reading and listening (the highest range possible, 22–30) and that test takers in this range “typically” can do things such as “distinguish more important ideas from less important ones.” In speaking and writing, I performed in the “GOOD” range (a different label, but also the highest range possible, 3.5–4.0) and was informed that, among other things, “Your responses indicate an ability to speak effectively in English about reading material and conversations typically encountered by university students. Overall, your responses are clear and coherent, with only occasional errors of pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary.” I will always wonder what those occasional errors were. Unfortunately, test takers are kept in the dark as to their specific strengths and weaknesses in each section. (Getting that kind of feedback would probably necessitate more test questions and a higher cost.)

The Necessary Skills for Success

To succeed on the TOEFL, one needs facility with academic English, demonstrated by reading comprehension, listening comprehension, speaking, and writing. This is obvious, as this corresponds to the four sections of the exam. There are other skills that I discovered to be necessary, which may not be as obvious, but which I will now be mindful of when developing curriculum and lesson plans:

• To succeed on the reading section: Paraphrase. Summarize. Recognize the flow of information in a text. Understand the role each sentence plays in a paragraph.
• To succeed on the listening section: Focus. Don’t daydream; you can hear each audio clip only once. Take efficient but thorough notes.
• To succeed on the speaking section: Be forthcoming but succinct.
• To succeed on the writing section: Type rapidly and accurately. Spell correctly (without the aid of spell-check).
• Throughout the exam: Know high-frequency academic vocabulary, such as the words on the Academic Word List (Coxhead, 2000) or Academic Vocabulary List (Davies & Gardner, 2014). Concentrate. Block out other noise. Think clearly and quickly, even at 8 a.m. Maintain concentration despite fatigue. Stay calm if there is a technical glitch or delay.

It is not a coincidence that the above-mentioned skills are also essential for success in university degree programs. The TOEFL iBT mirrors the tasks and the rigor of university coursework and social interactions.

IEP students will still need to "study for the TOEFL”—if nothing else, to practice responding to questions in the allotted time. I can and will improve as an educator, introducing more class activities and assignments that foster the skills listed above. However, I can reassure my students (and myself) that our IEP curriculum already does by and large, prepare them for the demands of a U.S. university and, in so doing, for the demands of the TOEFL.

References

Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34, 213–238. doi:10.2307/3587951

Gardner, D., & Davies, M. (2014). A new academic vocabulary list. Applied Linguistics, 35, 305–327. doi:10.1093/applin/amt015

Ginessa Lawson Payne teaches grammar, composition, and vocabulary in Texas A&M University’s English Language Institute. She studied linguistics at Yale University and applied linguistics and TESL at UCLA.