The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL®) is a university-level English writing, reading, listening, and speaking exam for non-native speakers. There are two types of TOEFL® questions: multiple choice and essay. A reading passage with questions, a series of short essays, a multiple-choice section, and a series of incomplete phrases that must be filled in with the correct word make up the exam. The exam’s structure varies depending on whether it is taken online or on paper. The paper exam is typically used only when the testing facility does not have Internet access, so the majority of students will take the Internet version.
There are four sections to the TOEFL® questions on the Internet-based test, also known as TOEFL® iBTTM. The time limit for this version of the test is four hours. There is a ten-minute break after the first two sections — reading and listening. Then comes the speaking and writing sections.
Three to five passages are usually included in the reading section. Each passage contains 12 to 14 questions that must be answered. After that, there will be about six to nine passages in the listening section, each with five to six questions. The speaking section of the TOEFL® consists of six tasks, each of which requires a student to answer one question. The student will write two essays in response to two questions in the final section, which is writing.
The paper version of the TOEFL® exam has similar questions, but they are arranged differently. Listening, structure and written expression, reading comprehension, and writing are the four sections. The paper version is one hour shorter than the Internet version, which is the most significant difference between the two.
The first section is listening, which is divided into three sections: one with questions about short conversations, another with questions about long conversations, and a third with questions after listening to short talks or lectures. The structure and written expression section follows, with 15 sentences to complete with the correct word from a list of options and another 25 questions requiring the student to identify errors in various pieces of writing. After reading a series of passages, the student will answer questions in the reading comprehension section. The last section is writing. It is made up of a single short essay that must be written in response to a question.