TOEFL (Test of English As Foreign Language)

TOEFL is designed to evaluate the English proficiency of people whose native language is not English. TOEFL scores are required for admissions purposes by more than 2,400 colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, and eighty other countries. Since the TOEFL test is independent of any curriculum or teaching method, the proficiency level of any test taker can be compared with that of any student or group of students regardless of academic background or English training.

ETS (Educational Testing Service) is a nonprofit organization committed to the development and administration of testing programs and the creation of advisory and instructional services. In additional to the developing Change form Paper based test to Computer Based TOEFL (CBT) Initially TOEFL used to be paper based but since 1998 it has been switching to computer testing.

The test consists of four sections:

1) Listening

2) Structure

3) Reading

4) Writing

Out of these two sections - Listening and Structure are computer-adaptive, which means questions are tailored according to the examinees proficiency levels. Therefore students will receive fewer questions that are too easy or too difficult in those sections and candidate's ability can be estimated more accurately. While the Structure section features the same types of questions used in the paper-based TOEFL test, the Listening and Reading sections feature some new, innovative types of questions in addition to the traditional multiple-choice questions. The Writing Section, which assesses the written ability to compose a written response to an assigned essay topic, is now a required part of the test.

From October 1998 CBT has been introduced in India also.

Benefits of TOEFL on Computer

By introducing the CBT, ETS's main goal is to provide a more complete picture of a candidates proficiency in English.

• An essay with every test administration.
• Context-setting visuals and topic orientation during the Listening sections.
• Individual headphnes and volume control.
• Listening and reading sections that require the candidates to demonstrate their comprehension by performing specific skills.