HOW TO CRACK TOEFL® iBT
TOEFL® iBT is a test that may shape your future. Should you get a good score on it and enter the
university you belong to or should you fail to cross the line. For this reason, it is extremely important to devote time and resources and do your best to prepare for TOEFL® iBT. In this section we have prepared some tips that may help you throughout your preparation process and also during the test itself. First you read the general tips and then we have listed component-specific tips for each of the TOEFL® iBT sections. We suggest that you allot some time and read them.
General TOEFL® iBT Test Taking Tips
*It is important that you have sound knowledge of English before starting your TOEFL® iBT
preparation. The higher your entrance English level the higher result to expect at the exam. As
entrance level for TOEFL® iBT you should have at minimum General Advanced English Level and
higher.
* Allow enough time for your TOEFL® iBT preparation. Begin it immediately after you decide to
take the exam.
* Develop a study program and follow it. Study at regular basis (every day). Do not try to learn
everything right before the exam. It is not going to work.
* Try to immerse into English. Watch English TV (American would be better), movies, listen to
English radios, read variety of English texts. Those are all good comprehension reading and
listening comprehension skills. Speak and write in English as much as you can. Even speak to
yourself in front of the mirror. It is a good way to improve your fluency.
* Improve vocabulary. You will need it at each stage of TOEFL® iBT and even more at the
university. Systematically add new words to your wordlist. Try to memorize them and more
important use them when speaking or writing.
* Identify your weak areas and work harder to improve them. For example, if you feel your
weakest part is writing, start writing more than you did until now. Try to write in English even
what you think. For the speaking, Think Aloud is a good strategy.
* Since the time is a major problem for almost all students taking TOEFL® iBT, try to lessen the time for certain tasks day after day. Be effective at time management.
* Learn to listen and read carefully the instructions provided before each of the TOEFL iBT
components. They give important information.
* Note taking is allowed at each TOEFL® iBT section. Developing TOEFL® iBT note taking skills is of crucial importance to improve your final score. Explore our Note Taking Strategies.
* PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. The more you practice the better. The closer your practice
materials to the real TOEFL® iBT Exam the better results to expect.
TOEFL® iBT Reading Tips
The first component you will have to do when you sit for the TOEFL iBT exam is the Reading. The Reading Section measures your ability to read and understand academic texts (passages) in English. Reading is a critical skill in academic environment. Students have to read a lot and comprehend the information presented in their textbooks or other reading materials. As we discussed in TOEFL iBT Format Section on i-Courses.org, three are the main purposes for academic reading in TOEFL iBT:
1. Reading tofind information2. Basic comprehension
3. Reading to learn
The Reading Section in TOEFL iBT consists of 3-5 texts; each text is about 700 words long. Each Reading text is followed by 12 - 14 questions related to the text. The first passage stands alone for a time of 20 minutes and the 2nd and 3rd passages share a total time of 40 minutes for reading and answering the questions. The system will cut you off right after the time ends. Therefore, you must be not only good at reading but also very fast. To the end of this document we will provide some important guidelines on how to prepare for the TOEFL iBT Reading and how to behave at the reading test in order to improve your final score.
Preparation Strategies
Read, Read, Read. Read in English regularly. Focus on academic texts from university textbooks or other materials. Do not stick to one or two topics that you are interested in. Read from variety of subjects - science, social science, business, arts, geography, history, economics, and others. Academic texts, apart from textbooks, could be found in variety of articles and academic publications on the Internet or university libraries.
Find the purpose of the passage. Knowing the purpose of the reading you may easily find what the writer is trying to accomplish. The purpose of the passage in most of the readings is embedded in the introductory paragraph which is one of the most important paragraphs in the text. Most of the passages in TOEFL iBT will try to do the following:
- To Explain - to present the information on a specific topic in explanatory manner. These texts contain mostly factual information.
- To Resolve - it aims at finding solution for some sort of dilemmas or questions that need answers. Usually there would be a debate.
- To convince - to persuade the reader of the validity of certain viewpoint or idea. There would be opinions and support with evidence in those type of passages.
Increase vocabulary. When reading wide variety of texts on different subjects you should make a word list. Organize your list in topics for better results. Example topics could be business, geography, science and others. Make flashcards to help you learn those word lists. Use the words learned in your writings and speaking.
Take notes. During all sections of TOEFL iBT note taking is allowed. It is a crucial component for success. It is difficult to remember all facts and details from a reading text in order to answer the questions. You also don't have enough time to search for those again in the text. So, the solution is called note taking. When skimming and reading the texts you should write down all important facts and details in order to find them fast and easily when you need them. See also our effective note taking strategies.
Learn how to skim the text. Skimming means reading the text quickly to obtain very first general impression on what the text is about, what its main idea is. Skimming corresponds with Reading to find information objective in TOEFL iBT. You should develop your ability to skim quickly but at the same time to identify all major points in the passage. Take notes. See also our skimming strategies.
Read after skimming. Only skimming is not enough. Read the passage again. This time read it more carefully, but don't forget that you have limited time. Take notes. Identify the passage type - classification, cause/effect, compare/contrast, problem/solution, etc.
Try to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words in the passages, the context can help to do that. After that, check those words in the dictionary. Guessing the words from the context brings great advantages - you save time and it doesn't disturb your comprehension of the texts.
Highlight some of the pronouns (he, him, they, them, etc.) in the texts. Identify to which nouns in the particular text the highlighted pronouns refer.
Practice making general inferences and conclusions based on what is implied in the text.
Learn to organize the data presented in the passage in charts and tables. Create charts with categories and place the important data from the passage in the appropriate category. In TOEFL iBT you are not asked to create charts. Rather, charts are provided and you are asked to categorize the information in pre-defined categories.
At the exam strategies
Relax! You don't have to be familiar with the topic of the TOEFL iBT Reading passage. All the information needed to provide correct answers is in the text. The definition of some of the subject-specific words is available during the test. Those words are colored and underlined.
Be fast but try to avoid thinking about the clock. Concentrate on what you read and what exactly the questions ask for.
Take a guess. There is no penalty for an incorrect answer in TOEFL iBT. Do not leave blank answers. In each case they don't bring you points. If you see you are running out of time, just take a guess and mark answers for all remaining questions. There is 25 % chances to guess the right answer.
Stop thinking about Reading. When your section time is over, just stop thinking about the Reading section. Prepare for the Listening section. If you have not done well in the Reading, you may compensate it with the next components. So, stop thinking about the Reading.
TOEFL® iBT Listening Tips
TOEFL® iBT Listening section is delivered immediately after the Reading section. The Listening section of TOEFL iBT measures your ability to understand spoken English in academic settings. In TOEFL® iBT the listening is done for 3 major purposes:
1. Listening for basic comprehension.
2. Listening for pragmatic understanding.
3. To connect and combine ideas presented in multiple information sources.
Each part of the Listening section (2 or 3 parts) consists of 1 long conversation and two lectures. The test takers hear each lecture or conversation only once. Lectures and conversations are 3-5 minutes long. During the listening the time is not running. The allotted time of 10 minutes for each part is only for answering the questions.
Preparation Strategies
Listen to spoken English from multiple sources as much as possible. Listen to English spoken movies and English spoken TV channels, listen to the radio and as many other listening sources as you may find. It would be better if your passages are academic or close to what is in TOEFL® iBT. The more you practice listening, the better listener you will become.
Listen for the main idea. It is usually found at the beginning of the listening passages, while the
details are dispersed throughout the lecture. The main idea will give you understanding of what the conversation/lecture is about. Then you may listen for details.
Learn to find how the ideas are presented in the listening passage. Some of the main relations
between ideas include cause/effect, compare/contrast, and steps in a process.
Learn to listen for signal words that indicate different part of the passage - introduction, major steps, examples, conclusions, etc.
Build your vocabulary. While listening, try to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words from context. It is very important since there is a big chance to come across words you don't know at the real test. Then, you should guess their meaning. Write down every word you don't know and include it in yourwordlist. Try to memorize it and use it in your speaking and writing. Flashcards could be a great way to improve your vocabulary.
Listen to conversations or lectures with variety of accents. In TOEFL® iBT Listening section there is a variety of accents and pronunciations. For this reason, you should practice listening to a people with different accents and pronunciation patterns.
Practice note-taking. Note-taking is allowed during all sections of TOEFL® iBT. Effective note-taking may highly improve your performance. It is almost impossible to memorize all clues and details
provided in the Listening section. Moreover, you can hear the passages ONLY ONCE. Therefore, to answer the questions you have to rely on what you remember from the passage and your notes. See also our Effective Note-Taking Strategies.
Summarize in writing what you have heard, using your notes. Thus, you will learn to find the
purpose and main idea of the listening, and also the most important details. You will also learn to take and use notes. It also helps in improving your writing skills.
Familiarize yourself with the type of questions in TOEFL iBT. Make sure that during the preparation you learn what answers are required by the different types of question. Some questions may ask you to provide two answers, others to click in a chart box. If you are familiar with the question types, you may save important time.
At the exam strategies
Forget about the Reading section. Now it is time to fully concentrate on the Listening section.
The clock is ticking only when you are answering the questions and not when you are listening to the passages. So, when you listen, forget about the clock.
Prepare for note-taking. Before the section starts, write down the words 'main idea', 'major points', and 'important details'. Under which word you will place your notes from the listening passage.
Do not be distracted by the speaker's accent, speaking style and delivery. Focus on the content and flow of information the speaker(s) deliver.
Listen to find clues that will help you understand what the speaker's purpose, attitude and degree of certainty is. Listen for words that show relationship between ideas.
Pay attention to the visual materials. Some of the visual materials in the Listening section bring
important information. Blackboards show important words or phrases that are discussed during the lecture. Illustrations and graphics support the information presented in the lecture. They are available only when the lecturer refers to them.
Answering is different. In the Listening section you may not return to the previous questions to
correct your answers. Nevertheless, you have to confirm twice that you want to move to the next question. First, when you provide your answer you have to press the NEXT button. After pressing the NEXT button you may alter you answer. To move to the next question you have to press OK button. Sometimes test takers forget this and lose important time. Please, set your mind that you have to press two buttons.
Take a guess. There is no penalty for an incorrect answer in TOEFL® iBT. It doesn't bring any points. If you see you are running out of time, just take a guess and mark answers for all remaining questions. There is 25 % chances to guess the right answer.
TOEFL® iBT Speaking Tips
The Speaking section in TOEFL® iBT comes right after the 10-minute break. It measures the test
taker’s ability to communicate in English orally. The six tasks in the Speaking section are divided into two types – independent speaking tasks (2 tasks) and integrated speaking tasks (4 tasks). Students must prove they are able to speak effectively under the following requirements:
*Deliver adequate oral responses to the questions
*Participate actively in academic discussions
*Participate in everyday conversations
*State a clear opinion about the discussed subjects
*Summarize and orally reproduce the information read in textbooks or heard in the classroom
*Communicate with university officials in libraries, sport centers, housing offices, bookstores,
etc.
More about the Speaking section format you may find here. Hereafter, we list some guidelines about how to prepare and take TOEFL® iBT in order to obtain best results.
General Speaking Strategies
Build your vocabulary systematically. Develop a wordlist with new words and devote time to learn those words and include them in your speaking and writing practice systematically.
Speak, Speak, Speak. Whatever else you do, without speaking you will never make it. So, start
speaking to build fluency. Do not fear to make mistakes, try to avoid them the next time you speak. It would be better if you speak with a native English speaker. However, non-native speakers are also an option. Even speaking to your reflection in the mirror is better than not speaking. Thinking aloud is a good strategy. Give voice to your thoughts and reproduce your thoughts in loud English speech.
Try to think in English and thus avoid translating from your language into English. Practice commonly
used phrases in English, so that you may use them with the same confidence as you use your
language. Then add to those phrases in order to create complete sentences.
Develop fluency. Put a headset, start a listening material and repeat all you hear after the speaker.
Repeat aloud. Another good method to develop fluency – read aloud.
Use idioms appropriately. Use of idioms in English is a sign of fluency. However, if you don’t use them appropriately, you will get the opposite effect.
Master appropriate and correct use of English grammar.
Systematically improve your pronunciation. You should pay attention to the words’ stresses,
intonation patterns and pauses. You should sound as naturally as possible.
Practice organizing your speech. In TOEFL® iBT you are given short time to think what to say to
answer the question. You should use the time to think of a layout to follow during your speech.
Write down the main points you would follow when speaking. Support the main points with some details (write down just words or short phrases that will help you to remember what to say). You will have 15 seconds to make this layout.
Record your practice speaking and listen it again to find where you did well and where you did not do well. Listen to your past records and compare them with the new ones. Do you see any progress?
It is of huge importance to receive independent and accurate feedback at different stages of your TOEFL® iBT preparation. Find experienced teachers in TOEFL® iBT that may assess your speaking, provide you with constructive feedback which will help you overcome your weaknesses and focus on your strengths. To assure best accuracy, take some of i-Courses speaking iBT components which are scored by professional TOEFL® iBT Teachers.
For the independent task you will have to speak about familiar topics. Make a list with familiar
topics and practice speaking on each of them. First start with a description of your city, country,
place, event, etc. After, it is important to state your personal opinion/preference and support it with sound reasoning, examples and details.
For the integrated speaking task you will have to combine information from different sources in
order to answer the question. Therefore, it is of importance when you read texts or listen to lectures and conversations in your preparation, to orally summarize in short what you have read or heard.
You may also state (orally) an opinion about the passages you have read or listened to. Suggest a solution if there is a problem described in the reading or listening.
At the exam strategies
There is a very good chance that some of the other test takers would already have started their
speaking before you and the noise they make while speaking may disturb you. The only good
strategy in this case is to disregard the noise. There is some time to listen to instructions. During this time concentrate entirely on what you hear and pay no attention to what is going on around you.
Use the preparation time effectively to draw the outline and details of your response.
Time management is a very important component. It is neither good to finish long before the time is over nor is it good to be unable to complete your response within the time. Try to answer the question as completely as possible within the given speaking time.
Relax when speaking! Try to sound confident. Remember that even native English speakers make mistakes, repeat sentences, and correct themselves.
TOEFL® iBT Writing Tips
The last component in TOEFL® iBT is the Writing section. It measures you ability to write in standard academic English. There are two tasks in TOEFL® iBT Writing section – Independent Writing task and Integrated Writing task.
Within the TOEFL Independent Writing task students are asked to write an essay on a given general question. The purpose of this Writing task is to measure the students’ ability to state their opinions or express their comments on topics which are based on their personal knowledge and experience. The students should also support their ideas and opinions with examples or details. Students are given 30 minutes to write their essays. The essay should be approximately 300 words.
Within the TOEFL Integrated Writing task the students are asked to demonstrate that they have
understood material coming from different sources (reading and listening), that they can combine the information from those sources in a coherent, well organized, summarized written form, and that they may compare the information from those sources and draw conclusions from them. The time in the integrated task is as follows: You will have 3 minutes to read a passage of 230-300 words. The reading passage is hidden then and you will listen to a 2-minute lecture that is related to the reading passage. The listening may add new information or present a different point of view. You may take
notes during both reading and listening part. Then the reading passage is shown again on the screen and you are given 20 minutes to write a response to a question. The response should be between 150-225 words.
Writing Preparation Strategies
Practice writing in English on a computer keyboard. There is no other way in TOEFL® iBT than typing your response. So, practicing on keyboard will help you a lot.
Build your vocabulary systematically. Develop a wordlist with new words and devote time to
learning these words, try to include them in your speaking and writing practice systematically.
When you practice writing try to use a wide range of vocabulary and grammatical structures. Do not fear to use new words and grammar patterns. That is a way to learn them and use them
appropriately. Using rich vocabulary and variety of grammar is looked upon favorably by the raters.
Learn the essay structure very well and follow this structure closely in your practice and in your real exam. The essay is comprised of three components: Introduction, body and conclusion. Each component has its important features. Thorough review of the essay structure you may find in the paper TOEFL® iBT Essay Structure on our TOEFL Learning Center.
Practice organizing your writing. Before starting your written response allow 2-5 minutes to make an outline of your essay. Do not worry that the time is running, a good outline will save you lots of troubles and time while writing. The essay outline should include the major ideas for the paragraphs in 2-3 main phrases per paragraph, as well as some examples and supporting details. Do not write complete sentences, but some words and phrases that may help you follow that outline and add additional information to develop a well-organized and coherent essay.
Learn to use transition (linking) words to switch between different ideas, add information, provide examples, compare points, etc. Such words are: furthermore, in addition, for example, for instance, on the other hand, to sum up, first, second, etc. A detailed list of such signal words, along with an explanation where to use them, is provided on www.i-Courses.org.
Be time effective. At the beginning of your practice you may not comply with the time for the
particular writing task. However, each other time you write, try to get closer to the time requirement for this task.
Monitor your own progress. Ask your tutor to evaluate your writings in accordance with the
appropriate TOEFL® iBT Writing Rubrics. For best accuracy, take some of i-Courses TOEFL writing components which are scored by professional TOEFL® iBT Teachers. You will be provided with accurate and constructive feedback with guidelines on how to improve your writing and how to continue your TOEFL® iBT preparation.
For the independent writing task you will have to write on familiar topics. Make a list with familiar topics and practice writing on each of them. Do not forget the essay structure. Make an outline and follow it closely. State your opinion or preference and support it with examples and details.
An important skill to help you on the integrated writing task is the Paraphrasing. Paraphrasing
involves connecting the ideas from the source material in your own words. Practice paraphrasing purposefully. Do not just rewrite what is stated but write selectively (only the important points) in your own words. To help you with paraphrasing, we have created TOEFL® iBT Paraphrasing Strategies that you may find on www.i-Courses.org.
At the exam strategies
Do not forget to allot some time before you start your response to organize your writing – the
outline. It will save you time and trouble. Follow it closely.
Pay attention to the time. Do not forget that you have limited time for both tasks. If you have a
minute left, do not move to the next section. Make a quick review on what you have done. You may find errors and correct them.
Do not extend you writing well above 300 words for the independent task. For the integrated task it is important that you write between 150 and 225 words.
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