302 Part V: What Kind of Class Will I Have?
Even if a student is proficient in English they might do badly without training
because the questions are a little unusual. For example, in the Reading paper
candidates have to choose whether information is true, false or not given
in the text. Unlike in other exams, you have to read between the lines for
the meaning. In the Listening test you have to listen all the way through too
because there might be a question which doesn’t follow sequentially.
TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)
TOEFL is designed to show how well a non- native speaker can cope with
English in higher education. If the student has already followed a recent
course of study in English for two or more years in an English speaking
country, they may be exempt from the test. It is not enough to live in an
English-speaking country. Many universities in the USA require a TOEFL score
to measure proficiency and the exam itself features the American variety
of English. Exams fees vary according to which version of the test you take
and at which centre but the payment is may be quoted in US currency and is
approximately $150.
TOEFL scores are only valid for two years, after that your official report is
deleted.
In this exam you need overall skills like:
✓ Note-taking: Students need to be able to write down key points even
if they don’t understand the content completely and then rephrase or
reconstruct it in writing or speech.
✓ Mind mapping: This technique of using a diagram to organise ideas
around a central point helps students to organise a writing task in just a
few minutes.
✓ Synthesising: This means drawing together information on one topic
from different sources to form a new piece of work.
Three versions of the exam exist: the IBT version is internet based, the PBT is
paper based and the CBT is the computer-based test, so the version you take
depends on where you sit the exam. You only need to take one version.
The IBT lasts 4 hours and has four sections which you do on the same day, as
follows:
