With the Next Generation iBT TOEFL, students go on-line and take the test directly from ETS at test centers throughout the world. There are roughly forty-five sessions a year, all on Fridays or Saturdays. Details can be found on the ETS web site at http://www.ets.org. The iBT, Internet-based test, is an integration of all four language skills - reading, listening, speaking, and writing - in which grammar plays a more minor but still a necessary component. In other words, there is no longer a grammar section on the TOEFL, but grammar is taken into consideration in the evaluation of both the speaking and writing sections. Another change is in the scoring. Whereas the computer-based TOEFL was scored out of 300, the iBT is scored out of 120, 30 in each of the four skills. To succeed in this new format, students need to be good note takers as they will be required to read passages and then listen to lectures or long conversations in order to respond either orally or by writing to questions, usually about how the written material relates to the listening material. The language skills of gist, details, inferences, vocabulary, reference, and insertion are still tested along with the new skills of paraphrasing and determining overall organization and purpose. The addition of these new skills, along with the integration of the sections, makes the Next Generation iBT TOEFL a more valid evaluation of a student's real-life language skills and his or her ability to succeed in a real academic setting.
Since preparing for the Next Generation iBT TOEFL is challenging, a student is well advised to take a class or join a study group to develop the necessary skills to pass. Also, it is essential that a student get a good preparation textbook, but there are only a few that have kept up with the changes in the test, such as Longman Preparation Course for the TOEFL Test , Next Generation iBT and Delta's Key to the Next Generation TOEFL Test. Many private and community colleges offer one- or two-term preparation courses, but there may be prerequisites a student must satisfy before being admitted to these classes. There is an alternative, however, for people who want to bypass prerequisites or are unable to invest three to six months preparation time. The TEST PREP Team offers a 45-hour intensive TOEFL Preparation Course over ten Saturdays. This course is available only in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Information on this course, as well as a number of learning tools to help students prepare by themselves, is available at http://study4toefl.com, but hurry - the next class starts on October 8th.
Ambien Malecot, BA, MA
Instructor / Program Developer
The TEST PREP Team
TOEFL Course
#206 - 3280 West Broadway
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6K 2H4 CANADA
Telephone: 604-738-0077
Fax: 604-739-3777
E-mail: info@study4toefl.com
Web Address: http://www.study4toefl.com
When one teaches, two learn - Robert Half
About the Author
Ambien has been teaching ESL at the college level since 1989 and, as a TOEFL specialist, has been helping students get high TOEFL scores since 1997. He is friendly, personable, kind, patient, supportive and motivating. Ambien is certified as a specialist in the Next Generation iBT TOEFL.