| Test of English as a Foreign Language is a Standardized test that evaluates the English Proficiency of people whose native language is not English.The TOEFL tests the ability to understand North American English. In India only computer-based Toefl test is available.
The TOEFL is developed and administered by the US-based "Educational Testing Service" (ETS). For the conduct of the test, ETS has appointed Testing Agencies in various countries, which act as franchisee for ETS. In India, this agency is the "Sylvan Testing Services Pvt Ltd" which administers the test at 9 centers in the country : Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Trivandrum.
Computer based TOEFL is held all-round-the-year.The test is administered in the above cities five-days-a-week (Monday through Friday), twice-a-day. Registering at least three days in advance is mandatory. The test lasts roughly four hours. Test fees for TOEFL may vary according to the country in which you take the test. In India, this fee is US $130 (approx Rs. 5980), payable at the time of registration. You cannot pay in Indian Rupees. The fees has to be paid through a US Dollar denominated draft, made out in favor of "ETS - TOEFL" payable in the U.S.
Content and Format of the TOEFL
The test has four sections: Listening, Structure, Reading and Writing.
The number of questions and the time allocated to each question may vary. Therefore, one student may get 35 questions in Listening section while another may get 45. But, the additional questions are for research purposes only and the scores of all test takers are based on the same number of questions.
The following table gives out the format of TOEFL-CAT
Computer Tutorial |
Questions |
Timing |
Computer Tutorial |
NA |
NA |
Listening Section |
30 - 50 questions |
40 - 60 min. |
Structure Section |
20 - 25 questions |
15 - 20 min. |
Reading Section |
44 - 60 questions |
70 - 90 min. |
Writing Section |
1 Essay |
30 min. |
Total |
94 - 135 question + 1 Essay |
94 - 135 question + 1 Essay 4 hrs. (approx.) |
|
Reporting the Scores
ETS has the provision of reporting your TOEFL scores to a maximum of four universities of your choice, the cost of which is built into the TOEFL fee you pay. For reporting to each additional university, the ETS charges you $15 (approx. Rs. 690), payable by an international credit card or a dollar denominated draft. |
