TOEFL stands for Test of English as Foreign Language, is an exam required by most US and Canadian university to prove proficiency (especially for international students coming from countries where English is not native language) in English. It measures your listening, reading, speaking and writing skills to perform academic tasks in English. Many Universities in Europe and other countries also accept TOEFL (IELTS is popular outside the USA). The popularity of TOEFL is growing and its score is accepted for Immigration to NZ, Australia!
TOEFL is the most popular English proficiency exam accepted at North American universities. The full form of TOEFL is Test of English as Foreign Language. TOEFL tests the international students’ usage and heard in college and university settings. The TOEFL test is developed and administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS), which sets the questions, conducts the test, and sends each examinee the score report
Often, students are confused if they need to prepare only for TOEFL or other exams are also required for admission to the US and Canadian universities. How many exams you need to prepare completely depends on the type, of course, you are applying to. For all undergraduate courses in the US and some in Canada, you need to prepare for the SAT. For MBA courses GMAT scores are a requirement. Similarly, for MS courses GRE scores are relevant. Along with all these exams, you have to take either IELTS or TOEFL.
Often international students don’t know how it is designed to test your understanding of North-American choose between IELTS or TOEFL, as universities abroad ask for either exam scores. Since syllabus English, it should be your first choice if you are applying to universities in the US and Canada. For the rest of the countries, especially the UK and Australia, IELTS is usually the more preferred language exam, but TOEFL is also accepted.
TOEFL test is conducted round the year and has more than 50 test dates per year. You can retake the test as many times as you wish, but to take a re-test you have to wait for a 12-day period after attempting the first test.
GRE TEST
There are two formats for the TOEFL test. The format you take depends on the location of your test center. Most test takers take the TOEFL IBT (IBT stands for Internet-Based Test) test. Test centers that do not have Internet access offer the Paper-based Test (PBT).
Each section of TOEFL has a max score of 30. The total maximum score is 120. Most universities require TOEFL score ranging from 80-100.
The last question in the reading section (in each set) is worth 2 points, and it may have up to 3 correct answers (out of 6 choices).
For 0/1 correct answers, you will get 0 points
For 2 correct answers, you will get 1 point .
For 3 correct answers, you will get 2 point
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR TOEFL:
The TOEFL test (both TOEFL-IBT and TOEFL-PBT) is open to all. Ordinarily, a pass in 10+2 level of any recognized Indian Board or University is a suitable qualification to take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) test.
However, the test is suitable for candidates studying at high school level or higher. The level of the test is quite high. Since the TOEFL score is used as a measure of English language proficiency of a candidate by the universities and institutions of United States and outside, the candidates studying at high school level or higher can take this test to obtain TOEFL score.
Several institutions report that they often do NOT require TOEFL test scores from certain categories of international applicants. These include:
1.Non-native speakers who hold degrees or diplomas from post- secondary institutions in English-speaking countries (e.g., the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand).
2.Non-native speakers who have successfully completed at least a two- year course of study in which English was the language of instruction.
3.Transfer students from institutions in the United States or Canada whose academic course work was favorably evaluated in relation to its demands and duration.
4.Non-native speakers who have taken the TOEFL test within the past two years.
5.Non-native speakers who have successfully pursued academic work at schools where English was the language of instruction in an English- speaking country for a specified period, generally two years.