The TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) is a standardized test designed to measure a student’s ability to use the kind of English used in a North American academic setting. A large number of universities in the US and other countries now use TOEFL scores to determine a student’s eligibility for admission.

The internet based TOEFL (TOEFL iBT) was introduced in 2005. It has four sections: reading, listening, speaking and writing.

While the reading and listening sections measure a candidate’s receptive skills, the speaking and writing sections measure his / her expressive skills. To score well on the test you must be proficient in all areas of English.

The TOEFL iBT has several integrated tasks which require students to employ two or more skills to answer one question. For example, in the speaking or writing sections, there are several questions that require you to read and/or listen and then speak or write based on what you have read or heard.

While the Paper based version of TOEFL had a section on grammatical structures, TOEFL iBT doesn’t have it. It still measures your grammar skills. For example, you have to give grammatically correct answers to the questions asked on the speaking test. Grammatical accuracy is also essential to score well on the writing section.

The reading and listening passages are very authentic. They are exactly like what you will have to read and listen to in a North American academic setting.

TOEFL iBT allows note-taking. In fact, note-taking is advised on all four sections of the test.