Scoring the TOEFL Speaking Section

Which areas of language are evaluated in the speaking section?

• Accuracy

• Language

• Fluency

• Tone of voice

• Development

The speaking question is scored holistically, which means...

• every language area is rated separately.

• raters focus on your confidence.

• the overall effectiveness of your response is evaluated.

• your pronunciation is the most important thing.

TRUE OR FALSE: your pronunciation must be as a native speaker would have.

• TRUE. It is vital.

• FALSE. Your pronunciation doesn't matter at all.

• TRUE. You must speak as British.

• FALSE. Your pronunciation must be understandable.

Select the things that could negatively affect your score in the fluency area.

• long pauses

• incorrect intonation

• foreign accent

• accent that interferes with the comprehensibility of the response

• short pauses

Explain in less than 50 words what raters expect from you about language use.

What is evaluated in the development area?

• That you can talk about a variety of topics.

• That you can keep a conversation for more than 10 minutes.

• Your responses are organized in a way that makes it easy to understand the ideas.

• Your responses are developed as a native speaker would do.

Select the options that could cause evaluators to rate your responses as poor.

• major problems with accent

• your response is accurate

• continuous language mistakes

• occasional disorganization

• big omissions

What kind of material should you regularly have in order to improve your fluency, grammar, and vocabulary?

• Academic English only.

• Everyday English only.

• Fiction books.

• Academic and everyday English.

What strategy can immediately improve your response?

• Answering the question directly in your first introductory statement.

• Using transitions.

• Monitor the time carefully.

• Use correct sentence structures

What is the best way to improve fluency and evaluate the clarity of your speaking?

• Speaking with yourself.

• Watching movies.

• Reading the newspaper daily.

• To find opportunities to talk with native English speakers.