Improve Your Skills

Want advice on improving your English-language skills?

Choose your performance level below.

Reading
Skill
Reading

Performance Level
(0-14)
(15-21)
Low
Intermediate

(22-30)
High

Performance Level
(0-14)
(15-21)
Low
Intermediate

(22-30)
High

Listening
Skill
Listening

Speaking
Skill
Speaking about Familiar Topics
Speaking about Campus Situations
Speaking about Academic Course Content

Performance Level
(0-9)
(10-17)
Weak
Limited
Weak
Limited
Weak
Limited

(18-25)
Fair
Fair
Fair

(26-30)
Good
Good
Good

Writing
Skill

Performance Level
(1-16)
(17-23)

(24-30)

Writing based on Reading and Listening

Limited

Fair

Good

Writing based on Knowledge

and Experience

Limited

Fair

Good

Improve Your Reading Skills with Lexile Measures

You can improve your readings skills by matching your TOEFL Reading Section score with a Lexile
measure. A Lexile measure helps you find reading materials for your reading level.
ETS and MetaMetrics offer an easy-to-use, free service that matches your TOEFL Reading Section
score with a Lexile measure. A Lexile measure puts your reading ability and the text difficulty of
reading materials on the same scale to help you find reading materials at your reading level.
Using your Lexile measure takes the guesswork out of selecting reading materials that can help to
build your reading skills. The Lexile site contains a searchable database to help you find books that
match your reading level and interests and can help you improve your reading skills.

The TOEFL iBT: Improving Your Reading Skills

Advice for Reading

Performance Level: High
Score Range: 2230
Congratulations! You read very well in English. To maintain and enhance your solid skills,
here are some points to keep in mind for the future.
1.

2.

Read as much and as often as possible. Make sure to include academic texts on a variety of
topics written in different genres as part of your reading.
o

Read major newspapers, such as the New York Times or Science Times.

Use the Web sites of National Public Radio (NPR) or the BBC to get transcripts of
shows and study the content and new vocabulary you encounter.

Continually expand your vocabulary knowledge.

o

Develop a system for recording unfamiliar words.

Write each word on a card and mix up the cards each time you study them.
Write the context (the sentence the word was used in) to help you learn
correct word usage.

Group the words according to topic or meaning and study the words as a list of
related words.

Review the new words on a regular basis so that you remember them.

Increase your vocabulary by analyzing word parts. Study roots, prefixes, and
suffixes.

3.

Study word families (e.g., enjoyment, enjoy; enjoyable, enjoyably)

Use available vocabulary resources.

Use a good thesaurus to study various shades of meanings of words.

The Longman Language Activator provides collocations (words used

together).

There are online concordancers that search corpora and provide examples of
words in context, such as the British national corpus.

Practice using context to guess the meaning of unknown words.

Continually practice using new words you encounter in your speech and writing. This
will help you remember both the meaning and the correct usage of the words.

Think carefully about how ideas are connected within a text. The connections between
sentences and the links between paragraphs are critical to complete comprehension.
o

To understand the structure of a reading passage, outline the text.

Begin by determining the main idea or concept presented in each paragraph.

Remember to distinguish between the main points and the details that
exemplify them.

Group paragraphs that address the same concept. Think about how the key
idea in one paragraph relates to the main point of the next paragraph. If there
are several paragraphs that focus on the same idea or concept, synthesize the
key points into one main idea.

Write one sentence or phrase summarizing the paragraphs that discuss the
same idea.

Add important details that support each major idea or concept.

Learn to recognize different organizational styles in order to understand the way an

article is structured.

Look for the common patterns of organization that you find in articles.

Pay attention to connecting words in order to understand the pattern of

organization.

Write a summary of a text, making sure that it incorporates the organizational pattern
of the original.

If the text is a comparison, be sure that your summary reflects that and uses
appropriate transition words and phrases for comparison.

If the text argues two points of view, be sure both points of view are reflected
in your summary and that appropriate transitional words are used.

NOTE: References to other sources and Internet sites are provided as a service and should not be
understood as endorsements of their content.

The TOEFL iBT: Improving Your Listening Skills

Advice for Listening
Performance Level: High
Score Range: 2230
Congratulations! You have excellent listening skills in English. To maintain and enhance
your solid skills, here are some points to keep in mind for the future.
1.

Use the resources in your community to practice listening to English.

o

Visit places in your community where you can hear English spoken.

Go to an English school, an embassy, or an English-speaking Chamber of

Commerce.

Go to a museum and take an audio tour in English.

Follow a guided tour in English of your city.

Call or visit a hotel where tourists stay and get information in English about
room rates, hotel availability, or hotel facilities.

Call and listen to information recorded in English, such as a movie schedule, a

weather report, or information about an airplane flight.

Watch or listen to programs recorded in English.

Watch television programs.

CNN, the Discovery Channel, or National Geographic

Watch movies, soap operas, or situation comedies

Rent videos or go to a movie in English.

Listen to a book on tape in English.

Listen to music in English and then check your accuracy by finding the lyrics
on the Internet (e.g., www.lyrics.com).

Go to Internet sites to practice listening.

National Public Radio (www.npr.org)

CBS News (www.cbsnews.com)

Randalls Cyber Listening Lab (www.esl-lab.com)

Get CDs with full-length lectures. Full-length lectures/presentations are available from
UC Berkeley.

Practice speaking English with others.

2.

BBC World Service.com Learning English

(www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish)

Look for a conversation partner and exchange language lessons with an

English speaker who wants to learn your language.

Begin to prepare for academic situations.

o

Visit academic classes, cultural centers, or museums where people are invited to talk
in English about their work.

Before you listen to a lecture in English, read assigned chapters or background

information on academic topics.

Visit lectures on a wide variety of topics.

Record lectures or presentations and replay them several times.

Listen to different types of talks on various topics, including subjects in which

you have limited or little background.

Listen to short sections several times until you understand the main points and
the flow of ideas.

Stop the recording in the middle and predict what will come next.

Practice listening to longer lectures.

Become familiar with the organization or structure of lectures.

Pay attention to the structure.

lecture or presentationintroduction, body, and conclusion

narrative storybeginning, middle, and end

Learn to recognize different styles of organization.

theory and evidence

cause and effect

steps of a process

comparison of two things

Think carefully about the purpose of a lecture.

Try to answer the question, What is the professor trying to accomplish in this
lecture?

Write down only the information that you hear. Be careful not to interpret
information based on your personal understanding or knowledge of the topic.

3.

Answer questions based on what was actually discussed in the talk

Develop a note-taking strategy to help you organize information into a hierarchy of

main points and supporting details.

Make sure your notes follow the organization of the lecture.

Listen for related ideas and relationships within a lecture and make sure you
summarize similar information together.

Use your notes to write a summary.

Listen for signals that will help you understand the organization of a talk, connections between
ideas, and the importance of ideas.

Listen for expressions and vocabulary that tell you the type of information being given.

opinion (I think, It appears that, It is thought that)

theory (In theory)

inference (therefore, then)

negatives (not, words that begin with un, non, dis, a)

fillers (non-essential information) (uh, er, um)

Identify digressions (discussion of a different topic from the main topic) or

jokes that are not important to the main lecture [Its okay not to understand
these!]

Listen for signal words and phrases that connect ideas in order to recognize the
relationship between ideas.

Think carefully about the type of information that these phrases show.

Think carefully about the connection between ideas that these words show.

reasons (because, since)

results (as a result, so, therefore, thus, consequently)

examples (for example, such as)

comparisons (in contrast, than)

an opposing idea (on the other hand, however)

another idea (furthermore, moreover, besides)

a similar idea (similarly, likewise)

restatements of information (in other words, that is)

conclusions (in conclusion, in summary)

Pay attention to intonation and other ways that speakers indicate that information is
important.

Listen for emotions expressed through changes in intonation or stress.

Listen how native speakers divide long sentences into thought groups to
make them easier to understand. (A thought group is a spoken phrase or short
sentence. Thought groups are separated by short pauses.)

Facial expressions or word choices can indicate excitement, anger,

happiness, frustration, etc.

Listen to sets of thought groups to make sure you get the whole idea
of the talk

Listen for important key words and phrases which are often ...

repeated

paraphrased (repeated information but using different words)

said louder and clearer

stressed

Listen for pauses between important points.

In a lecture, pay attention to words that are written on the board.

NOTE: References to other sources and Internet sites are provided as a service and should not be
understood as endorsements of their content.

The TOEFL iBT: Improving Your Speaking Skills

Advice for Speaking
Skill: Speaking about Familiar Topics
Performance Level: Good
Score Range: 2630
1.

2.

3.

Look for opportunities to speak to native speakers of English. Interaction with others will
improve your speaking ability.
o

Ask a native speaker to provide feedback on your pronunciation problems (if any).

Join an Internet voice chat.

Listen to the radio, and watch TV and movies. Pay attention to idiomatic usage of the language
and different accents or speech patterns that are used.
o

Write down new expressions you hear. Use the expressions in your everyday English
conversations.

Choose a character from a film or TV show. Repeat the character's words, following the
intonation patterns, as he or she speaks. Include the gestures or other body language
of the character you are imitating.

Practice speaking for a limited time on different topics without a lot of preparation. Time your
responses to questions.
o

4.

Make a list of questions on topics that interest you (for example, hypothetical
situations or academic topics). Answer each of the questions aloud. Try to speak for at
least one minute.

Use books that come with audio recordings to study pronunciation, stress, and intonation in
English.

The TOEFL iBT: Improving Your Speaking Skills

Advice for Speaking
Skill: Speaking about Academic Course Content
Performance Level: Good
Score Range: 2630
1.

Record yourself and then listen and transcribe what you said.
o

Read a short article from a newspaper or textbook. Record yourself summarizing the
article.

Transcribe the recording and review the transcription. Think about other ways to say
the same thing.

Ask a teacher or English-speaking friend to review the transcription and mark any
errors.

Pay attention to your vocabulary and grammar mistakes.

Correct the errors and check your pronunciation.

Write down any changes to vocabulary and grammar you think will improve the
recording.

The TOEFL iBT: Improving Your Writing Skills

Advice for Writing
Skill: Writing based on Reading and Listening

Performance Level: Good

Score Range: 2430
1.

2.

Practice listening to lectures and conversations in English.

o

Record news and informational programs in English from the television or radio, or
download talks or lectures from the Internet.

Listen to these programs and take notes on the important points. Summarize the
programs in English.

Listen to them again to check your notes and summaries for accuracy.

Practice analyzing reading passages in English.

o

Read two articles or chapters on the same topic or issue.

Write a summary of each, and then explain the ways they are similar and the ways
they are different.

Practice combining listening and reading by searching for readings related to talks and
lectures you or a friend or a teacher can find.

Develop your vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening, and writing skills through
extensive reading and listening in a variety of increasingly challenging academic areas.

Write summaries and comparisons of what you have read.

Get feedback from a teacher or friend on your comprehension, language, and writing.

The TOEFL iBT: Improving Your Writing Skills

Advice for Writing
Skill: Writing based on Knowledge and Experience
Performance Level: Good
Score Range: 2430
Congratulations on writing an excellent essay! You can organize, develop, and express your ideas well
in English. However, all writers want to improve, so here are some points to keep in mind for the
future.
1.

Continue to improve your ability to express opinions by studying the ways that published
writers express their opinions.
o

2.

Read articles and essays written by professional writers that express opinions about an
issue (for example, a social, environmental, or educational issue).

Identify the writers opinion or opinions.

Notice how the writer addresses possible objections to the opinion, if the writer
discusses these.

Outline the article and note the different ways the writer supports the ideas.

Write a response to the opinion essay or article in English, taking the opposite
viewpoint.

Outline your response, noting the methods you used to support your ideas.

Continue to develop your ability to express and organize ideas by outlining and recognizing the
ways that professional writers present their ideas.
o

Read articles and essays and describe how they are organized.

Pay attention to the language the writers use to guide the readers understanding of
how the parts of the article are connected.

Write summaries and responses to what you have read.

Think about how you want to organize your writing before you begin. You should have
a clearly understood main idea and your supporting ideas should be relevant and
developed with explanations, examples, and reasoning. A good strategy is to organize
your main ideas into paragraphs that each have a topic sentence that clearly relates to
your main point.

Use appropriate linking devices to make sure your reader can follow the ways in which
you relate your information and connect your supporting ideas to your main point.

Get feedback from a teacher or friend on your use of language, and how you have
organized your ideas.

Continue to develop your vocabulary, grammar, and writing skills through extensive
reading in challenging academic areas.