IELTS and TOEFL TEST.

Introduction
Outline
General information on IELTS and TOEFL tests
Their test format
The content of the test sections
Both test scoring
Yesterday on my way home one girl gave me a flyer. Unfortunately, I am not so fond of
collecting such kind of papers and I threw it immediately into the nearest orderly bin, but that flyer
was approximately of such kind of content. I meet this girl in the city center almost every single
day. And yesterday I asked myself why does this girl still ask every passer-by to take this flyer if
more than a half of all these people do the same thing as I did yesterday just throw it away. The
answer is simple. Demand breeds supply. What is the Ukrainian equivalent?
And it is not only about higher education in Poland. It is about the tendency for the
Ukrainian youth to get education abroad. The Ukrainian Educational Agency claims that every year
20 thousand of young people go abroad for studying.
As you understand one of the 1st steps in order to apply to the university somewhere abroad
is to take a test of your ability to use an understand English in an academic setting. Well I think it is
obvious that we will discuss English language test, ielts and toefl.
Ielts is the worlds most popular high-stakes engl l proficiency test. Usually it is taken not
only by those who want to study but also to work in English-speaking countries. Thats why test
takers can choose from 2 versions of the test either IELTS Academic or IELTS general training.
Both version of the test are made of 4 parts. Could you predict of which ones exactly? I would like
to draw your attention to the fact that everybody takes the same listening and speaking it is only
reading and writing can differ. Will you read all the components once again please. The point is that
you will take the listening, reading and writing tests all on the same day one after the other with no
breaks in between them they are always taken in this order. And only speaking will either be after a
break on the same day or up to 7 days before or after them. Lets talk about each component of this
test in a detail.
Listening. 30 min 4 recorded texts after listening to which you are to write your answers to a
range of questions which test your abilities to understand main ideas and detailed information.
Section 1 A conversation between 2 people set in an everyday social content. Section 2 A
monologue set in an everyday social content. Section 3 A conversation between up to 4 people set
in an educational or training context. Section 4 A monologue on an academic subject. Each section
is heard only once.
Reading= 3 long texts= 40 questions=60 min. there are authentic texts if they are authentic
then it means they are taken from? taken from books, magazines, newspapers which will check
your skills of reading for gist, main ideas, detail, skimming, recognizing purposes.
Writing = 2 tasks = 20+ 40min= 60min. Task 1 = 20 min To describe, explain, summarize
the information you are given in your own words. !!! Not less than 150 words! Task 2 = 40 min. To
write an essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem. !!! Not less than 250 words.
Speaking one-on-one speaking test. How do you understand it? They have a real life
conversation with a real person. Speaking = 3 parts=11 to 14 min. the interview consists of 3 parts
introduction and interview individual long turn and 2 way discussion. Each part is recorded, it is
delivered in such a way that doent allow the candidates to rehearse set responses beforehand.
Introduction and Interview = 5 min. if it is an introduction. What shoul the test taker talk
about? Individual long turn. You will be given a card which asks you to talk about a particular topic.
You will have to describe or explain something or tell about an event in your life. Two-way
discussion (continuation to the Individual long turn). You will be asked further questions connected
to the topic in Part 2. These questions will give you the opportunity to discuss more abstract ideas.
Having completed all the tasks you would probably like to know your results. The IELS Test
Scoring. Candidates receive scores on a band scale from 1 to 9. The overall band score is calculated
by taking the mean of the total of the 4 individual sub-test scores.
The TOEFL. Test of English as a foreign language. This test is mostly for academic
purposes. It comprises 4 elements as well. Will you enumerate them?
 Listening. Listening= 6 passages= 60-90min. 6 passages. 2 student conversations (2
speakers). 4 academic lectures or discussions. Then you are to answer the questions.
Reading. The passages on academic TOPICS CAN BE FOUND IN an undergraduate
university textbook. New types of questions in the test require filling out tables or even making
summarize.
Writing. An integrated task. You will read a passage and listen to an academic topic. You
will write a summary about the important points in the listening passage and explain how this
relates to the key points of the reading passage. An independent task You will write an essay in
response to a question that asks you to express or support your opinion about the topic.
Speaking = 6 tasks = 20 min. Question 1, 2: to speak clearly and coherently on familiar
topics; Question 3, 4: after reading a short test and listening to a talk on the same topic you are to
combine the information from the text and the talk to provide a complete answer; Question 5, 6:
after listening to a conversation or a lecture you are to answer the questions about you have heard.
The TOEFL Test Scoring. It is scored on a scale of 0n to 120 points. The scaled scores from
the 4 sections are added together to determine the total score.
In order to conclude it all I would like you to look at this table. Here I tried my best to point
out the differences between 2 tests according to the sections. So here they are.