“Doing your homework” is a phrase we occasionally use informally to refer to due diligence, the careful research that someone does before signing a legal or financial document or making a big decision. Many students don’t do their TOEFL homework, or they let other people do it for them. As a result they’re not prepared to take the TOEFL because they don’t have the information they need or worse, they have the wrong information.
In Rethinking the TOEFL, I suggested some new, healthier ways to think about the TOEFL and what it means. Today I want to continue what I started there and talk about finding the information you need to properly prepare for the TOEFL.
Who can you trust?
In the years that I’ve worked with students preparing for the TOEFL, a lot of students have told me “My friends tell me…” or “There’s a man in my country that gives TOEFL classes and he says….” Very often, the information that follows has been wrong. And the consequences, or results, of the misinformation could have been a lower TOEFL score.
There is also a lot of misinformation about the TOEFL on the Internet. I recently watched a YouTube video about the integrated writing question that gave wrong information about the question. As a result, the suggestions for how to answer the question were also wrong. Many of the lists of “essential TOEFL words” on the Internet are not true academic word lists and will only waste your time.
Go to the source
The best place to start, if you want to know about the TOEFL, is the Educational Testing Service (ETS) web site, the official TOEFL web site. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to use. To help you, here are links to the most important information about the TOEFL:
- TOEFL test preparation material including several free items.
- TOEFL video library, which includes Inside the TOEFL Test for the writing and speaking questions and Take the TOEFL iBT Tour.
Everyone who plans to take the TOEFL should be familiar with all of this information. The TOEFL Tour is especially important because it shows you exactly what to expect in each section of the test.
If you’re looking for a study guide to help you prepare for the TOEFL, I recommend The Official Guide to the TOEFL iBT. It concentrates on the academic skills that, in my experience, students need to work on the most.
What TOEFL score do I need?
Some students are unsure about the admissions requirements, including TOEFL scores, of the universities they’re interested in. A Google search can quickly solve this problem. If you want general information about admissions requirements for international students, use these search terms:
- (name of the university) admissions international
If you want to know the TOEFL requirement, try this:
- (name of the university) admissions TOEFL
Many graduate programs, and occasionally each department in a graduate program, have their own requirements. In that case, add the word “graduate” or the name of the specific program, such as “MBA,” as one of the search terms.
These searches have worked almost 100% of the time for my students and me.
Are you ready to take the TOEFL?
Not sure you’re ready to take the TOEFL? Or what part you need to work on? The best way to find out is to take the TOEFL practice test offered on the TOEFL web site. If you’re not ready, it will help you identify what you need to work on to get ready. Most of my students are doing this now, and it has been very helpful.
Doing your TOEFL homework
Do your own homework before beginning to prepare for the TOEFL. Other people may have good intentions, but we’re talking about your TOEFL score and your education, so you should take the responsibility to find the information you need.
One of the ways you can be sure you have the correct information is to work with an experienced, qualified tutor who knows the TOEFL and, hopefully, has college or university teaching experience.
If you want help with the TOEFL, I’d be happy to talk to you about tutoring. You can find out more about my tutoring services here.
Warren Ediger
Dear Warren,
As a person who has an experience in TOEFL, I think even many teachers in my country don’t get the TOEFL exam themselves. So, they haven’t done their own TOEFL homework let alone us. For instance, a teacher who teaches many students and prepares them for TOEFL doesn’t sure about the structure of the integrated writing. As you know, there are many books for preparing TOEFL including Longman, Barron’s, ETS, Delta’s and so forth and each of them has its own ideas and strategies that teaches students in which way they should write the integrated task. To me, it was so confusing and even my teacher didn’t sure which one is better. Unfortunately, the ETS book which is the most reliable one doesn’t explain completely in writing section. Therefore, it’s right I should do my TOEFL homework first and then have an excellent guide:).
The confusion Sanaz describes was caused by the fact that test takers are not required to follow the traditional essay form on the integrated question. The ETS guide clearly states that test takers may use one long paragraph or several short paragraphs to answer the question. At least one of the other books tells test takers to use the traditional multi-paragraph essay form, which is okay but not required. The information in the ETS book is accurate.
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