5 Ways to Prepare for the TOEFL iBT Speaking Test

TOEFL iBT Speaking Test: The TOEFL Speaking Section evaluates candidates’ English speaking skills within an academic context, simulating real-life scenarios students encounter. In this segment, test-takers address various topics spanning academic content, campus scenarios, and personal experiences.

Lasting around 20 minutes, the Speaking Section includes six questions. It comprises Independent Speaking Tasks and Integrated Speaking Tasks. In this article, we will discuss the 5 Ways to Prepare for the TOEFL iBT Speaking Test in detail.

It is important to know the structure of the TOEFL iBT Speaking Test, before sitting the examination. It will help you to understand the whole segment properly and you will be able to prepare for it without making any mistakes. Let us discuss the structure of the TOEFL iBT Speaking Test as mentioned below. 

TOEFL iBT Speaking Test consists of two major types of tasks including Independent Speaking Tasks and Integrated Speaking Tasks. 

Independent Speaking Tasks

This is the first task of the TOEFL iBT Speaking Test where a candidate needs to speak for 45 seconds. Candidates will get 15 minutes to prepare their answers after reading the questions, to develop their ideas, opinions, and related experiences. 

Integrated Speaking Tasks

In these tasks, the candidate needs to combine their whole English language skills and utilize their listening and reading skills to answer the questions. As a candidate, you will get 20 to 30 seconds to prepare for each task, and within 60 seconds you have to respond. 

Let us discuss the 6 different tasks that you have to answer in the TOEFL iBT Speaking Test as mentioned below. 

The TOEFL iBT Speaking Test has six tasks in total as we have mentioned in the structure. You will have total minutes for this segment where you have to prepare your answers and also speak. Your answers should be in English and if you fail to complete them in 20 minutes, you will be not able to pass the segment. So you need to be more active and attentive for this section because lot of things you have to do in these 20 minutes. 

Here are the 5 Ways to Prepare for the TOEFL iBT Speaking Test for Candidates to Consider.

Fluency and grammar are important for the TOEFL iBT Speaking Test. It is really hard to track down the small grammatical errors so many times. So the best way is to record your responses during your practice session. But a more effective but time-consuming way is also present i.e. making the response scripts. It is beneficial because you will write your whole response on a paper or digitally and check for the grammatical errors present there.

It is more effective if you believe in working hard and in experiential learning. On the other side, you will be able to check the word count you have spoken on a particular topic. These processes will help you in the composition of answers for the next time which will contain fewer mistakes than the first response. On the other hand, using a time is the best way to track your response time. It is really important for all candidates as you have only 20 minutes to complete your responses. 

Developing a broad picture of an idea is important for the TOEFL iBT Speaking Test. See, you have to understand that if the examiner asks you to talk about a certain academic topic, it is not needed for every time to put your own experiences. You can provide the information that you have read from different sources.

The truth is, ETS is not interested in listening to your personal experiences as they only want to assess your vocabulary and grammatical skills. It is happened so many times that people took pauses between their responses to rethink and it will decrease the score. On the other side, you need to count the different pauses you take. Occasional “umm” is common in the time of speaking which tells the examiner that you are thinking about the idea again. So you need to reduce that as well.

It is the major and crucial thing for the TOEFL iBT Speaking Test. If you panic and get nervous during the speaking, it will give your examiner the wrong message that you are not competent with your skills. If you are a candidate who does have not that much time left for the preparation, you can develop to identify the key points from the sources. Your approach should be more comprehensive for the speaking section.

As per the Asian context, we hesitate too much when we speak in English. We think about how people will judge us and so on. Rule out this type of Hesitation before the exam or else your confidence will be not in balance and it will push you to make more mistakes. Yes, fluency and answering in the right order is a matter of practice and it takes so many years. If hesitation happens, you can balance them up with some different phrases including ‘in others words’, ‘to put it differently’, and ‘what I was trying to say is.’

Some so many candidates think that it will be very easy for them to learn the speaking techniques from the mock interview videos. If you are thinking in that way, you are wrong. If you watch the mock videos for a long time, your brain will capture the answers of the other people.Don’t do this!

During your examination, if the examiner feels that your answers are copied and sound like not yours, they will give you very low marks. Be natural and be yourself while giving the answers in the speaking examination. On the other hand, you need to bring variety in your answers to show your grammatical skills and vocabulary. 

Work on your Body Movement is important for this examination. We all know that our body movements and hand gestures reflect our communication styles. It also makes a speaker more confident and the listener more interested. The candidate’s body posture is important because it gives an idea to the examiner about your confidence level and style. As well as you must maintain eye contact and sit straight before the examiner.

Undoubtedly, the TOEFL Speaking section poses several challenges. It offers limited time for response preparation, assesses multiple skills like speaking, listening, and reading, and requires spontaneous speech, which can be daunting. Additionally, speaking into a microphone in front of a computer may feel unnatural compared to conversing with a live person.

Nonetheless, with effective preparation and consistent practice, the TOEFL Speaking section doesn’t have to be daunting. Despite its complexities, there are numerous strategies and techniques you can employ to excel in this section.

TOEFL iBT Speaking Test assesses your speaking skills based on so many factors including clarity, grip over vocabulary, number of grammatical mistakes, and confidence. Here are some valuable tips for your upcoming TOEFL iBT Speaking Test to improve your points. 

• Candidates need to deliver the answers in a comprehensive and structured. 
• You need to be very clear about your ideas and if it is clear, you will get a high score.
• Delivering relevant answers is important in the TOEFL Speaking test. 
• You need to stick to the topic with proper examples to support your logic.
• You need to provide fluent answers and fluency will help you as a factor to get a high score in speaking. 
• In the time of preparation, you need to focus on your vocabulary and maintain grammatical accuracy. It will help you to be coherent with your answers. 

Read More: TOEFL Speaking Tips: 8 Key Tricks For Success

The TOEFL iBT Speaking Test is a 20-minute-long conversation process where the examiner assesses your English speaking skills based on different factors including smart answer delivery, development of the specific topics, usage of the languages, used vocabulary, and grammatical usage. TOEFL iBT Speaking Test consists of two major types of tasks including Independent Speaking Tasks and Integrated Speaking Tasks. The TOEFL iBT Speaking Test has six tasks in total as we have mentioned in the structure. You will have total minutes for this segment where you have to prepare your answers and also speak. Your answers should be in English and if you fail to complete them in 20 minutes, you will be not able to pass the segment. The truth is, ETS is not interested in listening to your personal experiences as they only want to assess your vocabulary and grammatical skills. It is happened so many times that people took pauses between their responses to rethink and it will decrease the score. Occasional “umm” is common in the time of speaking which tells the examiner that you are thinking about the idea again. So you need to reduce that as well.

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What is TOEFL iBT speaking?

The TOEFL iBT Speaking section measures your ability to speak English effectively in academic settings. The four questions/tasks resemble real-life situations you might encounter both in and outside of a classroom.

Is TOEFL speaking test hard?

The TOEFL Speaking section presents many challenges. It gives you little time to prepare your responses, it tests you on multiple skills (e.g., speaking, listening, and reading), and it forces you to speak spontaneously, which is pretty nerve-wracking.

Is TOEFL speaking harder than IELTS?

There is no absolute “easier” test between IELTS and TOEFL despite what some people say. It all boils down to what you’re looking for, your personal preference, and what certification your desired university accepts.

Is 23 a good score in TOEFL speaking?

If you need specifics about what qualifies as a “good” TOEFL speaking score, then anything within the point range of 26-30 would give you a good score level. A fair score level’s point range would be between 18-25 points on the speaking section of the TOEFL.

Is TOEFL easy for Indian students?

The average overall TOEFL score in India is pretty high compared to many other countries in the world. The average TOEFL score in India is 91 out of 120. The average score of each section is as follows: Reading = 22.