History of TOEFL
The Test of English as a Foreign Languagae (TOEFL) is the standardized
test by which the English-language skills of non-native speakers are
evaluated. The test is required by most colleges and some employers to
make sure students and employees are capable of handling the linguistic
challenges of cultural immersion. The test is designed by the Center for
Applied Linguistics and administered by the Educational Testing
Service.
Background
1. Based in Washington, D.C., the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)
is a nonprofit organization committed to researching the relationship
between language and culture. Founded in 1959, its first director was
Charles A. Ferguson (1921-1998), who had administered similar programs
in the Middle East and taught as a professor at Harvard University.
Ferguson guided the center to develop practical solutions for the
applied language and literacy concerns of international and national
governments.
Origin
2. One of Ferguson’s earliest projects was to develop a test that would
quantify the command of the language that ESL
(English-as-a-Second-Language) students and government employees had.
Ferguson and fellow applied linguistics researchers developed the TOEFL
test for the first five years of the CAL. In 1964, the first official
TOEFL test was taken at the center.
Development
3. Since the late 1960s, the TOEFL test has been administered by the
Educational Testing Service (ETS), an international standardized-testing
organization. According to ETS, between 1964 and 2008, 24 million
people, largely international students, have taken the test. Introduced
in 2005, the Internet-based test has replaced the computer-based and
paper-based formats, with the computer-based results ruled no longer
valid as of 2006.
Organization
4. Since the early 1970s, the 15-member TOEFL board has dealt with
specific problems regarding the organization. This board is comprised of
educators and government and industry representatives who are involved
in international education. A board of 12 language specialists form the
TOEFL Committee of Examiners, which addresses any concerns with the
test’s content and methodology, keeping the test valid.
Composition of Test
5. Since 1998, the paper test has been made up of 30 listening-based
questions, 40 “written-expression” questions, 50 reading-comprehension
questions, and a 300-word essay. The Internet-based test includes four
sections: answering questions on a 700-word passage and questions on 30
minutes of an audio sample, as well as six speaking and
written-composition tasks. The Internet-based test has also implemented
tables and other formats into the test.
When applying to schools and for jobs, international students and
businesspeople must often take the Test of English as a Foreign Language
(TOEFL) to prove their proficiency. The test has been around for nearly
half a century, taking several different forms before arriving at the
version test-takers see today. Knowing the history of TOEFL can help
students understand the nature of the test, how it is scored, and how
their score compares to those of past test-takers.
1. Paper-Based Test
From 1964 until 1998, test-takers took the TOEFL paper-based test, which
was given like a traditional exam. This test was originally based on
discrete-point testing, which tests one particular area of language
knowledge per question and extrapolates a score that gives an overall
view of the student’s level. The paper-based test was scored from 310 to
677. However, as linguistic models changed, the Educational Testing
Service (ETS), which administers the TOEFL, decided to change the test
format as well.
Computer-Based Test
Started in 1998, the computer-based TOEFL test kept some discrete-point
questions, but also tested vocabulary and other skills directly. The
computer-based test worked on an adaptive model: the questions a student
saw depended on his answers to the first question in a given section.
If he got the first few questions wrong, he would receive easier
questions and thus a lower score. The computer-based test was scored on a
scale of 0 to 300 points.
Internet-Based Test
In 2005, ETS began to phase out the computer-based test in favor of the
current Internet-based test. This test contains no discrete-point
questions and is not adaptive: all students see the same questions,
regardless of whether or not they answer the first questions correctly.
The TOEFL Internet-based test appeared first in the United States,
Canada, France, Germany and Italy in 2005, before gradually spreading to
other parts of the world in 2006. It is scored on a scale of 0 to 120.
TOEFL Today
Today, the TOEFL is broken down into four sections, designed to measure
the test-taker’s skills in reading, listening, writing and speaking.
Each section is scored on a scale of 0 to 30, for a maximum total of 120
points. The paper-based test is still available in some parts of the
world; however, the Internet-based test is much more common and more
widely accepted.
The Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL (pronounced
/ˈtoʊfəl/ TOH-fəl), evaluates the ability of an individual to use and
understand English in an academic setting. It sometimes is an admission
requirement for non-native English speakers at many English-speaking
colleges and universities. Additionally, institutions such as government
agencies, licensing bodies, businesses, or scholarship programs may
require this test. A TOEFL score is valid for two years and then will no
longer be officially reported[1] since a candidate’s language
proficiency could have significantly changed since the date of the
test.[citation needed] Colleges and universities usually consider only
the most recent TOEFL score.
The TOEFL test is a registered trademark of Educational Testing Service
(ETS) and is administered worldwide. The test was first administered in
1964 and has since been taken by more than 23 million students. The test
was originally developed at the Center for Applied Linguistics under
the direction of Stanford University applied linguistics professor Dr.
Charles A. Ferguson.[2]
Policies governing the TOEFL program are formulated with advice from a
16-member board. Board members are affiliated with undergraduate and
graduate schools, 2-year institutions and public or private agencies
with an interest in international education. Other members are
specialists in the field of English as a foreign or second language.
