New TOEFL Exam Pattern and Section-wise Syllabus for 2021 Applicants

TOEFL is the universal English Proficiency test for candidates who wish to study abroad in American and Canadian universities. This standardized test has gone through many changes in the past few years. And recently a new exam pattern has been released with an updated syllabus. Go through this article to have a complete idea of the new TOEFL Exam pattern for 2021 and the section-wise syllabus.

TOFEL exam has four sections which are Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing. Each section has different time limits and different questioning patterns. Below is the table with the maximum score range and the average score by most of the candidates for each section.

Section	Score Range	Average score
Reading	0-30	20
Listening	0-30	19
Speaking	0-30	19
Writing	0-30	20
Total	0-120	80

What is the new Exam Pattern for TOEFL?

With the duration of 3 – 3 ½ hours, ETS conducts the TOEFL exam with all four sections and 10 minutes break after completion of 2 sections. At present, TOEFL can be written both on paper and computer-based. Mostly everyone is choosing a computer-based test TOEFL iBT, which is one of the different formats of TOEFL tests. The results will be released within 10 days from the test day. During TOEFL registration, applicants will be asked to select interested universities so that, results will be sent to that Universities or Colleges automatically.

What is the Section-Wise TOEFL Syllabus?

1. Reading

The reading section is designed to assess the candidate’s ability to read, understand the concept and answer the questions. It comprises of 3-4 passages and 10 questions for each passage. For this particular section, the time limit will be between 54-72 minutes.
For the best score in the Reading section, focus more on academic vocabulary as the terminologies used in the TOEFL Question paper will be more advanced.

2. Listening:

The listening section tests the candidates, whether he/she can understand the language and comprehend the flow to evaluate how he can manage in abroad countries. This section is divided into 4 parts. The first two recordings will mostly be related to a general day-to-day conversation between two people or monologues. And the other two will be conversations regarding education, classroom discussions, or career between four people or monologues.

Recording 1 – Day to Day or social conversation between two people
Recording 2 – Day to Day or general topics-based dialogues or monologue.
Recording 3 – Conversation between four people on Education or Career
Recording 4 – Education or career-related dialogues or monologue.

In the listening section, you may face 40+ questions and the time limit will be 41-57 minutes.
“10 minutes Break will be given in between the test”

[Read More: 4 Steps to Choose the Right TOEFL Coaching Class]

3. Speaking:

The speaking section tests the candidate’s communication skills based on the personal interview, Speech, and Discussion given by the candidate as a part of the test. The time duration for the listening section is 11-17 minutes.

Personal Interview: This part is kind of an interview, where questions like tell me about you, education, family, interests, etc will be asked. It will be for 4-5 minutes.

Speech: The candidate needs to talk about a picture that will be shown on-screen, provided with 1-2 minutes to prepare and 2 minutes to talk.

Discussion: Questions will be asked based on the previous given topic. This can be of 5-6 minutes long.

4. Writing:

The writing section has 2 questions and a 50-60 minutes time duration. A short essay has to be written on the given topic. One essay can be of a 150-word length and the other should be 250-word limits. The content can be generic, factual, evidence-based, argumentative, or justifying an opinion.

We hope you find this helpful and got all the required information. Why delay now? Start preparing for the TOEFL exam with the best strategies to crack the top score. All the best.