Welcome back to the channel. Here we are talking about TOEFL iBT versus TOEFL
Essentials, the Speaking section. I know this is not the most exciting topic in the world.
I'm sure there are other things you would rather be doing than thinking about the TOEFL,
but you should be excited a tiny bit because this will help you understand both of the
tests and know which one you should take, which one is better for you, the Essentials or the iBT,
and especially the Speaking section because a lot of students struggle with the Speaking section.
So, this information is coming from ETS, from their Essentials framework, and from the three practice
tests on their site. And this is what we're going to do together right now. We're going to talk about
the iBT Speaking section, a quick walkthrough of what it is. Now we're going to talk, then we're
going to talk about the Essential Speaking and what's the difference. We're going to talk about
these read aloud tasks and how they work, these listen and repeat tasks and how they work,
academic English in the TOEFL Essentials and how it's different from the iBT,
and finally, which tests you should take, the most important question. All right, so let's
get into it right now and first, do a quick review of the TOEFL iBT Speaking section.
So, if you know about the iBT, there are four tasks. There's one general and three academic tasks
and they are long-form speaking responses. What that means is that you have to speak
for 45 or 60 seconds. The first question is called an independent question which
asks for your opinion and then the second question is an integrated task about a campus conversation.
And there are two integrated tasks that are academic talks where you have to listen to a,
you have to read a passage and listen to a passage about some academic topic.
So much fun. Like I said, 45 seconds to speak in the first question and 60 seconds in the other three.
This is a quick overview of what it looks like. Pretty simple and straightforward. I already
talked about that the speaking. The first speaking question looks something like this. This is from
ETS' website. Learning through online courses is more effective than learning in the traditional
classroom, and you have to speak about your opinion for 45 seconds. Here are a couple other examples of
questions that you could be asked. For example, some people prefer to read physical books while
others prefer to read electronic books. Which do you prefer? And do you agree or disagree
co-workers make the best friends? Those are just a couple of simple examples of question one
asking for your opinion question. Two. You'll have a reading passage that you have 45 seconds to read.
This is about something that changes on campus, it's like an announcement. This is about scheduling
with an advisor, and then you get asked a question and you, I'm sorry, then you have to listen
and then answer a question about the passages. The third question is very similar. You have to read
a short reading passage. This time it's an academic passage. And then you have to listen about the same
topic and then you have 60 seconds to speak about it. And finally, question four. You only listen to an
academic passage, it takes about a minute or two, and then you have to speak about it for 60 seconds.
The Essentials Test is different, very different.
There are three parts, and there are 19 tasks. That's right, 19 tasks. 4 tasks in the iBT and
19 tasks in the Essentials Test, a lot more. And I'm going to explain what those are right now.
There's a mix of repeating, of reading, repeating, and long-form speaking responses. You have
six read aloud tasks, eight listen and repeat tasks, and then there's an interview where you have five
tasks to do. I'll explain that in a minute. This is a read aloud task, it's pretty simple, you
basically read what is written. So, here you would have to read, "Hi, I've been doing okay. How are you?"
You don't have to sound so sarcastic like I do, but so that's, you have 15 seconds to do that.
Some of these read aloud, about four or five of them, most of them, will you'll have 40
seconds to read, and they'll be longer. So, you have to say, "You know, my friend
and I want to room together next semester, so ... " and you have to read this whole thing.
The next thing is listen and repeat. You see some type of image, this example here is a form and then
this example here is a campus map, and then you have to repeat the words that are said. There are
a couple that are pretty short, that are only eight seconds, there are three of them, where, there's an
example here, you listen and you hear, this form is for new members, so you hear that phrase,
"This form is for new members." You only hear that once, and then you have to repeat what you heard.
There are three where you have 10 seconds to repeat, so these are going to be a little bit
longer, you listen, the next box is for you
to explain why you want to join the team, and then you have to repeat that. So, you have to remember this, it's kind of like a memory test.
And then 12 seconds, two questions that are 12 seconds, where the sentence is even longer.
Last, state your availability for evening club activities and group rehearsals,
and then you have to repeat that. So, that's the listen and repeat.
These will look a little bit more familiar, these interview questions. The first one is 30 seconds.
This is an example here, "What's your favorite type of music?" And then the next four questions, you have
to speak for 45 seconds. So for example, "Which do you prefer, seeing music performances in person
or watching videos of those performances and why?" And you have to speak for 45 seconds about that.
So, that's the TOEFL Essentials Test. I know that's a lot of information at one time,
so I'm going to break that down a little bit and explain how you can do well on each of these tasks
and which test is actually easier. You might be surprised by my answer here. So to go back
to the chart here. This test is not adaptive, the Speaking section of the Essentials is not adaptive,
it's going to be the same for everybody, no matter how well or terrible you're doing, it's going to
be the same for everybody, just like the iBT. Let me go back to these question types. So, read aloud.
You might be thinking to yourself, "Why would they have me do this?
Why do I have to just read what I see on the page? Doesn't that seem kind of easy and simple?"
It's easier than answering a question, but what they're listening for is things like if you drop
an -s, if you add an article, things like that. So, for example, I'm going to read this first part here,
"My friend and I want a room together next semester, so we're looking for a place with
with two bedrooms." Now, you hear how I just kind of paused with two bedrooms. I gave
a little stutter. That would actually hurt my score and that's going to happen to you,
when you do this. It's just very natural, we need time to think, we make a mistake, it happens.
In the last week, we've probably looked look to more than 10 different places. Now, look I said
look to instead of look at, so these are the little things that could come up when you're
reading aloud that could hurt your score. So, you also have to think about the rhythm, the pace.
So, even though it seems kind of easy to do, there's quite a bit of evidence to suggest that
reading aloud and doing it well is a way to judge somebody's fluency in a language. So, that's why
they have these read aloud tasks. Listen and repeat, it's the same idea. It seems kind of simple,
but a good measure of fluency is to see how much you can repeat what somebody said
accurately. A lot of times you'll hear something like this statement, I'll give you an example like
this one here. "Last. state your availability for evening club activities and group rehearsals."
Maybe, I heard that, I say okay, and I repeat. I say, "Last, state your availability for evening classes
and group rehearse rehearsal," so maybe I stutter, rehearse, rehearsal, I didn't put rehearsals with an
- s, I should have had an -s there, rehearsals, but I didn't remember that and I said evening classes
instead of evening club activities, these are tiny little things, but they do come up
when you're trying to remember what you heard. So, there is evidence to suggest that the
more that somebody can repeat accurately what they just heard, the higher their fluency level.
That's why these types of questions are here. So, that's the read aloud and listen and repeat.
Which test is easier? Well, one thing that's a little tricky about this essentials test
is that there are five opinion questions, on the iBT there's just one. What do I mean? In the iBT
you have question 1 which you have 15 seconds to prepare and 45 seconds to speak about your opinion.
Questions 2, 3, and 4 you're reporting information from the reading passage or the listening passage.
In this Essentials Test, you have this person asking you a question, what's your favorite type
of music and asking you more questions about this same theme. Do you prefer music performances or
watching videos of these performances? Maybe what kind of music do you like. Do you think kids in
school should study music? Do you think it should be required? So, they ask you a lot of questions
about your opinion on the same theme. So, why did they change this well? I don't know exactly, but one
idea is that asking questions about the same theme, let's say music, what kind of music do you like, do
you play an instrument, how should kids be educated about music, that that's more of a show of fluency
by having the same theme within the questions. So, they ask you five questions about your opinion
and you have to speak about your opinion for 45 seconds, that's kind of hard to do, to be honest.
There was one question I saw in the Essentials Test, it was something like, "Do you have a mobile
phone?" Yeah, that's a one-second answer. Yeah, I have a phone. Yes, of course, I have a phone. I know I have
to speak for 30 seconds about that, what am I going to say? You know, yeah, I have a phone, and
it's nice. I like having a phone, I think everyone has one. You know, I can talk to my friends and I
can look online, so that you know, you have to speak about it for 30 seconds. It's kind of uncomfortable.
So, the Essentials Test Speaking section is a little bit trickier in my opinion than the
iBT, it depends. Which test should you take? Well, it depends on you. If you feel most comfortable
speaking English in a natural and conversational manner, then I recommend the TOEFL Essentials Test.
Take the iBT if you prefer to report on academic information. So, if you prefer to listen and repeat,
I'm sorry, listen and speak about or read and speak about what you heard, then the iBT might be a bit
easier. Most students find that pretty difficult. I imagine that the Essential style where you kind
of give natural conversational responses will be a bit easier for you, but it's up to you, what
you think. But that's it, Essentials vs iBt. Smash, hit, press, touch the subscribe button, it really
helps me a lot, and I'd appreciate it. And you made it, you made it to the end, so I'm gonna do
a little bit of my congratulations here because this is the last section of Essentials versus iBT.
We talked about reading, listening, writing, and speaking. Congratulate yourself, you've
gone through all the videos, maybe, and now you know which test is better for you. Good luck guys.
Don't forget to visit tstprep.com and I'll see you in the next video. Alright, take care guys.