The TOEFL speaking section is the third part of the TOEFL iBT and the fourth part of the TOEFL Essentials. During the speaking test, you will see or hear prompts and then record your answers on the computer. The TOEFL speaking tasks are graded by an examiner somewhere else, not someone at your test center. The speaking test on the iBT lasts 17 minutes and on Essentials it lasts 13 minutes. It is the shortest section of the TOEFL. There was no speaking test on the TOEFL PBT.
The TOEFL iBT speaking test is made up of 4 tasks, 1 which is so-called “independent” and 3 of which are so-called “integrated”. You must do the tasks on the TOEFL speaking test in order and cannot go back to previous questions. The independent speaking task comes first.
Task 1: Choice – You will be presented with two options and asked to choose one and explain your choice. You have 15 seconds to prepare and 45 seconds to record your answer.
The integrated tasks on the TOEFL speaking test require that you read and/or listen to something and then respond to a prompt related to what you read and heard.
Task 2: The first integrated task requires you to read a short text (maximum 100 words) and listen to a short recording related to the same subject (maximum 80 seconds), then record your response to a prompt. This task has 30 seconds of preparation time after you have listened to the recording, then 60 seconds in which to record your answer.
Task 3: The second integrated task requires you to read a short excerpt of an academic text and listen to a short lecture on the same subject. You must then respond to a prompt related to what you’ve read and heard. You have 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to record your answer.
Task 4: The last task on the TOEFL iBT speaking test requires that you listen to a short academic lecture and then record a summary of what you’ve heard. On this TOEFL speaking task you will have 20 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to record your answer.
The TOEFL Essentials speaking test is made up of 3 task types with a total of 19 recordings. For the first 6 recordings, you will read one side of a dialog. You will hear a recording and then see your expected response on the screen. You must read that response aloud. The second task type is listen and repeat. You will hear 8 sentences aloud and must repeat them. The final speaking task is a simulated interview. You will watch a video with 5 questions about yourself and be given time to respond to each one.
After you have completed the TOEFL Essentials speaking tasks, you will record a personal video statement in response to two questions. This recording is not scored, but it will be available for universities to watch as part of your application package. For each question, you will have 30 seconds to prepare and 2 minutes to record yourself.
During all of the TOEFL speaking test you may take notes which you can use during your recorded speaking time. Each of the TOEFL iBT speaking tasks is scored on a scale of 0 to 4 with 4 being the highest. Your combined score on all speaking tasks is then converted to a score between 0 and 30 for the TOEFL iBT speaking section overall. A score of 25 or higher is considered a good score on the TOEFL iBT speaking section. The speaking section of the TOEFL Essentials is scored from 0 to 12. A score of 9 or above is considered a good score.
The last part of the TOEFL iBT comes next. It's the writing section.