Overview

The objective of this course is to build the crucial skills needed to pass with confidence the TOEFL iBT speaking and listening sections and obtain the highest scores necessary for entering the most demanding international universities.

Throughout the course the student will be able to have a clear idea not only about the formats of the TOEFL iBT speaking and listening tasks, but also about the examiners expectations and marking allowances when judging oral responses and answering listening questions. At the end of the course they will be familiar with the dozens of official TOEFL topic variations needed for the independent speaking questions 1 and 2 and will be ready to answer competently questions based on any of them. Also they will learn the difference between a 5 score response and a 0 score one and will learn how to avoid the most common oral and listening mistakes made by TOEFL candidates. They too will receive important speaking and listening tips and be told a series of strategies for raising their scores in both sections. Furthermore they will be able to benefit from essential skills usually ignored in other courses such as pronunciation and the recognizing and understanding of different accents.

Finally and fundamentally they will be able to practice time discipline under exam conditions, so as in the case of the speaking section be able to give proficient answers within the 45 or 60 second periods allowed for the task. The whole course will culminate in actual listening and speaking exams taken by students on the official TOEFL iBT website so as to demonstrate to them just how far they have progressed.

Participants

This course is suitable for candidates willing to take the TOEFL exam as a requirement to enter Northamerican or other English-speaking colleges and universities in order to follow post-graduate studies, or as a requirement to be eligible to take a master, an MBA, or even to get a grant.

Requirements

In order to take this course, students should have an Advanced level of English.

Duration

This course has a duration of 10 hours.

Course Outline

The format of the six TOEFL iBT speaking questions

- Independent question types 1 and 2 for example: “Choose an artist you admire and explain why you admire him or her?” (15 seconds preparation, 45 seconds response)

- Integrated listening, reading and speaking question types 3 and 4.

- Integrated listening and speaking question types 5 and 6 for example: "Using points and examples, explain how the automobile and the radio contributed to a common culture in the United States?" (20 seconds preparation, 60 seconds response).

How your spoken responses are evaluated

- Delivery: How clear is your speech? (Even the slightest accent can be detrimental to your scores!)

- Language Use: How effectively do you use grammar and vocabulary to convey your ideas? (Examiners expect a natives level of grammatical versatility for the highest scores!)

- Topic development: How fully can you answer the question and how coherently can you present your ideas? (knowing the language is not enough, examiners expect you to think in it!)

Tips and advice for answering each speaking question type

-  Students will familiarize themselves with the lists of topics typical with the speaking section. (Over 300 possible variations!)

-  Students will study and practice words and expressions commonly used to express opinion and debate; an essential skill for this section.

Strategies for raising your TOEFL speaking score

- Students will have their strengths and weaknesses identified and analyzed by a qualified professor who in turn will give solutions tailored to the personal needs of the individual. (Fossilized errors are mistakes left uncorrected in the students previous English language career and now very hard to reverse!)

- Students will learn to use their time effectively and answer questions against the clock.

Focus on pronunciation and pace

-  Students will have the opportunity to improve both pronunciation and enunciation, which can both be the cause of losing points in the speaking section.

-  Students will learn to regulate speech if too fast and slow and discipline themselves to pause less. (Both Spanish and Catalan are considerably faster spoken languages and this often doesn't come across well when these speakers are using English!)

The format of the 9 types of TOEFL iBT listening questions

- Basic comprehension questions looking at content, purpose and detail.

- Pragmatic understanding questions looking at the function of what is being said and the speakers attitude.

- Connecting information questions looking at understanding organization, connecting content and making inferences.

- All the above question types cover an extensive range of academic topics for example:

• Industrial design

• Crafts: weaving, knitting, carving, ceramics

• Bacteria and one-celled organisms

• Biochemistry

• Seismology (plate structure, tectonics, continental drift)

• Anthropology

• Child development

Tips and advice for answering each listening question type

-  Students will learn to answer questions concerning the overall content of a listening passage and to eliminate choices that refer to only small portions of it.

-  Students will learn to pay attention to the speaker's tone of voice; do they sound apologetic? Confused? Enthusiastic?

-  Students will also learn to identify, understand and feel comfortable with the many different accents found in the English-speaking world.

Strategies for sharpening your listening skills and raising your TOEFL listening score

- Students will learn to focus on the content and flow of material and not be distracted by the speaker's style and delivery.

- Students will learn to identify stress and intonation patterns used to convey meanings, while learning to listen to changes in topic or side comments known as digressions.

- Students will learn to identify signal words that indicate the introduction, major steps or ideas, examples, and the conclusion or summery.

- Students will learn to identify the relationship between ideas in the information being discussed, including: cause and effect, compare and contrast, steps in a process.