Speaking Study Guide for the TOEFL Test

Important Speaking Skills

Speech varies so widely among people. You may think it would be hard to score a person’s responses to these tasks. Your responses will be scored by a combination of AI and human scorers. TOEFL Speaking scorers are highly trained, and they are looking for very specific things in the responses. They are not looking for perfection in any area, though—just proof that you are basically competent in speaking English. The following are some things to remember.

Note: Follow the directions of the test proctor on where to place the headphones and microphone during this section of the test.

Delivery

The speaking section will not only be scored on the content of your answer but also on your delivery—how you speak. There are two areas that the scorer listens for when evaluating your answer:

Clear Speech

To get an accurate score, the scorer needs to hear you clearly. Here are some practices that will help:

Use your regular tone of voice. Speak normally and clearly.
Do your best not to use too many filler words or pauses (e.g., um, er, or ah) because they give the impression that you are having difficulty producing language. A few of these should not affect your score.
Your response should be sustained and the pacing even. You will be evaluated on whether you are able to sustain your speech for the entire time without repeating yourself.
Keep your volume consistent and “talk” to the screen. Talking as if you are reading will reduce your score.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is very important. Don’t worry about your accent. Nearly every test taker has an accent; however, if the scorer has difficulty understanding your words, you may have a lower score. Don’t be brave and use words that you’ve never spoken out loud before, and make sure that the words you use are pronounced correctly. Saying a simple word correctly is better than “trying out” a new word and pronouncing it incorrectly. For example, look at the following statements:

“The Dean reprimanded (rep-ree-MAN-did) the student.”
“The Dean reprimanded (ree-PRY-man-did) the student.”

The second example was pronounced wrong and affected the understanding of the sentence. Because of errors like this, the speech may earn a lower rating. It would have been better to use a word like corrected which may be more familiar.

Remember, the most important goal is to make yourself understood, not to sound exactly like a native speaker.

Language Use

Scorers will consider two major areas: grammar and vocabulary. When evaluating the test taker, the scorer understands there may be minor errors. They take that into consideration, and as long as the language use doesn’t interfere with understanding or obscure the meaning of the sentence, there won’t be any significant penalties.

Grammar

The scorer will rate your ability to use grammatical structures and a high level of accuracy. You need to consider a couple of things:

Use only one type of English in your response. You can use British English or American English. Either is okay, but you must be consistent in your use of grammar in your response. You shouldn’t flip between American English (AmE) and British English (BrE). For example, “I prefer to stay in Main Street (BrE) on the weekend (AmE). In this case, both American and British grammar structure was used. This type of grammar mixing may affect your score.
Keep your responses in the same tense. Make sure that if you are speaking about the past, your verb tenses remain in the past. Do not mix tenses in the same idea or thought. Take a look at this example:

Incorrect: “The girl told him that he can stop by after lunch and she’ll be happy to help him.”

Correct: “The girl told him that he could stop by after lunch and she would be happy to help him.”

Word Usage/Vocabulary

Word usage and vocabulary are two of the elements scorers listen to when evaluating your response. The scorer will tune in to the words you use and determine if they best express your response. Is the language rich or simple? Does the speaker use a variety of sentence structures (i.e., simple, compound, complex)? Your responses should be concise. They should include appropriate transitions and colorful descriptions. For example, this is a grammatically correct expression:

“The student wanted to know about the new increase.”

However, this example is richer, more colorful, and more expressive:

“The biology student inquired about the increase in lab fees the university will be adding to the total tuition.”

Start now to practice increasing the level of vocabulary you can use correctly.

Topic Development

Topic development is an important criterion in this section. The scorer wants to hear a logical response to the task, how you organize your response, and how you organize your reasons and use of details. You need to think about and improve upon three important areas related to topic development before the test.

Progression of Ideas

You probably won’t have time to take many notes and still listen carefully to the interviewer’s questions. The most you can hope for is a word or two that you think you might forget. Even so, try not to flip back and forth between ideas, but stay on topic. You do not want to interfere with the flow of ideas and the natural progression of your response.

topic statement—Answer the question.
support—This can be reasons, details, or whatever the task requires.

Remember to use transition words, such as first, second, however, therefore, for example, and in other words. This will help the scorer understand your progression of ideas. You can find many lists of effective transition words online. Practice using them.

Appropriate to Task

One of the first things scorers ask themselves is, “Did the test taker understand the task and respond appropriately?” You will be evaluated on how the speech reflects the task required. Make sure that you understand the question/task before you speak. If the task is to give advice, then give advice. If the task requires you to summarize the points or link ideas, your response should reflect that.

Appropriate Use of Detail

The interview task will require you to give your response with supporting reasons and/or details. Here, give examples and use transition words that denote reasons and details. Here are a few that will give a good impression to the scorer:

Phrases for giving details: “as a matter of fact…,” “not only…,” “but also…,” “for example…”
Phrases for giving reasons: “one reason for that is…,” “since…,” “because of…”

Speaking Practice

The only way to succeed in the Speaking section of the TOEFL test is to practice, practice, practice. Even CEOs of large companies, heads of government, and public speakers practice to be more comprehensible, confident, engaging, and concise, so you should do the same. Here are some tips for ways to practice before the test.

Teachers or Tutors

The best way to ensure you are comprehensible is to have someone listen to you speak. If they can understand you, you’re on the right track. How do you find this kind of help? You can find preparation centers, teachers, and tutors to help you prepare. Some tutors will even come to your home for this purpose. Additionally, many websites have native speakers online to help you by listening.

Make sure, when you are practicing with a real person, to have the structure of the TOEFL Speaking test in mind so that you can simulate exam conditions. Get a list of topics to give to your in-person or online tutor. Repeat until you feel confident. The more practice you get, the more you can draw on your practice responses to help you formulate test responses.

Individual Practice

If nobody is available to listen to you or you feel nervous about it, record yourself and listen to your own speech. This will let you pick up on mistakes you may not have known you were making. Plus, you can check your answers against sample TOEFL answers more easily. It will also get you used to the stress of being recorded, so it will feel more familiar speaking to a computer screen on test day. There are also mini-tests on the Internet that you can record and practice. Listen to yourself, take notes, and repeat until you feel confident and free from errors. Don’t forget to practice increasing your vocabulary complexity.

Practice with Friends

Enlist some friends who speak English well and practice with them. Look for group activities in your community where you can practice your English. Conversation clubs in language centers, community centers, universities, and colleges also provide a good way to practice English. They provide a good audience to practice speaking tasks outside of a formal environment. Many people advertise for language partners. You can exchange practicing your English with them, and they can practice your native language with you. Social media is also a good place to find others like you who want to practice speaking.

Responding to Speech

There are many different resources for practice in listening for meaning, responding, and improving vocabulary and language use. Online TOEFL test prompts are a great way of practicing, as are podcasts. Find talk shows where opposing views are presented, including roundtable discussions. These are a little more difficult because the language speed is usually very fast, and there are a lot of interruptions, but they still provide a great source of listening material. Use these discussions to practice responding by linking ideas, summarizing, explaining the main points, and comparing and contrasting ideas. Record your answers, then evaluate them. Ensure you use the full 45 seconds to respond. Look for ways to improve your response and practice until you become more confident and able to speak comprehensibly and sustain your speech for the full time.