TOEFL® Practice Online - TPO

TOEFL® Practice Online Speaking Feedback

This is a supplement to your official TOEFL® Practice Online score report. It shows your performance in a few areas of
speaking. The information in this report comes from the SpeechRaterSM automated scoring system. In the actual TOEFL
iBT® test, your spoken responses will be scored by human raters. Please note that this report does not address all of the
abilities scored by human raters in the actual TOEFL test. This information does not necessarily predict your Speaking
section score on an actual TOEFL test.
We hope you will find this information useful for understanding your strengths and for guiding your learning. We recommend
you share this report with a teacher who can help you interpret it, who can more fully understand your strengths and
weaknesses, and who can advise you on how to improve your English speaking.

Your Speech Components

The SpeechRater engine evaluates components of your spoken responses. The graphs below show a few of these
components, where your speaking is compared with a sample of TOEFL iBT test takers. The percentile value is your
performance compared with these TOEFL iBT test takers; for example, a percentile of 60 means that your performance was
higher than 60% of the total sample. In addition, the colored bars show the typical values for the TOEFL iBT test takers in the
sample that were rated good (blue bar), fair (green bar), limited (yellow bar), and weak (red bar).
Note: This report covers only a few of the speaking abilities that are scored by human raters in the actual TOEFL iBT test.
For example, the SpeechRater engine does not score the accuracy of the content of your response. Most of the graphs show
your performance in the areas of fluency and pronunciation, which are aspects of delivery. Strong or weak performance on
one of these components may not necessarily affect your overall score on the Speaking section of the TOEFL iBT
test.

Speaking Rate (Fluency) Sustained Speech (Fluency)

Speaking Rate is a measure of how many words
you speak per minute. Stronger speakers tend to
speak faster. (But be careful—if you speak too
fast, it may be difficult for others to understand
you.)
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Sustained Speech is a measure of the average
number of words you say without: (1) pausing or (2)
using a filler word such as 'um.' Stronger speakers
tend to say more words without pausing or using a
filler word.
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Good Good

Fair Fair

Limited Limited

Weak Weak
▼ ▼
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Percentile Percentile
Pause Frequency (Fluency) Repetitions (Fluency)
Pause Frequency is a measure of how often you Repetitions is a measure of how often you repeat a
pause when speaking. Stronger speakers tend to word or phrase, as in, "I need to go to, to go to the
pause less frequently. But, keep in mind that other library." Stronger speakers tend to have fewer
aspects of pausing are also important—for repetitions.
example, pausing at the end of a sentence is better
than pausing in the middle of an idea.
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50 75

Good Good

Fair Fair

Limited Limited

Weak Weak
▼ ▼
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Percentile Percentile

Rhythm (Pronunciation) Vowels (Pronunciation)

Rhythm is a measure of whether syllables are
stressed appropriately. Stronger speakers tend to
put clear stress on appropriate syllables.
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Vowels is a measure of how you pronounce vowels
compared with the pronunciation of a native
speaker. Specifically, it is a measure of vowel
length. Stronger speakers tend to pronounce
English vowels more like a native speaker.
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Good Good

Fair Fair

Limited Limited

Weak Weak
▼ ▼
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Percentile Percentile

Vocabulary Depth (Vocabulary)

Vocabulary Depth is a measure of your vocabulary
range. Stronger speakers tend to use a variety of
words. A higher score indicates that you probably
used words that are less common and/or are more
precise.
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Good

Fair

Limited

Weak
▼
0 20 40 60 80 100
Percentile
 Resources to Improve Speaking Ability
A variety of excellent resources to help you improve your speaking ability are available on the TOEFL website. Here are
some useful links:

TOEFL® Preparation Website

http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/prepare/

TOEFL iBT® Speaking Scoring Standards (Rubrics)

http://toeflpractice.ets.org/programs/TOEFL/ENU/index.html

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to these questions are provided to help you understand the graphs of your speech components.

Q: What do the colored bars represent?

A: The sample of TOEFL iBT test takers was divided into four groups based on their TOEFL iBT Speaking section
scores: 0-9 (red/weak), 10-17 (yellow/limited), 18-25 (green/ fair), and 26-30 (blue/good). Their responses were then
evaluated by the SpeechRater engine to measure the speech components. The colored bars show the typical speech
component values for each group.

Q: The report indicates that the colored bars show the "typical values" for the TOEFL iBT test takers in the sample who
received a certain Speaking section score. What does "typical values" mean?
A: Each colored bar is the middle 50% (25th to 75th percentile) of the test takers who received a certain Speaking
section score. Values in this middle 50% are considered "typical values."

Q: If my score is located in the "good" bar (blue), does this mean I will get a high score on the TOEFL iBT Speaking
section?
A: Not necessarily. Scores in the real TOEFL iBT test are based on many aspects of your English speaking, not just
one. If you do well in one speech component, it only means your performance was strong in this one area. Your
performance in other areas may be different.

Q: Why do the bars overlap? If the bars overlap, how can I know what score I’ll get on the TOEFL iBT Speaking
section?
A: Many aspects of speaking are considered by human raters in scoring the TOEFL iBT Speaking section. Therefore, a
single speech component generated by the SpeechRater engine will not exactly predict the Speaking section score you
will receive. Consequently, the bars overlap. Remember, you cannot know what overall Speaking section score
you will get from the results for a single speech component.

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are registered trademarks of ETS. SpeechRater is a service mark of ETS.