Name: Fia Eka Safitri

SRN: 18050006

TOFL Introduction

What is TOEFL?

TOEFL stands for Test of English as a Foreign Language. TOEFL exam started

in 1964. TOEFL result is valid till two years. Also, TOEFL is offered as a paper
based test (PBT) as well as an internet based test (iBT). iBT is offered more than
50 times a year. It can be taken only once in any 12-day period.

What is IELTS?

IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System. IELTS

result is valid till two years. IELTS test is also offered multiple times a year.
There is no online version of IELTS as TOEFL has.

What is the difference between TOEFL and IELTS?

• While TOEFL is conducted by ETS, a nonprofit organization in US, IELTS is

jointly managed by the British Council, University of Cambridge, and IELTS
Australia.

• While IELTS scores are valid in US also, Universities in US and Canada prefer
TOEFL over IELTS.

• One of the biggest differences between IELTS and TOEFL is that while IELTS
assesses proficiency in British English, TOEFL measures proficiency in US
English.

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• Though both assess abilities in reading, writing, speaking, and listening,
formats of the two tests are quite different.

• TOEFL has more multiple choice questions while in IELTS candidates have to
copy words after listening to a conversation.

• For some, it is easier to prepare for TOEFL as the format remains constant,
while format in IELTS keeps changing.

• Marking is also different in both the tests. While, in TOEFL, small

grammatical mistakes are generally ignored if the topic has been handled well
by the candidate, in IELTS, a candidate cannot hope to be marked leniently.

• One major difference between IELTS and TOEFL lies in the fact that IELTS
also has a General version for those who are immigrating to English speaking
countries and would be working in environments that are not academic in
nature. TOEFL does not make any difference between candidates.

• While TOEFL focuses on North America, IELTS has been designed to take
into account various accents and situations. So unless you are trying to go to a
specific North American region, it is better to take IELTS.

• While scores are given in a band of 0-9 in IELTS, scores in TOEFL are
between 310 and 677. There is also an online version of TOEFL where scores
are provided with a highest possible score of 120.

• While the duration of IELTS is 2hr 45min, TOEFL, internet based test is
longer and has a duration of about 4 hours. TOEFL paper based test is about 2
hours and 30 minutes.

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Summary:

TOEFL vs IELTS

IELTS and TOEFL are international level tests of English that are used to assess
proficiency of candidates in English. Both IELTS and TOEFL scores are accepted
by Universities in English speaking countries. While TOEFL has a focus on North
American countries, IELTS is broader in nature. Also, IELTS has a general
version that is for people not going to English speaking countries for higher
studies, while TOEFL makes no difference between different categories of
candidates. Unless you are going to North America, you can take IELTS.

Both have a high degree of credibility and recognition by institutions that wish to
assess a person's English. Both of them test reading, writing, speaking and
listening skills.

 TOEFL stands for Test of English as a Foreign Language and it is an

English language proficiency exam produced by the US-based ETS
(Education Test Service).

 IELTS stands for the International English Language Testing System. It

is an exam owned and managed by IDP Australia, The British Council,
and Cambridge Examinations.
 International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
 The widely accepted IELTS is comprised of four parts: listening,
reading, writing and speaking and lasts a total of two hours and 45
minutes.
 The listening, reading and writing sections of the exam are to be sat one
after the other without a break. The speaking test which you will sit face
to face with an examiner might be taken on the same day or it could be
taken up to a week before or after the other sections.

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 You will receive your scores on a scale of 1-9, with 9 being ‘expert’
proficiency.