English Test

English Test

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS)

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is an international standardized test of English Language proficiency for non-native English language speakers. It is use to assess the language proficiency of people who want to work or study in territory where English is used as a language of communication. IELTS is one of the major English language tests in the world. An IELTS result is issued to all test takers with a score from “band 1” (non-user) to “band 9” (expert user). The IELTS test comes in two versions: Academic, which is usually taken by students who wish to study abroad, and the General Training, which is mostly used for immigration purposes.

TEST STRUCTURE

In total, the test takes 2 hours and 45 minutes. It is divided into four sections to test your ability- listening, reading, writing and speaking.

Listening, reading and writing are completed in one sitting. The speaking test can be taken on the same day or up to seven days before or after the other tests.

LISTENING  

The listening test takes 40 minutes: 30minutes for testing and 10minutes for transferring the answers to an answer booklet.

This module comprises of four sections with ten questions in each section. You will listen to four recorded texts, monologues and conversations by a range of native speakers. Sections one and two are about day to day social situations while sections three and four are about educational and training situations. The people speaking may have accents from anywhere in the world and in most cases, sections will get increasingly difficult as you progress through the test.

Section 1- A conversation between two speakers, for example, a conversation about travel arrangements.

Section 2- A monologue set in an everyday social context.

Section 3- A conversation between two or more native speakers set in an educational or training context.

Section 4- A monologue about an academic subject.

The first three sections have a break in the middle allowing test takers to look at the remaining questions. Each question is heard only once.

READING

The reading test takes 60 minutes and it consists of three sections of increasingly difficulty. It consists of 40 questions, a variety of question types is used in order to test a wide range of reading skills like logic, comprehension and vocabulary.

The first section contains two or three short texts which deal with everyday topics. The second section contains two texts which deal with work. The third section contains one long text about a topic of general interest.

Three reading texts which comes from books, journals, magazines, newspapers and online resources written for non-specialist audiences.

WRITING

The writing test takes 60 minutes and it involves two task, both of which must be completed under the specified duration.

In the first task, you are presented with a graph, table, chart, map, process, pie chart or diagram and asked to give a descriptive piece of writing based on the information. Your answer must be around one hundred and fifty words and you are expected to spend twenty minutes on this task.

In the second task, you must produce a two hundred and fifty word essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem. You may be required to create an argument, present a solution, or present and justify an opinion. You are expected to spend forty minutes on this task.

SPEAKING

The speaking test takes about eleven to fourteen minutes and it is conducted face-to-face between the task taker and the examiner. It contains three sections.

Section 1. The examiner will ask you random questions about yourself, family, work, hobbies, interests, reasons for taking IELTS exam as well as other general topics. This section lasts for about four to five minutes.

Section 2. Test takers are given a card which ask you to talk about a particular topic. You will be given a minute to prepare to talk about the given topic, and you are expected to talk about the topic for two minutes. The examiner may ask one or two questions after. This section lasts for about three to four minutes.

Section 3. The third section is related to the second section. It involves a discussion between the examiner and the test taker, generally on questions relating to the theme they spoke about in section two. This section lasts for about four to five minutes.

PEARSON TEST OF ENGLISH (PTE) ACADEMIC

Pearson Test of English is a computer-based exam which focuses on English used in academic surroundings. You will hear variety of accent during the test. To undergo a PTE Academic test, you will need to attend a secure Pearson test centre where you will be given a computer to work with. Headset is also provided to aid listening. It is a 3 hours test session and test takers can expect their results delivered to them online within 5 working days

TEST STRUCTURE 

The Pearson Test of English Academic comprises of 3 sections speaking &writing, reading and listening.

SECTION 1: SPEAKING & WRITING (77 – 93 minutes)

• Personal Introduction
• Read aloud
• Repeat sentence
• Describe image
• Re-tell lecture
• Answer short question
• Summarize written text (10 mins)
• Essay (20 mins)

SECTION 2: READING (32 – 41 minutes)

• Fill in the blanks
• Multiple choice, choose multiple answers
• Re-order paragraphs
• Fill in the blanks
• Multiple choice, choose single answers
• A ten minute break is optional

SECTION 3: LISTENING (45 – 57 minutes)

• Summarize spoken text
• Multiple choice, choose multiple answers
• Fill the blanks
• Highlight the correct summary
• Multiple choice, choose a single answer
• Select missing word
• Highlight incorrect words
• Write from dictation  

TEST OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (TOEFL)

Test of English as a foreign language is a standardized test to measure the English language proficiency of a non-native speaker who wish to enrol in any English-speaking universities. TOEFL is the second major English language tests in the world after IELTS.

The TOEFL test is available in 2 formats. The first format is delivered via the internet and the second format is a paper test. 97 percent of TOEFL test takers worldwide take the internet based format and this format is desired by universities. For test takers who do not have access to the internet, there is a paper delivered test and it is only offered in locations where testing via the internet is not available. Regardless of which test you take, both TOEFL scores remain valid for 2 years after your test date.

Our focus will be on TEST OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE INTERNET-BASED (TOEFL IBT) because it is the most used. The four hour test consists of four sections, each measuring one of the basic language skills and all tasks focus on language used in an academic, higher-education environment. The four sections are reading, listening, speaking and writing.

More than 9,000 colleges in over 130 countries accept TOEFL scores