TOEFL Syllabus 2023 - Explore Section-Wise IELTS Exam Syllabus & Important Topics PDF

TOEFL Syllabus (Current)

TOEFL iBT syllabus comprises of topics & other aspects of the exam that help applicants prepare for the reading, writing, listening, and speaking sections of the test. Mentioned below are the components of a TOEFL exam along with their syllabus: 

TOEFL Reading Syllabus

This section of the TOEFL exam assesses comprehension and understanding of long texts. It aims to evaluate how the candidate reacts to complex sentence patterns, difficult vocabulary, the author's intent and tone, different narration techniques, unfamiliar subjects, and various other factors. The two passages of the reading section of the TOEFL iBT Test are excerpts from university-level texts that cover a wide range of topics and subjects. 

TOEFL Reading Question Types

TOEFL Reading Test is an objective-type part of the test that consists of multiple choice questions with one or more correct responses as per the question type.
 
• Factual information related questions
• Inference-based and rhetorical questions
• Vocabulary-based questions
• Text insertion in context questions
• Prose summary questions

TOEFL Speaking Syllabus

This part of the TOEFL exam measures the spoken English fluency of the candidates. The skills required to take the test include quick thinking, idea analysis, and response. The speaking part determines whether the person is comfortable communicating effectively in and outside the classroom and navigating in a foreign country. In this part of the test, the test-takers are required to talk from personal experience, express opinions, and offer arguments.

TOEFL Speaking Question Types

The TOEFL Speaking test includes discussion on topics and prompts in different formats. Prompt audios of the test are in native English speaker accents like those of North America, the UK, New Zealand or Australia.

• Independent speaking, supporting a preference
• Integrated speaking about a campus-related topic
• Integrated speaking about understanding an academic topic

TOEFL Listening Syllabus

The TOEFL listening section is designed to assess oral English comprehension skills. This section evaluates how one might respond in academic settings, including talks and lectures. The assessment is based on grasping the meaning, understanding the speaker’s attitude and degree of certainty concerning intonation, and the ability to connect information.

TOEFL Listening Question Types

The listening part of the TOEFL test is also objective-type, consisting of multiple choice questions with one or more correct responses and reordering in different question types.

• Gist of the content and purpose-related questions
• Details-related questions
• Speaker’s intent-related questions
• Speaker’s attitude or feelings-related questions
• Structure of the speech-related questions
• Conclusion-related questions
• Implied information-based questions

TOEFL Writing Syllabus

This section of the TOEFL exam assesses your ability to compose correct, error-free, and coherent sentences. In an academic setting, you will regularly be needed to summarize, take notes, and write essays and papers on a certain topic. This section evaluates candidate's skills in idea construction, connecting details, contrasting viewpoints, argument formation, and conclusion.

• In this particular section (integrated writing task), participants must listen to a 20-minute recording and read a 230-300-word passage. Other than that, they must write about how they relate to each other based on their understanding of both. In this section, note-taking is allowed with no right or wrong answer. Moreover, the suggested word limit is 150-225 words, however, there is no penalty if you write more.

• This is an experience-based essay for independent writing where a problem or topic is presented, and the test-taker must explain the thoughts in at least 300 words. Evaluators attempt to assess language abilities, writing organization, the capacity for backing up a point with evidence, detail, sentence form, conclusion, and so on.
   

The TOEFL syllabus 2023 is divided into four sections: reading, listening, speaking, and writing. The Reading section consists of three to four passages, each with ten questions. The texts are taken from university textbooks. Other than that, there are 3-4 recorded lectures and 2-3 recorded conversations in the Listening section, and applicants must answer 10 questions about each of them.

In total, there are four questions in the Speaking portion regarding speaking about known and educational-based topics. After that, there are two exercises in the Writing section of the TOEFL exam. Therefore, the students have to offer information, points of view, thoughts, and experiences in the first task. On the other hand, the second test is a functional task that requires reading, listening, and speaking abilities.