Test-taking Strategies

for TOEFL

ELTI GRAMEDIA
By Sasmita Ratna Puspita
 Agenda for today
01 General Information about TOEFL

02 Listening Comprehension

03 Structure and Written Expressions

04 Reading Comprehension
Purposes • To evaluate the English-language
proficiency of non-native English
speakers
• Academic purposes (S1, S2, S3),
not business purposes
• TOEFL – IELTS – TOEIC?

TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language

IELTS: International English Language Testing System
TOEIC: Test of English for International Communication
Kinds of • TOEFL simulation test (Not
TOEFL recommended, unofficial)
TEST • ITP TOEFL test (official
certificate)
• IBT TOEFL test (official
certificate, internationally
recognized)
 Number of
Questions &
Duration
Number of
Section Questions Duration Score Scale
Listening Comprehension 50 35 minutes 31–68

Structure and Written 40 25 minutes 31–68

Expression
Reading Comprehension 50 55 minutes 31–67

TOTAL 140 115 minutes 310–677

Sample of
Answer
sheet
A sample of
certificate
Your target • 310 (lowest) – 677 (highest)
of TOEFL • 450? 500? 550?

score • Depends on the university

requirements
Sections in • Listening Comprehension measures the
ability to understand spoken English as it is
TOEFL used in colleges and universities.
• Structure and Written Expression measures
recognition of selected structural and
grammatical points in standard written
English.
• Reading Comprehension measures the
ability to read and understand academic
reading material written in English.
 Listening • 50 items – 35 minutes
Comprehension
Number test items Note about questions

Part A 30 (thirty) short each followed by a question

conversations
Part B 2 (two) long each followed by a number of
conversations questions
Part C 3 (three) talks each followed by a number of
questions
 Structure
and Written
Expressions
Section Number Duration
of
questions
 Structure 15
 Written expressions 25
TOTAL 40 25 minutes
 Structure • 1. Structure (questions 1-15). You must
choose the answer with the CORRECT
and Written grammar.

Expressions
• 2.Written Expression (questions 16-40). You
must choose the underlined word or group of
words that is WRONG.
Reading
Section
Number of Number of Duration Types of questions
test items reading
passages
50 5 55 minutes  Reading
comprehension
 Vocabulary
 Some • Come at least 30 minutes in the test
venue
important • Multiple-choice test
points • Be familiar with the instructions
• Never leave any answers blank on your
answer sheet. There is no penalty for
guessing.
• Use a pencil (2b) and an eraser
• 2.5 hours to complete the test,
including completing the answer sheet
 Some • The recording is only played one time

important • Not allowed to leave the class during

the test
points • Cellphone should be off/silent mode
• Result: 10 working days after the test
day
• Do a regular TOEFL practice from
books, internets, etc.
LISTENING
SECTION
Listening
Skill
PART A

PART B

PART C
 Duration 3 Parts Part A
Outline
30 – 40 menit 50 Questions Short Dialogues

Part B Part C
Longer conversations with Several Talks with some
several questions questions
 General Strategies:
• Listen carefully
• Focus on the second line of the conversation.
Umumnya jawaban berhubungan dengan apa yang
dikatakan pembicara kedua.
• Sinomin ≠ homofon . Jawaban umumnya adalah

Part A restatement atau sinonim, hindari jawaban yang

memiliki bunyi pelafan yang mirip
• Grammar dan ekspresi yang sering muncul: passive,
negatives, conditions, agreement, uncertainty,
suggestion, surprise, two-part verbs, idiom.
• Progress tingkat kesulitan pertanyaan dimulai dari
yang mudah ke sulit.
Restatement Example:
(Man) We’re planning to leave for the trip at about 2:00

or synonym (Woman) Couldn’t we leave before noon?

What does the woman ask?
a. If they could leave at noon
b. If it is possible to go by 12:00
c. Why they can’t leave at noon.
d. If they could leave the room.
 Negatives Jawaban dari pertanyaan dengan kalimat negatif
biasanya adalah kalimat positif dengan antonim bentuk

and almost negative yang muncul di soal.

Example:

negatives (man): Were you pleased with last week’s convention?

(woman): Nothing’s went as planned.
What does the woman mean?
a. The convention was disorganized.
b. She didn’t plan to attend the convention.
c. She planned the convention last week.
d. She wasn’t pleased with the last week of the
convention.
 Negatives • Double negatives : (-) x (-) = (+)
He didn’t like the unclean office = He likes clean office.

and almost • Negative with comparative: (-) x comparative =

negatives
superlative
No one is more beautiful than she is = She is the most
beautiful girl
• Almost negative = positive
Expression • Berikut adalah ekspresi yang menyatakan persetujuan

of
Agreement
(woman) : This party certainly has been fun.
(man) : I’ll say!
What does the man mean?
a. This party hasn’t been fun at all.
b. He wonders if the woman enjoys herself.
c. He wants to know what she said.
d. He’s enjoyed himself tremendously.
Conditionals • Keadaan sesungguhnya kebalikan dari pertanyaan
pada if clause
Conditionals • Example:
(woman) : the flight must have taken longer than usual
(man) : had the flight left on time, we would not have
arrive so late.
What does the man say about the flight?
a. It arrived early.
b. It was unusually short.
c. It left on time.
d. It departed late.
 Idiomatic Example:
(man) : Did you have your history exam today?

languages (woman) : No, the professor put it off for another week.
What does the woman say about the exam?
a. She would like to put it out of her mind.
b. The professor canceled it.
c. It was moved to another location.
d. It was delayed.
Example of idioms:
• A piece of cake = mudah
• All in a day’s work = pekerjaan rutin
• Head and shoulders above the rest = terbaik
• In the same boat = bernasib sama
Let’s try 1.

2.

3.
 General Strategies:
• Baca cepat pilihan jawaban untuk mendapatkan
gambaran percapakan yang akan didengar
• Sembari mendengarkan percakapan, kita bisa
memperkirakan pertanyaan apa yang akan muncul
sesuai dengan pilihan jawaban yang ada

Part B • Fokus pada: topic pembicaraan, siapa pembicaranya,

dimana pembicaraan ini terjadi, kapan pembicaraan ini
terjadi
• Cobalah untuk menentukan opsi jawaban yang terbaik
• Pertanyaan yang muncul biasaya sesuai dengan urutan
yang dibicarakan.
Example How

How
(vehicle)

What

Where/
what

What
How does the woman describe her Wyoming vacation?

• How did the woman probably travel on vacation?

• Which of the following did the woman do on vacation?

• Which of the following is the well-known sight in
Yellowstone?

• What would the man like to do?

 General Strategies:
• Hampir sama dengan strategi untuk Part B
• Review list jawaban yang ada
• Fokus untuk menemukan ide pokok, topik, dan
pembicara
• Untuk pertanyaan mengenai detail, akan urut dengan
Part C penyampaian materi
• Sembari mendengarkan, usahakan untuk
mengeliminasi kemungkinan jawaban.
Example when

How
often

What
to do

What
topics

Detail
information
When does this talk probably take place?

How often will professor martin give lectures?

What is the assignment for the next class?

What information is given in the syllabus ?

What will the professor use to determine the final course

grade?
STRUCTURE AND
WRITTEN
EXPRESSION
 TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES:
Structure and Written Expressions
• 1. Structure (questions 1-15). You must choose the answer with the
CORRECT grammar.

• 2.Written Expression (questions 16-40). You must choose the underlined

word or group of words that is WRONG.
Test-taking • Learn the most commonly tested grammar
• The questions 1 – 5: the easiest.

Strategies: • The questions 11 – 15: the most difficult.

Structure & • Grammar in English never changes

• Learn 3 tenses: present tense, past tense, present

Written perfect tense

Expressions
 Mostly tested Points:
• Noun phrase Structure
• Verb phrase
• Subject +verb agreement
• Clauses
• Conjunctions/connectors
• Word order
• Parallel structure
• Comparison
• Infinitive/gerund
• Preposition/prepositional phrases
Mostly tested Points: Written
Expressions
• Word form (derivatives)
• Singular/plural noun
• Mistake words
• Unnecessary word
• Omitted word
• Reversed words
• Conjunction
• Infinitive/gerund
• Comparison
• Pronoun
 Subject-verb agreement:
A sentence: a subject + a verb
 Choose the headword,
identify: singular or plural?
• Banks
• Research paper
• TOEFL preparation course
• The equally striking features
• The poisonous chemical products
• The industrially developed regions
• The powerful explosive nuclear weapon
• The Sunday Times
• Boogie Nights, a 1997 American drama movie,
 Choose the headword:
Be careful with the prepositions
• The study of human populations
• State universities in Australia
• A dangerous pollutant in smog
• The emerging market in Japan
• The recovery of economy in Indonesia
• The classical spirit in English literature
• The proteins of greatest interest to biochemists
• The prerequisite for membership in the diverse community
Find the • J. K. Rowling, a British novelist, is best known as the
author of the Harry Potter fantasy series.

subject • New York City, the most populous city in the United
States, is located in the state of New York
• Susan Tolsky, an American actress, is perhaps best
known for her role as Biddie Cloom on the comedy
Western series Here come the Brides.
 Focus on the verb in the
present tense
– All students conduct a field research in different
places.
– The best student conducts the research very quickly.
– Subject: singular verb : plural

– Subject: plural verb : singular

 Focus on the verb
(verb phrase)
– The research is done in 3 weeks.
– The researches are being done by a team.
– The research report is sent to the donors.
– The research report is being edited.
– The research reports were translated into English.
– The research leader has done all the research process.
– The researches have been done in different areas.
Example of TOEFL Test:
Testing the verb
 Testing
the subject
Testing the
appositive
Testing the double subjects
Testing the
reduced
clause:
Present
participle
 Testing the
reduced clause:
Past participle
 Testing
the subject
and
the verb
together
 Testing
passive
sentences
 Testing the
three tenses:
Present Tense
Past Tense
Present Perfect Tense
Analyzing
complex
sentences
(connector)
Simplifying
the complex
sentence
READING
SECTION
Reading
Skill

55 menit

50 pertanyaan
 • Skimming (membaca cepat) untuk menentukan ide
pokok dan struktur bacaan
• Lihat pertanyaan untuk menentukan jalan pintas
menemukan jawaban, tanpa harus membaca
keseluruhan teks

General • Untuk ide pokok, cari pada kalimat pertama tiap

paragraf

Strategies • Untuk pertanyaan mengenai detail, baik tersurat

ataupun tersirat, cari kata kunci pada teks
• Jika menghadapi kesulitan pada pertanyaan kosakata,
pahami konteks penggunaan kata tersebut pada teks
Ide pokok
 Stated
detail
questions
Unstated detail
questions
Implied
detail
Transition
questions
The Peales were a distinguished family of American artists. Charles Willson Peale is best remembered for his
portraits of leading figures of the American Revolution. He painted portraits of Franklin and Jefferson, and over
a dozen of George Washington. His life-size portrait of his sons Raphaelle and Titian was so realistic that
George Washington reportedly once tipped his hat to the figures in the picture.
Charles Willson Peale gave up painting in his middle age and devoted his life to the Peale Museum, which
he founded in Philadelphia. The world's first popular museum of art and natural science, it featured paintings by
Peale and his family as well as displays of animals in their natural settings. Peale found the animals himself and
devised a method of taxidermy to make the exhibits more lifelike. The museum's most popular display was the
skeleton of a mastodon-a huge, extinct elephant-which Peale unearthed on a New York farm in 180l.
Three of Peale's seventeen children were also famous artists. Raphael Peale often painted still-lifes of
flowers, fruit, and cheese. His works show the same luminosity and attention to detail that the works of the
Dutch masters show. In the late eighteenth century, however, portraiture was the rage, and so RaphaeUe Peale
found few buyers for his still lifes at the time. His brother Rembrandt studied under his father and painted
portraits of many noted people, including one of George Washington. Another brother, Rubens Peale, painted
mostly landscapes and portraits.
James Peale, the brother of Charles Willson Peale, specialized in miniatures. His daughter Sarah Miriam
Peale was probably the first professional female portrait painter in America.
What is the main topic of the passage?
(A) The life of Charles Willson Peale
(B) Portraiture in the 18th century
(C) The Peale Museum
(D) A family of artists

According to the passage, Rembrandt Peale and his father both painted
(A) Miniatures
(B) Portraits of George Washington
(C) paintings of flowers. fruit, and cheese
(D) pictures of animals

Which of the following questions about the Peale Museum does the passage NOT supply enough information to
answer?
(A) Who found and prepared its animal exhibits?
(B) In what city was it located?
(C) Where did its most popular exhibits come from?
(D) In what year was it founded?
Vocabulary • Structural clues
Skinner came to believe that positive reinforcement such

questions as praise, food, or money were more effective _______

What does positive reinforcement mean ?
A. A gift
B. A reward
C. A bribe
D. A penalty
• Context for difficult words
……. A barge headed across the lake ……..
A “barge” is probably which of the following?
A. A train
B. A plane
C. A bicycle
D. A boat
Vocabulary
• Context for simple words
……… He put his answer this way ……..
The word “put” is closest in meaning to which of the following?

questions A. placed
B. set
C. expressed
D. handed
• Word parts
Mal (bad), mis (error), sub (under), dic (say), mor (death), spec (see),
ver (turn), domin (master), contra (against), dec (ten), viv (revive), terr
(earth), etc
• Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo reached San Diego Bay on September
28, 1542, and claimed the terrain for Spain. The word “terrain” is
closest in meaning to
A. land
B. population
C. minerals
D. prosperity
Summary
Terus berlatih untuk mendapatkan score
yang maksimal, jangan mudah menyerah.
TOEFL tidak serumit kehidupan.
 THANK YOU!
Thank you
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