THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TOEFL and
IELTS
Accents used:
Mostly North American English accents.
Range of international English accents.
Length of test:
- 4 hours
- 2 hours, 45 minutes
Reading Section:
60–100 minutes (sometimes shorter, sometimes longer).
The TOEFL Reading section asks you to read 4-6 academic
English passages (all of the same level of difficulty) and answer multiple-choice
questions about them.
Questions test comprehension of the text, main ideas,
important details, vocabulary, inferring, rhetorical devices and style.
-3 passages x 20 mins
Starts ‘easy’, gets harder.
Questions are taken from academic textbooks, newspapers or
magazines (all academic English).
There are about 15 different types of questions which IELTS
may choose to use. These include: short
answer, multiple choice, match a heading, True/False/Not Given, complete a
summary, locate the information and others.
Listening Section:
-Length: 40-60 minutes
Campus conversations & Lectures
Take notes 40-60 mins
multiple choice
The Listening Section presents 2-3 longer conversations and
4-6 lectures. The situations are always related to university life (eg: a
conversation between a student and a librarian about finding research
materials). All questions are multiple choice and ask you about important
details, inferences, tone, and vocabulary. The conversations and lectures are
spoken in very natural English and include informal English, ‘filler’ words
like ‘um’ and ‘er’.
-Listening: around 30 minutes
The IELTS has four listening sections. The first is a
"transactional conversation" in which someone may be applying for
something (eg: a driver's license, a library card) or asking for information.
The second section is an informational lecture of some kind. The third section
is a conversation in an academic context and the final section is an academic
lecture.
Question types that may be used: complete a summary, fill in a table,
multiple-choice, label a diagram or picture, classify information into
different categories. Answers are first written into a test booklet and then
transferred onto an answer sheet later.
Speaking Section:
-Length: around 20 minutes.
You sit at a computer, wearing headphones and a microphone.
6 different university-type questions are asked and
recorded. Your test is assessed by an
examiner on another day, after the test.
Two questions will be on familiar topics and ask you to give
your opinion and/or describe something familiar to you (eg: your town or your
favorite teacher).
Two questions will ask you to summarize information from a
text and a conversation – you may be asked your opinion as well.
Two questions will ask you to summarize information from a
short conversation.
-Length: 12-15 minutes.
Test is recorded.
The speaking module may be held on the same or different day
from the rest of the test. It is
conducted by a trained, live examiner and consists of 3 Parts.
Part 1 is a brief introductory conversation followed by some
short questions about familiar topics (eg: the interviewer may ask about your
hometown, your job, your favourite food, your hobbies, etc).
In Part 2, you will be given a card with a topic and a
specific question to answer. You will have to speak for 1-2 minutes on this
topic.
In Part 3, the interviewer will ask you questions related to
the question asked in Part 2.
Writing Section:
Length: 50 minutes.
Two questions. Answers are typed into a computer.
The first question is an ‘Integrated task’ which involves
reading a short passage (around 300 words long) and listening to a 2-minute
lecture about the same topic (the listening may support or contradict the
reading). You must take notes as you
listen. You then must write a 150-225
word answer to a question about what you just read and listened to. You are given 30 minutes to plan, write and
edit your essay.
The second question involves writing an essay of 300-350
words. The essay must state, explain and
support your thinking on a particular issue.
Length: 1 hour
Two tasks. Answers
are handwritten.
For Task 1, you will need to describe information in a
graph, table or diagram. You need to
write 150 words.
For Task 2, you will need to write an argument (eg: The
solution to the pollution problem is to dramatically increase the cost of fuel)
or discussion (eg: what is happiness) on a topic. You will need to write 250 words and IELTS
suggests you spend 40 minutes on the answer.
SOURCE: https://www.scottsenglish.com/ielts/whats-the-difference-between-ielts-and-toefl.asp
