Tugas Softskill 1 - TOEFL

Being proficient in english is quite important nowadays as we know that it is our international language. many institutions need their members or applicants to be fluent in english. english proficiency of the member or applicants often measured by various tests. one of them is TOEFL test.

Definition About TOEFL

The Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL, is a test which measures people’s English language skills to see if they are good enough to take a course at University or graduate school in English-speaking countries. It is for people whose native language is not English. It measures how well a person uses listening, reading, speaking and writing skills to perform academic tasks. This test is accepted by more than 7,500 colleges, universities, and agencies in more than 130 countries; which means it is the most widely recognized English test in the world. TOEFL includes three aspects:

1. Listening Comprehension
2. Structure and Written Expression
3. Reading Comprehension

(https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOEFL)

Functions of TOEFL

1. Entrance or graduation requirements at the level of institutions of higher education in Indonesia.
2. Placement test and evaluation test in language institutions.
3. Requirements for a list of scholarship programs such as: Australian Development Scholarships, StuNed, DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), ACHIEVEMENT, Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Program and programs of government agencies such as the Ministry of Communication and Information.
4. Part of the program of education, training and career development of government institutions such as Depantemen Overseas Education and Training.

(http://www.eduers.com/toeflibt/Sample-TOEFL-Reading-Questions.htm)

Experience and Step of the TOEFL

TOEFL test is a test to measure our english proficiency. This test is commonly taken by people from countries where English is not the first language. Most of the time, it is required to take this test when we are planning to apply for a scholarship or a job. As one of many scholarship applicants, I used to take this test. The TOEFL test consists of three sections: listening comprehension, structure and written expressions and reading comprehension.

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

We will listen to either a conversation or description by english speakers and have to answer the questions correctly. This section won’t be much trouble if we listen to the recordings carefully. I did occasionally find this section troublesome as I would panic and couldn’t follow certain recordings. I was then unable to answer several questions. The key is to stay focused and don’t panic because some questions are linked to one another.

STRUCTURE AND WRITTEN EXPRESSIONS

Most people would find this section the most difficult. It also has the shortest given time to answer the questions. We need to broaden our vocabularies and strengthen our awareness in sentence structures/grammars to pass this section. The choices available are similar, which makes it difficult to choose the correct answer.

READING COMPREHENSION

Don’t be too hasty but don’t be too slow by reading the passages in their entirety. If you read the whole passage, you will run out of time and be left with many questions unanswered. Take a look at the question first then find the related answer in the passage. The difficult part of this section for me is the vocabularies as they are usually uncommon in daily conversation. You have to read plenty of articles or other similar writings to learn new words.

That is my opinion of the TOEFL test based on my experience. It wasn’t easy but with proper preparation you will achieve excellent results in the end.