TOEFL® IBT question (IBT vs PBT)

[Itz]

Hello all,
I’m reading here for a while now, but first time I’m writing, so nice to meet you all

I’m going to sit the IBT version on September 6th (or at least I thought so…)
I’m studying for it for the past few weeks .BUT,, the institution I’m attending to apply to has informed me that it may be better (for me )if I will take the TOFEL PBT because than they can get the results faster,

The PBT available date in august 15th, so I do not have much time, AND so far I have studied just for the IBT

So my questions are;

Is there any big different between the two versions?
If one had studied for the IBT, how difficult should it be for him to prepare for the PBT within lets say 2-3 weeks?
Is it true that the PBT is a little easier?

Thanks a lot
Any kind of reply will be much appreciated

[Silvana_]

Hello ITZ,
When I started to prepare for TOEFL I had no idea what it is.So far according to my personal experience I can tell you some things about both PTB and ITB
First,there are differences in the parts.PTB has grammar and vocabulary part with test questions,reading,listening and writing-one independent essay.(I was exercising on PTb textbook to fill my gaps in grammar and it was really difficult for me)
Second,ITB has reading listening,SPEAKING and writing-2 essays-independent and integrated,but you know this already
So,if you are good in grammar and vocabulary-it will not be so hard for you to prepare for so little time.But if you have difficulties in grammar the questions will be very confusing for you because they are not so easy like in IBT

But I can not uderstand why you have changed your decision to take PTB instead of IBT?IBT is the newest and it is better recognized around the countries.And if the only reason that convinced you to take PTB is the time that you will receive your results,is it worth?!

[Itz]

Hi Silvana_
Thank you so much for replying,
Could you please tell me a little more about the PTB grammar and vocabulary part?
What kind of questions do they ask in the grammar part?

I think that I will any way take both IBT and PBT because I have already paid, and by sitting both tests I can choose the best score ,

Also, how do they handle spelling mistakes in the written parts?
Do I lose all the points for spelling errors?
That I think, Is my weakest point , and the most difficult to improve within sort time

Does any one else think that the IBT is easier than the PBT?

Thank you so much

Uh one last thing;
does anyone have any good recommendation for a web-site that correct essays?
Thanks again

[Silvana_]

Hi again, itz

First,about the writing -have you registered to the TOEFL official site- www.ets.org ? If you have then you have free toefl test sampler and you can see how they evaluate essays.But here are some requirements for Ibt essays:

Check list for Integrated essay:

-The essay answers the topic question
-Inaccuraties in the content are minor
-The essay is direct and well-organized
-The sentences are logically connected
-Details and examples support the main idea
-The writer express complete thoughts
-The meaning is easy comprehend
-A wide rance of vocabulary is used
-The writer paraphrases in his/her own words
-Errors in grammar and idioms are minor
-The academic topic essay is within the range of 150-225 words

Check list for Independent essay:

-The essay answers the topic question
-The point of view or position is clear
-The essay is well-organized and direct
-Details and examples support the main idea
-The writer expresses complete thoughts
-A wide range of vocabulary is used
-Various types of sentences are included
-Errors in grammar and idioms are minor
-The essay is within a range of 300-350 words

I want to say one more thing-I have seen The Official Guide for TOEFL and I have read the essays -there were examples of essays of scores-5,4,3,2,1 and explanations of the reasons for these ratings.I can publish some of them but Im not sure if it is allowed.I will first ask Alan or Torsten about this.
About the spelling mistakes-it depends on what kind of mistakes they are.But if your essay answers the requirements above,then minor mistakes will not affect much your score

Second,about the Grammar and vocabulary part.I will try to write you soon some frequently met types of questions,but after I talk with Alan and Torsten.Generally,the Grammar and Vocabulary part is difficult because you have to be familiar with all grammar structures,but we will talk again.

Tell me please,how are you preparing for the Toefl tests-by your own,with a teacher or anything else?

And laslty,here are some essay sites that content some usefull information,but I do not know if any of them evaluate or correct your essay:
http://www.geocities.com/soho/Atrium/1437/
http://www2.actden.com/Writ_den/tips/essay/index.htm
http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/
http://depts.gallaudet.edu/EnglishWorks/writing/fiveparagraph.html
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_transition.html

Oh,one more thing-Have a look at this pages of the forum.You will find useful staff for grammar vocabulary and etc:
http://www.english-test.net/forum/forum17.html

[Itz]

Hi Silvana
Thanks again for your responses, you are really helping me here, I think that confident is a very important ingredient for success in studies, your answers are great!

I have registered for the TOEFL but I couldn’t find any sample test, I guess I should dig it a little dipper .. Thanks for the tip!

I bought the TOEFL IBT text book (not sure which one, I don’t have it right now with me, )
and so far self-studying works just fine for me, but still writing is my main difficulty, so I am looking for an on-line teacher who can check my essays

Your essay advices seem great, I’ll follow them.

If you can send me some sample questions from the PBT grammar part it will be great, I couldn’t find any useful info regarding to the PBT on the net

For now it looks like that any way I’m going to take both IBT and PBT , because I have already paid ,and better for me to do both and use the best one of them than getting refund of 50%

Thanks

[Silvana_]

Well it is pleasure for me to help anyone who needs my help
If there is something else I can do for you just tell me.
I know how important is this exam and how efforts are making to prepare for it.
Wish you good luck and hard work

[Elley]

Hello all,
Could you kindly tell me how many questions there are on a pbt TOEFL? And how many questions can I answer wrongly in order to get 600? Is there a penalty for each false answer?

[Kalusam]

Hello Elley,
As far as i know about TOEFL pBT there are 50 questions based on taped conversations in the LISTENING COMPREHENSION SECTION; 40 Questions in the STRUCTURE AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION SECTION; 50 Questions based on 5 or 6 passages in the READING COMPREHENSION SECTION and the test of written english(TWE) which is an essay reported seperately from your other three sections. The score of the Essay does not add up to your total score of 667.
I wish you sucess as you write the exams, i will also be writting pBT on October, 2009.

[Nepathean]

A big hello to all of you people out there!

I'm also taking the pbT TOEFL in October, but something's been bothering me from the first day I found out that I need to take this test. Well, here's my question of concern: If the Test of Written English (TWE) is not a part of my overall toefl score, than why the hell do I need to do it? There must be a catch somewhere, but I can't seem to figure it out. So if anybody knows the answer to this question, please share that information with me.

Here's another question: I've took the complete sample test, and I've got 610 on it. My university demands 600 points, so it's pretty obvious that I need some more practice, 'cause I'm currently somewhere on the border between success and failure, and failure is not an option for me. The part where I could use some improvement is the listening part, so if anyone has some links to where I could download a piece of software for that, I would be delighted Smile

[Piz]

Can anyone help me...i just found out that i do need to take the TOEFL test...now the universities that i plan to apply to require a score of 80 for the IBT but it also says TWE 4.00....now what does that mean? is TWE included in the IBT? or is it a separate thing altogether?

[Nepathean]

Dear Piz,

The iBT TOEFL test has a total score of 120 points, and the TWE counts for 30 of that total amount. The TWE is graded on a scale from 0 to 5 points, which are then converted to 0-30 score scale. Based on that, I guess that your university demands at least 4 points on your test of written english, but don't take my word for it, instead contact these people and ask for yourself:

For Test Takers: TOEFL® Internet-based Test (iBT)

[Piz]

okay thanks.....another thing i'm confused about is the fact that can we use british spellings in TOEFL IBT? Does it make a difference if we don't use the American spellings?

[Torsten]

You can use either British, US American or Canadian spelling as long as you keep your spelling consistent and don't mix one variant with the other.
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Piz]

I have another question to ask..its kinda stupid..but i need to know whether the test center will provide us with the headphones or do we need to take our own?!

[SkiIucK]

They will do that.