Guest Blog: Comparison between TOEIC TOEFL and IELTS

TOEFL, IELTS and TOEIC are three of the most widely accepted English proficiency tests. Therefore it is a confusing task for students and immigrants to choose between the three of them. One should take into account a number of factors before deciding what kind of test is suitable for him or her. The contents and utility of each of the tests is explained in the following passages.

 

International English Language Testing System (IELTS)

The top countries which recognize IELTS include but are not limited to United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland and United States of America. The countries that conduct this test include India, Pakistan, China, Philippines, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil and Spain.

There are two types of IELTS tests i.e. Academic version and English Training version. Academic version is meant for students who want to be enrolled in university programs, whereas general training version is for immigrants and professionals. Both the tests are the same in structure i.e. divided into three parts viz. Listening, Reading and writing; forty, sixty and sixty minutes are allotted for each part respectively.

The reading section requires a student to read three passages of twenty minutes each and then respond to the questions which are of multiples types such as gap filling, matching, etc. The listening part comprises of a wide variety of question to which candidates have to respond as they move through the listening selection. The writing section includes two tasks. The first task requires the candidate to write an essay of 200-250 words. The second task asks the candidate to look at a graphical or tabulated data and summarize the information presented. The speaking section includes an examiner; it requires the candidate to delve into extended discussion with the examiner on the related topic after a warm up. It lasts for 12-14 minutes.

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

TOEFL is the most widely recognized English proficiency test as it is recognized by six thousand organizations and institutions and over one hundred and ten countries. Top countries conducting TOEFL include Korea, Japan, China, India, Turkey, Germany, Italy, France, and Thailand.

TOEFL also has two different versions to it, the internet based test (IBT) and the Paper based Test (PBT). The IBT comprises of the following four sections namely; Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking. The PBT contains Listening, Structure and Written Expression, Reading, Comprehension and writing IBT has a total of 120 points whereas PBT varies from 310 to 667. Most of the questions are multiple choices. The duration of the test is approximately four hours.

TOEFL is a good choice for those candidates who are proficient in American accent and writing. Moreover minor grammatical mistakes are ignored in TOEFL and the content is given more importance whereas such mistakes are intolerable in IELTS. Note taking ability is important in this test as the listening questions are to be answered after a longer selection of passage. Reading comprises of three to five reading selections of twenty minutes each. Listening section requires the candidate to listen and take notes from a 40-60 minutes lecture and then respond to the multiple choice questions.   Writing section includes two written tasks which are to be completed on the computer. The first task requires you to write a five paragraph say of about three hundred to three hundred and fifty words. The second task involves taking notes from a passage of a book and then a lecture on the same topic and then the candidate has to respond b writing a passage of 150-225 words integrating reading and listening selection. The candidate is has to respond to six questions and they are recorded on a computer. The duration of this section is approximately 20 minutes.

Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC)

TOEIC is designed in order to assess the everyday ability of an individual working in an international environment to communicate in English. Therefore it is very useful for the people who are seeking a job in the international market. It is recognized in over 10000 organizations in 120 countries.

There are two types of TOEIC namely Listening and reading, Speaking and writing. Listening comprises of a variety of questions and conversations, students are required to respond to them after listening. These include photographs, conversations, questions and short talks. The reading section includes incomplete sentences, error recognition or text completion, reading comprehension. The duration of the listening section is forty five minutes while the reading section lasts for seventy five minutes.  All of the questions are multiple choices. The speaking part of the test comprises of eleven questions which include reading a text aloud, describing a question, responding to a question, proposing a solution and expressing an opinion. The writing section of TOEIC is divided into three parts. In the first part the candidate is required to write a sentence after seeing a picture. The second part requires the test taker to respond to a written request whereas the third part asks the candidate to write an opinion essay supported with reason or examples. The duration of the speaking section is 20 minutes whereas the writing section lasts for 60 minutes.  TOEIC Speaking and writing test can also be taken with the Listening and Reading test.  

Students seeking an admission to the international universities should choose from TOEFL and IELTS. It would be better to opt for IELTS which is designed for people with a wide variety of accents and situations, unless a student wants to be admitted somewhere in North America where TOEFL is the recognized proficiency test.

Contributed by:

Engr. Faisal Sultan