In this article, I’m going to summarize what the official guide talks about according to the book, “The Official Guide to the TOEFL Test,” the fourth edition. Today we will focus on speaking section.

　　The TOEFL iBT Speaking section is designed to evaluate the English speaking proficiency of students whose native language is not English but who want to pursue undergraduate or graduate study in an English-speaking context.

　　In the Speaking section you will be asked to speak on a variety of topics that draw on personal experience, campus-based situations, and academic-type content material. There are six questions. The first two questions are called Independent Speaking tasks because they require you to draw entirely on your own ideas, opinions, and experiences when responding. The other four questions are Integrated Speaking tasks. In such tasks, you will listen to a conversation or to an excerpt from a lecture, or read a passage and then listen to a brief discussion or lecture excerpt, before you are asked the question. This form of test can be summarized as following table.

　　The Speaking section takes approximately 20 minutes. Response time allowed for each question is 45 or 60 seconds.

　　Your responses will be scored holistically. This means that the rater will listen for various features in your response and assign a single score based on the overall skill you display in your answer.

　　Here is scoring rubric which further illustrate how response is scored. First it’s for independent tasks (question 1 and 2):

　　Here is scoring rubric for integrated tasks (question 3, 4, 5 and 6)

　　In the followings, we will detail what these six speaking question are:

　　Speaking Question 1: Independent Task

　　For this task, you will be asked to speak about a person, place, object or event that is familiar to you. The topics for this question will vary, but you will always be asked to base your response on personal experience or a familiar topic. you might, for example, be asked about a place you like to visit, an important event in your life, a person who influenced you, or an activity that you enjoy. Here is the example:

　　The tips for this type of question is to make a list of familiar topics and practice speaking about them. When responding, remember to both to describe something (for example, an important event, a favorite activity, and influential person) and to give reasons - to explain why the event was important, why the activity is one of your favorites, how the person influenced you and son on.

　　Speaking Question 2: Independent Task

　　In this second task, you will be presented with two possible actions, situations, or opinions. Then you will be asked to say which of the actions or situations you think is preferable or which opinion you think is more justified and then explain your choice by providing reasons and details to support your answer. Topic for this question include everyday issues of general interest to a student. Here is an example:

　　In answering a question like this one, it’s important that you should begin by clearly stating what your opinion is. Later, as for the reasons you give in support of your opinion, they can vary widely and may be based on your own experience and observations. There is no right or wrong answer. The important thing is to clearly communicate to the person who will be listening to your response what your opinion is and explain the reasons you have for holding it

　　Speaking Question 3: Integrated Task (Reading/Listening/Speaking)

　　For this question, what you need to do is:

　　1. Read a short passage in 45-50 seconds, whose length is 75-100 words.

　　2. Listen to a discussion about the topic, which last 60-80 seconds.

　　3. Prepare the answer in given 30 seconds.

　　4. Speak your response to the question in allotted 60 seconds.

 

　　The following table lists some important notes for this task:

　　And then comes up with a conversation engaged by two students:

　　Then the question will appear on your computer screen and will also be read aloud by the narrator:

　　To answer this question, you should state what the woman’s opinion about the tuition increase is, and then explain her reasons for holding that opinion. You will probably have noticed as you listened to the conversation that woman’s reasons are essentially the same as those of the university president, but are drawn from her own experience as a student. so in your answer, you would probably want to connect information from the two sources.

　　Speaking Question 4: Integrated Task (Reading/Listening/Speaking)

　　For this question, what you need to do is:

　　1. Read a short passage in 45 seconds, whose length is 75-100 words.

　　2. Listen to a brief excerpt given by a professor on above subject.

　　3. Prepare the answer in given 30 seconds.

　　4. Speak your response to the question in allotted 60 seconds.

　　The following table lists some important notes for this task:

Overview	1. The topics for this academic subject are drawn from a variety of fields: life science, social science, physical science, and the humanities. 2. None of the written passages, lectures, or questions themselves requires prior knowledge of any academic field in particular.
Reading	1. It provides background, context, principle or process in general. 2. Another pairing of reading passage might describe a problem.
Listening	1. The lecture treat the topic more specifically and concretely. 2. The lecture commonly discusses a specific instance, and / or counterexample of the principle or process. 3. Another pairing of lecture present the if consequence of an attempt to solve the problem is successful or failed.
Speaking	1. Summarize the information and ideas from both materials. 2. Paraphrase what you have heard and read.

　　Here is an example of reading passage.

　　Here is the lecture given by the professor:

　　When the lecture has ended, the question will appear on the screen:

　　To answer this question. you would use information from both the reading passage and the lecture, linking the specific information the professor provides in the lecture with the more general concepts introduced in the reading. Notice that you are not asked to summarize all the information in the reading and in the lecture. But you should provide enough information so that even a listener who had not read the passage or listened to the lecture would be able to understand you explanation.

　　Speaking Question 5: Integrated Task (Listening/Speaking)

　　For this question, what you need to do is:

　　1. Listen to a short conversation, which lasts 60-90 seconds long.

　　2. Prepare the answer in given 20 seconds.

　　3. Speak your response to the question in allotted 60 seconds.

　　The following table summarize some important notes:

　　Here is an example of the conversation:

　　The question will appear on the screen when the conversation has ended.

　　To answer, you should begin by briefly describing the woman’s problem, giving just enough details so that someone listening to your response but who has not heard the conversation would know what your are talking about. Then you would state which solution you prefer and explain why. Remember, a question like this can be answered in many different ways, and there is no right or wrong choice.

　　Speaking Question 6: Integrated Task (Listening/Speaking)

　　For this question, what you need to do is:

　　1. Listen to a academic excerpt lecture, which lasts 60-90 seconds long.

　　2. Prepare the answer in given 20 seconds.

　　3. Speak your response to the question in allotted 60 seconds.

　　The following table summarize some important notes:

　　Here is an example of the lecture given by the professor:

　　The question will appear on the screen when the conversation has ended.

　　To answer this question, you might begin with a little background and mentioned that the United States did not have a common culture before because of the lack of communication for people in different regions. Then you could say that the automobile and the radio changed this situation, and go on to summarize the information from the lecture that explains how they caused this change. You don’t need to repeat all of the details provided in the lecture. Instead, you should convey enough information so that someone who has not heard the lecture would be able to form a clear idea of what the professor was explaining to the class.

　　In conclusion, we have listed all the six speaking questions above. The first two speaking questions are independent questions which only ask you to speak your response based on personal experience. The next two speaking questions are integrated questions which require reading/listening/speaking  skills subsequently. Finally, the last two questions are integrated questions but only test listening/speaking skills. Remember that practice makes perfect.