TOEFL Speaking Math

TOEFL Speaking Math

When you're assigned a grade out of 30, the scores from the two graders are added up and then converted to your actual score. How does this work? It's a bit tricky, but I'll do my best to make it clear with an example.

Let's imagine that you're one of the many students who needs a 26 on the TOEFL speaking. How would you actually get it? First, let's understand how to earn a perfect score.

For a perfect score, each grader gives every one of your answers a perfect rating, that's 6 questions rated a 4, which would yield 24 points total from one grader. Since there are two graders, that produces 48 points (since each of the two graders gave you full marks). That's the maximum raw score you can earn. 48 raw points will then yield a 30 on your actual TOEFL score results. Confused? Don't worry. By going back to our example of how to earn a 26, we'll clear things up.

Again, the maximum actual score you can earn on the exam is 30. What percentage is 26, our desired TOEFL score, of 30? Bringing back our basic math from elementary school: it's 26 / 30 = .87 or 87%. Now, what's 87% of our raw score? 48 x 87% = 42, approximately. How can we get a score like this? We need about 6 4 ratings and 6 3 ratings. How does that work out on a test? Something like this.

Question 1: rated a 4 and a 4 = 8

Question 2: rated a 3 and a 4 = 7

Question 3: rated a 3 and a 4 = 7

Question 4: rated a 3 and a 3 = 6

Question 5: rated a 4 and a 4 = 8

Question 6: rated a 3 and a 3 = 6

Grand total = 42, which yields a 26. If you look at this breakdown, that means that in general, you must do fluently well on 4 questions and do fair on 2. That's how you earn your 26 on the TOEFL speaking section: deliver masterfully fluent answers on 4 questions and so-so answers on 2 questions. Magical isn't it? I guess that's why they call it the "magic 26." Anyway, this should also illustrate the basic math behind earning any score that you're aiming for.

 TOEFL Speaking and Your Accent

 

Does your accent affect your score? Yes, but probably not in your case. If you're reading this blog and understanding it, odds are that your accent is not strong enough to hurt your ability to communicate (it might be; but, it's unlikely). Don't stress too much about it. After all, natively fluent English speakers don't just speak in an American accent. British and Australian accents also exist, right?

However, it does matter if there are points in your speech that are unclear. My main piece of advice to help with accent rests on speaking with power. Too many students have a lazy way of answering these questions--so much so that you'd think the TOEFL wasn't that important to them. Maybe an analogy will help. If you were racing a race that would determine your future, wouldn't you give it all you got? I don't hear this when I tutor students. They just let the words drool out of their mouths. You have to put power and emphasis behind each and every word that you say. Don't drop syllables and rush. Be calm, cool, and focused. I know, I know; easier said than done, but it must be done.