Understanding The TOEIC Exam

Information on taking the TOEIC exam in Ottawa and the path for finding a tutor or self-studying in Ottawa.

Ottawa
Ontario

What Is It?

TOEIC is a business or working person's English test or working person's test. It is created and administered through the ETS (same institution that does TOEFL.. It is meant to see whether a person can use English in the working world and in an international environment

Why Take It

Well for starters a lot of companies use TOEIC to see if your english is good enough to work for them. A number of companies from around the world use it for recruitment. Browse through this PDF dwnlaod from ETS to see if any of these companies are ones yu may be interested in working for

Beyond that, a lot of overseas universities use it for proper placement into classes. To my knowledge however it is not a test for university entry so try the others

But here's my favourite reason. Preparing for TOEIC exam is an excellent way to get ready for business English and if you are planning to work in a company here or overseas, it is an excellent way to train because you have a good professional way of assessing your business English.

What are its parts?

TOEIC states 3 parts but you might like to think of it as 4 if you separate listening and writing:

1. Listening Test

Time: 45 minutes listening; 75 minutes reading

Questions: 100 multiple-choice questions in listening (paper & pencil), 100 multiple-choice assessment in reading (paper & pencil)

Criteria:

Parts:
Listening 1 Photos 10 questions
Listening 2: Question response 30 questions
Listening 3: Conversations 30 questions
Listening 4: Short Talks 30 questions
Reading 5: Incomplete sentences: 40 questions
Reading 6: Text Completion: 20 questions
Reading 7: Reading comprehension (single and double passages): 40 questions

Two good links for the part are the ETS official site Listening and Reading Handbook (PDF).and one by Exam English

2. Speaking Test

Time: 20 minutes

Questions: 11 questions

Criteria:

Pronunciation,
Grammar,
Vocabulary,
Cohesion
Relevance
Completeness

Parts:

1–2, Read a text aloud, (Pronunciation [includes Intonation and stress])
3, Describe a picture, (Pronunciation, Grammar, Vocabulary, Cohesion)
4–6, Respond to questions, ( All criteria)
7–9, Respond to questions using information provided, (All criteria)
10, Propose a solution, ( All criteria)
11, Express an opinion, (All criteria)

Two good links for the part are the ETS official site and one by Exam English

3. Writing test

Time: 60 minutes

Questions: 8 questions

Criteria:

8 questions

Grammar
Relevance
Variety
Vocabulary
Organization
Support

Parts:

Q. 1-5 Write a sentence based on a picture (Grammar, Relevance)
Q. 6-7 Respond to a written request (Variety, vocabulary, organization)
Q. 8 Write an opinion essay (support, grammar, vocabulary, organization)

Two good links for the part are the ETS official site and one by Exam English

Scoring

:Listening and Reading Scores

Scores on the TOEIC Listening and Reading test are based on number of correct answers and is converted to a scaled score. Three TOEIC Listening and Reading scaled scores are given for each examinee:

οne for the Listening Section
οne for the Reading Section
οne Total Score that consists of the sum of the Listening Section and Reading Section sub-scores.

Each sub-score is from 5 to 495 points. The Total Score ranges from 10 to 990.

For a more detailed descriptors mean in terms of what you can do, try this ETS link on score desriptors

905 - 990 International Proficiency
785 – 900 Working Proficiency Plus
605 – 780 Limited Working Proficiency
405 – 600 Elementary Proficiency Plus
255 – 400 Elementary Proficiency
185 – 250 Memorised Proficiency
10 – 180 No Useful Proficiency

Speaking Test Scores

Questions 1–9 are rated on a scale of 0–3.
Questions 10–11 are rated on a scale of 0–5.
The sum of the ratings is converted to a scaled score of 0–200.
Eight proficiency levels are provided.

SPEAKING Scaled Score Proficiency Level

0–30 = 1
40–50 = 2
60–70 = 3
80–100= 4
110–120 = 5
130–150 = 6
160–180 = 7
190–200 = 8

Writing Test Scores

Questions 1–5 are rated on a scale of 0–3.
Questions 6–7 are rated on a scale of 0–4.
Question 8 is rated on a scale of 0–5.
The sum of the ratings is converted to a scaled score of 0–200.
Nine proficiency levels are provided.

WRITING Scaled Score Proficiency Level
0–30 = 1
40 = 2
50–60 = 3
70–80 = 4
90–100 = 5
110–130 = 6
140–160 = 7
170–190 = 8
200= 9

Self Study Resources

Since TOEIC is such an established test, there are many ways to self-study TOEFL at no cost. We provide our own tips as well as useful links to in our TOEIC Tips page. There you will find a wealth of resources and free exams from the more reputable sources. For free practice we provide pages on reading and listening and speaking and writing.

TOEIC Tutors

The idea behind getting a tutor is to receive some guided practice through the practice tests so that you cn thn take over the process and do the self study materials. You will receive feedback and tips and take it from there. A tutorial generally lasts for just 4- 5 lessons and cover all the sub-skills (ie listening, reading speaking and writing). Go to our TOEIC tutor page and check availability.

TOEIC Classes

There are few classes specifically designed fo TOEIC. ACDE language school and CLLC in Ottawa hold Academic English classes that they say cover IELTS, TOEFL, CAEL, and TOEIC Preparation and EF has an online course in TOEIC. There are a number of schools in Montreal.

TOEIC Exam Center

There is a location that holds the TOEIC exam and it is in the University OF Ottawa. Go to our TOEIC Exam in Ottawa Location page to get the exact address and take a look at the dates fees and policies for taking TOEIC