knok Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 IELTS/TOEFL iBT 1. Speaking Module: For IELTS, an interviewer will ask you questions. You can clarify the questions when you don’t understand any of them. TOEFL iBT, you can't. For IELTS, you will receive an evaluation in details explaining about your delivery but that is not going to happen in TOEFL iBT, which gives only copied and pasted evaluation. Even though you have a real interview, there is a tape recorder to record your delivery. Raters will grade your test in a real interview. The tape is for reference only. Test takers can hear their recording and be assured that the tape is recorded properly. In TOEFL iBT, you can't. It is up to ETS. When you request to hear your recording because you feel that you do well but receive a low score. ETS says, "All test content is the property of ETS. It is for security reason so we cannot disclose the tape recording. You signed to let us keep the test as our property." You will feel more comfortable to talk with human beings than a machine. The interviewer has rapport section at the beginning of the interview. They are friendly. You got time to think. You are more flexible with time in a real interview with IELTS than that of TOEFL iBT. The interviewers will ask you whether you are ready to answer or not. The raters can see your appearance and your non-verbal communication (your facial expression, body language, incorporating with your tone of voice when you speak). This is important for communication in workplaces in a real world. We can see and interpret both verbal communication and non-verbal communication of an interviewer. IELTS speaking module provides two ways communication. It is more realistic than TOEFL iBT. The technical problem of IELTS is less than or never than that of TOEFL iBT. In several cases, there were technical problems occurring during the Internet cable transmission during sessions of recording TOEFL iBT. Would you give a high score to the tape that you cannot understand well?(4) IELTS will not put you with 20 test takers and force you to speak at the same time as TOEFL iBT does. In TOEFL iBT, you will be disturbed from the voice on the microphones of other test takers and test proctors since the beginning of the reading section until the end of writing section. For other portions of IELTS, I heard that they were harder than TOEFL. However, that is not the problem for many of us. You have break time for at least 1-2 hours or all days before taking the speaking section of IELTS. For TOEFL iBT, you may get hungry or tired after reading difficult passages and boring listening passages. You have only 10 minute break before taking the speaking section. If you have alternatives, why don’t you choose IELTS? From my statistics; I have many friends taking IELTS and TOEFL iBT. A majority of them got Ph.D. or master degrees in the US universities. They all have difficulties passing the TOEFL iBT even though they worked and studied in the United States for over several years. Some of them stayed and worked in the US for over 10 years. They all passed IELTS with decent scores within 1-2 times of taking IELTS. According to ETS data (September 2005-December 2006), the mean score on the speaking section of people whose native country is the United States was 22. The mean score for those whose native language is English was 23. ETS suggests institutions that 26 on speaking is acceptable score for professionals. I think that it would be more fair if all professionals including native English speakers to take the same test and pass the requirement. Don’t waste your time taking TOEFL iBT if you have other options. A majority of TOEFL iBT test takers have concentration difficulties. It is not easy to answer 6 questions in different situations that we are not in our interest in time constraint after spending 2.5-3 hours on the reading and listening. This seems to be a good strategy for ETS to fail candidates. Test taking abilities are considered to be extremely important to TOEFL IBT test takers' success. More importantly, when IELTS raters graded the speaking tests, in my opinion, they are not likely to grade the test by online grading as TOEFL iBT raters can do. Digitalized voice is not perfect. If you don’t believe me, try to say 5 and 6 on the digital phone and ask your friend to tell you what number you are saying. For those of you who have alternatives, please do not waste your time and destroy your spirit by taking the test on the machine. http://www.ielts.org/library/article8.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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