54 Yaguchidai, Naka-ku, Yokohama, 231-0831, Japan
What is TOEIC®?
TOEIC® is the Test of English for International Communication. It is given by Educational Testing Service (ETS). TOEIC® is designed to test a non-native speaker’s English ability. Most of the expressions, idioms and grammar is from American English. It seems that TOEIC® actually tests your ability to take a multiple-choice exam.
What does the TOEIC® test?
TOEIC® tests business English. That is English that is used at work and in situations related to work. Therefore it covers corporate development, dining out, entertainment, finance and budgeting, general business, health, housing or corporate property, manufacturing, offices, personnel, purchasing, technical areas and travel.
TOEIC® does not test academic English or factual information.
The TOEIC® test is a two-hour multiple-choice test. It is divided into two parts, the Listening Comprehension section and the Reading section.
The Listening Comprehension test has a 100 questions divided into four sections. These questions must be completed in 45mins
Part I: 10 Photograph Questions. ¥ou will see a photograph and have to choose from four answers that describe the photo. ¥ou will listen to the answers. They will not be written in the test booklet.
Part II: 30 Question and Response Questions. ¥ou will hear a question and have to choose from four answers to the question. ¥ou will hear both the questions and the answers.
Part III: 30 Conversation Questions. ¥ou will hear a conversation between two people. Three questions about the conversation with four answers for each one will be printed in the test booklet.
Part IV: 30 Talk Questions. ¥ou will hear 10 short talks by one person. Then you will have to answer three questions about each talk.
The Reading test has 100 questions divided into three sections. These questions must be completed in 75mins
Part V: 40 Incomplete Sentence Questions. ¥ou will read a sentence with a missing word. ¥ou will have four words to choose the correct answer from.
Part VI: 12 Text Completion Questions. ¥ou will read three texts with four questions each. One of these words or phrases will be grammatically incorrect. ¥ou must choose it.
Part VII: 48 Reading Comprehension Questions (28 single and 20 double passages). ¥ou will read a passage which may be from a fax, newspaper article or a memo. There will be two to five questions about each passage. Each question has four answers. There will be double passages which are longer texts.
TOEIC® Score
TOEIC® Proficiency Scale
| TOEIC® Score | Level | Evaluation |
| 860+ | A | Can usually communicate adequately as a non-native speaker. |
| 730+ | B | Is capable of communicating appropriately in most situations. |
| 600+ | C1 | Has sufficient knowledge for daily activities and conducting business within certain limits |
| TOEIC® Score | Level | Evaluation |
| 470+ | C2 | Has sufficient knowledge for daily activities and conducting business within certain limits. |
| 350+ | D1 | Is capable of the minimal communication in ordinary conversation. |
| 200+ | D2 | Is capable of the minimal communication in ordinary conversation. |
| 220- E Not able to communicate adequately | ||
Setting Realistic Goals
TOEIC® students often have a very clear idea of exactly what they want to achieve. However, lack of realistic expectations is one of the biggest problems facing TOEIC® candidates. Many are under the impression that like the exams they face in high school and college, a short intensive cram session can deliver the push they need to achieve their target score.
Such students are in for a shock. In a large scale study of the students in courses of study over 200 hours the average gain was just 110 points (Saegusa 1985). The chart below shows a rough estimate of the average number of hours of study time necessary to raise a student’s current score to a given target level.
| Current Score | 350 | 450 | 550 | 650 | 750 | 850 | 950 |
| 250 | 200 | 425 | 700 | 950 | 1150 | 1450 | 1750 |
| 350 | 225 | 450 | 700 | 950 | 1225 | 1550 | |
| 450 | 225 | 450 | 700 | 975 | 1300 | ||
| 550 | 225 | 450 | 725 | 1050 | |||
| 650 | 225 | 500 | 825 | ||||
| 750 | 275 | 600 | |||||
| 850 | 325 |
Unlike college exams, the TOEIC® test doesn’t measure knowledge of a few key topics or subject areas. Doing well demands an extensive vocabulary (English has over 600,000 non-technical words excluding idioms, phrases, and collocations), highly-developed listening skills, and a solid grammatical model. To make major gains on the test a student to develop their overall knowledge of English. There are no tricks, secrets, or short cuts. As a teacher it is important to help students understand the magnitude of the challenge.
Student Needs
The first step to raising a student’s score is understanding the challenges that the TOEIC® test presents. These challenges fall into two categories test taking skills and linguistic skills.
Test Taking Skills
- Familiarity with the test format, instructions and question types.
- Time management
- Efficiency of information processing
- Awareness of features that can make incorrect answer choices attractive
Linguistic Skills
- Familiarity with the different native speaking accents
- Awareness of the sound changes that occur in natural English
- Understanding language in use (Conversation English)
- Vocabulary and grammatical understanding