Grammar TOEFL

How Does TOEFL Test Your English Grammar Skills

English Grammar Test TOEFL

The English grammar as tested in TOEFL requires detailed understanding and practice if you wish to score high. The skills of grammar needs to be mastered and you should be well aware of all those aspects of grammar that will be tested by TOEFL.

Grammar and TOEFL

To begin with, this test can be understood by looking into how basic grammar is essential to score well. There is an intrinsic connection between TOEFL and grammar. This is the reason why most of the preparation classes also end up being preparation classes for English. The Test of English as Foreign Language is an exam of the four most important components of English, namely; Listening, Speaking, Writing and Reading. All these components of English are deeply rooted in grammar. Imagine not speaking a grammatically correct sentence or answering a question correctly, but in a grammatically incorrect way? The answers will not hold any good because they have been presented in a disastrous manner. If you are weak in grammar, this exam will be difficult to ace! Therefore, it is necessary to have a strong base in grammar before you begin your preparation.

How is Grammar Tested in TOEFL

When it comes to a test of grammar, it is the most efficient test for evaluating your knowledge of the same. Let us see how:

• • Listening: In the Listening section of iBT and PBT, the test-taker is made to listen to an audio that may be a conversation or a lecture at a university. The test-taker is supposed to understand what is exactly being said in the audio. If you are not well-versed with grammar it will be very difficult for you to cope with this situation. In order to score well in the Listening section, you should be able to understand the basic sentence structure to interpret what is being said to you.

• • Writing: For both iBT and PBT, you will be given writing tasks which you will be required to respond to. Although it is not important that you use flowery language and words that are very difficult, you will be required to put forth many substantial points in order to support your argument in the essay. In order to score well in the Writing section, you need to understand the basic construction of sentences and also work your way up to improve your vocabulary. For example, you must know how to say the same thing in different ways.

• • Reading: Extensive use of vocabulary is required for someone who wants to score well in the Reading section, for both iBT and PBT. The questions in this section are based on passages, from which you are expected to extract the answers. In order to do well in this section you need to be able to understand how to derive contextual meanings of words. This means, usually you may not know all the words in the English vocabulary but using the given context in a sentence you should be able to guess the meaning of an unknown word. It is a skill that can be arrived at after a lot of practice. Always try to understand the placement of noun, verbs, conjunctions and other parts of speech of grammar in order to master the Reading section.

• • Speaking: In iBT, the test-taker will be asked questions about themselves at first, and then will be asked to speak about a given topic. The best way to avoid making many mistakes in the Speaking section is to use simple sentences and being confident about what you know. Like in the case of other sections, you need to be able to understand the intricacies of the English language while you are speaking. Using basic grammar books like Wren and Martin will be very useful for your preparation for the Speaking section.

• • Structure and Written Expression: This is an alternative for the Speaking section of iBT, since there is no such segment in PBT; instead there is a section called Structure and Written Expression. In this section, the questions are mainly fill in the blanks with the right answer, or strike out the wrong option etc. Stress is laid on identifying the correct usage of English language.

If you are not very good at grammar, try to include long hours of practice sessions in your schedule and you are sure to improve your knowledge of grammar by the time you near the test.