With the aim to help students pursue their dreams of studying abroad ETS, the maker of the TOEFL test is now offering an official online TOEFL prep course for free. The six-week course is available at www.edx.org and is offered on a continuous basis starting January 24, 2018, so that participants can join at any time and move through the content at their own pace, said a statement.
For millions of people around the world, the TOEFL test has helped them achieve their dreams of university study, skilled migration, employment, scholarships, visas and more. More than 10,000 universities, agencies, institutions and organizations worldwide – including in Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom – accept TOEFL scores. And research shows that 90 percent of TOEFL test takers surveyed have been accepted into their first- or second-choice university.
“The opportunity to pursue one's dreams is a human right, and ETS believes that all people should have access to coursework, tools and resources to be successful,” said Jennifer Brown, Executive Director of the ETS TOEFL Program. “This free, online course is intended to further assist participants in improving their English-language skills and understanding the ins and outs of the TOEFL test, the world's most widely respected English-language assessment.”
New to the course is an additional speaking skill-building activity through which participants can converse with an automated “person” to practice scenarios that a typical university student might encounter, such as ordering coffee at a café, setting up a study session with a fellow student and interviewing with a career counselor.
“The doors of opportunity open wide for students who study abroad at universities where English is the language of instruction, and this course provides them with a convenient and pressure-free way to prepare themselves for success,” Brown added.
The course, called “TOEFL Test Preparation: The Insider's Guide,” is set up like a global classroom, in that it is highly interactive, provides access to world-class instructors who actually work on the TOEFL test, and facilitates conversation among instructors and learners from around the world. In this collaborative environment, participants can create study groups and share personal tips about learning English and preparing to study abroad.
Through the course, participants will learn everything they need to know about preparing for the TOEFL test, including advice regarding how to brush up on each of the four tested skills – Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing – test structure, study tips and test-day information. During the weeks covering the Speaking and Writing sections, all learners who complete the practice questions can have their responses scored by an automated scoring engine and receive a scaled score range for their performance.
Of the 167,656 students who have taken the last edition of this course since August 5, 2017, India registered the third largest number of test takers at 8,796, which is more than 5% of the entire global test taker volume for this course, a testimony to the growing appeal of this test in India.
The TOEFL course on edX.org has drawn more than 625,000 participants from more than 200 countries and is highly rated – earning 4.5 out of 5 stars.
