Vance's CALL resources page | Site Index

ESL Skill Areas: TOEFL Preparation

Elsewhere on this website see my page on testing in general
Check out TOEFL links on the ESL Sofware Vendor's List

Natalie Gordon writes, in August 2010, "I saw that your page hasn't been updated in EIGHT years!! I was wondering if you would like help in updating it (since it's VERY out-of-date) ..." etc. True, I am making no effort to maintain my ESL_Home sites these days and have been toying with the idea of moving them to a blog, or at least linkng them to a wiki or comment component. Don't hold your breath; meanwhile, check out Natilie's site at: http://toeflnow.com. It's commercialized, but there is a forum there for people studying TOEFL, looks useful.

• e.g. TOEFL Mentor and TOEFL Mastery
• The TOEFL Superstore at http://www.testwise.com (Viewed May 9, 2002)
• 'Longman Preparation Course for the TOEFL CBT Volume' got a strong recommendation in teflca-l 19 Aug 1999 - "really helps students with new issues in the CBT."
• Kaplan has a TOEFL CBT cross-platform CD and book, maybe http://www.kaplan.com/ or http://www1.kaplan.com/
• ETS appears to have a cross-platform CD available now too, according to their web site atwww.toefl.org, called Powerprep
• Delta's Key to the TOEFL by Nancy Gallagher, has a CD-ROM to accompany it - from a 02 May 2001 posting on TESLCA-L: "loaded with information about both the paper and the computer-based test. They have also created a CD-ROM to accompany it ...our students seem to like it. In addition, I have used the quick diagnostic test in a 2-hour TOEFL Prep Seminar that I give twice a semester and it is a very good means of introducing the students to the format of the TOEFL. In addition, the writers have taken the time to break down several course plans for 10- and 15-week courses which I'm sure could be modified and adapted for your purposes. Be sure to check this one out. Simply contact them and they'll be happy to give you a review copy."
• Building Skills for the TOEFL by Carol King and Nancy Stanley
• Another TOEFL CD-ROM is called Power CDROM 5.0, by a company called Teletext, available at http://www.testwise.com
• A list of "TOEFL training publications" at Amazon.com can be sorted by publication date: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-subject=TOEFL/103-7481986-9729427
• "Peterson's TOEFL CBT Success" is a two-volume set comprised of a thick practice text with a decent grammar and reading review, good strategies, advice, and online test tips, as well as 3 practice TOEFL tests and 3 TWE tests. It comes with a CD-ROM compatible to IBM or Mac. The second book is strictly practice tests, but comes with cassettes, and is cross-referenced with the larger text.
• TOEFL The Test Centre at Digital Education Network http://www.edufind.com/test/

Some Resources still working in May 2002

• The official web site of the Test of English as a Foreign Language is here: http://www.toefl.org (Viewed May 9, 2002)
• Ruth Vilmi has a page on testing which also has some TOEFL links: http://www.hut.fi/~rvilmi/LangHelp/Test/ (Viewed May 9, 2002)
• Glenn Fulcher's comprehensive and current to March 2002 Resources in Language Testing site at http://www.surrey.ac.uk/ELI/ltr.html (Viewed May 9, 2002)

Some TOEFL Prep links still working in May 2002

• http://www.free-toefl.com is a membership site with a free TOEFL practice exam. It says on the site that registration is free and even hassle-free: "Your free, no hassle membership will grant you unlimited access to a full-length practice Structure exam online, as well as demos of our Listening and Reading sections. " (Viewed May 9, 2002)
• There is a short TOEFL practice test at: http://www.stuff.co.uk/toefl.htm - 20 questions covering the written expression and sentence structure parts of the TOEFL test. Requires Shockwave (Viewed May 9, 2002)
• Here you can review the TOEFL: http://www.testwise.com/review.html. There is also an overview of computer based toefl here http://www.testwise.com/overview.html (Viewed May 9, 2002)
• http://iteslj.org/quizzes/ (the old link was still working in May 2002: http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/index.html) - Ahmed recommends this as a very good site for self-study quizzes for ESL students (Viewed May 9, 2002)
• Knowledge 3000 offers an on-line TOEFL preparatory program for both the paper-based and computer-based exam. They offer study materials, online practice drills and exams, and online tutoring. Their website was, in May 2002, at http://englishtutor.telecampus.com/ and included links to Free TOEFL Tips and Exercises and Complete TOEFL Programs and Full Practice Tests (Exactly Like the Real Test). Last time I looked there were a few sample demo questions, but otherwise, this was a pay-per-view service
• For $69 (Feb 2000) you can purchase a TOEFL Trainer password and access 16 hours of audio and unlimited access to the personal TOEFL training program from TestDEN at http://www.testden.com/. The site is still working in May 2002 but I was unable to find any free materials.
• Beat the TOEFL at http://www.gettoefl.com is a paid membership site with some free content. On July 14, 2002 I found a page where you can write an essay for 30 min and at the end of that time have it evaluated (for free), and there is also a free threaded discussion where you can post questions and get replies. There are also free full-length TOEFL sections as well as daily quizzes. The free content is found mostly at http://www.gettoefl.com/practice.htm

These sites are fading ... though still working in May 2002

• "ESL Online, ESL Dept." at http://www.ouc.bc.ca/ContEd/ce-inter/ONLINEindex.html still carries a link to 'Brian's and Rick's TOEFL Prep course' but relinks to http://www.studint.net/ which on May 9, 2002 was dead. However, the TOEIC Preparation link here works.
• http://www.toeflcenter.com/ (the TOEFL center with scholarship opportunities - In May 2002 proclaims "Coming Soon Under Construction" and has Korean characters)
• http://www1.kaplan.com/view/article/0,1275,1114,00.html (once had top ten TOEFL tips - now goes to Test Prep and Admissions, a membership site with a shopping cart)
• http://www.studyworld.net/class.htm (this internet English class now displays only foreign characters)

I would like to acknowledge the contribution of Ahmad Qendil, English teacher-advisor at the MLI in Abu Dhabi, who contributed many of the above links in November 1998