A lot of BestMyTest Stuff is Way too Similar to ETS Stuff
I don’t like BestMyTest. The main problem I have with the site is that it appears to be providing slightly modified versions of TOEFL content created by ETS (the makers of the TOEFL).
I teach writing, so after creating my account I immediately loaded up the writing questions on BestMyTest. I immediately noticed that many of them are just slightly modified versions of tests from The Official Guide to the TOEFL, the two Official iBT Test books and the TOEFL Test Practice Online. In my opinion, they really shouldn’t be charging students for this stuff.
For example, here’s part of a writing test from Volume 1 of the iBT Tests series:
“One theory holds that the Chaco structures were purely residential, with each housing hundreds of people. Supporters of this theory have interpreted Chaco great houses as earlier versions of the architecture seen in more recent Southwest societies. In particular, the Chaco houses appear strikingly similar to the large, well-known “apartment buildings” at Taos, New Mexico, in which many people have been living for centuries.”
Here’s Best My Test:
“One theory states the Chaco structures were residential and held hundreds of people. Supporters of this theory look to similar architectural structures in more recent Southwest societies. One structure, in particular, that is strikingly similar to the Chaco buildings is the apartment building at Taos, New Mexico, which has housed several people of the centuries.”
That’s not cool. Likewise, here’s part of a test from the Official Guide to the TOEFL:
“In the United States, employees typically work five days a week for eight hours each day. However, many employees want to work a four-day week and are willing to accept less pay in order to do so.”
Here’s a nearly identical passage on BestMyTest:
“Employees in the United States typically work five eight-hour days per week; however, many employees would prefer to work four days per week and are willing to accept less pay in order to do so.”
You know, I’m totally okay with copying from ETS. ETS is a big company and they can take care of themselves. I just don’t think a third party should charge students for that stuff. Especially since most students have already used the Official Guide.
And here’s the thing: all of the slight modifications done by the BestMyTest staff just make the questions worse.
And the questions that don’t seem to come from any TPO? Well, they suffer the cardinal sin of not being very good. I’m talking about reading passages with two or three sentences per body paragraph. They aren’t realistic, and they aren’t good practice.
Below is a gallery of some of the copied content.
The Bottom Line
Teachers, make sure your students are studying with the best possible material. Students, ask a teacher to look at the materials you are studying with. When it comes to TOEFL, there is a real chance that they aren’t any good.
Hey, BestMyTest might be okay for the other sections of the test. I didn’t look at them too hard. But don’t use it for writing practice.
There are three main styles of questions used in the Independent Writing section of the test:
Agree/Disagree (most common)
Multiple Choice
Preference (least common)
Some obsolete styles not commonly used are:
compare/contrast
give advice
describe a thing
open “if”
The questions generally relate to school, work, or society.
Nowadays, the questions are a bit different than how they are depicted in the Official Guide to the TOEFL. Some changes have been observed recently. Basically, they are getting longer.
The video (and transcript) contains detailed samples of each question style, and describes how they are structured.
Open your Official Guide and go to page 217 to 219. Here you will find a big list of sample questions. Read each one carefully. With a pencil note if the style is “M” (multiple choice), “A” (agree/disagree), P (preference) or “O” (obsolete). In addition, note if the question relates to “S” (school), “W” (work) or “S” (society). Flip through the rest of the book and see if you can find any more question prompts. If a question doesn’t fit the above subjects leave a comment below. Note that the 4th edition of the guide also has a big list, but the page numbers are different.
Now that you have become familiar with the three question styles and the three subject areas, try creating one question of each type. If you leave them as comments below this post I’ll let you know what I think.
Next Lesson
Check out the course hub to figure out where to go next.
Lesson Transcript
(Note that the transcript has been edited for clarity)
The Three Styles
Today we’re going to get started by talking about the three types of questions you might get in the independent writing section of the TOEFL. There is a lot of incorrect information out there about the independent writing section of the test in a lot of textbooks, so do stick around.
Alright, so let’s get started by talking about the most frequently used question style. That’s the agree and disagree style. Take a look at the left hand side of your screen for a classic example of this question Style.
On the screen:
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
“Overall, the widespread use of the internet has a mostly positive effect on life in today’s world.”
Use specific reasons and details to support your opinion.
This one always starts by asking if you agree or disagree with a statement and then it gives you a short statement of fact about the world.
Next, take a look at the right hand side of your screen. Now this is a more recent style which has been showing up since about 2018.
On the screen:
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
“People communicate with each other less than in the past because of the popularity of television.”
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Make sure to use your own words. Do not use memorized examples.
It starts the same with the same question and also gives a statement of fact about the world. But then it has a couple of new sentences at the end about using memorized examples. Now don’t panic if you see that. It’s nothing really important, and is just telling you not to use a complete personal example that your teacher asked you to memorize in advance of the test.
I’d say you probably have about a 50% chance of seeing this style on test day and a 50% chance of just seeing the totally old style question.
Alright, let’s move on to the second style. This is the multiple choice style. Again, take a look at the classic version on the left.
On the screen:
Which do you think is the most important reason to attend college or university?
new experiences
career preparation
increased knowledge
Use reasons and examples to support your answer.
This style starts with a simple question and then it gives you three or four choices, and then ends by asking you to use reasons and examples to support your answer. But take a look at the right hand side now for a newer version of this style.
On the screen:
In both our personal lives and our work lives, we often face challenges that seem very difficult to deal with. However, it is critically important that we are able to overcome them. When you face problems like this in your own life, what do you feel is the best way to solve them?
asking someone with relevant experience for advice
finding information about the problem using the Internet
taking a long time to think about the problem alone
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Make sure to use your own words. Do not use memorized examples.
Instead of just having a simple question you have pretty much a whole paragraph here. The question still comes at the end, but you really do need to read these first few sentences before you can actually understand what the question is asking. And the 30 minutes you get for this task is ticking away as you actually read the question. Not only that, but the options given are much longer. Here the options given might be an entire sentence or a pretty long sentence fragment, whereas in the old style you might get one word or two words. And just to make things even longer I’ve added in that warning about memorizing examples,
You might get one of the old short ones, or you might get one of these long ones but I think it’s more likely you’ll get the long version.
Finally, the last question style, referred to as a “preference style, is kind of like a multiple choice question, but with just two options. One example is on the left hand side of the screen:
On the screen:
Some people think that the government should use extra money to fund programs to improve the environment. Others think that it is better for the government to spend money to support artistic programs.
Which option do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
But take a look at the right hand side for a slightly structure for this style.
On the screen:
Nowadays, many companies encourage their employees to work from home using the Internet, instead of requiring them to actually come to the company’s office. Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not?
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Make sure to use your own words. Do not use memorized examples.
The phrasing here is a little bit different, but it’s still asking for your preference and you still have just two options to choose from – basically working from home or going to the office. You’re writing pretty much the same essay but just don’t be surprised if the phrasing is a little bit different than expected.
A few days ago I put out a survey on Facebook YouTube and Twitter asking as many students as possible to tell me what kind of question and they got if they had taken the test in the last six months. Here’s what they told me. 45% of them said they got an agree/disagree style question. 30% said they got a multiple choice question. 25% said they got a preference question. That means agree/disagree is the most likely type you’re going to get, but basically you need to study all three styles.
The Obsolete Styles
Now, very quickly I want to talk about a few obsolete question styles. I’m mentioning these very quickly because they do show up in a lot of TOEFL textbooks.
These include the compare-and-contrast style question that goes something like this: “compare and contrast the value of knowledge gained from books and that from real life experiences.”
It also includes the giving advice style question. Like, “your friend is having trouble participating in class discussions. What advice would you give him?”
Likewise, you are probably not going to see so-called “describe questions.” Like “describe the characteristics of a great co-worker.”
Finally, I don’t think you’re going to get “open if” questions, like “if you can visit any country in the world which one would you choose.”
Things could change and I could be wrong, so be prepared for anything, but I’m telling you strongly I don’t think you’re going to get a question that looks like one of these Styles. If the textbook or website you’re using contains these questions it’s probably old or it’s probably just badly written.
Subject Matter
Alright, the last thing I want to mention about these questions are the three main subject areas.
I think the absolute most frequent subject area is “school.” So you might get questions about things like picking classes, you might get questions about teaching styles, styles of learning, or working with classmates. You might get questions about academic skills and the kind of stuff stuff that relates to what you do in class or on campus.
You might also get questions related to work. That is questions about how to work best with colleagues, questions that relate to picking a career, questions that relate to workplace professional skills, and maybe wages and salaries and that sort of thing.
And then the last and this is the most broad category, is questions about society. So you might get questions about family, questions about what’s best for children, the effect of technology, people in your neighborhood, questions about the media and the internet and that sort of thing.
I should mention here that you’re never going to get anything controversial. There will never be a question about drugs, or religion, or gender and there never will be so. You know a lot of teachers kind of like to spice up their lessons with controversial questions. Tell them to stop doing that if you really want to be serious about your prep.
Wrap-up
That brings us to the end of this lesson. I hope you learned something about the questions you’re going to get on the test. I do encourage you to visit the course page at TOEFLresources.com for some homework and further reading.
Speaking question one (personal preference) will be removed. Only speaking question two (personal choice) will remain in the independent speaking section.
Speaking question five (campus situation) will be removed. The other three speaking questions will remain the same.
No specific reading question types are being removed. Just the number of questions is being changed. Expect to see less of each type.
I should mention here that the test will probably take 3.5 hours instead of 3 hours as stated in the press release from ETS. Yeah, you will spend just three hours answering questions, but you will spend 30 minutes on administrative stuff and on your break. Keep that in mind.
Finally, I can’t get any news about planned updates to the textbooks and practice tests published by ETS. I hope those get updated, as EVERYTHING will be out of date in a couple of months time.
These changes were just announced by ETS about an hour ago, so stay tuned for more information. The changes will start in on August 1.
Basically:
Each reading passage will have ten questions, instead of 12-14. The number of reading passages will remain the same (3-4). It will take just 52-74 minutes to finish the reading section (instead of 60-80).
There will be 3-4 lectures in the listening section (instead of 4-6). The number of conversations will not change. The number of questions will not change. It will take 41 to 57 minutes to finish the listening section (instead of 60-90 minutes).
There will be one independent (instead of two) and three integrated speaking questions (instead of three). It will take 17 minutes to finish the speaking section. I don’t know which questions will be eliminated.
The whole test will take just 3 hours instead of 3.5 hours.
This was all just announced, and this is all I know for now.
First, the good news: the course will be free. It will always be free.
Next, the bad news: the course isn’t finished. It will take some time to finish.
I understand that might be a bit annoying, but as you will see, I’m going to upload the course here as I build it. That means you’ll benefit at least a little bit right away, and you can also tell me what you want from the course. If some of my lessons are unclear you will have an opportunity to let me know.
The Lessons – The Independent Essay
Here are the lessons that make up the course. Links are to those completed at this time:
This course will be more rewarding if you have a copy of the Official Guide to the TOEFL. That link is to the 5th edition of the book (from 2017). You can also use the 4th edition, which is cheaper.
For additional practice tests, I recommend the ten test collection from TSTPrep. Use the coupon code “goodine10off” for a 10% discount.
Basically, the course is more rewarding if you have some real questions to practice with. The three aforementioned sources are worthwhile in this regard!
This is a negative review of Notefull’s TOEFL Mastery course. Indeed, it is a very negative review. With that said, I do want to mention that I admire Notefull for being trailblazers in the world of online TOEFL teaching. They’ve been at it since 2008. That’s just a couple of years after the creation of the iBT! Moreover, a big part of their legacy is that former Notefull teachers have gone on to create really amazing businesses in the test preparation industry. Kathy Spratt, for instance, founded House of TOEFL and quickly became one of the most in-demand tutors online. Likewise, Josh Macpherson created TST Prep, which is hands-down the best modern platform for guided TOEFL study.
The problem I see with Notefull’s course, though, is that it looks like it was created back in 2008, and has barely been updated since then. Much of the information it contains is incorrect and outdated. A lot of it seems to be based on a careful reading of the version of the Official Guide to the TOEFL available ten years ago. It feels like it hasn’t been updated to reflect current versions of that guide… let alone the vast amount of research that has been conducted by other teachers and experts.
I’m going to focus mostly on Notefull’s three step writing plan since writing is my area of expertise, but I do want to point out that similar problems are found in the rest of the “TOEFL Mastery” ebook/course.
Last month I was fortunate enough to get invited to the most recent Propell Workshop for the TOEFL iBT Test. This workshop is given occasionally by ETS to provide information and assistance to TOEFL teachers. If you happen to be a TOEFL teacher, I do recommend attending the workshop. While a lot of the information given is somewhat introductory in scope, you will leave the course with a collection of printed resources that go into detail about how the test is graded, and a couple of books full of exercises and activities you can use in the classroom. Moreover, you’ll get a neat certificate that might impress your students or potential employers.
For me, the best part was that attendees could ask questions to the ETS representatives and presenters about the test. That’s what I want to share with you today. So here’s what I remember (these are my words, paraphrased from what I remember):
Question: Are students penalized (punished) for using templates in the writing and speaking sections?
Answer: Never. This was emphasized again and again. I think ETS gets this question a lot.
Question: What is considered plagiarism?
Answer: Plagiarism is when students use content that is memorized in advance of the test (explanations, personal examples, etc).
Question: How is this plagiarism detected?
Answer: If the graders think that something is memorized, it is sent to a scoring leader who compares it to a database of commonly used answers (that is, if you gave the exact same answer as someone else did in the past, you will punished)
Question: Can students be punished for using profanities or abusive language?
Answer: Yes. You may get a score of zero. Don’t swear.
Question: Do the graders have any “secret” guidelines other than the published rubrics for scoring?
Answer: No. They have the same rubrics as in the Official Guide and they have sample answers of each score (benchmarks). They have no other guidelines.
Question: How is it now possible to get speaking scores (like 25 points) that were previously impossible?
No answer.
Question: Can you still get a perfect score if you don’t use all of the provided time answering a speaking question?
Answer: Yes.
Question: When, exactly, will MyBest Scores start?
Answer: August 1, 2019.
Question: When MyBest Scores starts, will it include tests results from August 2017 to August 2019?
Answer: Yes.
Question: Does ETS know how many schools will accept MyBest scores right away? Do they have a list of accepting schools?
Answer: No.
Question: When answering a multiple choice independent writing question, is it okay to just pick one choice and ignore the others in the essay?
Answer: Yes.
Question: Do graders know they are rescoring an answer? Do they know what the original score was?
Answer: Yes, but they don’t know the original score.
Hello Again
So, that’s what I was able to get from ETS last month. I was given the opportunity to send more questions via e-mail, but I’m not too optimistic they’ll get back to me. I will write again if they do, however!
It has been a long time since I wrote about the best TOEFL textbooks on the market. That’s because I generally dislike most of what is available. Generally speaking, TOEFL textbooks are inaccurate and unhelpful. However, this used to be the most popular section of my blog, so I guess it is about time to write something about the topic. Here goes.
Update from 2020: I’ve published a new list. Ignore this one and check out the new one instead!
For an Introduction to the TOEFL
The Official Guide to the TOEFL
The best general overview of the TOEFL is still The Official Guide to the TOEFL Test. This book comes from ETS, who creates the TOEFL week after week. This basic textbook provides the most accurate description of the questions you will get on the test. It also comes with four practice tests that can be accessed via DVD. However, it must be said that the book is sometimes inaccurate, especially when it comes to the writing section of the test. If you buy this book, make sure to read my article about all of the mistakes it contains.
The link above is to the 5th edition. You can save money by getting the 4th edition, but I don’t recommend it. It contains one less test, uses only a CD-ROM and the descriptions of questions are slightly out of date.
Books For Practice TOEFL Tests
The Official Test Collection
The best source of practice tests is The Official iBT Tests Collection Volume 2. This book contains five actual TOEFL tests from the past, delivered on DVD. These are the most accurate practice tests you will find anywhere, though they are pretty old. You can save money by getting the CD-ROM version, which contains the same tests.
If you are looking for a third-party source of practice tests, check out TST Prep’s collection of 10 practice tests. This is the only third-party I ever recommend to students when it comes to practice tests. You might get a 10% discount if you use the coupon code “goodine10off.”
Books For The TOEFL Writing Section
TOEFL Resources
There is not a single good book about the writing section. Instead of using a book I recommend just reading my free resources.
TST Prep
I also recommend the writing course offered by TST Prep. It uses a series of video lectures to go into more detail than my own stuff provides. Again, save money by using the coupon code “goodine10off.”
Books for the TOEFL Reading Section
House of TOEFL For the reading section, I recommend Kathy Spratt’s Mastering the Reading Section for the TOEFL iBT. The second edition of this ebook was published in 2019. It will walk you through how to solve each possible question type and explain the “traps” that ETS commonly uses when designed incorrect answers. It contains plenty of original practice readings and questions.
Make sure you don’t get the first edition, which still shows up via some Amazon searches.
Books for Grammar Practice
English Grammar in Use
For grammar practice, I always recommend Raymond Murphy’s English Grammar in Use. It contains clear explanations of grammar points and plenty of practice exercises. If you are working with a teacher, they should be able to quickly tell you what chapters you, specifically, need to focus on. It was updated to a 5th edition in late 2018, but you can save money by getting the 4th edition, which is just as good.
When students need more practice exercises, I usually recommend the supplementary activities textbook that accompanies the main volume (again, the old edition is cheaper).
Practical English Usage
If you are a new TOEFL teacher, I strongly recommend picking up a copy of Michael Swan’s Practical English Usage. This weighty volume will help you answer all of those difficult questions about why you corrected your student’s work in such a way. It really help you get out of the habit of saying “it just sounds more natural” in response to student questions.
If you are a student… don’t get this book for TOEFL prep. It might just be overkill.
Books for TOEFL Vocabulary
1800 TOEFL Essential Vocabulary Honestly, I generally don’t recommend vocabulary books. Basically, I feel that in the short and medium term learning words might be a waste of your time. You might spend hours and hours studying a book of words, but only encounter one or two of them on the test. Vocabulary acquisition takes a really long time, and you pretty much have to depend on what you already know when you take the test. That said, if you want a bunch of words, I recommend Darakwon’s 1800 TOEFL Essential Vocabulary. And hey… the ebook version only costs two dollars, so it can’t hurt to try.
TOEFL Pocket Vocabulary
Kaplan seems to publish a new bite-sized vocabulary book every few years. The current version appears to be TOEFL Pocket Vocabulary. I haven’t seen this edition, but it is probably just as good as the older ones. It has more words, at least.
I want to finish off my series on the 5th edition of the Official Guide to the TOEFL by listing everything in the book that is wrong or just misleading.
This is the kind of information that I think is very important for both students and teachers. I remember when I started preparing students for the TOEFL and put too much trust in textbook publishers. I ended up teaching useless lessons with inaccurate material.
While I have noted quite a few problems with this book, it is worth noting that the Official Guide is still the most accurate prep book for the TOEFL. Yes, the stuff from third-party publishers is way worse. I’ve considered writing lists of all the stuff wrong with those books, but it seems like it might be a waste of both my time and my money.
Anyways… here’s what I spotted:
Chapter 2: Reading
Each of the practice sets (Page 60-67, 69-73) have 13 questions. On the real test there are 14 questions per set. Students using these sections to time their ability to complete a set should adjust their clocks accordingly.
Chapter 4: Speaking
The description of speaking question 1 (page 166) says that students “will be asked to speak about a person, place, object or event that is familiar to you.” The example question fits this description. However, the real test includes at least three other styles of questions which are not mentioned. Descriptions can be found here.
Likewise the description of speaking question 2 (page 168) insists that students “will be presented with two possible actions, situations or opinions… and will be asked to say which of the actions or situations you think is preferable.” The example question fits this description. However, the real test includes at least three other styles of questions which are not mentioned. Descriptions can be found here.
Notably, the “advantages and disadvantages” styles in questions one and two are not mentioned anywhere. They are described at the links above.
Chapter 5: Writing
The sample integrated writing question (page 196-198) does not match the structure used on the real test. On the real test the reading will have four paragraphs. In the book it has two. On the real test the lecture will have four “paragraphs.” Here it has three. On the real test the reading points and lecture counter-points are presented in a “mirror” style and come in the same order. Here that is not the case. Students can consult this guide for a proper depiction of the integrated writing question.
Page 198 suggests that sometimes the lecture will support the argument made in the reading. On the real test that never happens.
Pages 217-220 contain a collection of 40 sample independent writing questions. About 12 of them are of a style that does not match what is used on the real test. Since the book does not describe the three main styles, students should read this blog post that does.
The Practice Tests
The integrated writing question in practice test one does not match the real test. Again, the structure does not match what is used by ETS nowadays. The reading contains just three paragraphs, and the lecture does not rebut the reading’s arguments in the proper order.
This will be the last in my series about updates to the Official Guide to the TOEFL (5th Edition).
Let’s start with chapter 4 (speaking):
Page 171: The reading part of speaking question 3 is now described as 80-110 words long. In the fourth edition it was described as 75-100 words long.
Page 175: The reading part of speaking question 4 is described as 80-110 words long. In the fourth edition it was described as 75-100 words long.
Flannel shirts have been removed from many of the illustrations in this chapter.
Next, chapter 5 (writing):
It must be noted that the sample integrated writing question on page 196 is still wrong. It does not match the structure used on the real test.
Page 207: The warning “be sure to use your own words. Do not use memorized examples” has been added to the end of the sample independent writing question/
Page 208: Same as above.
Page 208: The following tip is given (to explain the warning used above):
“When you develop your response, do not use examples or reasons that you memorized word-for-word previously (at school, for example). Raters will not consider examples or reasons expressed in a completely memorized language to represent your own writing.”
Page 212: The warning is also given.
Page 217-220: This is interesting. The 4th edition contained 185 sample independent writing prompts that were described as being used on the test. These were likely from the old CBT version of the test, as they were also in the first edition of the guide, which was written even before the iBT version had been given 185 times.
The problem with this list has always been that it contains questions that don’t match the three main styles used on the test (agree/disagree, preference, multiple-choice).
The list of 40 now contains 20 questions from the 4th edition, and 20 new questions.
22 of the questions are agree/disagree style questions, which is the most common style nowadays. The remaining 18 are a mix of preference, multiple choice, and incorrect styles. Two of the questions are really long prompts, which is a recent trend. These are both new.
Moving on, a quick look at the practice tests included with the 5th edition:
The new test included in this edition is TPO 18. That means it is a very, very old test. That sucks.
The order of listening questions has been adjusted. This is mostly to stick “why does the professor say” questions to the end of each set, but there are other changes as well.
The new warning has been added to each independent writing question.
The sample integrated writing question in test one is still an incorrect style. That drives me crazy. It has been 14 years since the first edition of the book came out!
Alright, here’s a list of changes to Chapters 2 and 3 of the Official Guide to the TOEFL (fifth edition).
Starting with Chapter 2 (reading):
Page 37: the book now mentions that you can skip questions and come back to them later.
Page 38: The 5th edition says there are 12-13 “Basic Information and Inference Questions” per set. The 4th edition said that there were 12-14.
Page 38: The 5th edition says there are 3-5 Negative Factual questions per set. The 4th edition said there were 3-6.
Page 38: The 5th edition says there are 1-2 inference questions per set. The 4th edition said there were 1-3.
Page 38: The 5th edition says there are 3-4 vocabulary questions per set. The 4th edition said there were 3-5.
Next, lets move to Chapter 3 (listening):
Page 127: There is a slightly different explanation of the answer to the sample type 3 question.
Page 132: The tips for solving the organization questions are phrased slightly differently.
Page 139: Some 1990s style hair and clothes have been removed from the picture.
Page 140, 150, 157, 161: The “why does the professor say this” question has been moved to the end of each practice set. I’m told that this is how the real test is currently designed.
