At the last ETS Global event about the revised TOEFL, I inquired about the adaptive nature of the listening section of the test.
Specifically, I noted that both the routing module and the “hard module” contain the same item types: conversations, announcements and academic lectures.
I asked if the “hard module” would contain HARDER conversations and HARDER announcements and HARDER academic lectures. Or if it would contain a mix of items more skewed toward academic content.
The answer was that it would contain a mix of items more skewed toward academic content.
This lines up with what the paid TPO tests show us. In both adaptive sections (reading and listening) the routing, hard and easy modules seem to have items of equal difficulty. The difference lies in the mix of items presented.
Or to put it more bluntly: the hard module in each case forgoes most of the “daily life” items, while the easy module in each case forgoes most of the “academic” items.
Important to keep in mind if you are generating items for a personal question bank.