Hey, here’s my new video guide to TOEFL Speaking Question 2!  Check it out!

Our friends from My Speaking Score were cool enough to provide a discount code exclusive to readers of this blog.  Register here and at the time of purchase use the code TESTRESOURCES to save 10% on your purchase of SpeechRater credits.

My Speaking score makes use of the same SpeechRater AI used by ETS to score the real TOEFL.  You can submit your practice responses and get an accurate score prediction, along with specific scores for metrics like fluency, pronunciation, coherence and grammar.  I use it with all my students.  

The site provides questions you can answer or you can just use your microphone to record responses to your own practice questions (like, say, from the TPO sets or Official Guide).

Teachers who work with students in Japan will appreciate this new article in “Language Testing in Asia.” It uses results from the TOEFL (and other tests) to create profiles of language learners in that country. Not surprisingly, the profiles match what our experience tells us.

I like this section at the end:

“When the uneven profiles come from true skill imbalance, learners and teachers may need to decide whether to focus on weaker or stronger skills for further study based on their contexts and needs. While one direction is to improve a weaker skill, a stronger skill could be further improved to compensate for the weaker one.”

Note the last part.

About a third of the students I work with nowadays are from Japan. Most of them come to me for help with the writing section. After looking at their score history I usually offer to help with the speaking section as well. The response is often something like “It is impossible for a student from Japan to score more than 23 in the speaking section, so I’m not going to work on it any more.” Even though their target is 110 overall, they’d rather just max out the other sections than “waste time” on the speaking prep. It’s an interesting approach.  It may be a correct one.

Gary J Ockey and Evgeny Chukharev-Hudilainen published an interesting article in Applied Linguistics that suggests a few interesting things. It highlights Ockey’s earlier research that suggests that the asynchronous tasks used in the TOEFL iBT speaking section “may not sufficiently assess interactional competence.”

More importantly, it compares the use of a human interviewer (a la IELTS) to a Speech Delivery System (like a chatbot) to elicit spoken English from test-takers. It seems to suggest that “the computer partner condition was found to be more dependable than the human partner condition for assessing interactional competence.” And that both were equal in areas like pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary.

Aha! This information could be used to create a better TOEFL test or a better IELTS test. Someone should let the test makers know.

No need, though, as I read at the end that “this research was funded by the ETS under a Committee of Examiners and the Test of English as a Foreign Language research grant.”

Implement it right away, I say.

I mention this now because the research will be presented tomorrow at an event hosted by the University of Melbourne.

Over the last couple of days I have been playing with ChatGTP to create TOEFL Integrated Writing questions.  I’ve had some success.  My creations aren’t perfect, but in only 30 minutes I can easily put together something that is better than what most major American publishers put in their best-selling books.  That’s remarkable.

Can I do the same with the speaking section?  Yeah, I can. 

Today I will share a couple of AI-generated TOEFL speaking questions.  These are both “type 3” questions, which include a short reading and a brief lecture on the same topic.   In both cases I probably spent about 30 minutes revising them to be more “TOEFL-like”.

Note that eventually I will stick these questions onto pages that students can more easily use to practice for the test.

First up, I generated one about a unique animal feature, which is a fairly common topic on this part of the TOEFL test.

Here’s the reading:

Transparency in Animals

Transparency is the quality of being able to see through an object. While transparency is commonly associated with glass and other transparent materials, it is also found in a number of different animal species. Transparency in animals is typically achieved through the use of specialized cells, tissues, or structures that allow light to pass through their body. This can provide a number of benefits to the animal, such as improved camouflage, enhanced communication, and reduced drag while swimming. Studying the mechanisms of transparency in animals could potentially lead to the development of new materials and technologies that are inspired by the natural world.

And here is me reading the lecture:

And here is a transcript of the lecture:

Okay, so I’ve got an example of transparency in the wild. The glass squid is a type of deep-sea squid that is known for its transparent body and long, thin tentacles. Glass squids are found in the deep waters of the ocean… ah… I’d say…ah… they are typically found at depths of 1000 meters or more.

The transparency of the glass squid’s body is thought to be a form of deep-sea camouflage, as it allows the squid to blend in with the surrounding water and avoid being detected by predators. The transparency of the glass squid’s body also helps it to avoid being seen by its prey, allowing it to sneak up on unsuspecting fish that it wants to eat. The ability to use transparency in both of these ways is thought to be extremely important for the survival and success of the glass squid in its challenging deep-sea habitat.

Now, in addition to using transparency for camouflage, the glass squid also uses its transparent body for communication. This is interesting. It has light-emitting organs, called photophores, that are located inside of its body and tentacles. The glass squid uses its photophores to flash patterns of light, which it uses to communicate with other glass squids. This allows it to signal its presence to other members of its species and it also allows it to coordinate its movements with other squids in its group.

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Okay, so sometimes the lecture in the type three question relates a sort of anecdote from the speaker’s life.  Can the AI produce one of those?  Yes.

Here is a reading:

Regret Aversion

Regret aversion is a psychological phenomenon in which people are more likely to avoid taking risks or making decisions that may result in regret. This is because people tend to experience negative emotions, such as regret or disappointment, more strongly than positive emotions, such as happiness or satisfaction. As a result, people may avoid taking risks or making decisions that may result in regret, even if those risks or decisions could potentially lead to better outcomes. Regret aversion can affect people’s decision-making in a variety of contexts, including financial decisions, personal relationships, and career choices.

And here is me reading the lecture:

And a transcript of the lecture:

Okay, so, I have a perfect example of regret aversion. I had this friend. Alex. Now, Alex was always very cautious when it came to making decisions. He was constantly worried about making the wrong choice and regretting it later on. This tendency became especially pronounced whenever he was faced with a difficult decision.

One time, Alex was considering whether to quit his job and start his own business. He had been working at the same company for several years, but he had always dreamed of being his own boss. The idea of starting his own business was exciting, but it was also risky. If the business failed, Alex could lose a lot of money and damage his reputation. At first, Alex was hesitant to follow through on his plans. He was afraid of the potential consequences if it failed. He was worried that if that happened, he would regret his decision and be disappointed in himself. He was also concerned that he would have to go back to working for someone else, which he didn’t wanna do.

As a result of his regret aversion, Alex decided not to quit his job and start his own business. He continued working at the same company, even though he wasn’t happy there. He missed out on the opportunity to pursue his dream of being his own boss, and he continued to feel unfulfilled and unhappy. Much later, Alex realized that his regret aversion had held him back. He had been so afraid of regretting his decision that he had avoided making a decision altogether. He had missed out on a potentially rewarding opportunity because of his fear of regret.