TOEFL Time Management Techniques: Section Wise Strategies

Time triggers the fuel to drive through the way within a certain period with a view to utilizing the fuel efficiently. In TOEFL one needs to be concerned enough to utilize the fuel triggered by the scaled time of ETS strategically. The test takers need to use the sense of perception by means of reading, listening, speaking, and writing along with the sense of lucid vision to extract the meaning from the computer and go with the time smartly. Time is so important is the time-constrained test like TOEFL, that one has to be adapted the section-wise time management techniques by means of perpetual and proper practices & strategies.   

Time Limit: TOEFL iBT Test Sections  

Section	Time Limit (minutes)	Questions
Reading	60-80	36-56 Questions
Listening	60-90	34-51 Questions
Break	10	-
Speaking	20	6 tasks
Writing	50	2 tasks

 

Time management Tips for TOEFL from ETS

• Perpetual Practice

The more you practice, the more you will build your confidence—and the less you will be thinking about time on the day of the test. Get started with these sample questions.

• Know the time limit for each question

One of the great things about the TOEFL^® test is that there are no surprises. With a little preparation time, you can know exactly what to expect. Here is a quick overview of test content and time limits for each section. 

• Time yourself when you practice

Use a watch or an alarm clock to time yourself when you practice for the test. Adding this extra level of challenge to your practice sessions will help take the pressure off on test day. 

• Avoid spending too much time on any one question

If you don’t know the answer to a question, eliminate as many choices as you can and select the best remaining answer. In the Reading section, you can even go back and review your answers at the end of the section. 

• Deal with Clock

If you feel like you’re being distracted by the time, you have the option of hiding the time clock. But it’s still a good idea to check the clock now and then to monitor your progress.

• Early Arrival

On test day, be sure to arrive early and bring everything you need, including your registration number and the valid ID that matches the name you registered with.

 

Time management Techniques for Reading Module

• The Reading section consists of 36-56 questions, designed to test a wide range of reading skills within 60-80 minutes. These include reading for gist, main ideas, skimming, and understanding the logical argument to recognize writers' opinions, attitudes, and purpose to answer the questions from academic texts within 3 or 4 passages.
• A dedicated 20 minutes for each section is considered enough to crack the three paragraphs and their related questions in the Reading section.
• So, it should be kept in mind that one can get approximately 1.5-2 minutes for each of the questions.
• If one denotes more time in 1 section, he/she will be left with less time to read the other passages and to solve the pending questions.
• One should give enough and equivalent time to each of the modules. He / She can skip a little in need to appear the questions onward which can be answered correctly within the time. There are options to review and answer the question later.
• So, one has to carefully read the passages in every section in order to write the answers correctly which requires effective time management skill.
• Each reading section has usually 10-14 questions and one should try to answer them within 20 minutes.
• He / She should give 1 minute to read the question rapidly before dealing with the passage.
• Then one has to skim the passage by means of an active reading for 5-7 minutes.
• The questions are given in the order on the basis of the orientation of ordered information given in the passage.
• So it is suggested to read the questions consecutively keeping the order sustained to save time and score smartly.
• It is possible to finish each section within 15 minutes and if so, then one should start using that extra time to questions need more time and to double- and triple-check his / her answers, e.g. the ‘vocabulary in context’ question needs 20-25 seconds and so it provides important time to other questions need time more than 1.5-2 minutes e.g. summary question.
• One should design the way of reading to spend no more than 16-17 minutes for each passage and answering its questions so that one has time to go back over answers before when he /she is near the end.

 

Time management Techniques for Listening Module

• One will listen to recordings with 34-51 questions for 60-90 minutes where the task is to listen to speakers and lectures, classroom discussions, conversations, academics, dialogues and then write the answers to a series of questions.

• Assessors will be looking for evidence of the ability to understand the main ideas and detailed factual information, the opinions and attitudes of speakers, the purpose of an utterance and evidence of one’s ability to follow the development of ideas.
• Each academic talk will have 6 listening questions.
• Each dialogue will have 5 listening questions.
• The timer only counts down as one answers the questions. If one gets 6 passages, the total time allowed is 60 minutes. The listening section can have up to 9 passages with a total time of 90 minutes.
• One will have usually 6 listening passages. There will be twice as many academic talks as there are dialogues.
• It should be kept in mind that one can get approximately 10 minutes per 15-17 questions for each of the questions. So one can have about 35 seconds per question.
• One can’t go back and listen again, unlike the reading, which allows one to re-read the passage. So the listening questions urge anyone being fast to answer. Most students only take 10-20 seconds per question. It is very rare to run out of time on the listening section.
• It is a vital strategy to take notes while one listens.
• Only the major points are to be noted, so one should avoid to write down every detail.
• Each of the recordings is several minutes long and contains a lot of information. So it is an urge to take notes and listen simultaneously for maintaining a link of lucid perception.
• It is highly suggested practicing to read, listen, and write together.
• One will hear each passage only once, and then answer questions after each is finished.
• One has to keep headphones on for the entire Listening section because there is audio for the questions too, they are not just seen on the screen.
• Each passage is a 3-6 minute long video. It's not quite like a movie though as there are only still images that change. The images are to help to imagine the situation and the roles of the people talking. Some of the images one might see are vocabulary terms written on a blackboard.
• The important thing to note is that one should have at least 3-6 minutes left when a new set of questions starts. It will help anyone to think about the answers with confusion to step and try again to make them corrected by means of the review option.

 

Time management Techniques for Speaking Module

• The Speaking section consists of 6 tasks to do sincerely and swiftly within the fixed 20 minutes with a view to expressing independent opinions on familiar topics and speaking based on the integrated reading (R), listening (L), & speaking (S) tasks.
• The structure of TOEFL speaking is designed in a very oriented and organized system:

 

Question Type	Reading Time	Listening Time	Preparation Time	Speaking Time
Independent Task 1	-	-	15 seconds	45 seconds
Independent Task 2	-	-	15 seconds	45 seconds
Integrated Task 1 R+L+S	45 seconds	1-2 minutes	30 seconds	60 seconds
Integrated Task 2 R+L+S	45 seconds	1-2 minutes	30 seconds	60 seconds
Integrated Task 3 R+L+S	-	1-2 minutes	20 seconds	60 seconds
Integrated Task 4 R+L+S	-	1-2 minutes	20 seconds	60 seconds

 

• The speeches are always recorded to evaluate within the ongoing timer to stop. So one should speak swiftly clearly in a clarified way providing coherent pronunciation within 45s -60s.
• There is also preparation time given before starting the recording process as shown in the table. So one has to take organized note and points to make the speech oriented, organized, clear and comprehensive maintaining the links and lucidity within the given 15-20 seconds.
• One should try to make the keynotes to aid speaking within 10-15 minutes and make a raw speech in the brain before the first step to record.
• It is suggested to utilize the 45 seconds given in the integrated task 1 and 2 by reading the passage actively and taking cue-words as notes to aid the speech.
• The listening time i.e. the given 1-2 minutes is to be utilized so efficiently to perceive and understand the meaning, pronunciation clearly so that one can take the important keynotes on the scratch papers coherently & simultaneously. 

 

 Time management Techniques for Writing Module

• The writing section is the way to write essay responses based on integrated reading & listening tasks along with the write-up to support an opinion logically.
• This module measures the ability to plan and write responses to questions in essay format.
• There are two questions in the writing section: Integrated task and Independent task.
• The integrated section consists of Reading, Listening, and Writing giving 20 minutes only.
• Independent task urges one to write an essay on a given topic or situation within 30 minutes.
• One may take notes on paper during both the tasks and may use them to answer your questions.
• One will have to type his / her responses to both the tasks on the computer screen.
  He / She will not be allowed to write the responses by hand.
• Firstly one can segregate the time to organize and plan within the first 4-5 minutes. 
• In the 4-5 minutes, one needs to create an outline that follows the proper TOEFL essay structure.
• Then one should utilize the next 20-22 minutes to write the essay and use the noted outline as a guide to put the gathered ideas into complete sentences.
• It is suggested to make it sure that the thesis statement, topic sentences and supporting ideas can work together to give the essay a clear and logical structure.
• One should leave last 4-5 minutes to review essay before submitting it on the basis of the correct form of grammar and spelling.
• Essays will be graded by several (usually four) graders. Each essay will receive a score from 0-5. The sum of those two scores will then be scaled to a score from 0-30, which is your official Writing score. The Writing section makes 25% of your total TOEFL score (from 0-120).

 

Time management is a vital criterion to maintain with a view to getting a desired and good total score in TOEFL. The criterion can be maintained by means of strategical techniques which should be practiced regularly in the time of preparation to apply them on the test day. Time has a wonderful way and TOEFL can sustain its elegance reflecting our success if we can utilize time through a proper management and strategy.