During my second year of working as an English teacher I gained a lot of experience preparing students for the TOEFL exam. Each of my students had a different goal in mind; some of them were about to study at universities in the US, others were doing it for their job, and a few simply had no goal in mind. While working with each of my students to help them prepare for this test I worked with several books. Out of all the materials I used The Official Guide to the TOEFL test 4th Edition was the course book that helped me completely prepare my students for the test.
Many of the TOEFL preparation books I’ve used in the past fail to focus equal amounts of attention on each specific section of the test. Most books have the tendency to focus on one specific section more than the others and a few do not provide enough material to prepare students for the speaking section of the exam. This book however, manages to cover all of the aspects of the test and by doing so both the students and the teacher get to save time on preparation.
The book takes a no fuss, straight forward approach and begins by explaining what the TOEFL test is, how to work with the book, and some useful tips to help students prepare for the test. After the introduction there are 4 chapters which focus on each specific section of the test. For each section there are some instructions, exercises and practice tests to help the student go over all the information they might encounter in the test. After the 4 initial chapters have been worked on, 4 practice tests are provided which follow the exact structure of the TOEFL exam. At the end of the book there is also a writer’s handbook which offers tips, advice and self-proof reading techniques for student to use. Since the writing section is the part of the exam that that even the most advanced students struggle with, this final section of the book will help the reader get a higher score on this section of the test.
The book comes with a CD with plenty of listening exercises. The audio tracks provide lectures and dialogues which are linked to comprehension activities on the listening section of the book. Something important to keep in mind is that the final audio clips on the CD are also necessary for the speaking section of the exam. The only downside to using the CD is that the audio tracks will not play on a stereo. The CD’s must be played on a computer and in some cases a special program must be installed in order to be able to listen to the audio tracks on Mac PCs.
"This Official Guide to the TOEFL Test is the best, most reliable guide to the test that is used around the world to assess foreign applicants to U.S. and Canadian universities for English proficiency."
The Official Guide to the TOEFL Test is the only book you will need to prepare your students to pass the TOEFL exam. By using this book you will be able to provide your students with a variety of information, exercises and practice tests to help them become familiar with the structure of the exam. From personal experience I have had many success stories by using this book and I would highly recommend this book to teachers who need to prepare their students for the exam in a short amount of time. I would especially recommend this book to teachers who have little or no experience giving test preparation classes since everything they need can be found in the book.
