My students almost always ask for more examples of the types of questions they will encounter in the speaking section of the iBT TOEFL. The following questions are examples of free choice questions.
- What is your favorite freetime activity? Use reasons and details to support your answer.
- What is your favorite book? Use reasons and details to support your answer.
- What is your favorite style of music? Use reasons and details to support your answer.
- What is your favorite movie or movie genre? Use reasons and details to support your answer.
- Who has been your favorite teacher so far in your life? Use reasons and details to support your answer.
- If you could visit any place in the world for just 24 hours, where would you choose to go? Use reasons and details to support your answer.
These are just a few examples of the types of questions you may run across in the speaking section of the iBT TOEFL. You have 15 seconds to prepare an answer and 45 seconds to talk. Try to record yourself speaking. Then go back and listen to your recording. Ask yourself the following questions.
- Did I have a short introduction in which I gave a little background information and answered the question?
- Did I have two–three main points to support the answer in #1?
- Did I give two-three details or explanations to support each main point?
- Did I finish with a short conclusion or concluding comment?
- How much time did I spend on each—introduction, body, and conclusion? Is it prioritized well, with the main points longer than either the introduction or the conclusion?
- What grammar mistakes did I make? How could I correct them? Get someone who knows English well to help you find your grammar errors. (Stay tuned for an explanation of the difference between a grammatical mistake and an error.)
- Where were my words unclear? What words could I use instead? Ask someone who is more experienced with English to help you choose the best vocabulary to express your ideas.
- How was your pace? Did you speak for the whole 45 seconds? Were there many pauses? Did you speak too quickly or too slowly?
- How was your pronunciation? Is it difficult for others to understand you? Have a tutor or teacher help you improve your pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation.
TOEFL Tips 
June 19, 2008 at 1:19 pm
These example speaking questions are not helpful. Although they are in a format similar to those on the TOEFL, the subject matter, level of thought required and requisite vocabulary is nowhere near the level demanded by the TOEFL exam. The questions here are all simple opinion questions, whereas the real TOEFL speaking questions – though they may involve an opinion – require a much deeper level of consideration of the topic. One example like this might be, “Some people think that wildlife does not belong outside of its natural habitat. They do not think that zoos should exist. Others believe that zoos serve an educational purpose that is more important than the rights of the wild animals. Which side of this argument do you support and why? Include details and examples in your explanation.”
February 14, 2009 at 4:11 am
topics of speaking
February 15, 2009 at 9:32 pm
These questions that I have included here are not meant to give the exact questions on the TOEFL. Doing so would not be entirely honest. My intention was to give a few examples so that students could continue the list of the same types of questions. The more important part of the post was the questions to ask yourself after you are finished answering the question to see how you have done.
Spending time trying to figure out exactly how to answer the specific question that is going to be on the test is not a wise use of time or energy. A much better use of your resources would be practicing and evaluating your speaking–getting help to improve your responses with better pronunciation and rhythm (very difficult to do on your own) and grammar and vocabulary (a little easier to do on your own, but students often have trouble finding their own errors). One thing that helps is one-on-one tutoring and recording yourself answering the various questions so that you can hear yourself and more objectively evaluate your speaking.
March 11, 2012 at 11:12 pm
The speaking section of TOEFL test is divided into two categories: Independent Speaking and Integrated Speaking. The independent speaking set of questions are categorized from simple to difficult. If you use some TOEFL practice books, you will see these type of questions for the 1st and 2nd TOEFL Independent speaking questions. They might not be very useful for the entire TOEFL speaking test, at least, these questions may help test-takers to answer the 1st or 2nd questions, which are based on opinion and rather simple.
~♥-♥~