Highlights of TOEIC Listening and Reading Test Changes
The TOEIC test has been redesigned to be a more authentic assessment of the test-taker's English-language proficiency.
In the Listening section, the key changes include:
- The number of photo items is being reduced to allow for other types of tasks.
- Questions will contain some listening passages that are longer than those on the existing test.
- In the Short Conversations section, there will be three questions per conversation instead of one. The number of conversations has been reduced from 30 to 10 in the new test.
- Canadian voices are being included on the audiotape. U.S., British and Australian accents also will be heard on the test.
Here are the major changes in the Reading section:
- In the sentence-completion section, selected items will be passage based, allowing for the testing of context-related skills.
- In selected parts of Part VII, the test-taker will have to read two related passages and answer questions about them. Single-passage items also have been changed, with some of them being made a little longer.
- Error-recognition items will be eliminated. Current language acquisition theories do not place much emphasis on making corrections to errors in sentences.
What remains unchanged?
- The test has 100 Listening questions (45 minutes) and 100 Reading questions (75 minutes). Total testing time is still two hours and there is no break.
- The scores remain the same, ranging from 5 to 495 in the Listening and Reading sections. The total score is between 10 and 990.
- The test is a multiple-choice, paper-and-pencil assessment.
Overview of the changes
Photos on Score Reports
The photos of test-takers will be included on Score Reports for both the TOEIC Listening/Reading and Speaking/Writing tests.
Many employers and professional licensing organizations are requesting test results with photos to ensure that the candidate is the same person who took the test.
Each candidate will be photographed upon arrival at the Open Test site on the day of the test. All test-takers must have their photo taken in order to take the Open Test. The photo will be forwarded to ETS Canada and printed on the candidate's Score Report. For security reasons, test-takers will not be permitted to provide their own photos for inclusion on the Score Report.
Photos will not be included on the Score Reports for institutional TOEIC tests administered at language schools, colleges and universities.
Your Questions
Q: I'm not photogenic. Am I required to have my photo taken for inclusion on the Score Report?
A: Yes. You cannot take the test unless you have your photo taken.
