TOEFL® Take an Interview: 4 questions, 45 seconds each
The last 4 questions of the TOEFL Speaking section. A pre-recorded interviewer asks about your own experience first, then your view on a wider issue. Each answer is scored 0–5.
What the interview looks like
| Questions | 4, right after the 7 Listen and Repeat sentences. |
|---|---|
| Interviewer | Pre-recorded. Each task opens with a short scenario, shown on screen and read aloud, set in an academic or campus situation, with images such as a photo of the speaker. |
| Time to answer | 45 seconds per question. |
| Order | The first questions ask about you and your experience. The later ones ask for your view on a broader issue. |
| Accents | Speakers use North American, British, Australian and New Zealand accents, as in the real test. |
| Score | 0–5 for each answer. |
| Not stated by ETS | Whether there is time to prepare before each answer. |
How the 4 questions build up
A set we wrote around one situation: you are taking part in an online study of students’ sleep habits. Each question asks a little more of you than the one before.
Situation: an online study of university students’ sleep habits
- 1 · About you
Thanks for taking part in our study. To start, what time do you usually go to bed on a weeknight, and what keeps you up?
- 2 · An experience
Can you tell me about a time when not getting enough sleep affected your studies?
- 3 · Your opinion
Some people say universities shouldn’t schedule classes before 9 a.m. Do you agree?
- 4 · A wider question
Some experts think schools should teach students how to manage their sleep, the same way they teach study skills. What’s your view?
How each answer is scored
This is ETS’s description of each score, in our own words. Look at the 2: an answer that mostly repeats the question’s wording.
| Score | What it means |
|---|---|
| 5 | On topic and well developed, at a natural pace, with accurate and varied language. |
| 4 | On topic, but ideas are not well connected and there are some pauses. |
| 3 | Limited development, with frequent pauses and fillers. |
| 2 | Only loosely related to the question, often repeating its wording. |
| 1 | Only isolated words; mostly hard to understand. |
| 0 | No response, not in English, or unrelated to the question. |
How to fill 45 seconds
45 seconds is about 100 words at a normal pace. Four parts are enough to reach it without rushing.
One question, two levels
Both answers are to question 3 above. We wrote them to show the difference; the bands are practice estimates, not official scores.
Some people say universities shouldn’t schedule classes before 9 a.m. Do you agree?
Yes, I agree universities shouldn’t schedule classes before 9 a.m. Because, um, students need sleep. Early classes are very early and many students are tired. So, uh, they cannot study good. If classes start later, students can sleep more and, um, they are more focus in class. So I agree with this.
- Opens by repeating the question.
- One reason, no example.
- “study good” and “more focus”; fillers between most sentences.
I mostly agree, because a lot of students simply aren’t awake at eight. Most of us finish assignments or work part-time until late, so an early class means five or six hours of sleep. Last semester I had statistics at 8 a.m., and I took notes without really following anything, then relearned it all at night. Moving it to ten would have saved me hours. The catch is that later classes push other things into the evening, so universities would need to spread the timetable out, not just shift it. Still, I’d rather have students awake in class than just present.
- Answers first, then gives a real reason: late assignments and part-time work.
- A specific example: an 8 a.m. statistics class.
- Adds a problem and a fix, which shows the view was thought through.
Three common ways to lose points
Starting with the question’s own words fills a few seconds and adds nothing. In ETS’s description, an answer that mostly repeats the question is a 2.
“Because students need sleep” is a reason, not development. Without an example or explanation, the answer stays at 3: limited development.
Frequent pauses and fillers are also in the 3 description. With the four parts planned, you already know what the next sentence is for.
Questions about Take an Interview
Facts about the test on this page come from ETS. If ETS updates the test, their pages win.