The Next-Generation TOEFL Test, to be released in September 2005, emphasizes English for academic purposes (EAP).
It focuses on all four skills and academic skill proficiency and responds to the growing popularity of communicative
testing by addressing all four skills -- reading, listening, writing and speaking. The Next-Generation TOEFL Test
makes all existing test-preparation guides obsolete.
The Michigan Guide to English for Academic Success and Better TOEFL Test Scores is the first published guide for
the Next-Generation TOEFL. The Michigan Guide will help students develop the skills that will improve their English
-- not just for test preparation but for academic purposes as well. The Michigan Guide helps TOEFL candidates learn
and practice the skills they need for the new test -- global comprehension, skill integration, and communicative
ability in college-related tasks.
The book may be used as a core text in multi-skills EAP classes and dedicated test-preparation courses. When the
new TOEFL comes online, EAP classes will become test-prep classes. Because the University of Michigan Press is
a longtime leader in the publication of EAP materials and the authors of this book are EAP instructors, The Michigan
Guide is the definitive guide to teaching the academic skills necessary to perform well on the TOEFL Test.
Within each chapter, academic skills are identified, explained, practiced, and finally tested. Opportunities for
simulated test practice are provided within the chapters, and a complete practice test is provided at the end of
the book.
Other features include:
Full-length readings from authentic scholarly and college-level textbooks
Authentic lectures from first- and second-year university courses
Examples of student writing and speaking from nonnative speakers of English in testing situations
Extensive sections detailing how written and spoken responses will be rated.
The two audio CDs packaged with the book contain all the material for the listening section and the integrated
skills tested in the writing and speaking sections of the new TOEFL.
The changes to the TOEFL test are dramatic. On the new version of the test, the readings and lectures will be about
twice as long as they are on the current computer-based test. The reading section includes summary and categorization
tasks never before used in a TOEFL. Skill-integration will be tested in the speaking and writing sections based
on reading and listening passages. The new version contains no discrete-point grammar questions.