IELTS and TOEFL

The TOEFL is just one exam, there is only a version of the exam currently, the TOEFL IBT, this one is not an academic exam, even though it has an academic English, In the other hand, the IELTS is an exam which has two versions, it has the academic version and the general version, the TOEFL IBT that has academic English is comparable with the academic IELTS. In some situations, if you want to immigrate to countries like Canada or Australia you have to take the IELTS the general exam, this one is easier, the aspect of reading and reading are easier than the IELTS or than the TOEFL Rebecca (2009, July 7).

TOEFL is create for an American company so is focus more in American English in the listening for example, you are going to listen more American accent, and the IELTS is developed by the university of Cambridge and it is focus in British English so, the accent you are going to have for listening test is British English. Rebecca. (2009, July 7).

The length  

The length of the TOEFL is longer than IELTS. The TOEFL is about 4 hours long, in the other hand the IELTS is shorter, is about 2 hours and 25 minutes, it doesn´t mean is easier, but it is short. Rebecca. (2009, July 7).

Reading section

The reading section in TOEFL last for about 60 to 100 minutes, some student are given a longer version of the test some are given the shortest version. Students don’t have control over that. The shortest version has three passages and is given 20 minutes for each passage. The longest version has 5 passages. And it can last for 100 minutes. In the IELTS the reading section, consist of three passages of 20 minutes, it is about 60 minutes.

 The level of English in this section is academic English, the difficulties in TOEFL is the same level in the three passages, the IELTS stars from the easiest, and then is a little bit harder by the third paragraph. It has ten or twelve questions after each test. The questions at TOEFL are multiple choice. Student match but they do not have to write anything, in the IELTS there are different kinds of questions, some are multiple choice, some are true or false, in some students choose word from the passage and answer the questions. Rebecca.(2009, July 7).

Listening section

The listening section is different in the TOEFL and the IELTS, the TOEFL consist of  campus conversation and academic lectures, in this test students listen then take notes, after that they see the question and answer them. All questions are multiple choice so students must choose the right answer. In the IELTS is different, students listen the passages and write the answer as they go along, in some cases they fill in the blank , in some cases student match in terms  of filling out the chart in some cases they must complete in multiple choice questions.

The listening section in the TOEFL is about 40 t0 60 minutes long, in the IELTS is about half and hour.it is shorter and different. Rebecca.(2009, July 7).

Speaking section

The speaking section for the TOEFL consist of sitting in the computer, wearing headphones with a microphone and students are asked to record their answers to six different kinds of tasks, students have to speak for 45 seconds, in some cases the longest period you have to speak is 60 seconds.

The IELTS is different, students sit with and examiner, it last about 11 to 14 minutes, it is like an interview with the examiner, it has three stages, the first stage is about general questions, what is your name? Where you are from etc. the second stage students receive a little card with a task in it. Students study it for a couple of minutes and then they speak about it for about 2 minutes, in the third part you have a kind of a discussion where students talk a little bit more about the topic with the examiner.

The speaking section for TOEFL last about 20 minutes the IELTS last about 11 to 14 minutes. Rebecca. (2009, July 7).

Writing section

In the writing section there are common elements and some different. In the common elements of TOEFL and IELTS students have to write essays in the TOEFL students have to write five paragraphs essay, students count for this essay with half an hour and they have to write three hundred to three hundred and fifty words. The essay is about only one topic. In the IELTS students have to write an essay as well but in this one students have 40 minutes to write about two hundred to two hundred and fifty words, it has longer time to write less words.  This one is also about one topic. The essay is likely to be 4 to 5 paragraph in length. The second task in TOEFL is an integrated task, that means that some skills are tested together, first students have a short passage of three paragraphs to read, three minutes to read it, after that a listening part about a lecture addressing the same topic, the lecture may support the reading or can be contradictory, the last thing to do is to answer the question they ask to students from the reading and from the lecture and integrated. The second task in IELTS is different, students may get a table, a chart or a graph and they are asked to describe the information that is giving in the graphic form. Rebecca. (2009, July 7).

TOEFL Advantages

More than 9,000 colleges, universities and agencies in more than 130 countries rely on TOEFL test scores to help make admissions decisions. You can take the TOEFL test at your choice of conveniently located, ETS-approved test sites around the world. You also save time and money since the entire test is given in one day, rather than coming back a second day like some other tests. TOEFL test scores help you stand out because of the TOEFL test's reputation for quality, fairness and 100% academic content. It is the most widely accepted English-language test in the world, including more than 9,000 colleges, universities, agencies and other institutions in 130 countries. And that list includes the top 100 universities in the world. Educational Testing Service (2015).

Disadvantages of the TOEFL

There are many disadvantages for the TOEFL test as it has advantages and benefits. Firstly, while you are study in English school or an institute of English, you will think about taking the TOEFL test to pass it and have the English as a second language. When you think about that, you are going to ignore your school and study for the TOEFL within special programs, especially if they do not give practices for the TOEFL test. Secondly, if you want to pass the TOEFL, you might take it more than once and it costs a lot of money because it is expensive a little bit. There are limited locations to take the test in and in the same time a lot of international people want to take the test, therefore, you have to do a registration before the date of the test by a month or more than month sometimes. In addition, sometimes you may not find a test location in the region which you live in so you need to travel to somewhere to take the test. Finally, as same as the TOEFL has benefits that help you, it has disadvantages that rarely bother you.

Malkhalifah (2007, March 29).

IELTS Advantages
It is internationally recognized. It is very thorough, having enough tasks to measure your English level with high accuracy.  It pays attention to orthography, style, pronunciation and other aspects that a fluent (but uneducated) speaker may overlook.
Bands are clear and often spot on. Its growth is mesmerizing: during the last decade it's become incredibly popular and is even dethroning the TOEFL in a lot of territories.  Sebastian (2009).

Disadvantages of IELTS
It expires in two years. It's quite pricey. There is, of course, an error margin (not everybody who scores 7.5+ is proficient and not everybody who scores 5.5- isn't good enough). Some people may feel very nervous during the interview. While examiners keep that in mind, it still affects the candidate's performance. Having a numerical result is sometimes bad for a person's self-esteem, confidence and motivation, especially if they fail to get the desired score. Some teachers argue that a person's skill shouldn't be measured as when comparing potatoes, but others say 'how else can we know how good is a person's command?’ Likewise, it's nearly impossible to establish a person's English level through a three-hour test, although IELTS is as good as it can get. Still, not a definitive or absolute evidence. To actually get a grasp on your real English level, the best way would be sitting IELTS, TOEFL, Cambridge exams, etc. twice or three times each and then make stats and stuff... but of course very few people have the money, patience and will to do that. Sebastian (2009).

References

Educational Testing Service  (2015).  Advantages of Toefl. Retrieve from https://www.ets.org/toefl/why/ 

Rebecca. [engVid RebeccaESL]. (2009, July 7). TOEFL or IELTS? Which exam should you take? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35_ok4_G2cA

Sebastian (2009). Advantages  of IELTS. Retrieve from  https://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090623021200AARpUQw

Malkhalifah (2007, March 29). Disadvantages of the Toefl [Web blogpost]. Retrieve from http://malkhalifah.blogspot.com/2007/03/disadvantages-of-toefl.html

Wikipedia (2015 February 25). IELTS. Retrieve from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_English_Language_Testing_System#Listenig

Wikipedia (2015 February 24). TOEFL. Retrieve from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_of_English_as_a_Foreign_Language