About TOEFL® Junior™

The TOEFL® Junior™ Tests measures the degree to which middle-school students have attained proficiency in the academic and social English-language skills representative of English-medium instructional environments.

Usually these students are ages 11-15. However, the test may be appropriate for other students. It is a general English-language proficiency test not based on or limited to any specific curriculum. The appropriateness is based on the English-language proficiency of the students.

TOEFL® Junior™ Test Design

The TOEFL® Junior™ Test is a paper-based test consisting of 126 multiple-choice questions. It includes three sections: Listening Comprehension, Language Form and Meaning, and Reading Comprehension. Each section contains 42 four-choice questions.

The table below summarizes the structure and timing of the test:

Sections Listening Comprehension Language Form and Meaning Reading Comprehension
Format 40 mins,Paper– based test 25 mins,Paper– based test 50 mins,Paper– based test
Questions 42 multiple choice questions prompt 42 multiple choice questions prompt 42 multiple choice questions prompt
Scoring Total scores range from 200 to 300 Total scores range from 200 to 300 Total scores range from 200 to 300

1. Listening Comprehension

The section is designed to measure the listening skills needed for success in an English-medium instructional environment.

Three key skills are measured - the abilities to listen for:

Listening: Classroom Instruction

Classroom Instruction items provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to understand information disseminated as instructions, announcements, etc. by teachers and other school staff. Listening abilities tested include:

Listening: Short Conversations

Short Conversations provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to listen to and understand short conversations about student life in English. Listening abilities tested include:

Listening: Academic Talks

Academic Listening sets provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to learn new information in English in an academic context. Listening abilities tested included:

2. Language Form and Meaning

The section is designed to assess students' understanding of the structure of English and the depth of their vocabulary knowledge. The items are as close exercises embedded within a single paragraph.

Text Types:

  • Expository
  • Biographical
  • Correspondence
  • Announcement
  • Advertisement
  • Fiction

Language Meaning Question Types:

  • Noun
  • Verb
  • Modifier
  • Determiner
  • Preposition
  • Conjunction

Language Form Question Types:

  • Subject
  • Object
  • Subject and verb
  • Verb form
  • Passive voice
  • Adjective or adjective phrase
  • Adverb or adverb phrase
  • Object complement

  • Relative clause
  • Noun phrase or noun clause
  • Expletive
  • Comparative or superlative
  • Predicate nominative
  • Word order
  • Word form

3. Reading Comprehension

The section is designed to assess the degree to which students have the reading skills representative of English-medium instructional environments. This includes two general types of reading:

Text types are representative of genres that middle school students might encounter in a classroom

  • Non-linear texts
  • Correspondence
  • Journalism
  • Fiction
  • Expository
  • Biographical
  • Persuasive