TOEFL Prep Program Gets Top Marks From Teachers and Students

TOEFL Mastery, from the American Language Academy, is a test preparation software package designed to allow students to obtain the highest possible score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Recent revisions to the TOEFL test are reflected in Version 3.0 of TOEFL Mastery, which is currently on the market.

The package features exercises, section tests, and full length, timed practice tests. The section and full-length practice tests actually simulate test-taking conditions, and the exercises provide concentrated practice with individual TOEFL test question types. The number of questions presented in each exercise also matches the number of questions on the actual TOEFL test. The exercise and section test questions are randomly chosen and students are given a new set of questions each time they do an exercise. When a student finishes an exercise, he or she will see a Score Report on the computer screen. This displays the total number of questions, the number that were answered correctly and incorrectly, as well as the length of time it took for the student to complete the exercise. Students are then free to go back to review questions that were missed or answered incorrectly. Using the review mode, students are given feedback on each correct answer, and there is an opportunity to make a fresh choice of answer. At the end of the review, the Student will see a second Score Report.

We found that the the exercises and tests employed in TOEFL Mastery were excellent devices for familiarizing our students with the rigors of the actual TOEFL test. The program is easy to use, even for the most fearful of technophobic students, and screen layout, commands, and task progressions are clear and unequivocal. One student, Keiko, 19 from Osaka, Japan, said "I am scared about taking the TOEFL test. But when am using this computer program, my nerves start to go away." According to Oscar, 23, from Ascencion, Paraguay "The instructions are really easy to follow. I don't like preparing for tests, but using a computer makes it turn into a kind of a game."

In particular, students praised the simplicity of the program, while we noted that they were getting a thorough practice in all elements of the TOEFL test. Schools and colleges that use multimedia should seriously consider evaluating the TOEFL Mastery software package if they are in the business of TOEFL prep.

System Requirements: IBM PC or compatible. 4Mb of RAM. 10 Mb free on hard drive. CD ROM Drive. Sound Blaster-compatible sound card, speaker or headphones, Windows 3.1 or Windows 95.