The TOEFL and the TELPAS combine listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in each focused portion of the test, so it is important to combine these functions when you study.
To study for a Texas English proficiency test, you will need to prepare for four sections, each of which evaluates a different aspect of proficiency: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Texas has two English proficiency tests: the Texas English Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The TELPAS comprises Reading Proficiency Tests in English (RPTE), which are administered to students in grades two and three, four and five, six through eight and nine through 12. The TOEFL is taken by any ESL student planning to enroll in a college or university in Texas.
Instructions
1. Locate a video news report that you can listen to for practice.
Find a news report online that you will be able to replay. CNN has a good video site for breaking news (http://www.cnn.com/video/).
2. Listen to the passage once for content and a second time for structure.
Listen to the news report and take notes on the main points and highlights of the story.
3. Take notes on what you understand to be the main points and highlights of the report and passage.
Listen again to the report, this time taking notes on the structure of the information; that is, note the order in which the details are given and whether those details are given via pictures, interviews, or verbal summary from the newscaster.
4. Read over your notes and then write a brief (three to four sentences) summary of the news report.
5. Practice conveying the main points of what you have heard by summarizing the passage to another person and have him or her correct your pronunciation and grammar.
Without looking at your notes, explain to another person the content and structure of the news report. Ask the other person to critique the pronunciation, grammar and pacing of your speech.
6. The TOEFL and TELPAS use passages from actual history textbooks, so these are logical texts to use in preparation for the test.
Randomly choose a paragraph in a history textbook and ask another person to read it aloud to you. Repeat steps 2 through 5: take notes on the main points and structure of the paragraph, write a summary of it in your own words, and verbalize a summary of it to the other person as he or she critiques your pronunciation, grammar and pacing.
7. Have the other person ask you questions about the content and structure of a randomly chosen paragraph in a history textbook and practice responding verbally to those questions.
Tags: news report, main points, Texas English, another person, other person, pronunciation grammar, TOEFL TELPAS