TOEFL
is a vocabulary test. I hear this all the time. And it is wrong. The TOEFL iBT
is not a vocabulary test. It is an English-language proficiency test whose main
testing tool is the argument (the essay). If you do not understand basic
argument development (read: basic
western style rhetoric), you will not score above 90/120. I know. I see this all the time.
Yes,
a large vocabulary is essential when taking the TOEFL iBT, but it is only one
part of a proficient argument. Think of it this way: Vocabulary is like the
cheese on a cheeseburger, the cheeseburger being your argument. If the cheese
is cheap processed cheese, you know, the stuff that tastes like plastic, the
cheeseburger will taste terrible. Ah, but if the cheese is aged Wisconsin
organic blue cheese - now that's an argument for a great cheeseburger!
Note in this analogy how the cheese supports the meat, just like vocab supports
an argument (the main meal).
Spread
the word. TOEFL is not a vocabulary test. The TOEFL iBT is an English-language
proficiency test whose main testing tool is the argument. That is what my TOEFL
texts teach. That is why my TOEFL texts are different from all the rest.
