Adaptive Testing System in TOEFL: How Easier and Harder Modules Differ

Impression after Taking the New TOEFL

Last week, I had the opportunity to take the TOEFL Home Edition in the new format with a few friends. One thing that immediately surprised me was how much easier the entire test felt compared to the traditional format. Before the actual exam, I assumed that the official practice tests provided by ETS were intentionally made easier than the real test. However, after taking the exam, I realized that the overall difficulty was quite close to those official practice tests.

The only truly difficult questions were in Speaking Section Part 1, where you are required to repeat exactly what you hear. This task was challenging even for native speakers. Memorizing a sentence of around 16 words and reproducing it word for word is not easy. Personally, I don’t think this part is an effective way to evaluate English proficiency. It feels more like a test of short-term memory than of actual language ability. Still, since it’s part of the exam, you have no choice but to deal with it.

If you want to do well in this section, mastering note-taking is essential. Without it, achieving a full score is extremely difficult unless you have exceptionally strong short-term memory.

In this article, I would like to share several insights I gained during the exam. In particular, the most valuable takeaway is the difference between the Easier and Harder modules in Reading and Listening sections.

Difficulty of the New TOEFL

Compared to the traditional TOEFL, the new version feels easier overall. This impression is not only based on my personal experience. It’s also supported by the fact that the new test is designed to identify a wider range of proficiency levels, including the lowest CEFR level, A1.

Because of this design change, the test places less emphasis on demanding tasks and instead focuses more on assessing basic to intermediate English skills.

CEFR and TOEFL

CEFR stands for “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages,” a global scale used to evaluate language proficiency. Without going into detail, it’s useful to know that the scale ranges from A1 (the lowest level) to C2 (the highest level).

The previous version of the TOEFL covered a relatively narrow range of proficiency levels, mainly targeting learners from B1 to C1. In contrast, the new TOEFL is designed to assess a much wider range, from A1 to C2. This means that even learners with very basic English proficiency can now be identified through the test.

In my view, because the new TOEFL places greater emphasis on assessing lower proficiency levels, both the test content and format have been adjusted accordingly. As a result, the overall test became easier than the previous version.

Key Differences between the Easier and Harder Module 2

Interestingly, there is a clear difference between the Easier and Harder Module 2 in both the Reading and Listening sections. By understanding this difference, you can tell which module you are in, Easier or Harder, during the exam.

Reading Section: Module 2

When my friend and I took the exam last week, we decided in advance to aim for different versions of Module 2. I received the Harder Module 2, while my friend received the Easier Module 2, so that we could gain insights into how the adaptive testing format works. We did this for both the Reading and Listening sections.

One of the most interesting differences lies in the types of questions you encounter at each difficulty level. In Reading Module 1, you work through three parts: “Complete the Words,” “Read in Daily Life,” and “Read an Academic Passage.”

However, “Read in Daily Life” questions do not appear in the Harder Module 2. Likewise, “Read an Academic Passage” questions do not appear in the Easier Module 2.

This means that if you see “Read in Daily Life” questions in Module 2, you can safely assume that you are in the Easier Module 2. If you move on to the Easier Module 2, the maximum band score for that section is 4.0. Therefore, if you are aiming for a higher score, you need to advance to the Harder Module 2. The threshold between these two modules appears to be around 60% accuracy. For this reason, it’s important to maintain at least a 60% correct rate in Module 1.

Listening Section: Module 2

The same pattern applies to the Listening section. Listening Module 1 consists of four question types:

• Listen and Choose a Response
• Listen to a Conversation
• Listen to an Announcement
• Listen to an Academic Talk

However, once you advance to the Harder Module 2, you will no longer see “Listen to an Announcement” questions. Likewise, in the Easier Module 2, you do not have to deal with the “Listen to an Academic Talk” format. As with the Reading section, the maximum band score for the Easier Module 2 in Listening is 4.0.