The Interface between the TOEFL ITP and Internationalization and Language Assessment in Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the results of a pedagogic intervention to aid participants’ performance on the TOEFL ITP test. In order to do that, tutoring sessions on test taking skills and specific language skills were provided to university students from a federal university in the Southeast of Brazil. The pedagogic intervention was carried out over a period of 17 weeks. Participants were also enrolled in a regular course at the university’s Language Center. The TOEFL ITP (Level 1) test was administered in the beginning and at the end of the course to measure and compare their performance. The study used a mixed methods design (Dornyei, 2007) to analyze the effect of instruction on participants’ performance. Overall results of the quantitative analysis suggest that the treatment was effective for there were statistically significant differences in participants’ performance on the test after the pedagogic intervention. The qualitative analysis suggests that participants were aware of their main linguistic difficulties. Based on these results it is suggested that more focused attention in the form of instruction should be dedicated to the development of academic contents and listening skills to TOELF ITP test takers.