Michael Goodine's Blog, page 14

Office Hours #2 Roundup

The second “Office Hours” chat about the upcoming TOEFL changes were a big success. About 75 interested test-prep folks showed up, and most stuck around for the whole hour. I’ll try my best to host a third one once the practice tests have been published. Probably July 16. A few notes from the community: Many […]

AI Powered Interlocutors for IELTS? Maybe!

Check out this wonderful new article in TESOL Quarterly by Yasin Karatay and Jing Xu.  It explores the possibility of using an AI-powered spoken dialog system to simulate an IELTS examiner.  Specifically, the researchers used a self-developed SDS powered by GPT-4o to simulate the third part of the IELTS speaking test. It is important to […]

Converting Between Old (1-120) and New (1-6) TOEFL Scores

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) has published a few charts illustrating how the new 1-6 TOEFL scoring scale will work and how to convert between old (1-120) TOEFL scores and new (1-6) TOEFL scores. As illustrated below, the scale will increase at increments of 0.5. It has been confirmed that the overall band score will […]

Duolingo are Winning?

I would be remiss if I didn’t link to Nicholas Cuthbert‘s video from DETcon London, since it generated quite a lot of spirited discussion.  Notably, Nicholas describes Duolingo as “ahead of the game.”  And also says:  “Duolingo are winning.” Hyperbole?  Perhaps.  Duolingo is certainly on a winning trajectory in terms of acceptance in key receiving […]

You Should Read More – Part 58 (of 100)

I read a real grab bag of stuff this month.  It was a good month. First up, I read the June 2025 issue of National Geographic.  It contained an excellent article called “Could Beavers be the Secret to Winning the Fight Against Wildfires?”.  It explores some positive impacts of beaver dams.  There is also some […]

How Timers Work on the TOEFL Test

I often get questions about how timers work on the TOEFL test.  So here’s a quick summary.  These details will be accurate until the TOEFL Test changes on January 21, 2026. Reading There is one 36-minute timer for the whole reading section.  You will have 36 minutes to read both of the articles and answer […]

TOEFL Essentials Price Increase ($199)

The cost of taking the TOEFL Essentials Test was recently increased to $199 USD. That’s about a 100% increase. In a few markets, the TOEFL Essentials is now more expensive than the TOEFL iBT. It’s a curious move. I can’t really figure it out. Perhaps someone with a bigger brain than I can explain it. […]

TOEIC Cheating in Japan!

Authorities in Japan recently busted a 27-year-old university student for allegedly cheating on the TOEIC (story here and here).  The Japanese police, acting on a tip, sent undercover agents to a local testing center and nabbed the suspected cheater. Apparently he was planning to use a microphone to communicate answers to others in the room. […]

On Testing, At-Home and Test-Center

The Higher Education Policy Institute has published an article written by a managing director at Cambridge University Press & Assessment about what is described as “the shift to remote language testing that removes substantial human supervision from the process.” Notes the author: “While some may be excited by the prospect of an “AI-first” model of […]

TEPS Score Report (and Thoughts)

Here’s something I’ve been meaning to post since forever.  It’s a score report from the TEPS Test in Korea.  This report is actually from a test taken by Mrs. Goodine, though I’ve replaced her photo with a picture of the comic strip hero Sally Forth. The TEPS test has been offered in Korea since 1999, […]