Teacher Discussion Forums

Hey there folks,

I'll be starting TOEFL with some private students shortly, and although I've battled with it periodically I'm not experienced enough to really know which books are better than others. To be honest, to my untuned eye they all look equally dire. Ahem, I mean, they all look pretty much the same...

What do you (those more knowledgable than I) recommend? In the Longman one, I believe, there are sections devoted to the computerised test. The chances are my students in question will be taking the computer test - so bearing that in mind which book should I get?

Cheers!

I have been using the Longman Complete Course for the Toefl Test for 4 years now and I find it pretty comprehensive. But keep in mind that not any book alone can explain exactly everything in a way every student understands it, so personalize your book by finding good examples on how to teach certain topics.

Good luck
Wesley

From my point of view ...you should have a look at books to guide you and USE THEM.... because at the beginning I was worried about doing what books said...but you can use many plannings that you can find on the internet...

http://esl.about.com/

http://www.englishhorizon.com/

http://teachers.teach-nology.com/index.html

if you are spanish.... http://www.myprofe.com/start.htm

http://www.songsforteaching.com/

songs

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/musicchild.htm

Will your students be taking the CBT or the New CBT? In North America I believe that that most cities are switching to New CBT in September. If that is the case, then you (like many of us) are currently out of luck, as there are no materials currently ready...except some stuff available from the ETS website (www.TOEFL.org).
As far as the old CBT goes, I'm a big fan of "Heinle and Heinle's Complete Guide to the TOEFL Test" by Bruce Rogers. It comes with a CD ROM. The general feeling around my school is that the Longman text is good for intermediate students, but the Heinle and Heinle works best for those who are "almost there".

Good luck with it!

-Sharon in Winnipeg

ps. I find the best way to teach the essay writing is to teach the basic organization of the TOEFL five paragraph essay, and then go through the 155 options they might get...Well not all of them, but I've divided them into categories (expository, comparative, inventive-expository, etc.), and I discuss how each might be approached.