How to Practice for the TOEFL Speaking Section: The New Format Only Includes Listen-and-Retell and Simulated Interview; Practice Using the Official Scoring Rubrics

2026-09-26 · Guides

Starting in 2026, the TOEFL Speaking section will only feature two question types: 7 listen-and-retell questions and 4 simulated interview questions. According to the official scoring rubrics, missing a single function word or word ending in the retell can drop your score from a 5 to a 4; the 45-second interview requires you to answer, elaborate, and speak naturally. This article breaks down the scoring rubrics point by point and provides corresponding practice strategies.

If your TOEFL Speaking prep materials still include "Independent Speaking," "Integrated Speaking Tasks 2/3/4," and a bunch of answer templates, put them aside for now: starting in January 2026, the TOEFL Speaking section will only have two question types—Listen and Repeat and Take an Interview. Templates for the old question types are basically useless in the new version. Based on the official question descriptions and scoring rubrics published by ETS, this article explains what each of these two question types tests, how they are officially scored, and how to practice for them.

What the New Speaking Section Tests

The Speaking section has a total of 11 questions and takes about 8 minutes:

Listen and Repeat: 7 questions. A scenario is shown on the screen (e.g., learning to greet visitors at a zoo). You listen to a sentence and repeat it exactly as you heard it. The sentences will get longer and more complex. You repeat each sentence once after listening, with a maximum recording time of 8 to 12 seconds per sentence.
Take an Interview: 4 questions. A pre-recorded interviewer asks you questions based on a scenario (e.g., applying for a scholarship, participating in a research project), and you have 45 seconds to answer each question. The earlier questions focus on facts and personal experiences, while the later questions require you to express and justify your opinions on broader topics.

Each question is scored out of 5 points by a combination of AI scoring and ETS-certified raters, which is then converted to a scaled score of 1–6 for the Speaking section.

Under the new format, Speaking is the hardest section to get a high score in: a score of 5 in Speaking is equivalent to 25–26 in the old format, making it the highest threshold among the four sections (we calculated this specifically in our article on scoring 100 on the TOEFL). Therefore, if you want to aim for a high score, Speaking is the area most worth investing your time in.

Listen and Repeat: The Official Requirement is "Word-for-Word Accuracy"

The scoring rubrics published by ETS are very specific:

Score 5: Completely clear and a word-for-word repetition of the original sentence.
Score 4: The meaning is correct, but it is not an exact repetition. For example, missing or substituting one or two function words, missing or substituting a content word, missing or making errors in markers like tense or singular/plural forms, or reversing the order of two words.
Score 3: Most content words and the general meaning are conveyed, but the original meaning is not accurately expressed; multiple function words may be missing, or the pronunciation may be unclear enough to be hard to understand.

In other words, dropping from a 5 to a 4 might just be because you missed a "the," a plural "s," or used the present tense instead of the past tense. This is a very specific challenge for native Chinese speakers: Chinese has no articles or word endings, and the small words and endings we are most likely to "swallow" when speaking English are exactly these.

Corresponding practice methods:

Memorize by sense groups, not by individual words. You definitely won't remember a long sentence by memorizing it word by word. When listening, break the sentence into chunks—who, doing what, where, under what conditions—and repeat it chunk by chunk. This requires you to understand the sentence structure while listening.
Shadow read, then check word by word. Find audio recordings of daily and campus scenarios with transcripts (announcements, instructions, introductions). Follow along and speak sentence by sentence while recording yourself. After recording, check word by word against the transcript: which word was missed, which word ending wasn't pronounced, which two words were said in the wrong order. Mark all of these.
Practice "small words" and word endings specifically. Weak forms of to, of, the, have been; contractions like they've, you'd; and the pronunciation of -s and -ed. If you can't hear it, you can't say it. First, learn to distinguish these in listening.
Start speaking immediately. You only have 8 to 12 seconds of recording time per sentence. If you pause for too long, you'll forget the sentence. During practice, force yourself to start speaking immediately after listening.

Take an Interview: 45 Seconds to "Answer, Expand, and Speak Naturally"

The official description for a score of 5 in Take an Interview is: fully answers the question, clear and fluent; stays on topic and expands sufficiently; maintains a good conversational pace with natural pauses; pronunciation is understandable, and rhythm and intonation help convey meaning; grammar and vocabulary are accurate, varied, and clearly express precise meaning.

More instructive is the difference between a score of 4 and a score of 3:

A score of 4 stays on topic and expands, but may lack effective sentence-to-sentence transitions, and occasional pauses may slightly affect fluency;
A score of 3 has limited expansion, with frequent or overly long pauses causing choppy delivery, and many filler words (um, uh, like).

These points indicate the direction for practice.

Use a Simple Structure to Fill 45 Seconds

At a normal speaking pace, 45 seconds allows for about 100 words. You don't need to give a long speech, but you can't just stop after one or two sentences. A sufficient structure is:

Direct answer (one sentence): Answer the question first.
Give a reason (one or two sentences): Why.
Tell a specific example or experience (two or three sentences): When, what you did, and the result.
If you have time, wrap it up with a concluding sentence, or add "but it depends on the situation."

Step 3 is the most important. The scoring rubrics repeatedly emphasize "expansion," and the most natural expansion is a specific experience. "I think teamwork is important because you can learn a lot" is empty; "Last semester, I did a chemistry experiment with three classmates, and at first, the division of labor wasn't clear..." is actual expansion.

Different Preparation for the First Two and Last Two Questions

The earlier questions focus on personal experiences. Prepare an "experience bank" in advance: a learning challenge, a teamwork experience, a volunteer or extracurricular activity, a problem-solving experience, or an event that changed your mind. Practice telling each experience in English until you can clearly explain the cause, process, and result within 30 seconds. During the test, choose a suitable one based on the question.
The later questions require you to express opinions. For example, your views on a certain policy or trend. State your position first, then provide reasons and examples; it's best to briefly mention an alternative perspective before explaining why you still hold your view. This feels more like a real discussion than just piling up reasons.

Transitions, Pauses, and Pronunciation

Use natural transitions, not mechanical ones. The description for a score of 4 in the rubrics is "may lack effective sentence-to-sentence transitions." Instead of using "firstly" and "secondly" for every sentence, use natural conversational phrases: The main reason is…, For example, last semester…, That said,…, So in my case,….
Pauses are okay, but minimize filler words. When you need a moment to think, a quiet half-second pause is much better than stringing together "um… uh…". During practice, transcribe your recording and count how many filler words you used.
Practice rhythm, not just word pronunciation. English sentences have stress and intonation; important words should be stressed and held longer. When listening back to your recording, pay attention: are you stressing every word equally?

Finally, memorizing entire paragraph templates is hard to use here. The questions are asked live by the interviewer, and the scoring rubrics first check if your answer stays on topic—if your canned responses don't match the question, your score won't go up. You can prepare materials and a few natural transition phrases, but you must reorganize your answer around the specific question each time.

How to Practice in 30 Minutes a Day

10 minutes: Listen and Repeat. Find 10 to 15 sentences of varying lengths. Listen to each one and repeat it, record yourself, and check word by word against the transcript.
15 minutes: Take an Interview. Set a scenario for yourself, write down four questions (two experience-based, two opinion-based), and record yourself answering each within the 45-second limit.
5 minutes: Review. Pick one interview recording, transcribe it, and check it against the official scoring rubrics: Did you answer the question? Did you use specific examples? Were there too many filler words? Where are the grammar errors concentrated?

At least once a week, have a teacher or someone with better English skills listen to your recording according to the rubrics and give feedback. The biggest problem with practicing Speaking on your own is that you can't hear your own mistakes.

The official ETS prep portal has free Speaking practice that provides feedback on pace, rhythm, pronunciation, and grammar, along with a transcript of your response and sample answers; the website also offers a full-length practice test for the new version. We have checked item by item how to use these official materials and which ones are free in this article.

Conclusion

The new TOEFL Speaking section is "shorter" than before, but the requirements for accuracy are more detailed: Listen and Repeat requires word-for-word accuracy, and Take an Interview requires you to answer, expand, and speak naturally within 45 seconds. The good news is that the official scoring rubrics are very specific—each point can be directly turned into a practice goal. Practicing according to the rubrics is much more effective than memorizing templates.

If you want to know what your current Speaking score is roughly and where you need improvement, you can take a diagnostic test first. Our teachers will listen to your recording item by item according to the official scoring rubrics and provide feedback.

Verification Note: The question types, number of questions, response times, scoring methods, and scoring rubrics in this article were verified against the following official ETS pages and documents on September 26, 2026. Test content is subject to change; please refer to the official ETS website.

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