Newbury House TOEFL Preparation Kit - Preparing for the TOEFL - Preparing for the Test of Written English - Review

Sep 30, 2026

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A scholarly review of the Newbury House TOEFL Preparation Kit assesses how effectively it supports university-bound ESL students. The review surveys research suggesting the TOEFL tests only limited communication skills and may not correlate clearly with academic achievement. It evaluates the kit’s pragmatic guidance on discrete-point grammar, listening, and vocabulary items, while highlighting strategies aimed at TOEFL test specifications and additional academic reading and writing skills.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Review Context and Research Background

Limits of TOEFL for Academic Communication

Overview of the Kit

Volumes, Audio Materials, and Structure

Discrete-Point Strategy Approach

Item-Type Specifications and Answer Strategies

Reading Comprehension Approach

Integrated Learning Considerations

UC Riverside Issues in Applied Linguistics Title Newbury House TOEFL Preparation Kit:Preparing for the TOEFL by Daniel B,Kennedy,Dorry Mann Kenyon,and Steven J.Matthiesen and Newbury House TOEFL Preparation Kit:Preparing for the Test of Written English by Liz Hamp-Lyons Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/54s6h8tn Journal Issues in Applied Linguistics,1(2) ISSN 1050-4273 Author Cushing,Sara T Publication Date1990-12-30 DOI 10.5070/L412004997 Peer reviewed Newbury House TOEFL Preparation Kit: Preparing forthe TOEFL by Daniel B.Kennedy,Dorry Mann Kenyon,andSteven J.Matthiesen.New York:Newbury House,1989.262 pp. Newbury House TOEFL Preparation Kit: Preparing forthe Test of Written English by Liz Hamp-Lyons.New York:Newbury House,1989.134 pp. Reviewed bySara T.CushingUniversity of California,Los Angeles Recent research on the Educational Testing Service's Test ofEnglish as a Foreign Language(TOEFL)suggests that,while theTOEFL is a valid test of language proficiency,it tests only a limitedrange of communication skills and ignores many skills required bystudents in American university settings(Duran et al.,1985).Thereis also no clear evidence of any relationship between high TOEFLscores and academic achievement(Graham,1987).Such findingsraise questions about the appropriacy of using TOEFL preparationbooks in courses for university-bound ESL students,especiallygiven the current orientation in academic-purpose language teachingto promote communicative competence rather than the sort of discretelanguage knowledge which is tested in many sections of the TOEFL.Indeed,conscientious teachers may wonder whether they are doingtheir students a disservice by spending class time on exercisesspecifically designed to raise TOEFL scores,at the expense ofactivities which promote the general academic skills needed at theuniversity.At the same time,those language testing researchersconcerned with the TOEFL's limitations might ask whether TOEFLpreparation books do more harm than good since they perpetuate thestatus quo rather than encourage improvement of the TOEFL alongthe lines that some experts have suggested (Savignon,1986;Larsen-Freeman,1986)so as to increase its ability to measurecommunicative skills. The Newbury House TOEFLPreparation Kit is by no meansradical in its attitude towards the TOEFL,but it does attempt toprovide a partial answer to the first of these dilemmas.While theauthors take a pragmatic approach toward the discrete-point sectionsof the TOEFL,they also emphasize those areas of the TOEFL which are more relevant to the future needs of university students.Theresult is a well-written,easy to read manual that provides practicalsuggestions for doing well on the discrete-point grammar,listening,and vocabulary items of the TOEFL.Additionally,the Kit promotesthe acquisition of academic skills,especially in reading and writing,to help students deal with the TOEFL as it exists today and with theacademic requirements of the American universities they hope toattend. The Kit contains two volumes--Preparing for the TOEFL(PFT)and Preparing for the Test of Written English(PTWE)--aswell as two audio cassettes which simulate the listening sections ofthe practice tests,and a separate tapescript and answer key,all neatlypackaged together in a plastic binder.PFT has many features typicalof TOEFL preparation books now on the market:answers tocommonly asked questions about the TOEFL,descriptions of thevarious parts of the test,sample exercises for each section,andpractice tests.However,a few crucial differences make theNewbury House Kit notable.First is the authors'attention to thestrict specifications of item types and formats which TOEFL itemwriters follow.The authors have clearly spent considerable timestudying numerous forms of the TOEFL and,in essence,haverecreated the test specifications so as to characterize the kinds ofquestions found on the TOEFL in terms of content,format,anddifficulty.The

FAQs

Why does the review question the TOEFL preparation approach for university-bound ESL students?

It cites research indicating the TOEFL measures only limited communication skills and shows no clear evidence linking TOEFL scores to academic achievement. The review argues this raises concerns about spending class time on score-focused exercises.

What does the kit aim to do beyond discrete-point TOEFL practice?

It promotes acquisition of academic skills, especially reading and writing, to help students handle both the TOEFL as it is and the academic requirements of American universities.

What makes the Newbury House kit notable in its treatment of TOEFL items?

The review highlights the authors’ attention to strict item types and formats, claiming they studied many TOEFL forms and recreated specifications to explain tested skills, question formats, and strategies in detail.

Sep 30, 2026

Upload by hdkawk