Scoring Criteria for TOEFL Independent Speaking

Score General Description Delivery Topic development Language use
4 The response fulfills the demands of the task, with at most minor lapses in completeness. It is highly intelligible and exhibits sustained, coherent discourse. A response at this level is characterized by all of the following: Generally well-paced flow (fluid expression). Speech is clear. It may include minor lapses, or minor difficulties with pronunciation or intonation patterns, which do not affect overall intelligibility The response demonstrates effective use of grammar and vocabulary. It exhibits a fairly high degree of automatically with good control of basic and complex structures (as appropriate). Some minor (or systematic) errors are noticeable but do not obscure meaning. Response is sustained and sufficient to the task. It is generally well developed and coherent; relationships between ideas are clear (or there is a clear progression of ideas).
3 The response fulfills the demands of the task, with at most minor lapses in completeness. It is highly intelligible and exhibits sustained, coherent discourse. A response at this level is characterized by all of the following: Generally well-paced flow (fluid expression). Speech is clear. It may include minor lapses, or minor difficulties with pronunciation or intonation patterns, which do not affect overall intelligibility The response demonstrates effective use of grammar and vocabulary. It exhibits a fairly high degree of automatically with good control of basic and complex structures (as appropriate). Some minor (or systematic) errors are noticeable but do not obscure meaning. Response is sustained and sufficient to the task. It is generally well developed and coherent; relationships between ideas are clear (or there is a clear progression of ideas).
2 The response fulfills the demands of the task, with at most minor lapses in completeness. It is highly intelligible and exhibits sustained, coherent discourse. A response at this level is characterized by all of the following: Generally well-paced flow (fluid expression). Speech is clear. It may include minor lapses, or minor difficulties with pronunciation or intonation patterns, which do not affect overall intelligibility The response demonstrates effective use of grammar and vocabulary. It exhibits a fairly high degree of automatically with good control of basic and complex structures (as appropriate). Some minor (or systematic) errors are noticeable but do not obscure meaning. Response is sustained and sufficient to the task. It is generally well developed and coherent; relationships between ideas are clear (or there is a clear progression of ideas).
1 The response fulfills the demands of the task, with at most minor lapses in completeness. It is highly intelligible and exhibits sustained, coherent discourse. A response at this level is characterized by all of the following: Generally well-paced flow (fluid expression). Speech is clear. It may include minor lapses, or minor difficulties with pronunciation or intonation patterns, which do not affect overall intelligibility The response demonstrates effective use of grammar and vocabulary. It exhibits a fairly high degree of automatically with good control of basic and complex structures (as appropriate). Some minor (or systematic) errors are noticeable but do not obscure meaning. Response is sustained and sufficient to the task. It is generally well developed and coherent; relationships between ideas are clear (or there is a clear progression of ideas).
0 Speaker makes no attempt to respond OR response is unrelated to the topic
See criteria for other tasks