Why do Physical Therapists need to take TOEFL?

Before being able to take the National Physical Therapist Exam (NPTE) and earn their license as a physical therapist in the United States, you should first have the Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL). The TOEFL is a 4-hour, internet-based examination of English proficiency which is required for eligibility to take the NPTE.

There are actually several other English examinations apart from the TOEFL – IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEIC – but the TOEFL is preferred for physical therapists because of certain qualities of the examination that addresses the communication needs of working in the United States.

Here are some reasons why the TOEFL is the preferred examination for the NPTE.

1.       The TOEFL is patterned after academic communication. The TOEFL’s content and question types are based on academic analysis and communication. Given that the workplace communication requirements of a physical therapist are mostly academic, then the TOEFL is the ideal English proficiency test for them.

2.       The TOEFL is based on American English. Unlike other English examinations that utilize international English, the TOEFL is United States-specific. It makes use of the American accent and American slang. As physical therapists will mostly deal with American clients and co-workers, then optimal assessment of communication skills is very important. The TOEFL gives that assessment more precisely than other English proficiency tests.

3.       The TOEFL is an integrated examination. Communication is actually a combination of listening, reading, writing, and speaking – the four components tested in the TOEFL. Other English examinations test these components separately, but the TOEFL integrates these skills to simulate how communication is in real life. This is another reason why the TOEFL is preferred as an eligibility requirement to the NPTE – because a physical therapist must be able to integrate these four skills in order to communicate well with clients. This makes the TOEFL more challenging in some aspects.

Given these characteristic, it is not surprising that the NPTE is partial to the TOEFL. Physical therapists who wish to take the NPTE to be licensed to practice in the United States will not be allowed to take the exam if they fail to get the required TOEFL score.

The TOEFL is indeed an exam of opportunities, and is one of the first steps a PT who wants to practice in the United States must take. This is why ample preparation is important.

Good luck.