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.
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