What is Sustained Speech in TOEFL® Speaking?
Sustained Speech (SS) in TOEFL® Speaking context is a SpeechRater™ indicator of your fluency. It is one of 12 dimensions measured on My Speaking Score.
SS is a measure of how smoothly you speak based on the number of words you utter without any pauses.
You should pause less frequently and speak faster.
- Any pause between two words that lasts more than 0.145 seconds is a “silence”.
- If the pause takes around 0.5 seconds, it is a “long silence”.
- Top achievers on the TOEFL speaking test speak 158 words per minute on average.
What Your Sustained Speech Score Means
Your Sustained Speech score is calculated based on the number of words you speak without any interruption and the number of fillers per second.
Higher Sustained Speech score = fewer pauses + more words without interruption.
Sustained Speech is scored out of 100. Your score is indicated by the “You are here” line.Y
- This response outscored 64% of the test takers in ETS’s database.
- 36% of the responses scored higher in this one dimension.
- This response is consistent with other TOEFL Speaking responses in the 18-25 range.
- Tip: Learn more about how to read My Speaking Score charts, including the Impact score and what the coloured bars mean, in our knowledgebase.
Tip: Learn more about how to read My Speaking Score charts, including the Impact score and what the coloured bars mean, in our knowledgebase.
Why care about Sustained Speech?
- Those who score 26+ on TOEFL Speaking have an average Sustained Speech score of 92.97.
- Sustained Speech is one of the strongest predictors of your overall TOEFL speaking score.
- Speaking Rate correlates well with some other indicators, such as pause frequency, distribution of pauses, phrase length, and speaking rate (when your sustained speech score is high, your score on these other indicators is likely to be high).
Increase your Sustained Speech Score
Reduce the number of times you pause in your speech and try to speak longer without any interruption. Stronger speakers do this:
- Pause less frequently.
- Speak faster with few or no interruptions.
- Can “read” audio waveform (e.g. on My Speaking Score).
Fewer gaps mean fewer pauses. The longer the space between two pauses, the higher your SS score.
Remember, Sustained Speech is an important measure of your fluency and it has a very high impact on your overall SpeechRater score.
Check out our blog to learn more about how to improve your score in other dimensions!
What is Sustained Speech in TOEFL® Speaking?
Sustained Speech (SS) in TOEFL® Speaking context is a SpeechRater™ indicator of your fluency. It is one of 12 dimensions measured on My Speaking Score.
SS is a measure of how smoothly you speak based on the number of words you utter without any pauses.
You should pause less frequently and speak faster.
- Any pause between two words that lasts more than 0.145 seconds is a “silence”.
- If the pause takes around 0.5 seconds, it is a “long silence”.
- Top achievers on the TOEFL speaking test speak 158 words per minute on average.
What Your Sustained Speech Score Means
Your Sustained Speech score is calculated based on the number of words you speak without any interruption and the number of fillers per second.
Higher Sustained Speech score = fewer pauses + more words without interruption.
Sustained Speech is scored out of 100. Your score is indicated by the “You are here” line.Y
- This response outscored 64% of the test takers in ETS’s database.
- 36% of the responses scored higher in this one dimension.
- This response is consistent with other TOEFL Speaking responses in the 18-25 range.
- Tip: Learn more about how to read My Speaking Score charts, including the Impact score and what the coloured bars mean, in our knowledgebase.
Tip: Learn more about how to read My Speaking Score charts, including the Impact score and what the coloured bars mean, in our knowledgebase.
Why care about Sustained Speech?
- Those who score 26+ on TOEFL Speaking have an average Sustained Speech score of 92.97.
- Sustained Speech is one of the strongest predictors of your overall TOEFL speaking score.
- Speaking Rate correlates well with some other indicators, such as pause frequency, distribution of pauses, phrase length, and speaking rate (when your sustained speech score is high, your score on these other indicators is likely to be high).
Increase your Sustained Speech Score
Reduce the number of times you pause in your speech and try to speak longer without any interruption. Stronger speakers do this:
- Pause less frequently.
- Speak faster with few or no interruptions.
- Can “read” audio waveform (e.g. on My Speaking Score).
Fewer gaps mean fewer pauses. The longer the space between two pauses, the higher your SS score.
Remember, Sustained Speech is an important measure of your fluency and it has a very high impact on your overall SpeechRater score.
Check out our blog to learn more about how to improve your score in other dimensions!