TOEIC Speaking Task 7 and 8: Proposing a Solution

What Task 7 and 8 ask you to do

In the problem-solving question you hear a short recorded message: a customer, a colleague or a supplier explains that something has gone wrong, and you answer as the person who picks up the phone. The published directions are two lines long. Show that you recognise the problem, and propose a way of dealing with it.

A note on numbering. ETS's current published format for the TOEIC Speaking test lists five task types across 11 questions, and a standalone propose-a-solution item is not among them. The task appears in earlier ETS sample tests as Question 10: a message of 30 to 45 seconds, 30 seconds to prepare, 60 seconds to speak, rated on a 0 to 5 scale. Prep books still teach it because turning a messy complaint into an ordered recommendation is the skill that Question 11 and most real calls reward. The labels Task 7 and Task 8 below are this guide's own; nothing depends on the number.

What the scoring guide rewards

The published criteria are cumulative. Pronunciation, intonation and stress come first; grammar, vocabulary and cohesion next; relevance and completeness of content on top. The last two decide most borderline answers.

What the rater listens for	What a vague answer does	What a strong answer does
Relevance of content	offers a general policy: we always try to help	names the specific constraint in the message
Completeness of content	recognises the problem, then stops	recognises it, then proposes a fix
Cohesion	lists ideas without signposts	marks each move: two options, then a choice
Grammar and vocabulary	reaches for big words and loses control	uses plain verbs precisely
Pronunciation and stress	rushes and flattens	slows on the key noun and the deadline

A vague answer usually fails on relevance rather than grammar: it offers a policy instead of naming the constraint in the message. Completeness is the mirror image. Candidates recognise the problem and then stop, or jump to a fix without saying what they understood. The published score descriptions for the middle bands say the response attempts the task but does not complete every part of it, which is exactly what a one-move answer does.

The four-step template: restate, two options, choose, consequence

Four moves, in this order.

1. Restate the problem in one sentence, using the caller's facts. So the driver arrived without the code and the load could not be signed in.
2. Offer two options that differ in kind, not in wording. We can send the code now and bring the driver back before six, or hold the load and deliver first thing tomorrow.
3. Choose one and tie the reason to the message. I'd send the code now, because your line starts tonight and a second trip costs less than a stopped line.
4. State the consequence and the next action. If that works, I'll call the depot and confirm the return time within ten minutes.

At a calm pace these four moves fill the minute. The template is not a script to recite. It is a way of making sure that no required part is missing when the clock stops.

The 30-second preparation grid: who, what, when, cost

Thirty seconds is not enough for sentences. Write nouns, one per box.

Box	Ask yourself	A filled example
Who	Who is affected, and who can act?	the night shift, plus the depot supervisor
What	What exactly is blocked, in the caller's words?	the load cannot be signed in without the code
When	What is the real deadline?	the line starts at eight tonight
Cost	What does each option cost in time, money or goodwill?	one extra trip against one stopped line

Two rules for the grid. Fill it from the message, not from imagination: if the message does not say who is affected, write "caller only" and say so out loud. Keep the cost box honest, because it is where the reason in step three comes from. A recommendation with no cost comparison sounds like a preference.

Language for comparing options and recommending

• Open the comparison: There are two ways we could handle this.
• Describe the first: The first option is to send the code now, which gets the load in tonight.
• Describe the second: The alternative is to hold it until tomorrow, which avoids a second trip but delays your stock.
• Name the trade-off: So it is one extra trip against one lost night of stock.
• Recommend: I'd go with the first one, because the line is running tonight.
• Close the loop: Shall I call the depot and confirm?

One hedge is politeness. Three hedges are a decision you have not made. Probably, maybe and perhaps in the same answer tell the listener that nobody has chosen, and the directions ask you to choose.

A model answer with the template marked

The prompt: a customer leaves a message saying that the delivery was refused because the driver did not have the code, and the stock is needed for a night shift.

1. Thanks for calling. I understand the problem: the driver arrived without the delivery code, so the load could not be signed in. Restate.
2. There are two things we can do today. We can send the code to your reception now and ask the driver to return before six, or we can hold the load overnight and deliver first thing tomorrow. Two options.
3. I'd send the code now, because your night shift needs the stock and one extra trip costs less than a stopped line. Choose, using the cost from the grid.
4. If that suits you, I'll call the depot, confirm the driver's return time and send the code to reception in the next ten minutes. Consequence and next action.

Four sentences, four jobs. Notice what is absent: no apology loop, no recital of company policy, no second problem invented to fill the time. If you finish early, add one detail to the consequence, such as the name of the person who will call back, rather than restarting.

Two prompts to rehearse from toeic speaking and writing practice tests

Any set of toeic speaking and writing practice tests will do, as long as the prompt describes a scheduling or staffing problem rather than an opinion.

• Prompt A: a hotel conference desk calls. Two workshops were booked into the same room, and the facilitator arrives in three hours.
• Prompt B: a team leader leaves a message. Half the laptops in the training room will not connect to the projector, and the session starts in forty minutes.

Run each prompt twice. The first attempt is only to hear where you run out of time; the second is the one you judge. Score it against this checklist:

• Did the first sentence name the problem in the caller's terms?
• Were there exactly two options, and were they genuinely different in kind?
• Did you say which one you would choose, and why, before the last fifteen seconds?
• Did the final sentence say who does what next?
• Did you keep the same tense for the problem and for the plan?

A recorder is enough for this. If you practise with an AI speaking partner such as HiBay, ask it to mark the four moves separately rather than giving one overall impression, because the move you dropped is the useful piece of feedback.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the TOEIC Speaking problem-solving task?

In the ETS sample tests that contain the task, the message lasts 30 to 45 seconds, you have 30 seconds to prepare, and you speak for 60 seconds, with responses rated on a 0 to 5 scale. The current 11-question format has no separate problem-solving item, so in practice the clock is one you set yourself: thirty seconds of grid, sixty seconds of speech, then a listen-back.

What score do I need in TOEIC Speaking for a workplace certificate?

There is no pass mark to look up. ETS states that the Speaking and Writing tests are not tests one passes or fails, that it does not set score requirements, and that each institution or agency sets its own standards. A workplace certificate therefore describes a threshold your employer chose, not a level defined by the exam. Ask for three details in writing: the band, whether it applies to Speaking alone or to Speaking and Writing together, and whether it is a hiring screen or an internal requirement.