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<p>The TOEFL is a written test. It doesn’t show anything about a speakers ability to use the language to communicate by speaking. In particular, it does not deal with heavy accents or sound productions that differ in the English language vs the native language. And you can pass the TOEFL with really poor grammar skills in English as well. </p>
<p>This TA could have met proficiency on the TOEFL but might still be very difficult to understand due to grammar and accent issues.</p>