The content characteristics of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) are examined from a communicative viewpoint, based on current theory in applied linguistics and language proficiency assessment. The study employed a four-part operational framework. The first component analyzed the communicative characteristics of a language proficiency test based on grammatical, sociolinguistic, and discourse competencies required by test tasks. The second component consists of eight factors which could influence scores--test taking skills, representation of knowledge, language use situation, context and message, artificial restrictions, monitoring factors, affective factors, and strategic factors. The third component consists of judgments of the relevance of item content to academic and social language use. The final component considers the relationship of language tasks in TOEFL items to the criterion-referenced Interagency Language Roundtable scale of language proficiency. Suggestions for improving language proficiency tests are presented, which are based on the principle of eliciting the best performance from examinees. Appendices include a 150-item TOEFL test form; a script for the TOEFL listening comprehension section; taxonomies of communication skills; item analyses based on the communication skill checklists; and skill level descriptions from the Interagency Language Roundtable. (GDC)