2020-11-06 TOEFL: W samples, S section

Next week, starting Tuesday, TOEFL will be 3:05-5:10 EST (GMT-5)
	(11:05pm - 1:10am in Moscow.)
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Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Young people enjoy life more than older people do.
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Write a response and then send it to me or share it with me at greg.malivuk@gmail.com
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https://www.ets.org/s/toefl/pdf/toefl_writing_rubrics.pdf - Writing score descriptions.
Remember that for both speaking and writing, the main factor regarding grammar and vocabulary is whether or not your response is still clear and easy to understand.

“accurate but limited range”: I think young is better than old. Young people have better lives. Old people can’t do things. Young people can travel.
	- These sentences are all correct, but they’re very low-level, so you would not receive a high score if all of your sentences were like this.
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In a group, look at and discuss the sample responses to yesterday’s writing prompt. What score do you think each one should receive?
A - 4 - There are four points, a range of vocabulary, and not too many errors. The mistakes that are in this response don’t interfere with meaning. Not all of the ideas are developed enough, which is a risk if you decide to have four supporting points.
B - 3 - “The writer lists a number of reasons to support the idea. Some of these reasons are fairly clear, but they are not substantiated by concrete examples that can be readily understood as supporting the overall idea.” Some of the connections and the individual ideas are hard to understand due to language errors. The most well developed paragraph is about travel, but doesn’t explain how that’s something only young people can do.
C - 5 - This is a good example of an “it depends” answer. It describes (with good accuracy and development) pros and cons of both age groups.
D - 1 - This has a lot more mistakes that make it hard to understand. There’s again no development of any supporting points.
E - 2 - This response gives a clear answer to the question and some reasons, and the grammar and vocabulary are mostly pretty good. But there’s no development of the points. “The writer simply does not give enough examples or any explanation in support.”
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You’re allowed to answer something like “it depends”, but then you need to explain what it depends on, and how. You need to discuss some advantages and disadvantages of both sides, which can require more work.
If you decide to include four supporting points, make sure you can type quickly enough to give details and examples for all four.
If you decide to include only two, make sure they’re developed a bit more than you would with three different points.
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https://www.typingtest.com/ - If you’re worried about your English typing speed, you can check and improve it here.
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If you’re worried about time, force yourself to spend no more than 5 minutes per paragraph when you first go through the response.
(I usually recommend that you write only your opinion statement before you start the body paragraphs. You can add more to the introduction later if you still have time.)
You’ll still have some time at the end to go back and finish sentences and make corrections.

(Because the integrated response will often be 4 paragraphs in 20 minutes, your limit there should be 4 minutes per paragraph so you have time for corrections at the end.)
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If the independent (speaking or writing) prompt is about which “life choice” is better, start by thinking through a few typical situations where one action can be better or worse than another:
    Does one option cost more than the other?
    Does it help or hurt in different areas of life?
        education
        career
        relationships (friends or family)
        liesure activities
        necessary activities (chores, taxes, etc.)
        budget
        responsibilities
 (Also, don’t worry about whether you think it really costs less, just worry about whether you can think of any reasons why it might.)

More generally, you can start by asking yourself if one choice is better in terms of money, health, or relationships.
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BREAK
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Speaking Section (third section, after the break)
1 (old 2) independent, choice question - 15 seconds to prepare / 45 seconds to speak
2 (old 3) integrated reading/listening/speaking, campus announcement and conversation - 30/60
3 (old 4) integrated R/L/S, academic text and lecture - 30/60
4 (old 6) integrated L/S, academic lecture - 20/60
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Record your responses to the ETS 1.5 speaking questions.
Send the least bad recording to me.
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Next Week Schedule (Starting Tuesday)
Core (Level 16 or 18): 10am-1:15pm EST (GMT-5)
Workshop: 2-3pm
TOEFL: 3:05-5:10pm (with a 5-minute break in the middle)
	Elective 1: 3:05-4:05
	Elective 2 / Hiromi TOEFL: 4:10-5:10

- On Thursdays, I will teach TOEFL on Zoom from home.
(If you have questions about the schedule or about where class is on Thursday, email Katherine at bostonad@fls.net)