2019-07-05 TOEFL: speaking practice

Greg Malivuk
gmalivuk@staffordhouse.com
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-the-romans-flooded-the-colosseum-for-sea-battles-janelle-peters
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Speaking Section: 3rd section (after the break); currently 6 tasks, about 20 minutes total
1* independent, open-ended personal preference - 15 seconds to prepare / 45 seconds to speak
2 independent, choice question (2 now, 3 after 8/1) - 15/45
3 integrated reading/listening/speaking, campus announcement and student response - 30/60
4 integrated R/L/S, textbook excerpt and professor response - 30/60
5* integrated L/S, conversation about a problem and solutions - 20/60
6 integrated L/S, academic lecture - 20/60
* These questions will be removed after August 1.
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Record your responses to ETS 1.3
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BREAK
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Listen to your classmates’ responses. What was good or bad about each one?

- Choosing a famous painting like the Mona Lisa is a good strategy for the first task, because you don’t have to spend time remembering other paintings or photographs you’ve really seen.
- However, make sure to include some specific details about your answer. The official description of a score of 2 out of 4 for this task includes: “The response is connected to the task, though the number of ideas presented or the development of ideas is limited. Mostly basic ideas are expressed with limited elaboration (details and support). At times relevant substance may be vaguely expressed or repetitious.”
- You could also invent a painting or photograph to talk about (e.g. “My young son’s first painting”.)

- When you pick an option for the second task (or independent writing), you can invent details about your life that support your choice. (For example, invent two people who have experienced the two options. Talk about the advantages or disadvantages this has brought to their lives.)

- As a general rule you can divide your response into thirds:
	1: Background/introduction/main idea/lead-in (15 or 20 seconds; maybe 30 for some tasks)
	2: First point/details/examples (15 or 20 seconds)
	3: Second point/details/examples (15 or 20 seconds)
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You can practice organizing independent speaking responses by just repeating the 15-second preparation time with many different topics.
https://www.bestmytest.com/blog/toefl/new-toefl-speaking-topics-2018
2 - Your mini-outline for this prompt could look like:
	poem = easiest
		1 alone
		2 no creativity
Remember: speaking tasks do not require conclusions; add a conclusion if you still have time after explaining you reasons
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When you listen to your recordings:
- Make note of your speed and rhythm. Do you speak too fast or too slow? Do you pause between complete thoughts or in the middle of ideas?
- Transcribe your response (write down every word you say) and then make note of grammar and vocabulary problems.
- You can try to give yourself a score based on https://www.ets.org/s/toefl/pdf/toefl_speaking_rubrics.pdf
	(Your book also describes speaking score levels on p. 610 and 611)