2019-05-10 TOEFL: speaking

Greg Malivuk
gmalivuk@staffordhouse.com
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-amazing-ways-plants-defend-themselves-valentin-hammoudi
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Speaking Section: third section, six tasks, 5.5 minutes of speaking time, 20 minutes total
1 independent, open-ended opinion - 15 seconds to prepare / 45 seconds to speak
2 independent, choice question - 15/45
3 integrated reading/listening/speaking, campus announcement and student response - 30/60
4 integrated R/L/S, academic text 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
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Speaking Task 4
- 45 seconds (40-50) to read part of an academic text about a topic (usually gives general information)
- about 2 minutes to listen to a lecture about the same topic (usually gives specific details/examples)
- 30 seconds to prepare your response
- 60 seconds to speak
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Cambridge symbiosis example
take 45 seconds to read the text

symbiosis = intimate relationship between two organisms; doesn’t tell us if benefit or harm
	mutualism = both benefit (both +)
	parasitism = one +, other -
	commensalism = one +, other 0 (no + or -)

Listen to the professor and take notes. Add to your notes about the definitions if the professor repeats that information.

(repeats definitions)
sometimes don’t know what type of relationship
	bee and bee orchid (flower): helps flower, ? effect on bee
sometimes the relationship changes
	bacteria on our skin: usually don’t harm us (commensal); if burned, causes infection (parasitism)
	shrimp and crabs on coral: usually commensal (no effect on coral); defend coral if attacked (mut.)

The prompt only asks about relationships that change, so you don’t need to talk about the bee and orchid.
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Your response can be organized like this:
1 Introduction: summarize the reading (briefly define the three types of symbiotic relationship)
2 Lead-in: state what kind of points the professor makes (“The professor talks about two relationships that can change.”
3 First point (“First, there are bacteria on our skin.”)
4 Detail/example (“Normally this is commensalism, but if the skin is burned,...”)
5 Second point (“Second, he talks about shrimp and crabs on coral.”)
6 Detail/example (“Normally this is commensal, because the coral isn’t affected, but if it’s attacked,...”)
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If the lecture is about an experiment, the two “points” can be the method and the results. (This is also true for task 6.)
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p. 241 - Take 45 seconds to read about self-fulfilling prophecies.
	- The key here is that believing something can affect behavior in a way that makes it true.
Listen to the lecture and take notes.
“Explain how the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy contributed to a perceived increase in intelligence in the two groups.” - Many prompts can help focus your response. In this case, focus on the perception of increased intelligence. (In the first experiment, teachers perceived it; in the second, students themselves perceived it.)

First study
	method: researchers told teachers some students were smart
		(students actually average)
	results: those students improved more than others
	conclusion: teachers behaved differently to help those students
Second study
	method: some college students were taught that intelligence and IQ were changeable
	results: those students received higher grades than others who weren’t taught that info
	conclusion: those students changed behavior, ex. by working harder to make it come true

On the TOEFL, you’re more likely to hear about just one study, not two, though perhaps with more detail than either study in this listening.
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BREAK
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p. 244 - read the sample response
Pay attention to the timer while you speak. Try to start talking about the first point with 40 or 45 seconds remaining. Try to start talking about the second point by the time you’re down to 20 seconds remaining.
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Quiz about TOEFL mechanics.
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Record your responses to ETS 2 test 2.
Listen to your classmates’ responses. What’s good and bad about each one?
Email me your best response.
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Homework: If you want more feedback on yesterday’s writing than a score and a comment, send me a self-evaluation about what you did well, what you did badly, what you’ll try to improve for next time, and what you did better or worse than last time.