2016-07-29 Pre TOEFL: integrated writing intro

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - Notes from all my classes
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Integrated (reading + listening +) writing
- 3 minutes to read and take notes
- some time to listen and take notes
- see the question/prompt
- 20 minutes to write a response (during this time you see the text again)
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Look at the integrated reading materials from https://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/TOEFL/pdf/ibt_writing_sample_responses.pdf (handout)

Take 3 minutes to read the text and take notes.

Important ideas from the reading (about working in teams)
- Working in teams is good for many reasons.
- A group of people has a wider range of knowledge than an individual.
- A group can have access to more resources.
- can work more quickly
- highly creative solutions
- can make riskier decisions
- share responsibility
- more rewarding, better chance to shine
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4 minutes to read the transcript of a lecture you would hear

Main points:
- working in a team is not good for many reasons
(etc)
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You will respond to:
“Summarize the points made in the lecture you just heard, explaining how they cast doubt on points made in the reading.”
cast doubt on = make us question (basically = contradict)

With your partner, make an outline for a response to this prompt.

Intro: The lecture was about one company that had teams do new projects and what they discovered about the effectiveness of working in teams. They found many disadvantages of working in teams, in contrast to what the reading predicts.
- The company found that many group members didn’t work enough, but they still got recognized as part of the team if the project was successful. This contradicts what the reading says about everyone in a group sharing responsibility for the work.
- The reading says that teams will work faster because of the number of people and greater amount of resources available. However, the lecture says teams did not work faster, because it took a long time for them to reach consensus about what to do, and because they had to schedule many meetings to make decisions.
- They found that one or two people would dominate decisions and negatively affect the rest of the group, in contrast to the reading, which says that everyone will feel better about contributing to group decisions.