2020-01-16 TOEFL: ind writing

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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Homework: Oxford p. 370-373, exercises 6L1-6L4
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Writing Section: fourth and final section on the test, 2 tasks
1 integrated: read an article, listen to a lecture, and write about how they relate
2 independent: 30 minutes to write a short essay to answer a choice question
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There are two types of choice questions:
- agree/disagree: “Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?”
- some people/other people: “Some people think _____. Others believe _____. Which do you agree with?” (This type of prompt can sometimes have three choices.)
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“Typically, an effective response will have a minimum of 300 words.” = Most responses that receive a 4 or 5 have 300 or more words.
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You can write a basic five-paragraph essay for your response.
1 Introduction:
2-4 Body/Supporting Paragraphs:
	- state a reason for your opinion
	- show that the reason is true (e.g. with examples)
	- show that the reason supports your opinion (with detail/explanation/examples)
5 Conclusion: restate your opinion, summarize your reasons, generalize with a “takeaway” for the reader (this is often some advice or a prediction about the future)
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“The best things in life do not cost money.” - agree or disagree
- One of your supporting paragraphs could be about spending time with your family.
	You need to support that family time is one of the best things in life.
	You need to support that family time does or doesn’t cost money (depending on your thesis).
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Timing
- 3-5 minutes brainstorming and organizing your ideas
	brainstorm a few reasons for each option and try to think of possible supporting examples
	choose the option that has more/better reasons and examples to support it
	make a short outline of how you will organize your reasons and examples
- Write your thesis statement (state your opinion directly, don’t say “I agree with the statement”)
- 5 minutes (or 7 if there are only two) for each body paragraph
	stop immediately and move on after 5 minutes, to be sure you say at least a little about each point
- (2-3 minutes) Add some background to the introduction (and summarize the options you’re choosing between)
- (2-3) Finish the sentences/explanations in your body paragraphs. (Probably don’t add any new ideas now.)
- (2-3) Write a short conclusion summarizing your choice and reasons, and giving the reader something to take away (advice or prediction)
- (2-3) Spend any remaining time proofreading and fixing mistakes in your response.
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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
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You could have (in your mind or actually typed out before you add details) a framework for this response:

Some people think that physical health is the most important thing for a happy life, while other people think mental health is more important. In my opinion, a good life is impossible without good mental health, so that’s more important than physical health. I have three reasons for this.

First,
For example,
This means

Second,
For instance,
Therefore,

Third,
One example is
As a result,

In conclusion, because of
I think
In the future,
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p. 511 - Independent Writing happiness prompt. (This is a little more open-ended than a typical TOEFL prompt.)
Essay 2: score 0
	This response basically just copies phrases from the prompt. (It would be possible for someone who knows no English to produce this response.)
Essay 6: score 1
	This gives some of the writer’s own ideas and explains why they make the writer happy. But the grammar is terrible and the ideas aren’t developed.
Essay 4: score 2
	This gives a clear answer to the question and devotes one paragraph to each thing that makes the writer happy. However the points are still underdeveloped and the grammar is still pretty bad.
Essay 1: score 3
	Neither point is sufficiently developed. Why does dealing with people at work make him happy? There could also be more detail about why friends are helpful. The grammar and vocabulary aren’t terrible, but they are pretty simple. There are a few problems that make parts of the essay difficult to read.
Essay 3: score 4
	Some of the details and examples could be developed more and there are few noticeable grammar and vocabulary mistakes.
Essay 5: score 5
	There are only two main points but they are both very well developed. There’s a wide variety of vocabulary and sentence structures, and only a few minor errors.
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BREAK
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Writing Practice (1.1 and G.3) - Email your responses to me when you’re finished
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Which one was harder? Why?
- Remember that your real opinion isn’t important, and you can invent examples to support either side of a choice question.
- If you can think of one good reason for each side (e.g. one benefit of old friends and one benefit of new friends), you can write a 4-paragraph essay where you body paragraphs explain why both kinds of friends are important.
- One way to disagree with a comparative statement is to say the two things being compared are the same. (e.g. Old friends and new friends are equally important, but in different ways.)
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Homework: assign scores to the four sample essays
	Writing scores are described on p. 613 and at https://www.ets.org/s/toefl/pdf/toefl_writing_rubrics.pdf