2017-01-11 TOEFL: ind speaking, writing errors

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-s-so-great-about-the-great-lakes-cheri-dobbs-and-jennifer-gabrys
What are the main problems facing the Great Lakes?
- human pollution
- global warming
- invasive species
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Speaking Section: third section, after listening and the ten-minute break, six questions
1-2 - independent speaking about your own experiences/opinions: 15s to prepare / 45s to speak
3 - reading/listening/speaking about an announcement and conversation
4 - reading/listening/speaking about a text and lecture
5 - listening/speaking about a conversation about a problem
6 - listening/speaking about a lecture
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Independent speaking - Two questions about your own experiences and opinions. One is open-ended (“Where is your ideal place to live?”), the other is a choice between two options (“Would you prefer to live by the sea or in the mountains?”).
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“What was your favorite childhood toy? Describe the toy and explain why it was your favorite. Give details and examples to support your answer.”
Your answer will have several parts:
1 Topic statement: “My favorite childhood toy was Legos.”
  (And description: “They were small pieces that you can use to construct and invent different objects.”)
2 Lead-in (optional): “I have two reasons why Legos were my favorite toy.”
3 First Reason: “The first reason is that they always improved my creativity.”
4 Detail/Example: “I was able to make a new building or car playing with Legos.”
5 Second Reason: “The second reason was that I could play with my brothers and sisters and create different stories.”
6 Detail/Example: “Building things with them helped us improve our relationships with each other.”
(7 Conclusion, if there’s time: “For these two reasons, Legos were my favorite toy as a child.”)
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Do you prefer to be in a large class or a small class? Use reasons and examples to support your response.”
Take 5 minutes with a partner to create a “perfect” response to this question.
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Handout (Oxford) p. 46 - Notice the suggestions at the top of the page about when not to use superlatives or opinion information.
p. 46-47 - Walk around and ask these questions to different classmates. Give your classmate 15s to prepare their response. (If you have already answered a question, you can choose a different question to answer.)
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BREAK
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Record your responses to questions 2 and 3 on p. 193-4 and 199.
“What is your favorite holiday? Describe the holiday and explain why it is your favorite. Use reasons and details to support your response.”
Listen to your responses and choose the one you think is least bad.
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http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000129.htm - Rules for breaking words at the end of a line.
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Writing Section: last section, after speaking
Two parts:
integrated - 3 minutes to read, time to listen, 20 minutes to write
independent - 30 minutes to write about your own opinion on something
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p. 386 - Score levels for integrated writing. Notice that even a score of 5 allows “occasional minor language errors”. Too many errors can slow down reading and hurt your score.
p. 381 - What are some mistakes you notice in the first paragraph?
*The plow was a great invention made large-scale agriculture possible.
-> The plow was a great invention that made large-scale agriculture possible.
(also correct: The plow was a great invention. It made large-scale agriculture possible.)
“For example” starts a new sentence, so you must have a subject and a verb after it.
*In contrast, no-till farming doesn’t use a plow and is better for the soil because it does not cause soil damage as much.
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p. 382-383 - Common sentence errors
- If you have a new subject and a new verb, you need to use a conjunction or you need to start a new sentence.
- When you write about a reading and lecture that you have in front of you, everything can be present tense. “The reading states…” “The professor argues…”
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Homework: spend 15-20 seconds briefly preparing responses to the other questions on p. 194-195 and 200-201.