2018-08-24 TOEFL: writing samples, speaking 4

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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Math Anxiety TED-Ed video
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With your partners, read the sample responses to yesterday’s integrated writing. What is good or bad about each one? What score should it receive?
1 - 4.5 points - Good block format, but the positions are a little unclear in the introduction and there are occasional problems with grammar and word choice.
2 - 1 point - This doesn’t include any of the points from the lecture. (There are also some grammar and vocabulary problems that make the summary of the reading unclear.)
3 - 3.5 points - The first point from the lecture is wrong.
4 - 3 points - This misses the first and third point from the text and doesn’t develop the lecture’s point well enough, there are also grammar and vocabulary problems that sometimes make things difficult to understand.
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Speaking Section: third section after the break, 20 minutes, 6 tasks
1 independent, open-ended - 15 seconds to prepare / 45 seconds to speak
2 independent, choice question - 15/45
3 integrated reading/listening/speaking, campus announcement and conversation - 30/60
4 integrated R/L/S, academic text and lecture - 30/60
5 integrated L/S, conversation about a problem and solution - 20/60
6 integrated L/S, academic lecture - 20/60
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Speaking Task 4 - Cambridge symbiosis example.
Read and take notes.
Listen and take notes.
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BREAK
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Points from the text:
3 types of symbiotic relationship
mutualism = + + (both benefit)
parasitism = + - (1 benefit, 1 harm)
commensalism = + 0 (1 benefit, 1 no effect)
Points from the lecture:
review of the types of relationship
not always clear: bee orchid and male bees (helps the orchid, we don’t know about bees)
sometimes changes:
	- bacteria on our skin: helps bacteria and usually doens’t affect us (comm), but if the skin is burned, bacteria cause infenction which harms us (parasitism)
	- shrimp and crabs on coral: usually helps s&c and doesn’t affect coral (comm), but when coral is attacked, they defend it which helps the coral (mut)
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The prompt asks about the two examples where the relationship changes, so you don’t need to talk about the bee and orchid.
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A response to this prompt can be organized like this:
1 Introduction: Summarize the text (what are symbiotic relationships? what are the 3 types?)
2 Lead-in: State what points the professor makes (“The professor talks about two pairs of organisms whose relationship can change.”)
3 First point: “First the professor talks about bacteria on our skin.”
4 Detail/example: “Normally this is commensal because it helps the bacteria but doesn’t affect us, but if the skin is burned the bacteria can cause an infection, which harms us and makes the relationship parasitic.”
5 Second point: “Second, the professor talks about…”
6 Detail/example: “Normally this is also commensal because…, but if starfish attack…”
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Take 5 minutes with your partners to prepare a “perfect” response to ETS 2 test 4 (write a detailed outline, but don’t try to write every word you’d say in a response)
- When the lecture is about an experiment, the “points” in your response can be the methods, results, and conclusion.
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Record your responses to ETS 1 tests 1-3.
Listen to your recordings and decide which one we can hear as a class.
Listen to your classmates. What is good or bad about each response?
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Homework (optional): If you want more feedback on your writing than a score and a sentence or two, email me with a self-evaluation about your own writing. What did you do well (or better than last time)? What did you do badly (or worse than last time)? What will you work on for next time?