2019-08-27 TOEFL: overview, speaking, writing

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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TOEFL: 4 sections, 30 points each (120 total), 3.5 hours total
1 reading: 54-72 minutes, 3-4 passages, 10 questions about each passage
2 listening: 40-60 minutes, 2-3 conversations (5 Qs) and 3-4 lectures/discussions (6 Qs)
	(10-minute break)
3 speaking: 20 minutes, 4 tasks (recorded on the computer), 1 independent + 3 integrated
	(Questions 1 and 5 from the old version will no longer be used.)
4 writing: 55 minutes, 2 tasks, 20+30 minutes of writing time
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- If you have the shorter reading, you’ll have the longer listening (and vice versa).
- The additional passages in the longer version are experimental. They won’t affect your score (but you won’t know which ones they are).
- There is no penalty for incorrect answers, so it’s always best to guess.
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https://www.toeflresources.com/changes-to-the-toefl-in-2018-and-2019
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You can find information about some schools at http://www.toeflgoanywhere.org/search-who-accepts-toefl
However, that site says to contact many of them directly.
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Speaking Section: 4 tasks, 17 minutes, 3m45s of speaking time.
1 (old 2) independent, choice question - 15 seconds to prepare / 45 seconds to speak
2 (old 3) integrated reading/listening/speaking, campus announcement and conversation - 30/60
3 (old 4) integrated R/L/S, academic text and lecture - 30/60
4 (old 6) integrated L/S, academic lecture - 20/60
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For the independent task, you can get ideas and practice with “would you rather” type questions.
https://conversationstartersworld.com/would-you-rather-questions/

In the 15 seconds of preparation time, you can write a mini-outline:
answer
- reason 1
- reason 2

“Would you rather find your true love or a suitcase with five million dollars inside?”
true love
- forever
- ???

suitcase
- spend it on loved ones
- more free time for love
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Your full response can be organized like this:
1 Introduction: state your preference (in your own words)
2 Lead-in: “I have two reasons for this preference.”
3 First point: “First, I already have loved ones I can spend the money on.”
4 Detail/example: “I don’t need to find my ‘true love’ if I can make the people I already love happy by helping them out with money.”
5 Second point
6 Detail/example
(7 Conclusion - if you have time: “In conclusion, because I can spend it on loved ones and because money would give me free time to meet my true love, I would prefer to find five million dollars.”)
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p. 116-117 of your book has a summary chart for the independent speaking task
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Transitions or transition signals are words and phrases that show how ideas are connected and that lead the audience into the next point you make.
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p. 49 gives some additional speaking advice in the task outline.
https://www.ets.org/s/toefl/pdf/toefl_speaking_rubrics.pdf describes score levels
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BREAK
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ETS 2 sample questions
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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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Task 2 (old 3)
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In the passage, make sure to identify
- The change (may be past or future, real or proposed)
- 1 or 2 reasons given for that change
In the conversation, make sure to identify
- Which speaker has the strong opinion
- What is their opinion?
- Why? (Usually their reasons relate to the reasons in the text.)
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Task 3 (old 4)
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In the passage
- Find the definition for the main concept
- Look for any general examples (In ETS 2.2, these are the two directions: product -> entertainment and entertainment -> product)
In the lecture
- Identify the two main points the speaker gives.
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Task 4 (old 6)
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This is similar to the previous task, but the general definition will be included as part of the lecture instead of in a text.
- If the details are about an experiment, the two “points” can be methods and results or can be group 1 results and group 2 results.
- When it’s an experiment, it can be a good idea to include a conclusion about how the experiment supports or contradicts the original idea.
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Writing Section
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Integrated
- 3 minutes to read a text (you’ll see it again while you write, but not while you listen)
- listen to a lecture which usually supports the opposite viewpoint
- You write about how the points from the lecture relate to the points from the reading
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Optional Homework: Go through a number of questions from https://conversationstartersworld.com/would-you-rather-questions/ and try to write a mini-outline and give a 45 second response to them