THE WRITING SECTION OF THE TOEFL IBT (1)

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THE TOEFL WRITING SECTION

There are two kinds of writing tasks on the TOEFL IBT:

• The independent writing task

• The integrated writing task

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE INDEPENDENT WRITING TASK

The purpose of the independent writing task is to show your ability to write an essay of at least 300 words. The topic is provided by the exam program during the test and cannot be changed. The time allowed for writing the essay is 30 minutes. This includes planning, writing and reviewing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INTEGRATED WRITING TASK

The purpose of the integrated writing task is to combine information provided by a reading passage and a listening passage, in order to present a written response to a question. The reading passage will be about 250 – 300 words long and the allotted time for the reading is 3 minutes. The listening passage lasts for about 2 minutes. You will have to take notes of the main ideas of both passages, so as to be able to integrate both of them and provide an answer to the question that the test assigns to you. The written response should be about 150 – 225 words, and the time allowed for planning, writing and reviewing is 20 minutes.

THE THESIS STATEMENT.

Your thesis statement is what you plan to write about. It’s your basic or main idea for the whole writing task that you are answering at that moment. You will need to start with a thesis statement when answering both the independent and the integrated writing tasks. 

In the case of the Essay (Independent Task), you will have to state, explain and support an idea. This idea could be an opinion or a preference. The statement that describes this main idea is your thesis statement.

For the Integrated Task, your thesis statement must refer to the main idea of both the reading passage and the lecture or listening passage. This is why you need to take notes as you read and listen!

SOME CONCLUSIONS.

As we can see from the paragraphs above, the Independent Task and the Integrated Task have some similarities and some differences.

The principal similarities are:

• They both need a thesis statement

• They both include planning, writing and reviewing

• They are both time controlled, 30 minutes for the Independent Task and 20 minutes for the Integrated Task

• They both need an adequate level of knowledge of the English language.

The main differences are:

• The Independent Task is more personal, you write about your own ideas. In the Integrated Task you write about other people’s ideas.

• For the Independent Task, you need to write. For the Integrated Task, you must read, listen and write.

 

Which of the two do you think will be more difficult for you?

FINAL WORDS.

This post was a short introduction to the Writing Section of the TOEFL IBT.

I will be providing more details in future posts, so stay connected!

© 2013  joveron  (Joan Robertson)

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PROFICIENT WORDS (WORDS # 34)

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PALATABLE

Adjective – Tasting good enough to eat or drink; acceptable

The meal they provided was barely palatable

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PARADIGM

Noun (countable, formal) -  A set of ideas that are used for understanding or explaining something; a typical example or model of something

The West used to be the paradigm of economic success

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PENCHANT

Noun – a feeling of liking something very much, or a tendency to do something a lot

He has a penchant for blonde women

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PLAUSIBLE

Adjective – Likely to be true; a person who is plausible seems to be honest and sincere

A bomb was the only plausible explanation for the explosion

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MY COMMENTS ON THESE WORDS

Here we are again, with another interesting collection of words! A couple of them are relatively easy, others   not so much.

“Palatable” is quite well known, I think, it has to do with our palate, which is a way of describing the roof of our mouths. That’s where we taste the things we eat. So something is palatable when our palate thinks it’s nice.  It is not a formal word; it’s a “use every day” word!

“Paradigm” can be considered formal and not so formal. When used in academic circles, I think it is considered to have a rather “deep” meaning. But it’s also used in normal, everyday language, as we can see in the example above.

“Penchant” is a relatively current word, there is a synonym which I think would be even more complex, you could say “predilection”, but that would probably just make matters worse. So, “penchant” it is! The example is quite clear, I think. 

“Plausible” is the simplest of this list, I think. It is used frequently in everyday life, and should be quite well known to everybody! Something that is “plausible” is something that can be believed. When we have missed out on some task, we always try to find a “plausible excuse” for our behavior. 

Scientists need to look for plausible explanations when confronted with unknown happenings or processes. So yes, the word is used frequently!

The good news for Spanish speakers is that the words paladar, paradigma and plausible all exist, sound similar and mean the same. There is a small problem with paladar, this refers to the palate, but the adjective “palatable” translates as sabroso.  Still, these similarities should be a help.

So study your words, and I’ll see you on the next post!

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© 2013  joveron  (Joan Robertson)

I will be very happy to receive your comments! Just click the word “comments” lower down.

ODD WORDS (WORDS # 33)

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OBLIQUE

Adjective – not expressing something directly / not looking or pointing directly at someone or something

An oblique reference to the war

He was giving her oblique looks

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 OBSOLESCENT

 

Adjective – becoming replaced by something newer and more effective

Electric typewriters are certainly obsolescent, some people have never even seen them!

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 OSSIFY

Verb (intransitive/transitive) – If something ossifies, it becomes fixed and will not change

Some very conservative people that do not take easily to change, are said to have “ossified minds”!

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 OVINE

Adjective – Of, relating to or characteristic of sheep. Sheep like

An ovine animal.  An ovine herd

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MY COMMENTS ON THESE WORDS

These can certainly be described as “odd” words!

“Oblique” is used, but in a very limited number of situations, I think. Politicians will be referred to as having announced views in an “oblique” way.  I don’t really like the feel of this word, it sounds a little less than honest to me. Maybe if you are trying not to hurt someone’s feeling you might speak to them in an “oblique” way. A difficult word to handle!

“Obsolescent” is a useful word, especially at the present time, when innovations last for a couple of weeks and then grow old and may even finally disappear as they are replaced by newer innovations, and so it goes, on and on. Just think of the Internet, and the various web programs and applications!

“Ossify” is easily associated to “bones”. I would rather just say “bones”, but then “ossify” does describe the process through which bones are formed. It becomes a sad word when applied to human behavior, though. Who wants to interact with people who have “ossified minds”? I certainly do not.  

“Ovine” is a rather elegant and formal way of describing… sheep! I would just use “sheep”, but then it could be necessary to be a bit more formal when writing an academic paper, I suppose. 

There is good news for Spanish speakers! The words oblicuo, obsolescente, osificar and ovino all exist, sound similar and mean the same! This should be a help, I think!

So study up your words and get better results on your English graduate entry tests!

I’ll see you on the next post!

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© 2013  joveron  (Joan Robertson)

I will be very happy to receive your comments! Just click the word “comments” lower down.