Esta entrada presenta las estrategias y procedimientos que se puede usar para la sección de writing del TOEFL iBT®. Se presenta una descripción de cada tipo de ejercicio que se del examen, así como sugerencias y ejemplos prácticos para mejorar la redacción en inglés y la puntuación en el examen TOEFL iBT®.
The writing part of the TOEFL® tests various of your abilities: grammar, vocabulary, writing and developing clear ideas, and connecting information from various sources, among others. You will have two writing tasks. The first writing, called the Integrated Writing Task, requires you to read a passage, listen to a lecture related to the passage, and later write a 200 word essay connecting the two together. The second writing, called the Independent Writing Task, requires you to write a 300 word response to an open ended question (prompt) from your own experience or background knowledge.
General recommendations, with examples from the Independent Writing task.
A well written essay is like a well built building, with a firm foundation upon which are built solid walls, and concluded with a protective roof that closes the structure off. We will use the following prompt (question) of the Independent type for our examples.
Example prompt: Some parents think that it is better to have their children go to bilingual schools while others would rather have their children go to monolingual schools. Where do you think children should go to school? Give examples and reasons to support your opinion.
Notice most questions in the Independent Writing task will ask you to choose one side or the other. Be aware that the best, and easiest method is to choose one perspective or the other, even if in real life you think both options are valid. This is because, unfortunately, you only have 30 minutes and need to write about 300 words to express a coherent response, so choose one position (your opinion) and develop it well.
Before you start writing, spend about three minutes to create a simple outline:
Ex: Bilingual (your opinion)
- Reason 1. Prepare for future – ex: my job
- Reason 2. Makes people more intelligent – ex: poli-linguist
- Reason 3. Encourages multi-cultural integration – ex: border towns
Since your introduction is your foundation, you will need to clearly present the topic, your opinion and your three reasons, that you will later develop.
Example introduction paragraph: In recent years English has become more and more important in the world, so many schools in non-native English speaking countries have started bilingual programs to help prepare students for life beyond school. In my opinion this is a good decision. I think this for three reasons: it prepares students for the future, makes people more intelligent and encourages multi-cultural sensitivity.
The easiest way to write your introduction is to start by taking the prompt and expressing it in your own words to clearly present the topic. Next you should introduce your opinion and finally, for your third sentence, you should present your three reasons for why you think what you believe.
A simple sentence structure follows the pattern Subject + Verb + Object, such as: “The dog eats food.” When you are writing your sentences try to keep them simple and use this base pattern, but expand on them with adjectives or adverbs, clauses, examples, and more advanced vocabulary. Also mix sentence lengths: some should be short, others long.
After writing your introduction you will need to write three body paragraphs that develop your three reasons. To write a good body paragraph you need a clear topic that you develop with clear and concrete ideas. A vague example is much harder to read and follow than a paragraph that has personal and specific examples. Your examples do not necessarily need to be real, as long as they are concrete.
Example first body paragraph: The first reason for why I think that bilingual schools are better for children is because they will prepare them for their future. Unfortunately, when I started school English was not as important as it now is in Spain. Later, when I was in high school, my parents began to see its rising importance so they sent me to American Language Academy so that I could learn English. Now, ten years later, and thanks to my parent’s foresight I work for a local international company in Madrid that requires me to use, not only my native Spanish but also English on a regular basis.
A conclusion, like a roof, should solidify your essay. It should start with a summary of your ideas without being redundant, and a possible restatement of your opinion.
Example conclusion: In conclusion, and as illustrated above, I strongly believe that the best option is a bilingual education. I wish I had had that opportunity as a child, and without a doubt if I have children I will send them to a bilingual school.
Finally, you need to use linking words well in order to connect your ideas together. Review the usage of words, like “moreover”, “similarly”, “however”, “while”, etc.
Specifics for the Integrated Writing Task
When writing the Integrated Task, you need to keep in mind the aforementioned techniques to write a clear and understandable essay. In addition you will need to compare and/or contrast two sources of information, a written text and a lecture. This will make the Integrated Writing seem more difficult. You will have three minutes to read a text that will look roughly like your own Independent Writing, with a clear topic, an opinion, and three reasons that the writer gives to support his or her opinion. After that, you will listen to a lecture that is about the same topic as the text but normally the lecturer has the opposite opinion and gives three reasons to support that opinion. After you listen you will then have a question (prompt) that will be something similar to the following:
Example prompt: Summarize the main points made in the lecture that you just heard, discussing how they cast doubt on points made in the passage. You can refer to the text as you write.
To write your essay, your introduction should clearly state the topic followed by the opinions of both the writer and speaker. Each body paragraph should connect and contrast the points presented in the passage and lecture in a coherent way so as to answer the question. Finally, your conclusion, as previously mentioned, should summarize and restate the topic and opinions. For this task, you must not give your opinion. Doing so will have a negative impact on your score.
Finally, regarding the organization of the information, it is recommended to express your ideas using a 4 or 5-paragraph outline, depending on the writing task and the amount of information you have.
4 paragraphs (suitable for the Integrated task)
- Par. 1: Introduction
- Par. 2: Opinion, reasons and examples given by the writer
- Par. 3: Opinion, reasons and examples given by the teacher (showing the relationship to the written passage)
- Par. 4: Conclusion
5 paragraphs (Integrated task)
- Par. 1: Introduction
- Par. 2: Reason 1 + examples from the writer, compared to Reason 1 + examples from the teacher
- Par. 3: Reason 2 + examples from the writer, compared to Reason 2 + examples from the teacher
- Par. 4: Reason 3 + examples from the writer, compared to Reason 3 + examples from the teacher
- Par. 5: Conclusion
5 paragraphs (Independent task)
- Par. 1: Introduction
- Par. 2: Reason 1 + examples
- Par. 3: Reason 2 + examples
- Par. 4: Reason 3 + examples
- Par. 5: Conclusion
