TOEFL IBT WRITING SECTION

TOEFL iBT Writing Section

TOEFL iBT Writing Section section measures students' abilities to communicate effectively in writing in academic settings. Students must be able to present their ideas clearly and in an well-organized manner. Responses are typed into a computer and automatically sent to the ETS's Online Scoring Network for evaluating and scoring.

TOEFL iBT Writing section includes two writing tasks:

Integrated writing
Independent writing

Integrated writing TASK

TOEFL Task 1: Integrated writing task (20 minutes)

(Reading/Listening/Writing) In the integrated writing task test takers have 3 minutes to read a short text at about 230-300 words. The text is on an academic topic. When the time finishes the reading text disappears. The reading text is followed by a lecture (listening) on the same topic presented from different perspective. The listening passage has the same length - 230-300 words. When the listening finishes the reading text appears again with the question that test takers are expected to answer. A writing box on the screen is provided for typing the response. Students write a summary of the important points in the listening and explain how those are related to the reading text. During writing the reading passage is on screen and students can refer to it every time they wish to. The writing response should be between 150 and 225 words in length. There is a word counter that counts the words in the response.

Independent writing TASK

TOEFL Task 2: Independent writing task (30 minutes)

(Essay)In this task students are asked to write an essay that expresses and supports their opinion on a certain topic. The support should be based on test takers' own knowledge and experience. This task is the same as the one in the paper-based and the computer-based TOEFL. The length of an effective essay should be minimum 300 words.

REMEMBER

1. Listening during the independent writing task is played only once. Effective note taking could help to list important facts from the listening and avoid forgetting them.
2. Both tasks are timed independently - 20 minutes for the integrated writing and 30 minutes for the independent writing.
3. Allot some time to plan the outline of your essay. Scratch down some notes.
4. Do not just list your opinion or choices. Use reasons, examples and details to support your opinion/choice.
5. Use linking words to connect ideas and help the reader follow your thoughts.

TOEFL- CRACKING THE WRITING SECTION

You will achieve good score on the TOEFL writing section if you do the following:
1. Know what you are going to write before you write. Practice and master the writing templates so you will be confident on test day.
2. Organize your essay first. Don't just start writing, spend a few minutes outlining your essay. It will make writing it much easier.
3. Consider your audience. TOEFL graders are trained to look for certain things in an essay. Make sure your essay contains these key elements.
4. Use your time wisely. You have only 20 or 30 minutes to write. Make effidient use of your time.