Ah, the TOEFL writing section. For many students, this is the most intimidating part of the exam. But—hear me out on this—it’s arguably the easiest section to teach. By employing a few concrete strategies, you can make a big difference in increasing your students’ scores and confidence.
“For many students, the WRITING section is the most intimidating part of the exam. But...it’s arguably the EASIEST section to teach. ”
So let’s get down to it: How do you teach TOEFL writing?
Here’s my best advice for improving your students’ scores and coaching them to a WIN in the TOEFL writing game:
1. Learn the ropes. Get familiar with what this section of the test is all about so you know how to help your students with it. All writing prompts are not created equal; writing an argumentative essay is different than writing a summary and different still than describing a chart or graph. Each type of task requires students to process information in different ways, adhere to a different structure and format, use different language and employ a different style. Knowing the tasks is essential in knowing where to start. So what are the TOEFL writing tasks?
There are two different tasks, or questions, on the TOEFL exam:
- Writing Question 1: Write a summary
The test-taker reads a short passage about a particular topic, and then listens to part of a lecture on the same topic. The writing task is to summarize the relationship between the passage and the lecture.
Students have 20 minutes to plan and write the summary.
The ideal response is 150-225 words.
- Writing Question 2: Write an argumentative essay
The test-taker is given a prompt (a statement or question) and should consider his or her opinion on the issue. The writing task is to write an essay that states this opinion and supports the position with reasons and examples.
Students have 30 minutes to plan and write the essay.
The ideal response is 300 words minimum.
Once you’re familiar with the actual tasks, encourage your students to practice them in real time. Work on strategies for how to get each essay done within the TOEFL time limit. Get students to set the timer at home and practice, practice, practice—the more they write, the better they’ll get. (For more on brainstorming and timing strategies, check out the rest of the posts in our How to Teach TOEFL Writing series!)
So now that you know the stakes, you can…
2. Lay the framework. One of the things that often terrifies students (and teachers!) about writing is that glaring blank page; students think they have to pull a great essay out of thin air. But that couldn’t be further from the truth! Instead, teach your students to think of each writing task as a very simple puzzle for which they already have all the pieces; all they have to do is press them into place.
“Each writing task is a very simple puzzle; you can give your students all the pieces. ”
The task type dictates the structure of a successful response. That means that students only need to learn the formula for each of the two writing task responses and practice that particular structure. For example, for Writing Question 1 (writing a summary of a lecture), a successful response includes a very short, two-sentence introduction and then three body paragraphs describing the three main points made in the lecture- one paragraph pertaining to each point. Teach students this framework and…voila! The scary guesswork of how to structure (and even start!) each task dissolves right along with that blank-page paralysis.
3. Focus on phrases. In addition to a set structure, successful TOEFL writing responses also contain certain phrases and language specific to each task. In analyzing the two writing questions, think about what phrases a good response to each one might include, and then teach these to your students. For example, a good response to the summary task requires, not surprisingly, language for summarizing. This might include phrases like: All in all the lecturer feels that(…) or On the whole, the lecturer disagrees with the position(…). Since the whole point of the task is to report on what someone else said, a good response also requires reported speech: The lecturer argues(…), The professor points out(…), She refutes the idea that(…). Teaching students synonyms for the word “says” is massively helpful for this task. Writing Question 2, on the other hand, requires students to write an argumentative, or opinion, essay—and therefore requires completely different phrases. By determining these phrases and teaching students how to use them, you’re handing students the tools they need to build competent, high-level responses.
“Functional phrases are the tools students need to build high-level writing responses. ”
4. Stop sweating the small stuff. The biggest temptation—and biggest downfall!—when beginning to prep students for the TOEFL writing section is setting a goal of producing responses that are completely free of errors. Students, too, will often start their TOEFL writing lessons thinking they need to write an essay with zero grammar and spelling mistakes to receive the highest score. And they’ll expect you to help them achieve this. But you’ll quickly discover that this expectation is completely unrealistic and places an extreme amount of stress on both you and your student. Listen—I’m going to tell you a little secret about the TOEFL writing exam. Examiners don’t really care about minor spelling and grammar errors. Really! Still don’t believe me? Check out this short excerpt from an actual Writing Question 2 response (on a real past TOEFL exam) which received the maximum score:
[. . .]
Computer and tablet games can also be very helpfull for learning math and algebra. There are many math games for preschoolers that capture kids’ attentions because they are very attractive using sound and graphics and never get tired of teaching. And then there’re higher level stand alone games and websites that have games that help students to absorb much more complex ideas like algebra and geometry, in a fun way.
[. . . ]
*From Official TOEFL iBT Tests, 2015, Educational Testing Service (ETS)*
Despite some obvious errors (‘helpfull,’ ‘attentions’), the full response still received the maximum score. This is because, overall, it flows coherently, develops the writer’s ideas, and uses the appropriate structure and language; basically, it does all the good stuff I mentioned in the tips above. That being said, errors that are serious enough to impede understanding or obscure what the writer is trying to say may bring down the score. But little mistakes here and there are not a big deal.
“Get your students to repeat this: Minor errors are NOT a big deal.”
So yes, make an effort to identify and correct some of your student's most common errors as you go along. But recognize that there is no way your student is going to produce a perfect, error-free essay on exam day- and that is totally ok. Focus instead on teaching the structures and useful language students will need for each writing task- this will wow the examiners way more than a poorly developed essay with no mistakes. And make sure your students know, too, that they shouldn’t sweat the small stuff. Then, during test day, they can focus on actually writing: developing and expanding their ideas and producing a cohesive, kick-ass response. Isn’t that better than wasting all that time agonizing about whether ‘I’ really does come before ‘E’ in that one tiny, insignificant word?
So there it is, writing teacher! Start employing these strategies and start demolishing students’ fear of the TOEFL writing questions.
Want more?
Get way more detail about each writing question, including in-depth advice on how to help students structure each response and key language to teach for each task, in our other TOEFL writing posts: