A Simple Guide To Acing The Writing Section of TOEFL

You will have 50 minutes to complete two writing tasks during the writing section. The integrated writing task will involve reading and listening followed by a response. The independent writing task involves writing an argument supporting an opinion.
In each task, a topic will be presented to you and you must write out a discussion on it within the time allowed. You must evaluate the topic, organize your ideas, and develop them into a cohesive and coherent response.
These tasks will not necessarily have a right or a wrong answer. You will be scored on how well you are able to utilize standard written English, organize and explain your thoughts, and support those thoughts with reasons and examples.

Tips for the TOEFL Writing Section
For the writing section of this test, you will need to answer an integrated writing task, which involves a reading or speaking comprehension section with a writing response to the topic. The Independent writing task asks you to explain and support your own opinion about an issue.

Tip 1: Integrated Writing Task
For the integrated writing task, you will need to understand and respond to written and verbal input. Try to take note of what is said so you can refer back to this information in your own responses for comparison or contrast.

Tip 2: Independent Writing Task
For the independent writing task, you will need to write an essay explaining and supporting your own opinion regarding a subject. For this, you should try to be as organized as possible, making clear points and organizing them into meaningful paragraphs. Follow the introduction, body, and conclusion format if possible. Practice discussing common issues in this format and review your work to eliminate unnecessary information. Remember that extra information only slows down and can confuse readers.

Tip 3: General Recommendations
Try to learn descriptive adverbs and adjectives that can be used in many arguments rather than using common words. Descriptive language can keep readers engaged and provide more detail if used correctly. Practice using a QWERTY keyboard, which you will need to use during this test.

The Writing Process
 

Brainstorm
Spend the first few minutes brainstorming ideas. Write down any ideas you might have on the topic. The purpose is to extract from the recesses of your memory any relevant information. In this stage, anything goes down. Write down any idea, regardless of how good or bad it may initially seem. You can use either the scratch paper provided or the word processor to quickly jot down your thoughts and ideas. The word processor is highly recommended though, particularly if you are a fast typist.

Strength through Diversity
The best papers will contain diversity of examples and reasoning. As you brainstorm, consider different perspectives. Not only are there two sides to every topic, but there are also countless perspectives that can be considered. On any topic, different groups are impacted, with many reaching the same conclusion or position, but through vastly different paths. Try to “see” the topic through as many different eyes as you can. Look at it from every angle and vantage point. The more diverse the reasoning used, the more balanced the paper will become and the better the score will be.

Example:
The topic of free trade is not just two-sided. It impacts politicians, domestic (US) manufacturers, foreign manufacturers, the US economy, the world economy, strategic alliances, retailers, wholesalers, consumers, unions, workers, and the exchange not only of goods, but also of ideas, beliefs, and cultures. The more of these angles that you can use to approach the topic, the more solid your reasoning and the stronger your position.
Furthermore, don’t just use information as to how the topic impacts other people. Draw liberally from your own experience and observations. Describe a personal experience that you have had and your own emotions from that moment. Anything you’ve seen in your community or observed in society can be expanded upon to further round out your position on the topic.
Once you have finished with your creative flow, stop and review it. Which idea allowed you to come up with the most supporting information? It’s extremely important that you pick an angle that will allow you to have a thorough and comprehensive coverage of the topic. This is not about your personal convictions, but about writing a concise, rational discussion of an idea.
Every garden of ideas gets weeds in it. The ideas that you brainstormed are going to be random pieces of information of mixed value. Go through them methodically and pick out the ones that are the best. The best ideas are strong points that you can easily write a few sentences or a paragraph about.
Now that you know which ideas you are going to use and focus on, organize them. Put your writing points in a logical order. You have your main ideas that you will focus on, and must align them in a sequence that will flow in a smooth, sensible path from point to point, so that the reader will go smoothly from one idea to the next in a logical path. Readers must have a sense of continuity as they read your paper. You don’t want a paper that rambles back and forth.

Start Writing Now
You have a logical flow of main ideas with which to start writing. Begin expanding on the topics in the sequence that you have set for yourself. Pace yourself. Don’t spend too much time on any one of the ideas that you are expanding on. You want to have time for all of them. Make sure you watch your time. If you have twenty minutes left to write out your ideas and you have ten ideas, then you can only use two minutes per idea. It can be a daunting task to cram a lot of information down in words in a short amount of time, but if you pace yourself, you can get through it all. If you find that you are falling behind, speed up. Move through each idea more quickly, spending less time to expand upon the idea in order to catch up.
Once you finish expanding on each idea, go back to your brainstorming session up above, where you wrote out your ideas. Go ahead and scratch through the ideas as you write about them. This will let you see what you need to write about next, and also allow you to pace yourself and see what you have left to cover.

Your first paragraph should have several easily identifiable features.
- First, it should have a quick description or paraphrasing of the topic. Use your own words to briefly explain what the topic is about.
- Second, you should explain your opinion of the topic and give an explanation of why you feel that way. What is your decision or conclusion on the topic?
- Third, you should list your “writing points.” What are the main ideas that you came up with earlier? This is your opportunity to outline the rest of your paper. Write a sentence explaining each idea that will be explained in further depth in additional paragraphs. If someone were only to read this paragraph, he or she should be able to get a good summary of the entire paper.

Each of your successive paragraphs should expand on one of the points listed in the main paragraph. Use your personal experience and knowledge to support each of your points. Everything should be backed up by examples.
Once you have finished expanding upon each of your main points, wrap it up. Summarize what you have said in a conclusion paragraph. Explain your opinion of the topic once more and quickly review why you feel that way. At this stage, you have already backed up your statements, so there is no need to do that again. All you are doing is refreshing the reader’s mind on your main points.

Punctuation
If a section of text has an opening dash, parentheses, or comma at the beginning of a phrase, then you can be sure there should be a matching closing dash, parentheses, or comma at the end of the phrase.

If items in a series are each separated by commas, then any additional items in that series will also need commas.

Do not alternate punctuation.

If a dash is at the beginning of a statement, then do not put a parenthesis at the ending of the statement.

Word Confusion
“Which” should be used to refer to things only.
John's dog, which was called Max, is large and fierce.

“That” may be used to refer to either persons or things.
Is this the only book that Louis L'Amour wrote?

Is Louis L'Amour the author that [or who] wrote Western novels?
“Who” should be used to refer to persons only.
Mozart was the composer who [or that] wrote those operas.

Pronoun usage
To determine the correct pronoun form in a compound subject, try each subject separately with the verb, adapting the form as necessary. Your ear will tell you which form is correct.
Example: Bob and (I, me) will be going.

Restate the sentence twice, using each subject individually. Bob will be going. I will be going. 'Me will be going' does not make sense.
When a pronoun is immediately followed by a noun (as in “we boys”), say the sentence without the added noun. Your ear will tell you the correct pronoun form.
Example: (We/Us) boys played football last year.

Restate the sentence twice, without the noun. We played football last year. Us played football last year. Clearly 'We played football last year' makes more sense.

Using Commas

Flow
Commas break the flow of text. To test whether they are necessary, read the text to yourself and pause for a moment at each comma. If the pauses seem natural, then the commas are correct. If they are not, then the commas are not correct.

Nonessential clauses and phrases
A comma should be used to set off nonessential clauses and participial phrases from the rest of the sentence. To determine if a clause is essential, remove it from the sentence. If the removal of the clause would alter the meaning of the sentence, then it is essential. Otherwise, it is nonessential.
Example: John Smith, who was a disciple of Andrew Collins, was a noted archeologist.

In the example above, the sentence describes John Smith's fame in archeology. The fact that he was a disciple of Andrew Collins is not necessary to that meaning. Therefore, separating it from the rest of the sentence with commas is correct.

Do not use a comma if the clause or phrase is essential to the meaning of the sentence.
Example: Anyone who appreciates obscure French poetry will enjoy reading the book.

If the phrase 'who appreciates obscure French poetry' is removed, the sentence indicates that anyone would enjoy reading the book, not just those with an appreciation for obscure French poetry. However, the sentence implies that the book's enjoyment may not be for everyone, so the phrase is essential.
Another, perhaps easier, way to determine if the clause is essential is to see if it has a comma at its beginning or end. Consistent, parallel punctuation must be used, and so if you can determine a comma exists at one side of the clause, then you can be certain that a comma should exist on the opposite side.

Independent clauses
Use a comma before the words and, but, or, nor, for, or yet when they join independent clauses. To determine if two clauses are independent, remove the word that joins them. If each clause can stand alone as a complete sentence, then they are independent and need a comma between them.
Example: He ran down the street, and then he ran over the bridge.

He ran down the street. Then he ran over the bridge.

Both clauses are capable of being their own sentence. Therefore a comma must be used along with the word “and” to join the two clauses together.
If one or more of the clauses would be a fragment if left alone, then it must be joined to another clause and a comma is not needed between them.

Example: He ran down the street and over the bridge.
He ran down the street. Over the bridge. “Over the bridge” is a sentence fragment and cannot stand alone. No comma is necessary to join it with “He ran down the street.” Note that this does not cover the use of 'and' when separating items in a series, such as 'red, white, and blue.' In these cases a comma is not always necessary between the last two items in the series, but in general it is best to use one.

Parenthetical expressions
Commas should separate parenthetical expressions such as the following: after all, by the way, for example, in fact, and on the other hand.
Example: By the way, she is in my biology class.

If the parenthetical expression is in the middle of the sentence, a comma is placed both before and after it.
Example: She is, after all, in my biology class.

However, these expressions are not always used parenthetically, so commas may not be necessary. To determine if an expression is parenthetical, see if you need to pause when you read the sentence. If you do, then it is parenthetical and needs commas.
Example: You can tell by the way she plays the violin that she enjoys its music.
No pause is necessary in reading that example sentence. Therefore the phrase “by the way” does not need commas around it.

Hyphens
Hyphenate a compound adjective that is directly before the noun it describes.
Example 1: He was the best-known kid in the school.
Example 2: The shot came from that grass-covered hill.
Example 3: The well-drained fields were dry soon after the rain.

Use Your Ear
Read each sentence carefully, inserting the answer choices in the blanks. Don’t stop at the first answer choice if you think it is right, but read them all. What may seem like the best choice at first may not be after you have had time to read all of the choices. Allow your ear to determine what sounds right. Often one or two answer choices can be immediately ruled out because they don’t sound logical or make sense.

Contextual Clues
It bears repeating that contextual clues offer a lot of help in determining the best answer. Key words in the sentence will allow you to determine exactly which answer choice is the best replacement text.

Example:
Archeology has shown that some of the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon are approximately 500 years ____________ Mesopotamian predecessors. a. as old as any supposed b. as old as their supposed c. older than their supposed d. older than a supposed
In this example, the key word “supposed” is used. Archaeology would either confirm that the predecessors to Babylon were more ancient or disprove that supposition. Since supposed was used, it would imply that archaeology had disproved the accepted belief, making Babylon actually older, not as old as, so either answer choice C or D is correct.
Since choice D contains the word “a,” this would be correct if “predecessors” was singular. Since “predecessors” is plural (with an “s” on the end), choice C must be correct.
Furthermore, because “500 years” is used, answer choices A and B can be ruled out. Years are used to show either absolute or relative age. If two objects are as old as each other, no years are necessary to describe that relationship, and it would be sufficient to say, “The ancient city of Babylon is approximately as old as their supposed Mesopotamian predecessors,” without using the term “500 years.”

Simplicity is Best
You should never choose a longer, more complicated, or wordier replacement if a simple one will do. When a point can be made with fewer words, choose that answer. However, do not sacrifice the flow of text for simplicity. If an answer is simple, but does not make sense, then it is not correct.
Beware of added phrases that don't add anything of meaning, such as “to be” or “as to them.” Often these added phrases will occur just before a colon, which may indicate a list of items. However, the colon does not need a lengthy introduction.

The phrases “of which […] are” in the below examples are wordy and unnecessary. They should be removed and the colon placed directly after the words “sport” and “following”.
Example 1: There are many advantages to running as a sport, of which the top advantages are:
Example 2: The school supplies necessary were the following, of which a few are:

Don’t Panic
Panicking will not put down any more words on paper. Therefore, it isn’t helpful. When you first see the topic, if your mind goes blank, take a deep breath. Force yourself to mechanically go through the steps listed above.
Secondly, don’t get clock fever. It’s easy to be overwhelmed when you’re looking at a page that is mostly blank, your mind is full of random, confused thoughts, and the clock is ticking down faster than you would like. But you brainstormed first so you don’t have to keep coming up with ideas. If you’re running out of time and you have a lot of ideas you haven’t covered, don’t be afraid to make some cuts. Start picking the best of the remaining ideas and expand on those few. Don’t feel like you have to write down and expand all of your ideas.

Check Your Work
It is more important to have a shorter paper that is well written and well organized than a longer paper that is poorly written and poorly organized.

- Don’t keep writing about a subject just to add words and sentences, and certainly don’t start repeating yourself. Expand on the ideas that you identified in the brainstorming session and make sure that you save a few minutes at the end to review.
- Leave time at the end, at least a few minutes, to go back and check over your work. Reread and make sure that everything you’ve written makes sense and flows well. Clean up any spelling or grammar mistakes that you might have made.
- As you proofread, make sure there aren’t any sentence fragments or run-ons. Check for sentences that are too short or too long. If the sentence is too short, check to see if you have an identifiable subject and verb. If it is too long, break it up into two separate sentences. Watch out for any “big” words you may have used. It’s good to use difficult vocabulary words, but only if you are positive that you are using them correctly. Your paper has to be correct, but it doesn’t have to be fancy. You’re not trying to impress anyone with your vocabulary, but with your ability to develop and express ideas.