Writing Section Breakdown

The TOEFL writing section includes an integrated task and an independent task, which work together to test your ability to communicate through writing in an academic environment. This is the last section of the test, and it will take about an hour to complete.

The integrated writing task will require you to read a passage, listen to a lecture, and then write an essay that uses information from both of these sources. The independent task will be on a topic similar to the topics in speaking task #2—that is, it will ask you to use personal experience to explain an opinion that you have.

Scoring

The writing section is scored by two trained graders. Each will give your essays a score on a scale of 1-5. If they give you very different scores, a third grader will review the essay to decide your final score. A high-scoring essay will be well-organized, will give clear arguments and examples to support those arguments, and will include all of the important information from the given sources (on the integrated task, of course). To get a high score, you need to have a clear main point, and everything in your essay should contribute in some way to that point. As in the speaking section, a few minor language errors are not a major problem—this section is about communicating fully, so if your errors don’t interfere with communication and are not very many, then you probably don’t have much to worry about.

The Scope of Your Essays

Many people try to include too much in their essays. Although it’s tempting to explore gray areas and expand on the (admittedly, pretty boring) prompt, most essays are only 200 – 400 words, and there’s just not time for that kind of development. Later, I’ll write in more detail about how you can structure your essays, but for now, it’s just important to know that the best use of your time and space is to choose one position and to focus on it the whole time.

The Topics You’ll Write About
The writing section will include one opinion question and one integrated question on an academic lecture and a reading passage. Both of the topics will be designed to be appropriate for a variety of people. The independent task will require no cultural knowledge and will only assume experience that almost everyone has, with a tendency to choose topics appropriate to students. It will ask you to indicate a preference or
choose which of two options you support.

The Official Guide includes a fifteen-page list of topics from old TOEFL tests, so if you can get your hands on a copy of that book, that’s the best way to ensure that you’re familiar with the topics you may write about in the independent section. In case you can’t, here are a few examples:
● Some would say it is more important to have an enjoyable job than to have a job with a high salary. Do you feel this is true or not true? Explain your thoughts using examples.
● Your family and friends are encouraging you to buy a new car. What are some benefits and downsides of purchasing a brand new vehicle? Explain your thoughts using examples.
● What is your favorite place to visit near your home? Explain your thoughts using examples.
● Many workers change jobs a few times in their career. However, a number of workers instead do the same type of work throughout their career. Of these two career paths, which is a better option? In your essay, include supporting details.
The integrated task may be on a wide variety of topics, including business, fine arts, history, anthropology, and so on—as in the reading section, almost everything that could be taught in an entry-level course is fair game, although you won’t encounter the hard sciences, maths, and so on, since these would be unnecessarily difficult to write about. Reading about a variety of topics in your free time will help prepare you to write about whatever topic the integrated task may throw at you.