Written ByRituparna Nath Content Writer at Study Abroad Exams
TOEFL Writing Tips provides candidates guidance to write comprehension, clear communication of ideas, and a strong mastery of grammar. TOEFL Writing tips help candidates to ace both independent and integrated wring tasks. In the below, we discuss a few tips and tricks to improve the TOEFL writing section.
TOEFL Writing Section Overview
TOEFL Writing seems to be the most challenging part of the TOEFL IBT exam but at the same time, the test-takers can master this section and get a high score. TOEFL writing includes two tasks: Integrated Writing and Independent Writing. Both the essays will be written on the computer and once you have completed the exam, your essays will be graded by almost 3-4 graders. Each essay will get a score from 0-5 and the total of these two scores will then be scaled to a score ranging from 0-30. The weightage of the TOEFL writing section is 25% in the total TOEFL score (from 0-120).
Why do you need to practice TOEFL Writing?
The simple answer to this is to get a high TOEFL score. However, this is not the only reason to practice TOEFL writing though. In case you are taking the TOEFL test, then obviously you are planning to take admission into a university in an English-speaking country. Through the TOEFL test, the individuals’ efficiency in English will be checked. Preparing for the TOEFL will help the students to prepare you for university abroad. Your high TOEFL score indicates that you can adjust to the university environment where you are supposed to discuss or write about unfamiliar TOEFL writing topics all the time.
TOEFL Writing Tips
The beneath TOEFL preparation tips will help the candidates in their TOEFL writing preparation:
Practice Timed Writing
Preparing an essay for English class and writing the same on the day of the TOEFL are completely two different things. With an essay for class, you have unlimited time to prepare your ideas and pen them down carefully but when a fixed time is allotted, you are expected to think fast, write fast, and that too with no mistakes. You can become a pro in TOEFL writing only in case you practice more, especially in case you are not so good at typing on a computer keyboard. For practicing within time, you can choose a topic and set a timer for thirty minutes; make sure that you spend the entire minutes writing without any distraction.
On completion of the time, read your writing carefully and cross-check what you have written. How the grammar was and how many sentences, you were able to write, are some of the questions that you need to check in your writing. You need to practice the same many times per week as lots of practice is useful in improving the overall TOEFL score. By doing more practice, you can think about ideas faster and type your responses out more quickly.
| Minutes | Tasks |
| 0-2 | Gather your notes and outline the essay |
| 3-5 | Write your introduction |
| 6-16 | Write your body paragraphs (2-3) |
| 17-18 | Write your conclusion |
| 19-20 | Edit your essay |
Use Transitional Phrases
TOEFL iBT writing tips include the usage of traditional phrases. Here are a few:
| Purpose | Location | Transitional Phases |
| to sequence points and reasons |
| and then, first of all, firstly, in the first place, first and foremost, firstly, secondly, thirdly, next, after that, meanwhile, lastly, later, finally, while |
| to elaborate (add ideas) |
| above all, actually, additionally, as well as, as a matter of fact, in addition, believe it or not, furthermore, indeed, in fact, just as, moreover, more importantly, too |
| to illustrate (giving examples) |
| as an illustration, for example, for instance, I remember when, such as |
| to show cause and effect |
| as a result, because, consequently, due to, hence, so, therefore, thus, for this reason |
| to contrast |
| although, at the same time, but, contrary to, even though, however, nevertheless, nonetheless, on the other hand, still, when in fact, yet, whereas, besides, despite the fact that, conversely |
| to conclude |
| all in all, as noted above, finally, in conclusion, in short, in the end, on the whole, to conclude, to sum up |
Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is essential in the TOEFL Writing and in case you are not able to paraphrase your sources in Integrated Writing and use the same words mentioned in the lecture or passage instead, there are higher chances that you might lose points for copying the same content. Remember that you need to practice good paraphrasing strategies so that you can improve your paraphrasing skills and your content looks real and unique to the examiner.
Focus on quality rather than quantity
Majority of the test-takers that get 4 or 5 use only one paragraph while writing their response on contrary to ones who write longer responses and get only a 2 or a 3 point. If you are using transitions and clear language, you can easily justify your response and can include all the essential details into one smooth paragraph as well. In case your response is too long, then obviously you are in a rush and don’t get enough time to check your grammar and vocabulary. There are higher chances that you might end up repeating the same content or add irrelevant specifics just to make the content look big. So rather than focusing on the quantity, you need to pay attention to the quality; but of course, through too short responses, you will not be able to show off your ability to make a good argument.
For TOEFL Independent Writing, do good prewriting
So many TOEFL Independent Writing responses turn out to be disorganized mainly due to the absence of prewriting. Prewriting involves two steps including brainstorming and outlining. In the brainstorming phase, just need to pen down whatever thoughts are coming in your mind. While in outlining, you need to select the right ideas that can be used in the essay, and how well you can organize them into the right order will also be considered. The order of your outline must match a good TOEFL Independent Essay structure which includes an introduction, body, and conclusion.
Focus on the lecture
While taking up the TOEFL Integrated Writing section, always remember that the agenda of the task is to summarize the points discussed in the lecture. You need to explain how these points respond to ideas in the passage and the lecturer will repeat the most essential ideas in the passage. So in case you have penned down his/her wordings, you can easily present your ideas. Try to make notes simple and short and focus on the points in the reading the lecturer chooses to talk about. You can do more TOEFL writing samples to master in this section.
Take good notes
In TOEFL Integrated Writing, the notes you have written are your prewriting. The essay written by you must summarize the reading and lecture, so whatever you write it must be based on reading and lecture notes. The main focus of the notes must be the lecture instead of reading; however, the ideas from the reading are still important. The notes prepared by you must compare the author’s views with the lecturer’s views; you can write the views in the reading in one column while writing notes on the speaker’s opinion in another. Or find some other way to connect and compare the opinions of the professor and the writer in your notes.
Use Connecting Words
The paragraphs in TOEFL Writing need to be inter-linked. The use of connecting words is extremely important. Below are a few connecting words for you:
- reasons — because, since
- results — as a result, so, therefore
- examples — for example, such as
- comparisons — in contrast, on the other hand
- a process or list — first, second, then
- conclusions — in conclusion, in summary
Make sure your spellings are readable
One of the easiest ways to get a good score in TOEFL Writing section is writing those spellings that are easy to understand. In case you misspell keywords or write the wrong words, then it would become much difficult for the examiner to understand your TOEFL Writing response. Try not to use the words that have a similar sound and a similar spelling, such they might confuse the examiner. Sometimes the entire meaning of a sentence gets changes in case we misspell the word. Don’t guess the spellings of bigger words as it leads to some completely unreadable spelling choices. In case you don’t know the spelling of a particular word, you must think of a different word or phrase that has the same meaning.
Keep your grammar under control
Sometimes the overall organization of an essay is just fine but the real problem comes in the individual sentences. You need to know different grammar structures in English and understand how clauses, phrases, and sentences can be structured more appropriately. By devoting more time to the TOEFL writing preparation you can have a good catch on your grammar.
Wrap-up
To do well in the TOEFL Writing section, you need to learn exactly what kinds of essays you are expected to write, what they should include, and how your responses will be calculated. While preparing for this section, prepare two essay types, take practice essays, manage your time while writing essays, and most importantly don’t forget to review your practice essays. Adhere to the TOEFL preparation tips mentioned above that will help you to write great essays.
TOEFL Writing Practice Paper
To achieve a good TOEFL writing score, excellent TOEFL writing preparation will be needed. A few TOEFL writing practice papers of both writing tasks are included here to assist the candidates.
TOEFL Writing is the last section of the TOEFL and once you have completed it, you’re done!!
*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College.
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