![\"Pen](\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2015\/03\/CompleteGuidetoTOEFLIntegratedWriting.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nUnlike the TOEFL Academic Discussion writing task, where you present your own opinion, the TOEFL Integrated Writing task asks you to summarize opinions that you read and hear. This first writing task is all about note-taking, paraphrasing, and reporting. Continue reading to learn everything you need to know about the updated TOEFL Integrated Writing Task!<\/p>\n
\nThe 2023 TOEFL Integrated Writing Task now requires you to read a passage of about 250-300 words and listen to a lecture approximately 2 to 2.5 minutes long. The lecture will challenge or present an alternative view to the ideas discussed in the reading passage.<\/p>\n
\nFinding authentic TOEFL Integrated Writing practice can be challenging outside of official TOEFL materials. However, you can find reading passages and audio for this task in the official TOEFL Writing practice sets. Some older prep materials, like TOEFL Quick Prep, may still be useful, though they often provide transcripts instead of audio.<\/p>\n
\nFor further practice, check out the official TOEFL books from ETS. Additionally, Magoosh offers a free TOEFL Integrated Writing task right here in this post, complete with a sample answer at the end.<\/p>\n
\nBefore we get to that mock test, though, let’s talk about a few basics of TOEFL Integrated Writing. Click the table of contents below to navigate these basics, and hop down to the practice exercise.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \nSince you\u2019ll still be wearing headphones after the Speaking section, the Writing section begins with the integrated task, for which you\u2019ll need to keep your headphones on.<\/p>\n \nSo what do TOEFL Integrated Writing topics look like? Well, the materials you\u2019ll be using to answer the question are a reading passage and a lecture excerpt. Both of these will be longer than the ones you encountered in the Integrated Speaking questions\u2014the reading passage will give you three minutes to read, and it will go into more detail than the one in the Speaking section did.<\/p>\n \nWhereas other integrated reading samples have served mainly to define a key concept, the one in the Writing section will describe a process or defend a position. The lecture (actually, it will be a short part of a lecture) will then expand on this information by offering examples, explaining in greater detail, or, most likely, describing conflicting viewpoints on the topic introduced in the reading passage. The author will use reasons that respond directly to the ideas in the reading passage.<\/p>\n \nThe question will follow one of several formulas. The question you answer will probably be almost identical to one of these:<\/p>\n \nThe first two are by far the most common; usually, you will hear a lecture that contrasts with the reading.<\/p>\n \nAltogether you will have 20 minutes to plan and write your TOEFL Integrated Writing essay. The essay will not be long\u2014most responses are between 150 and 225 words\u2014but there\u2019s still no time to waste, and you’ll want to keep your writing skills sharp. Remember that your organization and content are just as important as your language use. Your essay needs to have a clear structure with separate points and specific examples that transition smoothly. Most of all, it\u2019s very important to draw from both the reading passage and the listening passage. If you only reference the written passage, the very best score your essay can get is a 1. In many ways, the integrated essay is a summary of the lecture that you heard, but be sure to mention both<\/em> sources.<\/p>\n \nYou can take notes as you read and listen. With enough practice<\/a> you will be able to identify the important points in the reading passage that will most likely be discussed in the lecture, and your notes should reflect that. Then, when you listen, it will be easy to take notes that relate to the ones that are already on your paper. Make as many connections between the two as possible while listening. If you have trouble with this, it’s okay\u2014you can take a minute to connect information before you start writing, after the lecture is finished.<\/p>\n \nTypical TOEFL Integrated Writing topics will be scholarly, the kinds of things that you’d read about or hear lectures about in an academic setting. Typical topics include things such as the spending habits of American consumers, lectures on history or classic literature, scientific debates, and so on. Topics will seldom be contemporary. For example, you are unlikely to see TOEFL Integrated Writing topics that focus on social media, cell phone use, contemporary popular culture, etc. These more modern topics are far more common in the TOEFL Academic Discussion Writing task that follows this one.<\/p>\n \nAs you can see, success in TOEFL Integrated Writing is not just a matter of writing, but also comes down to reading and listening. For additional tips on these two skills in TOEFL Writing Task 1, read the following blog posts:<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \nEven though the 20 minutes you have to write the integrated essay will fly by, it\u2019s still worth taking a minute or two to write an outline of your own prior to beginning your response (the test proctor will provide as much scratch paper as you need). Even jotting just a few lines that connect parts of your notes and circling the main examples you want to cover will give you the guidance you need to stay on task when writing your response.<\/p>\n \nBelow I\u2019ve written an outline that demonstrates an effective structure<\/a> to use on the exam when responding to TOEFL Integrated Writing topics. I highly recommend that you practice writing with this outline as your guide, at least at first. Once you\u2019ve gotten some feedback and have some good practice<\/a> under your belt, you can deviate from it. At first, though, it\u2019s good to know the rules before you break them, and to have a structure you can rely on when test day comes.<\/p>\n \nNote that this outline template involves a lot of paraphrasing. Before you get started on making a practice outline of your own, be sure to check out Magoosh’s tutorial on paraphrasing in TOEFL Integrated writing<\/a>.<\/p>\n A. General statement about the relationship between the resources you heard and read.<\/p>\n B. Short description of the structure of the lecture<\/p>\n II. Body<\/strong><\/p>\n A. Paragraph on first point<\/p>\n 1. Paraphrase the professor\u2019s point<\/p>\n 2. Contrast\/compare with the reading<\/p>\n 3. Give extra detail and additional specific examples on the professor\u2019s point (optional)<\/em><\/p>\n B. Paragraph on second point<\/p>\n 1. Paraphrase the professor\u2019s point<\/p>\n 2. Contrast\/compare with the reading<\/p>\n 3. Give extra detail and additional specific examples on the professor\u2019s point (optional)<\/em><\/p>\n C. Paragraph on third point<\/p>\n 1. Paraphrase the professor\u2019s point<\/p>\n 2. Contrast\/compare with the reading<\/p>\n 3. Give extra detail and additional specific examples on the professor\u2019s point (optional)<\/em><\/p>\n III. Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n A. Restate the relationship between the two sources (optional)<\/em>\n<\/ul>\n \nNote that you don’t have a conventional essay structure here. There is no thesis statement, and the difference between a body paragraph and introductory paragraph is less pronounced. When responding to TOEFL Integrated Writing topics, you also don’t have a concluding paragraph per se. If you’re having trouble picturing exactly what this looks like, you can see an example task and model answer at the bottom of this post. You can also see some sample essays for this task in the official TOEFL Writing practice set PDF from ETS<\/a>. (And this PDF contains TOEFL Writing samples for task 1 as well!)<\/p>\n \nAbove all, remember that the key to a good essay here is simply to take good notes on what you read and hear, and translate those notes into a full essay. For more info on the best ways to do that, see my post on note-taking and organizing your answer in TOEFL Integrated writing<\/a>. Those tips can help you even when you encounter a particularly challenging Independent Writing task. And for more advice to help you through harder prompts, see the section immediately below.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \nIn all of the years that I’ve been tutoring the TOEFL, the part of the test that seems to inspire the most extreme reactions in students is the TOEFL Integrated Writing task. Students either happily breeze right through it or get very stressed out. Why? Because the difficulty levels on this task can vary so much! This, combined with the general complexity of the task, makes TOEFL Integrated Writing challenging for the average TOEFL test taker.<\/p>\n \nUltimately, the TOEFL Integrated Writing task may be the hardest part of the TOEFL. This task requires not only keen English language skills, but also good analytical abilities. You need to bring together different, opposing ideas from the lecture and passage. This is a complicated job. And to make things even harder, the task comes almost at the very end of the test, when most test-takers are exhausted.<\/p>\n \nSome TOEFL Integrated Writing topics are harder than others. And if you get a hard Integrated Writing Task, you could be in danger of “blowing” your whole TOEFL IBT Writing section—doing badly on both<\/em> tasks! An unusually difficult Integrated Writing task can leave you so tired and frustrated that you aren’t able to focus on the easier second TOEFL Writing Task.<\/p>\n \nSo if you come across a harder-than-usual Integrated Writing Task on test day, make sure you handle it carefully. With the right strategies, a really tough TOEFL Writing Task 1 doesn’t need to hurt your TOEFL score at all.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \nThe worst thing you can do is not notice how hard an Integrated Writing Task is. If you mistakenly think an Integrated Writing task is relatively easy, you won’t plan for it correctly.<\/p>\n \nSo try to immediately notice how complicated a task is. You should be able to tell just by looking at the reading passage, since the passage is the basis for the lecture. If the passage seems unusually complex, make note of this and proceed carefully. Don’t miss anything important, and don’t lose track of time. It’s really easy to leave out key facts or run down the clock in TOEFL Integrated Writing.<\/p>\n \nWhen you come across a potentially hard Integrated Writing Passage, start trying to mentally paraphrase<\/a> the passage right away. Figure out whether you are able to paraphrase the passage effectively. Paraphrases should be shorter than their source, and should change the original wording significantly. If you are having a lot of trouble doing this, the passage may be too difficult for you to paraphrase.\n<\/p>\n<\/details>\n <\/p>\n \nIf the ideas in the passage are really hard to paraphrase and shorten, don’t panic. For these more difficult Integrated Writing passages, there\u2019s a simple solution: put less of the passage information into your essay. If necessary, put nothing directly from the passage into your essay.<\/p>\n \nThis advice may sound strange. After all, the official TOEFL Writing Rubrics<\/a>, which are used for scoring on the real test, say it’s important to include all the big ideas from the passage and<\/em> the reading. But for a harder Integrated Writing Task, it really does pay to adjust your approach in this way.<\/p>\n \nThink about it. If the passage is really complex, then the lecture that follows will also<\/em> be complex. And if the passage and the lecture are both<\/em> very complicated, it can become almost impossible to correctly summarize them both. You won’t have enough time, and it’ll be too hard to focus on absolutely everything<\/em> in the prompt. The lecture will need to be the main focus, since the task itself asks you to focus on the way that the lecture challenges the passage.<\/p>\n \nThe lecture will of course contain ideas from the passage, since the lecturer is challenging the key points from the reading. So paying attention to what the lecturer says will allow you to indirectly<\/em> use parts of the passage. And with this approach, you run less of a risk writing an unfocused or incomplete essay.\n<\/p>\n<\/details>\n <\/p>\n \nAlso remember how the TOEFL scoring system works<\/a>. If you get a task that is harder-than-average, the TOEFL will adjust your task score upwards at least a little. Relying only on lecture content might hurt your score a bit. But you have a good chance of recovering those lost points when ETS adjusts your score. On the other hand, if you try to take on all of the complicated content in the task and fail, your score could really suffer, even with ETS’s score adjustments for difficulty. Ultimately, getting a high score on TOEFL Integrated Writing is a matter of balancing your priorities and focus, regardless of the difficulty level of a given individual task.\n<\/p>\n<\/details>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \nI have written and recorded a task for you that closely follows the real TOEFL Integrated Writing Task in length, content, and format. Read the passage, listen to my lecture and follow the instructions for an (almost) authentic TOEFL writing practice experience. To prepare, you may want to read some of Magoosh’s<\/a> advice<\/a> on this task. The official TOEFL Integrated Writing Rubric<\/a> (page 2 of the linked document) may also be useful. And at the bottom of this post, you’ll be able to view a sample response to this task.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \nDirections: <\/strong>Give yourself 3 minutes to read the passage.<\/p>\n The \u201ccomics medium\u201d includes newspaper comic strips such as Dennis the Menace<\/em> and comic books such as Spider-Man.<\/em> Scholars around the world agree that comics are a uniquely American art form.<\/p>\n The first commercially successful comic strip was Hogan\u2019s Alley<\/em>, a comic strip from the 1890s. Hogan\u2019s Alley<\/em> featured the Yellow Kid, the world\u2019s first popular cartoon character. This strip and its character marked the beginning of comics and was American in every respect. Set in a low-income neighborhood in New York City, Hogan\u2019s Alley<\/em> dealt with the lives of ordinary Americans. It was written and drawn by American cartoonist R.F. Outcault. Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, two famous and influential American publishers, printed the comic strip in their newspapers.<\/p>\n The first popular comic book in the world was also American. Action Comics<\/em>, a series that is still in print today, was initially released in 1938. It featured Superman, the world\u2019s first superhero. Like Hogan\u2019s Alley<\/em>, Superman<\/em> was American-created.<\/p>\n Americans invented comic strips, and Americans have exported their unique art form to the rest of the world. Japanese comics, called manga<\/em>, were inspired by the comics that Americans brought to Japan after World War II. Popular European comics series such as Smurfs<\/em> and Asterix<\/em> are influenced by Disney comic books. Today, American-created Disney comic characters are more popular in Europe than ever.<\/p>\n The comics medium started in America. While it has spread around the world, even comics that aren\u2019t created by Americans have an undeniable American influence. This is why so many art and literature scholars recognize the comic strip as a truly American art form.<\/p>\n Directions: <\/strong>Summarize the main points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they challenge the specific points made in the reading passage. <\/strong>You have 20 minutes to plan and write your response. Your response will be judged on the basis of the quality of your writing and how well your response presents the points in the lecture and their relationship to the reading passage.<\/p>\n Listen to the lecture here:<\/p>\n \t\tTable of Contents<\/h2>\n
\nClick the links below to go to each section of our guide to the TOEFL Integrated Writing Task.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
What should you expect from TOEFL Integrated Writing topics?<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
How should you structure your TOEFL Integrated Writing task?<\/h2>\n
\nI. Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n
Dealing with an Extra Hard TOEFL Writing Task<\/h2>\n
Early detection of hard TOEFL Integrated Writing Topics<\/h3>\n
\nClick here to learn more<\/font><\/strong><\/summary>\n
Strategies once you’ve found a hard TOEFL Integrated Writing Task<\/h3>\n
\nClick here to learn more<\/font><\/strong><\/summary>\n
How this strategy can affect your score<\/h3>\n
\nClick here to learn more<\/font><\/strong><\/summary>\n
A Free TOEFL Integrated Writing Practice Task<\/h2>\n
TOEFL Integrated Writing Task Practice<\/h3>\n
\nClick here for the practice task<\/font><\/strong><\/summary>\n
\n<\/div>\n