The Integrated Tasks on TOEFL Speaking are very unique.\u00a0Together, these four tasks involve reading, listening, and recording a speech into a microphone. In this post, we’ll look at tips on how to deal with the readings in TOEFL Integrated Speaking.<\/p>\n
TOEFL Speaking Tasks 2 and 3 are the first two Integrated Speaking Tasks (Task 1 is Independent Speaking). Many students find these first two tasks especially challenging, because they involve both a reading passage and an audio track. With the right approach, however, these tasks can be mastered.<\/p>\n
The real trick here is to not to rely very much on the text. In Integrated Speaking, the passage is not as important as the audio track. The passages in these tasks should really be treated as an introductory guide to the speech or conversation.\u00a0In other words, the Task 2 and Task 2 readings provide context for the audio, but the audio itself is the thing you need to\u00a0focus on and summarize. All\u00a0relevant points from the reading will be repeated in the audio.<\/p>\n
Take\u00a0Speaking Task 2. In this task, you need to explain the extent to which a student agrees or disagrees with a short passage about campus life. Because the students in Task 2 are responding directly to the announcement, they will repeat every relevant part of the written university bulletin while they discuss it. So even if you weren’t able to fully understand the written university bulletin in the time limit,\u00a0you still get a chance to review the bulletin’s key ideas when they’re repeated in the audio track.<\/p>\n
Similarly, in Speaking Task 3, the professor will reference all the important key points from the academic passage.\u00a0So again, as long as you understood the reading on a very basic level, you’ll have the context you need in order to understand and summarize the lecture. And if you’re worried you missed a key idea from the reading, the key idea will be repeated and explained in more detail by the speaker.<\/p>\n