What is TOEFL TWE essay ?

The first and most frequently asked question by ESL students who are confronting the TOEFL essay is: “What exactly is an essay?” This is a very good question, as essay organization and formation may vary greatly from one country to another. Quite simply, an essay is a written composition based on a particular topic. In. the following writing sections, we will describe the kind of essay that the TOEFL examiners are looking for as well as provide you with the background you’ll need to feel confident when you are faced with writing your TOEFL essay on the day of the exam.

Essay writing is a required part of every TOEFL iBT (Internet based test) exam. (The essay will, however, continue to be optional for the paper-based TOEFL.) Your essay score will be combined with the score from the Structure section to form one Structure/Writing score. On the day of the exam, you will be given one topic on which to base your essay and allowed 30 minutes to write your essay. Unlike with the rest of the CBT TOEFL, you will be able to choose whether you wish to write your essay on the computer or by hand.

The range for your score of the essay component is from 0 (lowest score) to 6 (highest score); your final Structure/Writing score will range from 0 to 30. The readers of your essay are English or ESL specialists and work under the direct supervision of a “reading manager.” The two readers will rate your essay independently of each other. That is, neither will know the rating of the other, and your final grade will be an average of the two scores. If there is a difference of more than one point between the two, a third reader will also rate your essay. Your final score could be a 6.0, 5.5, 5.0,4.5,4.0, 3.5, 3.0, 2.5, 2.0,1.5, 1. 0, or 0 (for a paper that is blank or written in a language other than English, or one that in no way addresses the topic).

To help you prepare for the essay component, you should study the “Writing Topics” provided to you by ETS (Educational Testing Service) in its TOEFL Information Bulletin for Computer Based Testing (In our school, all the topics have been listed in Part II of the writing book). By practicing essay writing prior to the day of the TOEFL, especially within the 30-minute time frame, you can greatly enhance your chances of doing well on this section of the test.

While becoming a proficient English writer may seem like a daunting task at first, there is no way to get around one very simple and basic truth: the only way to become a writer is to write and read as much and as often as you can. This may sound trite, but it is the fundamental key to improving your writing skills. Whereas it is important that you read and study examples of “good writing,” unless you are willing to put in time and effort to write yourself, you will never become a competent writer of English. Great writers of English certainly did not become that way overnight; it obviously took a great deal of commitment, diligence, and time to perfect their craft. Thus, you --as an English as a Second Language writer and speaker -- win need to be willing to invest an even greater effort into perfecting your English writing.

In the writing sections of this chapter, we will take you through steps that will help you learn how to organize your ideas, form an outline and develop organization, write a draft, and finally edit/proofread your essay. And yes, by the day of the test, you will need to know how to accomplish all of this in the 30-minute time frame that the TOEFL essay allows! But don’ t be discouraged. With dedication and perseverance, you will no doubt see results.