GRADING CRITERION FOR THE WRITTEN TOEFL TEST

TOEFL Test Score,Writing Section: "TOEFL Scoring Guide

A.
The TOEFL Writing Portion Scoring Guide

Score of 6
A typical essay at this level:
• effectively addresses the writing task
• is well organized and well developed
• uses clearly appropriate details to support a thesis or illustrate ideas
• displays consistent facility in the use of language
• demonstrates syntactic variety and appropriate word choice, though it may have occasional errors

Score of 5
A typical essay at this level:
• may address some parts of the task more effectively than others
• is generally well organized and well developed
• uses details to support a thesis or illustrate idea
• displays facility in the use of language
• demonstrates some syntactic variety and range of vocabulary, though it will probably have occasional errors

Score of 4
A typical essay at this level:
• addresses the writing topic adequately but may slight parts of the task
• is adequately organized and developed
• uses some details to support a thesis or illustrate an idea
• demonstrates adequate but possibly inconsistent facility with syntax and usage
• may contain some errors that occasionally obscure meaning

Score of 3
A typical essay at this level may reveal one or more or the following weaknesses:
• inadequate organization or development
• inappropriate or insufficient details to support or illustrate generalizations
• a noticeably inappropriate choice of words or word forms
• an accumulation of errors in sentence structure and/or usage

Score of 2
A typical essay at this level is flawed by one or more of the following weaknesses:
• serious disorganization or underdevelopment
• little or no detail, or irrelevant specifics
• serious and frequent errors in sentence structure and usage
• serious problems with focus

Score of 1
A typical essay at this level:
• may be incoherent
• may be undeveloped
• may contain severe or persistent writing errors

Score of 0
Off topic (i.e., provides no evidence of an attempt to respond to the assigned topic), in a foreign language, merely copies the topic, consists of only keystroke characters, or is illegible, or nonverbal.

B.

10 Tips for the TOEFL Essay

1) Read the statement carefully and make sure you understand it. Always decide on what you are going to write before you start. Make a list of your main points.

2) It should be easy to identify the introduction, development and conclusion. Each section should have at least one separate paragraph.

3) Type or write in a clear, large script.

4) Address the entire question or statement, not just part of it.

5) Learn the rules of English punctuation and use them. Each sentence should start with a capital letter and end with a period, question mark or exclamation point.

6) Write short, simple complete sentences. This style sounds strong in English
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7) Do not begin sentences with the conjunctions and, or, but or with because.

8) Make sure that each sentence has a clearly identifiable main subject and main verb and that they agree in number and tense.

9) Use a variety of sentence structures; at least one question, passive voice sentence, conditional sentence, complex sentence, etc.

10) Use specific examples or reasons to support your ideas. Stories or examples from your personal life are best. Remember, no one is checking up to see if these stories are true.