iBT TOEFL Speaking Topic 1.2: Family member or friend...?

Scores and quick comments for the people who have responded to this task so far:

http://www.chinswing.com/pages/discussion.aspx?id=570f5201-4108-46a5-8da9-e051968c5a4a 

[002] - Score = 3.0 (Generally a good response, very well organized, but the second reason given was a little unclear and brief, and delivery needs a little improvement as well)

[003] - Score = 3.0 (Quite an articulate response, with a strong personal example, but answer needs clearer reasons - more than one - that are organized and developed well)

[004] - Score = 2.0 (Too general, with not enough organization or ideas, specific reasons need to be given which are then supported in detail - also watch pronunciation/delivery, sometimes hard to understand)

[005] - Score = 2.5 (The beginnings of a good response - I certainly like the careful, clear delivery - but the reasons are a little too vague and not supported with enough detail or examples)

~ Jason

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I recently recorded some new lectures explaining how to understand and respond to the six different iBT speaking questions. You can access them at this link here:

I hope you find the tips useful!

~ Jason

More scores and quick comments for the people who have responded to this task so far:

[007] - Score = 3.0 (Generally a good response, very well organized, but the second reason given was a little unclear and brief - because of too much time spent elaborating on the first reason)

[008] - Score = 2.5 (Well organized, but not enough development and exemplification for the reasons - stick to two main reasons and give more detail and examples)

[009] - Score = 1.0 (Potentially off-topic, and no clear reasons why the choice of family is preferable to a friend, delivery needs a lot of improvement - hard to understand; be careful of the 45 second time limit!)

[010] - Score = 2.0 (The choice is not supported with any clear examples to support it, making the response vague and unconvincing, despite some attempts at organization and some impressive language use)

[011] - Score = 3.0 (Good organization, delivery and language use, but the example given doesn't support the reasons given in a totally convincing way, or show how the choice is preferable to the other option)

~ Jason

More scores and quick comments for the people who have responded to this task so far:

[013] - Score = 2.5 (Good attempt, but the reasons don't appear to have any specific organization or support through examples; pronunciation needs work as some parts very difficult to understand; 12 secs over limit)

[014] - Score = 2.5 (Speaking has a lot of potential in terms of fluency, delivery and language use, but the response is 22 seconds over the limit; the supporting examples were too long and restricted the chance to answer the question efficiently within the set time limit)

[015] - Score = 1.5 (Far too hesitant and vague, no real points made in support of preference in terms of detail and examples, well over the time limit)

[016] - Score = 2.5 (Well delivered and generally well organized, but really lacking in detail or supporting examples; 36 seconds over the time limit!)

[017] - Score = 4.0 (Great response, very fluent and clear, excellent organization and support of main reasons - very natural and convincing, spot on with time use)

[018] - Score = 3.0 ~ 3.5 (Good response, with great delivery and super organization, but limited use of real convincing examples to back up any of the reasons given)

[019] - Score = 3.0 (Similar to [018] above, but with more hampered delivery/pronunciation; the fluency, language use and organization is great, but no solid examples backing up any of the main reasons given)

[020] - Score = 2.5 (Good delivery and language use, but reasons could perhaps be applied to either of the preferences, and none of them were backed up with any sort of real example)

[021] - Score = 1.0 ~ 1.5 (No real preference given, reasons vague and unsupported with solid examples, delivery sometimes very hard to understand; 24 seconds over the time limit allowed)

[022] - Score = 3.0 (The makings of a very good answer, great delivery and language use, excellent organization and supporting detail; just no convincing examples given)

[023] - Score = 4.0 (Great response, very fluent and clear, well organized and supported with detail, and a great example at the end to illustrate your point)

[024] - Score = 2.5 (Made a good start, good organization and attempt at elaboration, but not enough examples and time limit expired right in the middle of trying to introduce another reason)

[025] - Score = 2.5 (Good organization, but the reasons are not given in enough detail or with supporting examples, and delivery needs some work to ensure clarity of pronunciation)

~ Jason

Good to hear from you, Sony. I'm glad to hear this site was helpful to you.

You make a good point in advising people to prepare for the reading and listening sections as well. They're certainly no walk in the park (as in, not easy).

Eventually I hope to have some reading and listening practice materials up here in the forum, but it's going to take a while. They're extremely difficult and time consuming to prepare (because I always write my own original materials and don't copy or distribute materials ~ part of being a responsible author :-), but hopefully at some stage, once I have funding to work on something like this full time, I can look at covering all four sections of the TOEFL.

Hope your score turns out okay!

~ Jason

Access all 6 speaking tasks to create a complete iBT TOEFL speaking test:

http://global-english.lefora.com/forum/category/toefl-speaking-practice-test/page1/

More scores and quick comments for the people who have responded to this task so far:

http://www.chinswing.com/pages/discussion.aspx?id=570f5201-4108-46a5-8da9-e051968c5a4a 

[027] - Score = 2.5 (Good attempt, but only one real reason given, and not clear how it supports one preference over the other)

[028] - Score = 3.5 ~ 4.0 (Quite a strong response ~ excellent organization, language use and delivery, reason could have been explained better, but may get you through for a perfect score)

[029] - Score = 3.5 (Good response, just a little too rushed - affecting delivery - and perhaps could have done with a more explicit example)

[030] - Score = 3.0 (Generally a very good, well delivered and well expressed response, but lacks any convincing example to back up the preference)

[031] - Score = 4.0 (Great response, very fluent and clear, excellent organization and support of main reasons - very natural and convincing, spot on with time use)

[032] - Score = 3.0 (Good response, but probably needs clearer exemplification to make the selection more convincing)

[033] - Score = 3.0 (Similar issues with response [032] above)

[034] - Score = 3.0 (Similar issues with response [032] above)

[035] - Score = 2.0 (Half the time limit lost with somewhat off-task explanation, hence reasons are not supported well at all, with no exemplification at all)

[036] - Score = 4.0 (Great response, very clear and fluent, excellent language use, perfect example to support preference and reasons given)  

~ Jason