Activity ideas for teaching TOEFL speaking skills...

what i've always said to my students to have a better chance of scoring high in toefl-speaking is to start thinking in english(for esl students)..and the question that is always thrown back at me is "HOW?".....i told my students to practice speaking in front of the mirror, i also recommended memorizing although i know it's not a good idea...but what hit me is that when i showed a picture to mys student and told him to describe it in 5 sentences, he did it with ease...so i stuck to it...everyday, i show him different pictures and ask him to describe the picture in complete sentences with the words the come to his mind first...although at first when added "the words that comes to his mind first", it was a little bit hard for him, but as time went by he became acuustomed to it....nevertheless, i think this may not be applicable to all students, but it's worth giving a try.....gud day....

I teach advanced English to middle school students in Korea. I have an iBT text book that is created to master the skills required for passing the TOEFL that my boss says I have to stick to in the last 10 mins of the lesson I like to brake away from TOEFL Drilling and get some diversity.

One thing I like to do is take question 2 and turn it into a mini debate. I ask the class to raise their hands if they prefer a certain option, then I challange a student with their hand up (they never volunteer to talk) to give me a reason why and to back it up with an example. I'll keep asking "but why?" until I'm satisfied they have given me a good enough reason and justified it with a good enough example. I then ask a student who didn't put their hand up to argue against what the previous student said, again with a good reason and example. This task encourages them to explore the pros and cons and develop more detailed responses. It also keeps them on the ball when other students are talking!

I teach TOEFL and I think that the best idea to get them accustomed to Questions 1 & 2 in the TOEFL is to use a pile of flashcards with questions (every session) and to let students pick one and answer it.  Usually, to make it more interesting, I gather my students in a circle and ask them to pick one.  That way, it develops their confidence because they would think that they are just in a group of friends making conversation.  To make it feel more comfortable, I allow their peers to ask follow-up questions whenever they want to if they want to clarify a point or ask more examples and information about what was discussed.