LishaD Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 I know one day, I will get S26 ...:hmm:... but if there are tricks and ideas that helped you to pass or you tried several times to get it right, please let me know. I once got S26 but W21 ... now got the tricks to pass writing but speaking stays at 24. Can't figure it out! 13th May I did bad: I got S24, 14th May I did good: I got S24. 08th July I did ok: I got S24... hmmm Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tino Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 How are you, and how have you, prepared for the speaking in the past? Tino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LishaD Posted July 20, 2011 Author Share Posted July 20, 2011 Hi Tino, Speaking with a friend, taping myself, YouTube, leared the structure of each question, ETS book ... had 1hr expensive teacher but found her not so helpful etc... something is missing :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumblebee91 Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 likewise! i struggled with toefl speaking for years and i was stuck at 24, too. notefull.com saved me. The raters are not after how good you are at speaking in English. They want you to follow a certain format. Just try it, it works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOEFL Corey Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 I hate to disagree with you, bumblebee91, but that is simply NOT true. The raters ARE evaluating your overall English (delivery, language usage, and topic development), and you are NOT required to follow any one particular pattern. Patterns or templates are very useful, and people like myself, "Notefull," and the teachers at Tino's school certainly teach them, but they are not mandatory NOR is any one particular template "the magic pattern" in which all TOEFL speakers must answer in order to get a 4/4. I know this for a fact since all of us have had students score between 26 and 30 on the speaking, yet I know our templates are NOT all the same. For example, some teachers/tutors actually teach their students to add a concluding statement at the end of Task 1 & 2, which I think is totally pointless (since they are not sharing anything new in their English but simply wasting one of their five or six sentences repeating what they already said -- "... and that is why I enjoyed my trip to Mexico.") However, I'm sure some students have followed that particular template and received a 4/4, not because they followed one set pattern but rather because they exhibited exceptional delivery, grammar knowledge, strength of vocabulary, and topic development (i.e. -- good use of supporting details and examples). Unfortunately, many others followed the same template and received only a 24, 23, 22, or lower. In other words, YES, you do need a logical, cohesive pattern. If it's a very well-constructed outline, it can help highlight the strengths in your language ability. However, at the end of the day, the raters are evaluating you based on exactly what's in the scoring guide (delivery, language usage, and topic development), NOT on which pattern you followed or whether it was the "right format." I have met two actual TOEFL raters, one of whom once worked for me, and I have spoken to them at great length about how they evalute the TOEFL speaking files, so I do feel confident in stating this information and casting doubt on unfounded assertions like: the files are outsourced to a foreign country, it depends on the "mood" of the rater that day (which couldn't possibly be true since your files are scored by multiple raters in different cities), there is a set quota of how many 4's they can give out, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tino Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Corey, Agreed. And let's note that Bumblebee91 has never posted until now, with what is a suspiciously spammy post. hmmmmm..... Tino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumblebee91 Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 I agree with you corey and tino. I understand the rating rubrics. And of course anyone will not pass the exam by just following a format. They must be very fluent in speaking in English. I'm speaking of my personal experience when I posted. It,s not like a normal conversation with a friend. There are criteria to be met and a time limit. Anyway, what works for me might not work for somebody. Just trying to help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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