2017/1/17 InsidetheTOEFLtestSpeakingQuestions4&6VideoTranscript

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VideoTitle:InsidetheTOEFLtest
SpeakingQuestions4&6VideoTranscript
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Michael

Intro

[musicplaying]

Onscreen:
ETSTOEFLInsidetheTOEFLTest
SpeakingQuestions4&6:AcademicCourses

Michael:Hi,I'mMichaelfromETS,andwelcometoInsidetheTOEFLTest.

Michael:Today,weregoinginsidetheSpeakingsection,specificallyquestionsfourandsix,the
IntegratedSpeakingquestionsaboutacademiccourses.

Onscreen:Introduction

QuestionStructure
ApproachTips
ScoringCriteria
SampleResponse
SkillBuildingTips

Michael:So,inthenextfewminutes,weregoingtolookathowthequestionsarestructuredand
whattheyreasking,howtoapproachthequestions,howyourresponsesarescored.Welllookata
sampleresponsethatreceivedahighscore,andwellgiveyousometipstoimproveyourspeaking
skills.

Onscreen:Question4

Readapassage
Listentolecture
30secondstoprepare
60secondstospeak

Michael:So,hereisgenerallywhatthequestionswilllooklikeandhowtheyrestructured.In
questionfour,youwillreadapassageaboutanacademicsubject.Then,youwilllistentopartofa
lectureonthatsamesubject.Youllhave30secondstoprepareyourresponse,and60secondsto
speakyouranswer.

Onscreen:Question6

Listentolecture
20secondstoprepare
60secondstospeak

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2017/1/17 InsidetheTOEFLtestSpeakingQuestions4&6VideoTranscript

Michael:Forquestionsix,youlllistentopartofalecture.Then,youwillhave20secondsto
prepareyourresponseand60secondstospeakyouranswer,whichwillalwaysbeasummaryof
thelecture.Now,letslookmorecloselyatwhattheseacademiccoursesquestionslooklikeand
whattheywillbeaskingyoutodo.

Onscreen:Question4:Readingpassage

Michael:Forquestionfour,thereadingpassagewillalwaysbeaboutanimportantacademicterm
orconceptthatmightbefoundinafirstyearcollegetextbook.Forexample,asciencereading
mightexplainwhataKeystoneSpeciesis.AreadingfromPsychologymightdescribewhatit
meantbyemotionalintelligence.Inthisexample,thepassageisaboutflow.

OnScreen:Flow

Inpsychology,thefeelingofcompleteandenergizedfocusinanactivityiscalledflow.Peoplewho
enterastateofflowlosetheirsenseoftimeandhaveafeelingofgreatsatisfaction.Theybecome
completelyinvolvedinanactivityforitsownsakeraterthanforwhatmayresultfromtheactivity,
suchasmoneyorprestige.Contrarytoexpectation,flowusuallyhappensnotduringrelaxing
momentsofleisureandentertainment,butwhenweareactivelyinvolvedinadifficultenterprise,
inataskthatstretchesourmentalandphysicalabilities.

OnScreen:Question4:ListeningPassage

Michael:Thelisteningpassagewillbefrompartofalectureaboutthesametopicasthereading
passage.

Speaker:Ithinkthiswillhelpyougetapictureofwhatyourtextbookisdescribing.

Michael:Inthelecture,youwillheardetailsaboutanexampleofthetermorconcept.

Speaker:Irememberpassingbyaclassroomearlyonemorningjustashewasleaving,andhe
lookedterrible.Hisclotheswereallrumpledandhelookedlikehehadntsleptallnight,andI
askedifhewasokay.Iwassurprisedwhenhesaidthatheneverfeltbetter,thathewastotally
happy.Hehadspenttheentirenightintheclassroomworkingonamathematicspuzzle.Hedidnt
stoptoeatdinner.Hedidntstoptosleep.So,heworkedfuriouslyallnightandcoveredthe
blackboardsintheclassroomwithequationsandnumbersandneverrealizedthattimewaspassing
by.

Onscreen:Question4:Whatitsasking

Michael:Then,whenyouanswerthequestion,youwillspeakabouthowtheexamplesupportsor
illustratesthetermorconcept,likeinthisquestionaboutflow.

Onscreen:Explainflowandhowtheexampleusedbytheprofessorillustratestheconcept.

Speaker:Explainflowandhowtheexampleusedbytheprofessorillustratestheconcept.

Onscreen:QuestionStructure,Question6:ListeningPassage

Michael:Forquestionsix,thelisteningpassageisanexcerptfromanacademiclectureonasingle
topic.Usually,itstartswiththeprofessoreitherdefiningaconceptorhighlightinganissue.

Speaker:Humanbeingsarenttheonlyanimalsthatusetools.Itsgenerally

Michael:Then,itwillhaveexamplesthathelpexplainorclarifytheissue.

Speaker:And,infacttherearetwocompetingdefinitions,anarrowdefinition

Onscreen:QuestionStructure,Question6:Whatitsasking

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2017/1/17 InsidetheTOEFLtestSpeakingQuestions4&6VideoTranscript

Michael:Thequestionwillaskyoutoexplainthemainconceptorissueusingthepointsand
examplesthatweregiveninthelecture.So,basically,itsaverystraightforwardsummary.Heres
theexampleofquestionsixabouttools.

Onscreen:Usingpointsandexamplesfromthetalk,describethetwodifferentdefinitionsoftools
givenbytheprofessor.

Speaker:Usingpointsandexamplesfromthetalk,describethetwodifferentdefinitionsoftools
givenbytheprofessor.

Onscreen:Approachtips

Practicewithacademictexts.
Youdontneedpriorknowledgeofspecificfields.
ThequestionstestyourEnglish.

Michael:Now,herearesometipsabouthowtoapproachthesekindsofSpeakingquestions.
Numberone,thetopicsforthesequestionscanbefromavarietyoffieldlifescience,social
science,physicalscience,history,art,literature.Andalthoughitsimportantthatyoupracticewith
academictexts,thequestionsaredesignedsothatyoudontneedanypriorknowledgeinaspecific
fieldtoanswerthequestion.Inotherwords,eventhoughaquestionisaboutanacademictopic,
ultimately,itsnottestingyourknowledgeofthattopic.ItstestingyourEnglish.

Onscreen:ApproachTips

Takenoteswhilelistening.
Writedownkeywordsorideas.
Reviewnotesasyouprepareyourresponse.

Michael:Numbertwo:Youreallowedtotakenotesduringthetest.So,duringtheListening
passages,writedownafewkeywordsorideasonyourscratchpaper.Then,usethepreparation
timetoreviewyournotesandprepareyourresponse.

Onscreen:ApproachTips

Dontrepeatyourselftofilltime.
Saysomethingtoclarify,developorelaborate.
Practicetimingyourself.

Michael:Numberthree:Ifyoufinishyourresponsebeforetimerunsout,dontjustrepeatyourself
tofilltheremainingtime.Saysomethingthatclarifies,developsorelaboratesonyourresponse.
Practicetimingyourselfsothatyougetusedtotheamountoftimeyouhavetoansweraquestion.

Onscreen:ScoringCriteria

0to4
Scoredholistically

Michael:Beforethetest,makesureyouunderstandwhattheratersarelookingforandhowthe
questionsarescored.IntheSpeakingsection,allsixresponsesarescoredonascalefromzeroto
four.Theyrescoredholistically,whichmeanstheraterslistenforvariousfeaturesinyourresponse
andthengiveitanoverallscore.

Onscreen:ScoringCriteria

Delivery
Languageuse
Topicdevelopment

Onscreen:Delivery
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2017/1/17 InsidetheTOEFLtestSpeakingQuestions4&6VideoTranscript

Clearandfluidspeech
Goodpronunciation
Naturalpace
Goodintonation

Michael:Althoughtherearesomevariationsdependingonthequestion,raterswillbelookingfor
threemainthings.First,delivery:Yourspeechneedstobeclearandfluidwithgoodpronunciation.
Thepaceorspeedofyourspeechshouldbenatural,andyoushouldhavegoodsounding
intonationpatterns.

Onscreen:LanguageUse

Useofgrammarandvocabularytoexpressyourideas

Michael:Second,languageuse:Thisismainlyhowyouusegrammarandvocabularytoexpress
yourideas.

Onscreen:TopicDevelopment

Howfullyyouanswer
Howclearlyyouexpressyourideas
Howyouconnectideas

Michael:Third,topicdevelopment:Thisismainlyhowfullyyouanswerthequestion,howclearly
youexpressyourideasandhowyoucanconnectoneideatothenextinawaythatiseasyto
follow.

Onscreen:SampleResponse
Scoreof3on0to4scale

Michael:Now,letslistentoanexampleofaSpeakingresponsethatreceivedascoreofthreeona
fourpointscale.Thisoneisrespondingtothesamequestionfouraboutflow.

[AudioExample]:Thepassageistalkingaboutthegeneralinformationabouttheflow,andthe
professorillustratedtheexampleofthat.Hesaidhemetafriendof,afriendwhoteached,who
taughtphysics,andthreeyearsago,heaccidentallymetthe,methisfriend.Hefoundthathis
friendwas,hisfriend'sclotheswereallrumbled,andheaskedhimhesokay,andhesaid,the
friendsaidhewassoconcentratedonthemathematicalpuzzlethathe,hedidntsleeporrest,and
even,andalsohedidntactuallyeat,andactuallyhethinksthathisfriendcameacrosstothe
mathematicpuzzle,andhecouldntrealizethatthetimewaspassingby,andhisfriendactually
wasintheflow.

Onscreen:SampleResponse

Delivery
Languageuse
Topicdevelopment

Michael:Now,letslookatthisresponseintermsofourthreemaincriteriadelivery,language
useandtopicdevelopment.Thespeakersdeliveryisgenerallyveryclearwithgoodpronunciation.

[AudioExample]:Thepassageistalkingaboutthegeneralinformationabouttheflow.Then,the
professorillustratesanexampleofthat.

Michael:Andwhilehispacingisoftenverygood,sometimeshisspeechisalittlechoppy,and
therearesomehesitationsthatinterrupttheflowofthespeech.

[AudioExample]:Hesaidhemetafriendof,afriendwhoteached,whotaughtphysics.

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2017/1/17 InsidetheTOEFLtestSpeakingQuestions4&6VideoTranscript

Michael:Intermsoflanguageuse,hisvoculabaryandgrammerarebothsolid,sonomajorissues
there.

[Audioexample]:...soconcentratedonthemathematicalpuzzlethat,hedidntsleep.

Onscreen:TopicDevelopment

Michael:Fortopicdevelopment,althoughhedoesgiveanaccuratesummaryoftheprofessors
exampleabouthisfriendwhospentthewholenightworkingonamathematicspuzzle,henever
reallyexplainswhatflowis,andthatsthefirstpartofthequestion:"Explainflow."

[Audioexample]:Explainflow.

Onscreen:SampleResponse

Delivery
Languageuse
Topicdevelopment
www.toeflgoanywhere.org

Michael:So,heneededtodothat,thenexplainhowtheexampleillustratedtheconcept.So,
overall,thismeetsallthecriteriaforascoreofthreeoutoffour.Formoredetailsonhowthe
IntegratedSpeakingresponsesarescored,seetheSpeakingScoringGuideontheTOEFLwebsite.

Onscreen:SkillBuildingTips

Michael:HerearesomeactivitiesthatcanhelpyoubuildyourskillsfortheIntegratedSpeaking
tasks,especiallynumberfourandsixaboutacademiccourses.

Onscreen:SkillBuildingTips

Developyouracademicvocabulary.
Keepalistofnewwordsandpracticepronouncingthem.

Michael:One,developyouracademicvocabulary.Youshouldbereadingacademictextsfor
practice.So,keepalistofimportantnewwordsthatyoufindandpracticepronouncingthem.

Onscreen:SkillBuildingTips

Readanarticleandrecordasummary.
Transcribetherecordingandthinkofotherwaystosaythesamething.

Michael:Two,readashortnewsarticle.Then,recordyourselfsummarizingit.Then,createa
transcriptoftherecordingbywritingdownexactlywhatyousaid.Then,reviewthetranscriptand
thinkofotherwaysofsayingthesamething.

Onscreen:SkillBuildingTips

FindtextbooksinEnglishthatincludestudyquestions.
Practiceansweringthequestionsoutloud.

Michael:Three,findtextbooksinEnglishthatincludestudyquestionsattheendofeachchapter,
andpracticeansweringthequestionsoutloud.Startwithsubjectsyourefamiliarwith,andthen
moveontolessfamiliarsubjects.

Onscreen:SkillBuildingTips

Collectrecordingsofyourselfinanaudiojournal.
AskyourEnglishteachertoevaluatetherecordings.

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2017/1/17 InsidetheTOEFLtestSpeakingQuestions4&6VideoTranscript

Michael:Four,ifyourerecordingyourself,collectyourrecordingsinanaudiojournal.Askyour
EnglishteachertoevaluateyourrecordingsusingtheTOEFLSpeakingrubrics.

Onscreen:ETSTOEFLSpeakingQuestions4&6:Academiccourses

Michael:TherearelotsofwaystoimproveyourEnglishskills.Whateveryoudo,keeppracticing,
andgoodluckonyourTOEFLtests.

[END]

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