An analysis of TOEFL writing rubrics for 5.0 reveals important strategies that you must incorporate into your writing practice. You should aim at scoring 5.0/5.0 or 30/30 pts. This blog post will tell exactly what you need to do to get the perfect score.
Analysis of TOEFL Writing Rubics for 5.0: Your essay should focus on the topic, and it MUST complete the writing task.
ETS lists as its first competency descriptor: “Effectively address the topic and task.” Framing your essay around the writing prompt is the most important strategy that you should practice. If the writing prompt asks you to compare and contrast an idea, you will need to organize your essay as such. Furthermore, if you are asked to choose among a hospital, a school, or a church as an institution that you would donate money to, make sure that you build your essay around one of those topics. Whatever the writing prompt asks you to write about, stay on topic.
Analysis of TOEFL Writing Rubrics for 5.0
Write a well-organized and developed essay; use appropriate examples and details.
The second descriptor that ETS lists “Is well-organized and well-developed, using clearly appropriate explanations, exemplifications, and or details.” To help you score perfectly, you should aim your writing so that you supersede these expectations. In other words, try to overperform in this area:
- Include a 100-word introduction with a sharply-focused thesis. Avoid using generic thesis statements that you see on popular TOEFL preparation websites. Make sure that your thesis statement is at least 20 words long.
- Each body paragraph should contain a clearly framed topic sentence restating a key point mentioned in the thesis.
- Each body paragraph should contain approximately 150 words.
- Do not use more than two details in each body paragraph.
- Avoid generic, memorized details that could be used by anyone. Make your examples unique and personable.
- Use a number of cohesive devices such as repetition, transition words, pronouns/determiners, and parallelism to connect ideas.
Analysis of TOEFL Writing Rubrics for 5.0: Show unity, progression, and coherence.
Third, if your essay is coherent, it will be unified. Coherence is achieved by paragraph unity and by cohesion. To show progression, you must be writing at three coherent layers of meaning: main idea (this should be stated in your thesis), support points (these are stated in the topic sentences of your body paragraphs), and sub-support points (these are stated in the form of details such as explanations and examples).
Minimize vocabulary and grammar errors; show sentence variety, appropriate word choice, and idiomaticity.
Lastly, minimize your vocabulary and grammar errors. Make sure that your writing has idiomaticity. In other words, your writing should sound natural. For example, do not say, “How many years do you have?” Instead, it is more natural to say, “How old are you?” Unfortunately, you may not be able to make significant improvements in this area without the help of an experienced writing tutor. Therefore, I recommend that you have me evaluate and correct at least two of your independent writing practice tests. In addition, let me evaluate at least two of your integrated writing practice tests. I will be able to tell you what types of vocabulary and grammar improvements you need to make to improve your writing. To purchase a one-hour TOEFL lesson, GO HERE.
To help you improve your sentence variety and word choice, consider the following two suggestions. Use Microsoft Word to help you assess certain features of your essay.
- Keep the average sentence length in your essay to 25 words.
- Make sure that the average word is five characters or longer.
- Aim to have a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of 12 or higher.
Read sample essay that will score 5.0/5.0 or 30/30 pts.
Take time for an analysis of TOEFL Writing Rubrics for 5.0 as they relate to the below model essay.
Which of the following are most important when choosing a house?
- Close to where you work
- Near where your children attend school
- In a safe neighborhood away from the city
The American dream and the dream of people in other countries is to purchase a home. Like others, I also aspire to purchase a home for my family and me. Before making this monumental financial decision, I will have to consider whether my home should be close to where I work, whether this new house should be close to where my children are attending school, or whether my home is in a safe neighborhood. Of the three options, I prefer purchasing a home in a crime-free suburban neighborhood because this purchase will likely appreciate in value over time, my family and I will have lower crime, and there will be a lot less noise than living in the city.
First of all, this type of home purchase will most likely bring a hefty return on my money. For example, my friend purchased a home in Pasadena, California, which is about 30 minutes away from Los Angeles, one of the most crime-ridden cities in the United States. After laborious negotiations with the seller and the lender, my friend paid $560,000 for the home more than 7 years ago. The 2,300 square foot four-bedroom home is now valued at $1.3 million dollars, so if my friend decided to sell his home this year, he would be able to more than double his investment. In addition, the interest that my friend has to pay on his home loan is tax-deductible, so because he owns a home he also pays lower taxes.
Second of all, buying a home in a safe suburban neighborhood will likely have much lower crime compared to people who live in the city. To Illustrate, my friend who purchased the home in Pasadena has never experienced a crime at his new dwelling. No one has ever broken into his Mercedes Benz that is parked outside his house every night, and my friend has never had his home broken into while he was at home or even when he left for two-week vacations. In fact, my friend told me that he is such good friends with his neighbors that they watch over his house while he is gone. Moreover, my friend feels so safe in his neighborhood that he and his wife often go on walks in the evenings for 45 to 60 minutes. On no occasion has my friend ever been bothered during these daily exercise routines.
Finally, choosing a home away from the city will likely lead to a quieter, more peaceful life without the noise of big city life. My friend who lives in Pasadena is far enough away from the freeway that he hears no noise from the heavy traffic on the 210 East/West freeway that takes cars into Los Angeles. In fact, according to my friend, it is so quiet at his house that he can open all the windows at his house before going to bed, and he can go to sleep without being woken up by outside noises in the neighborhood. One of the most attractive parts about the house my friend lives in is the noise ordinance policy that his neighborhood has. To illustrate, if neighbors play loud music, have obnoxiously disruptive parties, or engage in any activities that are a nuisance to others, these offenders will be fined $150 for the first offense, $300 for the second offense, and $1000 for the third offense. Since my friend has been living in his Pasadena neighborhood, he has never been bothered by loud noises.
To sum up, although many prefer to live in exciting, entertainment-packed big cities, I would prefer to purchase a home away from the hustle and bustle of city life. I feel like I will get a better return on my investment, I will experience less crime, and I will be able to live in a quieter, more peaceful environment.
Analysis of TOEFL Writing Rubrics for 5.0
May the next TOEFL exam you take be your last!
Michael Buckhoff, mbuckhoff@aol.com
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