Chapter 5
Writing
C
ollege success depends on your ability to express your-
self clearly and accurately in written English. At the
university level, you will receive
numerous writing assign-
ments—term papers, essay exams, lab reports—and you will need
to show you can organize and develop
your thoughts through writ-
ing. The writing section is a required part of the computer-based
TOEFL exam; everyone must complete
an essay on the day of
the test. The paper-and-pencil version of the TOEFL exam does
not include a writing section. The writing
test is a separate exam
called the Test of Written English (TWE), which is offered in
the United States five times a year.
Both the writing portion of
the TOEFL exam and the TWE
exam test your ability to generate ideas and support them through
details and evidence. They measure how
effectively and logically
you organize your thoughts,
using correct grammar, appropriate
word choice, and varied sentence structure and vocabulary. In both
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