Thursday, November 25

ACT and SAT Writing Tests

American universities are serious about writing—very serious. They want students who can write and write well, not in four years but now. As you know, TOEFL measures writing proficiency; however, many colleges think a TOEFL writing score is not enough. Many schools also measure writing proficiency using the ACT Writing Test.


Below is a sample prompt from the ACT Writing Test
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"Educators debate extending high school to five years because of increasing demands on students from employers and colleges to participate in extracurricular activities and community service in addition to having high grades. Some educators support extending high school to five years because they think students need more time to achieve all that is expected of them. Other educators do not support extending high school to five years because they think students would lose interest in school and attendance would drop in the fifth year. In your opinion, should high school be extended to five years?

In your essay, take a position on this question. You may write about either one of the two points of view given, or you may present a different point of view on this question. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position."
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Sounds hard, right? Actually, it's just a big TOEFL prompt. Serious. Notice that it's really just an opinion essay with a big explanation describing the context. In fact, if you look at it closely, it's really just the introduction paragraph to an opinion essay! No big deal, right? Right. If you can write a TOEFL opinion-based essay, you can write an ACT essay. My TOEFL text, Speaking and Writing Strategies for the TOEFL iBT, shows you how.

What, you say, a TOEFL text can teach me how to write an ACT essay? It's true. Remember: An essay is an essay is an essay. The structure does not change. A TOEFL opinion-based essay is just a really short (very short!) graduate thesis, and graduate thesis is a very long (really long!) TOEFL opinion-based essay. In other words, if you can write a proficient, opinion-based TOEFL essay, you can answer an ACT essay (and a graduate thesis!).

You might also have to write an opinion-based essay for the SAT. 


All graduating American high school students must take the SAT. Universities like SAT because it measures the proficiency level of all high school subjects. SAT, like TOEFL and ACT, also has a writing section (surprise, surprise!) Below is a writing prompt from a recent a SAT test.  
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Assignment: Is it absolutely necessary for people to study the creative arts? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
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As you can see, the SAT wants you to write an opinion-based essay. That's good news. Why? Because SAT students also use Speaking and Writing Strategies for the TOEFL iBT when preparing for the SAT writing test. One TOEFL student of mine also took the SAT, and got 4 out 5 on the writing section. Not bad, huh? Why? Because an essay is an essay is an essay. The only thing that changes is the name of the test.

Want to learn how to write essays for TOEFL, ACT and the SAT? It's all in the book.

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 Do you agree or disagree?


Prompt courtesy of act.org
Prompt courtesy of The College Board
 © Bruce Stirling 2010-11 

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